Fulfilling their weekly promise to give some staring news over the week-end, Official sources in Berlin yesterday came out with the story, that the Soviet resistance Which had slowed down the German drive on Moscow had been crushed "with complete annihilation" of two Russian divisions around Mogilev, 80 miles southwest of Smolensk and deep. behind the Nazi advance line, appears to be an incident in the big Smolensk battle, in which the Russians claim to have destroyed two German divisions, giving the invaders a severe setback, but pointing out that with the huge numbers of men involved the Russian success should not be regarded as a major defeat for the Germans. The Germans it will be noticed play up. whatever success they may have obtained—and they have managed to achieve so many in the propaganda department in Berlin,—with all "the showmanship at their command, alleging the crushing of Russian resistance when only two divisions out of the millions of men involved in the fighting were concerned. tain women who had evacuated under the order were able to return to the Colony without any effort being made to prevent them. That these were women the wealthier classes not unnaturally gave rise to the belief that there was lon being exercised by the Government 1 wives could return; the small man's wife must stay away, in spite of the fact that the hardship on the small man, who had to maintain two households, was. much the greater, All round, the evacuation seems to have been handled in a manner which reflects little credit upon those responsible for it.
One is tempted to quote the denunciation of the, Civil Service recently made in the House of Lords by Lord Petry, who ought to know what he talked about, since he was Director of Food Production in 1916, is at present adviser to the Ministry of Food, and is also chairman of the Ford Motor Ca., Ltd. Lord Perry said:
The British permanent official believes that second thoughts are hotier than quick decision, and that over-night consideration is better than immediate action. The recruitment of this illustrious body of men seems to get a oung man whose ceiling of ambition is short urs. little work. mediocre surroundings.
The realistic attitude adopted by the Russians in their communiques certainly gives a better impression of their reliability than anything the Germans have turned out up to the present, and the moderation of their claims inspires a confidence in their truthfulness which the Germans can never hope to obtain. Perhaps the best idea of the state of the fighting all along the Russo-German front is given in a review of the battle coming from Berne, where the Berlin correspondent of the "Neue Zurcher Zeitung" declares that there are about sixty pockets along the front in which either German or Soviet soldiers are encircled. He goes on to state that in most of the pockets Soviet troops are surrounded arid that only in one or two spots have the Germans been entrapped. As he is obviously basing his finding upon German information that latter statement may be accepted with some reserve, Another interesting statement he makes is to the effect that eight days ago it was announced in Berlin that the Soviet had used up all its reserves. Military quarters in the German capital are now reported to have changed their opinion.
These may seem harsh words, but in the present instance they appear to be deserved. Many Britons in Shanghai who suffered during the 1937 evacuation of women and children from this port will be able to sympathize with the Hongkong husbands from firsthand experience. It will po recalled that even that evacuation was not without discriminations which were severely criticized at the time. It proved eventually to have been unnecessary, as it will be hoped the Hongkong evacuation will prove. In the latter case, however, it is possible that events may justify the Government's ultimate wisdom. But they cannot justify the timing of the order or the manner in which it was carried out.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.