News From Europe Since the conquest of almost the whole of Europe by the (olalitarians, tore has been a marked falling off in the quality of the news which has been cabled by. reputable agencies {rom the capitals which have been ground under the Naal or Pascist heel. The change was not immediate, but was carried out gradually, apparently with the subtle idea that by this means it would continue to be received as impartial by the world at large. When the comment is made that the quality of the news has fallen off, it is not intended to convey. that the news has ceased to be pro-Allies. It never was, in those areas dominated by Hitler and Mussolini: nevertheless, a certain show was made in Berlin and Rome that there was no interference with correspondents, except in-solar as military" secrets were concerned, and that frank comment was welcomed. Now, judging from the despatches received, there is no longer even this pretence. Correspondents are sending out Italian and German claims and communiques without any attempts to give them their true value. They have no choice but to turn themselves into the vehicles of totalitarian propaganda, except 1o keep silent, which would "be against the interests of themselves and their employers. Followers of the progress of the war would do well, therefore, to be on their guard against attempts by the enemy to hoodwink them-—to reduce them to the slate of the unfortunate citizens of Germany and Italy, and now France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland, and Norway, where no information whatsoever Is disseminated except that which favourable to the enemy's cause. Frankness admitting losses was never a feature of totalitarian news reporting, as it has been of the British communiques. The British have admitted the loss of ships even before the Nazis Claimed it. The latest communique admits that the Nazi raid ever the Portland and Weymouth areas onused considerable damage, even to the Internal system of communications. The Nazis have never done that, not even during the mantis when they could have well Teavencd the stories of their victories witha few facts fas to their set-backs, nor when there was a Vestige of freedom allowed to neutral obseryfers. It is apparent that at present, neutral ob-Servers do not even enjoy that vestige of freedom. A tightening of totalitarian control over all news services has been noticeable for weeks past. Whether the censors themselves have been Fesponsible for this and have altered correspondents' messuyes, or whether direct pressure has. been' brought upon the correspondents themselves does not matter. The regrettable fact romaine that all items from the occupied oF conquering countries must now be received With a suspicion they did not always formerly merit.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.