The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-02-22
HUNS PROPAGANDA
/ IS STILL ON FULL
BLAST IN AMERICA
Intentionally or Otherwise
Large Number of Papers
are Helping
GULLIBLE PAST BELIEF
It Is Working With Redoubled
Energy Since Signing of the
Armistice

Me- w YOkh, rep. ZZ-Ine aIl1oQ
governments now engaged in the task
Of arranging the peace terms which
they will enforce upon Germany are
still face to face with insidious, de-
vious, and powerful German propa-
ganda. Unfortunately, the propagan-
dist appears to be putting it over. ;"
Consciously or unconsciously, large
number of American publications are
helping them. These publications are
either in sympathy with the objects
of the propaganda or else are gull
ible beyond belief.
German propaganda, having been
at work in America before we entered
the war, was scotched during the war
by fear of punishment, but it r. :,
entirely ceased, and it is working
with redoubled energy since the sign
ing of the armistice. Today it runs
along several lines, including at
tempts to spread Bolshevism, to
create dissatisfaction and dissension
in the army, to preach the weakness
i of the Administ ratforf, to breed dis
trust between the French and Ameri-
cans ,and to indicate an Anglophobia
in this country.
The object of this propaganda, of
course, is to destroy the cohesion of
the Allies at the Peace Conference, SO
that the Allies may lose the fruits of
their victory through dissension
among themselves. We have an il
lustrious example in the work of
Talleyrand, who, at the Peace con-
ference after the Napoleonic wars
played one Of the allies against the
other and succeeded in turning defeat
into victory. Now that we have beat
en- the Germans in the field, we must
not allow their trickery to defeat us
at the council table.
Let US take up in order several con-
crete examples of German propagan-
da:
The Germans are encouraging Boil
shevism. It is no new trick of theirs.
We have seen positive evidence that
they financed Lenine and Trotzky in
their attack upon organized govern
ment. There are indications that the
propagandists encouraged the Spar
tacan group in Germany and are still
aiding them. The reason in the first
case was obvious overthrow of
the Russian Government. Their post
war plotting is equally clear. First,
the Spartacans give them an excuse
to have a large standing army to be
held in readiness to attack and over
throw the allied Governments if the
Allies can be separated and divided
by dissensions created by German
propaganda Another reason is the
desire to spread fear of anarchy
among the Allies, with the result that
in the final conference they will be
willing to allow the formation of
strong German Government, even the
rehabilitation of the imperial Hohen-
zollerns-in other words, to have the
allied governments feel that they
must choose between the imperial
government and government based
upon anarchy, of which they have
had a frightful example in the Boil
shevistic regime in Russia. The pro-
pagandists hope to raise the question
in the minds of the Allies, "If it is
not the part of wisdom to allow con-
troll of Germany to stayin the hands
of the autocracy, which they claim
has been purged by fire, is repentant
and prepared to be good, rather than
turn it over to anarchy"
The German propagandists in Am
erica have attempted to cause dissat-
isfaction without participation in the
war. Their methods have been two
fo1d-continuous attack upon the Ad-
ministration with the object of con-
vincing the public that the American
people were not behind it's plans for.
a world peace, and creating dissatis-
faction with our army through cir
culating stories of dissatisfaction
among the men, absence of necessary
war material and supplies, unneces-
sary hardships and favoritisn. 1t
is needless to reply that in the sud-
den mobilization of about four mil
lion men no human power could have
avoided some hardships, some delays,
some lack of perfect coordination in
the hastily built military machine.
But the most dangerous, The most
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