The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-10-05

| ina propaganda" are being used
There is the story that American sol-
diers are Keeling around the streets Of
London, drunk. 1t has been disproved.
There is the charge that while we are
stinting ourselves to save grain the
English are using it to make whisky
although we are saving and shipping
| chiefly wheat, which is little used In
dlstilling, and the figures from Eng.
land show that the English liquor
| traffic has been decreased by the war
almost as much as ours. And there Is
the report that millions of British SOL
diers are held in England while the
allies are "doing their fighting for
them"-a falsehood that is sufficiently
discounted by the fact that the British
empire has 100000 men In the field
and a half million in her fleet; that
of the British troops in France 70 per
cent are English, per cent Scotch, 8
per cent Irish. and 16 per cent Cana
dams, Australians etc. and that the
casualties among these troops have
been 76 per cent English. 10 per cent
Scotch, 6 per cent Irish, and 8 per
cent Canadian, Australian, etc.
The German Observation-Disclosures who
first supplied arms for the revolt in
Ulster against home rule, and subse-
quently shipped arms for the revolt of
the home rulers--these same promot-
ers of disunity are now furnishing
| the Irish in America with any story,
any argument, any SANDER that can
arouse anti-English prejudice among
us. On the Pacific coast, in the same
way, they are rafting the dry bones of
| the yellow peril. The average organ
of publicity that was pro-German be-
| fore our declaration of war, no mat
| ter how pro-American it now pretends
to be, almost invariably uses the anti
British and the anti-Japanese appeals.
| And just as the Zimmerman note tried
TO unite Mexico and Japan against us,
so the enemy of our unity alternateS
denunciations of the yellow peril with
appeals for declaration of war
| against Mexico.
Should Be on Guard.
The German sympathizer who tells
you the story Of how Il discharged
japanese servant boosted that the
japanese would soon Gown America"
invariably couples it with lying ac-
count Of how all Washington is saying
that "the next war will be with Great
Britain about the Panama canal" On
the Italian front, before the successful
| German drive, counterfeitS of Milan
newspapers were circulated, contain
| ing accounts Of how bread riots had
! been suppressed in north Italian towns
by British soldiers imported for that
purpose, after Italian troops had re-
fused to fire upon their own people.
All over Italy the argument was used
that the nation was merely pulling
! England's chestnuts out Of the fire"
The same argument is now doing duty
here, in spite of the fact that the
United States only went to war in
/ self-defense after we had endured
every form of German outrag Ind in
i 3asa1t5 &c, rs Anf
peaceful appeal.
Many of the agents of this sort Of
propaganda in America, both publish
ers and "whisperers," are protected
by their American citizenship and by
the traditional freedom Of speech
which our laws permit, The govern
ment has no power to reach them.
They are often the innocent victims of
| guiltier minds. 1t is only possible to
warn the public Of the infection which
they spread, and to mark them as
| carriers" of that German propa-
ganda bacillus which completely ener-
waited the strength of Russia and so
nearly broke down the italian power
Of self-defense.