South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-03-06
Gennany's Political Offensive
In An Army Cantonnent
BY w. 6. stcretf.


The moment the Germans began
iheir march through Belgium we
were thrown into the danger zone.
To some IL was apparent then. and
10 all now, that the triumph OF Ger
many meant war 20 us frc.n the vic
tor later on. We had at the time
German sympathizers who made
speeches. published newspapers, and
wrote articles in the latter and m
magazines. all in the propaganda Of
diyerting cur sympathies from Enc
land, Belgium and France and in
allaying our suspicious OF Germany.
our vessels sailing the seas were
seized and destroyed and our men.
women. ard children on them
mercilessly slaughtered Still our
government shesitated. and properly.
perhaps. and German activities as
stated. continued. hut I'm a some
what less bold way. Then the war
came and the German prOpagandists
lowered their voices TO a whisper
and disappeared from sight. but
they were not proselyted. They did
not die. And they did not cease their
work They are IN numbers now az
they were at the time Of the inva-
sion OF Belgium They are ont
among the fathers and mothers Of
the boys who have enrolled in the
army-out in that civil population
which is the mainstay of the ranks
who must do the fighting in front.
They no longer present the cause
OF Germany as just. because they
now affect 10 be American patriots
vi no are more interested i'm the well
fare OF the American soldier than
In anything else. They have bored
themselves into all the avenues or
our life-bored into factories farms,
the navy. army and the home. and
their mission and their work is 10
spread the poison Of discomfort and
dissatisfaction with conditions. To
them the gossiper and the scandal
monEer and the purient-minded and
the anarchist and the disturber are
implements which they utilize easily
and without danger 10 themselves.
Make Many People Dupes.
The innocent and ignorant re-
former is made a tool. They deceive
the sincere and truthful preacher
in the pulpit. They make the mother
toss on her pillow in thinking OF her
soldier child. They cause the shall
low-pated workman to set fire 20
his own work. In the civil life II
America now Germany is doing
more to overcome US than she can
ever do when she meets us face 10
face on the field OF battle. This may
sound extravagant, sensational. But
the disclosures of the secretary II
state. Of the speeches Of Pres't VIII
son. Of the exposure by the secret
service OF factory and other indus
trial destruction day by day war
rant all that is said and more.
Right here i'm Texas scarcely q
day passes that we are not shocked
with some new story Of deplOrable
moral or physical conditions exist
ing at the various army encamp-
ments established by the govern
ment at Fort Worth. Waco Houston
and San Antonio. 1t is impossible to
conceive that such stories have their
origin in pruriency or depravity Of
the human mind. Why could "A hui
man being delight in spreading "A
story OF soldier boys, fresh from the
freside, being placed against a wall
and shot for desertion when never
"A deserter has been thus punished?
Why could a mind be so low as TO
originate and carry the report that
our boys at these camps are rotting
with venereal diseases when il IS
false2 Why should the new soldiers
be pictured TO their mothers rs
living in a beastly state Of drunken
ness when there is not a particle Of
truth in it? These stories, as said.
are in circulation everywhere at all
places and at all times. The women
working in the Red Cross societies
discuss them, weep over them, and
are discouraged by them. The father
and mother lose hope for their army
boy as they whisper them TO each