As it was expected President Roosevelt's message to Congress is regarded by the Wilhelmstrasse as "the most violent anti-German speech he has evéf made," and there can be no doubt that it has aroused considerable indignation amongst the Nazi leaders. But the President was careful to refrain from naming any country, and to enter such a verdict as that given in Berlin is to make the confidently expected admission that the cap did fit after all. Singularly enough, but important as showing to what lengths German propaganda will go, it is reported in Netherlands' newspapers that the propaganda machinery has been put in motion to turn his words of criticism into terms of commendation for the consumption of the German people. When accounts of what is broadcast from Berlin for the information of German listeners-in are read it is possible to understand how Herr Hitler's doctrine that any lie will stick so long as it is big enough is being applied in duping the German people. Not only that, it is possible to understand why the Nazis should inflict severe punishment upon Germans found guilty of listening to broadcasts from abroad. The task of turning the President's condemnation of German aggression into words of commendation is not so enormous as it would appear at first blush, for the inventors of the fabricated account have little fear that their version will be immediately corrected, and are certain that their lie will have a long lease of life before it is eventually run to earth,—if ever. Apart from the invention of taradiddles, in which Dr. Goebbels' ministry has shown itself so adept, the various messages of Nazi leaders over the New Year, in themselves form an interesting subject for study. Each of them appears to breathe nothing but the completest confidence in the future success of German arms. It would, of course, be foolish if the leaders were to admit to their people the anxieties as to the future which they are undoubtedly suffering, and the importance of the factors which have produced that hesitancy in Berlin which is now so noticeable.
Field-Marshal Goering speaks of the readiness of the German air arm to raid the British Isles directly Herr Hitler gives the word. It is known on the other hand that he does not approve of any such attempt, and it is reported that the dissension between Herr Hitler and himself is such that he will not order the German air force into that action without first receiving his instructions in writing from his leader. Who can blame him? He realizes that when it comes to taking air action, it is a game at which two can play, and the British and French air forces are now at such a strength that they can be confidently expected not only to inflict enormous damage upon any raiding force which may be sent up, but can also repay bombing in exactly the same currency. On balance, as a result of the various engagements between Allied and German fliers, it may safely be alleged that while the issue as to who shall have command of the air has not yet been decided, the definite superlarity of the Allied air forces, as shown by the results of encounters since the commencement of hostilities, gives every possible support to the view that they should in the not too distant future secure that 4 command to which the Nazis have been making completely unsubstantiated claims. In the air the Germans have suffered much more than the Allies, and all their propaganda designed to convince the world of the contrary has failed. There is a disposition amongst some critics of the Allied propaganda campaign to aver that the Nazis are superior in this branch of warfare. Those who think that are misled by an occasional success in which the Germans actually broadcast a truthful item of news some time before the Allies. But a closer examination of the German methods show that they have inherent qualities which contribute to their own defeat. The hullabaloo which was made after the bomb incident at Munich, which, in highly-suspicious circumstances, was attributed by the Reich authorities to British machinations, has died down. The whole story was received with outspoken scepticism throughout the world, and though an arrest is alleged to have made, and two British officials kidnapped over the Netherlands' border, the world has not yet been told all the full details of the story which Berlin promised it.
Another similar instance is to be found in the alleged sinking of the Ark Royal. Despite Admiralty denials that the aircraft carrier had been sunk or even injured, Berlin persisted in its claim right up to the time of the flight of the Admiral Graf Spee into Montevideo. Then while the vessel remained in refuge, reports were carried by the German news agency that amongst the vessels hurrying to the Uruguayan port to thwart any attempt she might make to escape was a vessel of the Ark Royal type, while later it was admitted by the same agency that it was in fact the Ark Royal which visited Rio de Janeiro. The graceful correction of the earlier lie does not, however, hide the fact that in this instance, as in so many others, truth had eventually to out, and prove the untruthfulness of the original German claim. If such examples as these were not sufficient to prove the ineptitude of German propaganda, the Herr Hitler's doctrine, concerning the use of the lie as a political weapon, justifies the world at large in assuming that any particular item of alleged information emanating from Berlin must of necessity be open to the gravest suspicion. Herr Hitler forges the weapon and Dr. Goebbels uses it, and the sorry effect of it allis that even when the German Ministry of Propaganda tells the truth, experience teaches the world to suspend judgment until what the Allies have to say on the subject becomes known. At home German propaganda may have some sort of success in deluding the German people because they have access to no other information. Abroad the story is an entirely different In Britain and France there is no prohibition against persons listening to whatever broadcasting station they wish. That in itself is the best possible form of propaganda, for it proves conclusively that whereas the Allies have nothing to fear from the truth, the German leaders have a great deal. Otherwise, why seek to change President Roosevelt's condemnation' into commendation
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.