Finns Fight On There has been no faltering in the magnifiernt resistance which the Finns have consistently. put up against Soviet. Russia's Invation of their territory. The attempt with large. masses of troops to turn the Mannerheim Line has up to the present met with no success whatever, and the Finns. by tactics suitable to the terrain, and the genius of the people, hold "en to positions have bern' expected to collapse under, the ghormous pressure of men, and "material launched against them. 'The large Russian force which has tem surrounded by. the Finns for some days past received another severe blow when a supply coltimn of 400 ears was destroyed by the Finns, depriving them of much wanted supplies. and' obliging them to depend on the small quantities of food and material which can be dropped to them by parachute, There every possibility that In the not too distant future this body of Russians will be foreed to surrender, for short of food and oth: material, they are enduring hardships which it would be aimficult to parallel. The conferring of decors tions upon Red soldiers for their "ood conduet™ at the Finnish front is to be regarded purely as domestic propaganda stunt designed to convey the Impression (o the masses in Russia that all well in this campaign against Finland, and that, far from being defeated, the Soviet arms are securing victories, 'There have from time to time bein reports' that very. considerable anxiety has ween betrayed by the people of Leningrad ud Moscow over the way in which the campaign has been going. It has not proved tu be the walk-over that M, Stalin apparently fanded It would be, and for the comparatively. alight advances which they have made into Finnish territory the Russians have been forced to pay most heavily. 'That is most unlikely" to make the Soviet Government change its policy', for it is now so deeply committed that the loss fof prestige attendant upon admission of defeat Would be so great that there Is a possibility of the whole governmental structure toppling In such an event. Abroad that prestige has already been lost, and the much" vatinted Russian military machine shown to be the poor tool it Was never believed it could possibly be. The Blowing stories of Sovizt discipline, efficiency fnd"strategy with which the world was fed. Fecent years have been proved to be myths, and even Herr Hitler and. his accomplices must wonder how much they have gained by their betrayal of the Anti-Komintern Pact, Childish Propaganda The one pleasing feature about the loss of the Italian liner Orazio is that fortunately the casualty list was smal," though there must always be regret that so fine a vessel has come fo such an end. What is of particular interest fs the manner in which the German propaganda machine has seized upon the unhappy incident for the purpose of endeavouring to blacken the. French in the eyes of Italy, by suggesting that the outbreak on board the Orazio was the result of sabotage committed by sailors of the French search party which had boarded the vessel practically twenty-four hours before. It a ridiculous story, for the simple reason that the search party would at all times have ben accompanied by officers of the vessel. They most certainly would not have b: en allowed to roam all over the ship without fant witnesses, while the Idea of one of the French sailors being able to nal machine aboard for the hip is equally us foolish. Tt was natural that. the German Propaganda Ministry should try and make as much capital out of the affair as possible and (o endeavour to create bad blood between Franco and aly, but neither the French nor the Italians are likely to be deceived by such puerile methods, just as the world at Jorge Fetused to be Impressed by the stories which the Germans ismed about the explosion at Munich, Tt may be that in some directions {he propaganda work of the Allies is open to criticism, but that is chiefly due to slowness of operation rather than in other ways. They Rave found that in the long run the tion of truth is the best possible form of propaganda, and in this it is generally admitted in {the United States they ar> excelling. The German lo about the use by the British of "gas shells ayainst the Admiral Graf Spee has ben Feveated for what it was by the notion of the Uruguayan Government, which has cance! the ectlificate of the German doctor who certified that fas had been used, upon an investigation by other medical men which deflaitely showed the contrary. Ingenuity very often ov: rreaches self as it did in this case.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.