While at first the enemy Press maintained some reticence concerning President Roosevelt's speech on Saturday nicht it has now burst into full song. The melody is familiar. German newspapers unanimously denounce' the President in the usual terms of abuse, calling him. war monger wolf in sheep's clothing." The "Voelkischer Beobachter" carried double banner headlines "Blood Guilt of Jewish Anglo-Saxon Capitalism," and generally the President was vigorously excorated by German writers. Signor Gayda, so often termed Mussolini's mouthpiece, is somewhat more restrained, though he threatens post-war reprisals against the United States if Mr. Roosevelt continues to attack the Axis. There is always one test of German reaction to any move that might be made against the Axis, and that is that the more violent their abuse the more certain it is that they have been touched on the raw, and that they fear the consequences. It is a type of hysteria which should be completely foreign to the characteris. tics of the dearly beloved "pure Aryan" of German conception, and would more naturally be expected from nations impressed by their own inferiority. The vehemence of German abuse, therefore, is clear symptom of fear, fear that American aid to the Allies will indeed assist in. inflicting that defeat upon them with-Out which this war will not come to an end. Those who make a practice of listening in to German broadcasts, and there are many who find much amusement in. doing so, have learned by now that the more violent German abuse the more they are worried. If. they are able to make much of the successes they have achieved, they manage to maintain some sort of a crude, boastful talking to be expected of the ordinary bully, but directly they find their plans go astray, they indulge in the type of abuse to be expected of the orator of the Munich "pub." Thus the more vehement the German Press and radio become, the more certain is it that the enemy has been rudely jolted. The Germans appear to have thought that after all American assistance would not amount to much, or that it would come too late, or that in any event it would not affect the chances of German victory. Indeed they endeavour to tell some such thing to the world at large, but the violence of their abuse, the childish practice of calling names, the display of hysteria all clearly Prove that they realize the importance of American assistance to Great Britain and her Allies and are very considerably worried over it. The Nazis are undoubtedly criminally minded but they are very naive caitiffs.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.