Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-05-12
SAYS GERMANS BLUFFED
TO KEEP UP THEIR MORALE
BY JoSEPHUS DANIELS
Former Secretary of the Navy

| transport, named by them Levia-
than,' was torpedoed and sent down
today by German submarines!'
| That was the startling news which
the navy radio operators heard from
| Berlin one night in July, 1918, and
promptly brought to me. The re-
port was being spread all over Ger
many, broadcasted by wireless, bulle-
| tined, featured in newspapers as the
| biggest story of the day, and there
| was general rejoicing all through
! the empire.
The U-boats were getting in their
work tlast. They had struck a vi
| tai blow at American troop transpor-
| tatton. The leader Of our transport
fleet, the biggest troop ship, the larg-
est vessel in the world. had been
the President Lincoln two months be-
fore. Now they had 'got" the big
gest of them all This was revenge,
| indeed. This would teach the hated
Yankees that they could not use Ger
many's own vessels to carry troops
to fight Germany. This proved that
the U-boats were stopping them.
The submarines had crossed the
Atlantic, carrying the war to Amer
| ica's very doors, Staying ships right
off it's coasts. Now they were smash
ing them on both sides of the ocean.
That would terrorize the cowardly
Americans. They simply could not
| take over the big army with which
they threatened to flood France.
America Germany's Greatest Fear
These were the German comments.
Nothing could have caused such re-
| joic1ng in Germany, at that moment
The allies were just beginning their
drive, smashing into the German
| lines. The Teutons had not recovered
from the shock of Chateau-Thierry
and Bel!eau Wood, which stopped
their drive on Paris. America had
become the great fear of Germany.
dio operators caught the announce
ment from Berlin that the Leviathan
| had been sunk, it gave me a start. I
knew it could hardly be true for our
| latest reports showed that the big
ship had sailed from Brest three
way home. But my anxiety was not
| relieved until we got positive assur-
| ance of her safety.
The British radio the next day
broadcasted the following: "The Ger
man wireless and German newspa-
German liner the Vaterland, now in
use as an American transport, had
been toropedoed and sunk. The state
ment is false. The Vaterland has
not been sunk. The Vossische-Zei-
tung says that the Americans had in
" UI1AS ONcI d uOA6A u1NlS"
ions in the course Of a year in this
this. If so the intention may be car
ried out, for the Vaterland is afloat
and is in the finest possible condi-
tion.'
Big British Ship Sunk
If the Germans did not know it be-
fore, they knew then that the report
was untrue. It was, in fact, the
Justicia, British vessel which had
been carrying American troops, but
which was returning empty, with
neither troops nor cargo aboard. 1t
Leviathan was over $4,000 tons.
The report that it was sunk was
only one of the thousand queer things
we heard from Berlin. For our
radio operators listened in" on the
big German wireless station at
out. 1t seemed rather uncanny, with
Germany almost cut off from the
outside world, to sit here in America
and listen every night to what they
were talking about in Berlin.
There was laid on my desk every
pose it was the only 'secret" daily
ever gotten out in America-which,
compiled and mimeographed by the
naval communications service and
marked confidential" was sent in
sealed envelopes to all officers and
OlIASA1lS WlOSS duIlSS COIlpGl16u LAGIl
to keep in touch with all that was
going on abroad. And this contained
not only ali the news" and propa-
ganda that Germany was sending
out, but a digest of all that was sent
out by the British, French and Ital-
ians.
Said Americans Wouldn't Fight.
We certainly heard some strange
news" from Berlin-things that
were news to us. One report, re-
ceived July rs, 1918, when our
troops were proving their valor in
1.-THE American army is lacking in
the enc essential, the will to fight.
In any case, it will not be numer-
Gus enough to play any important
part until 1920, and then only pro-
vided the transport difficulty is got
over and the munition industry de-
veloped from it's present nursery
stage. Our submarines will see ito
the transports, and America will
find it impossible to create a gil
gantic army at the same time. Am
munition perhaps, but guns can not
be cast in sewing machine factories.
At present the American soldiers
are without either rifles, or artil-
lery."
And at that moment there were a
million American soldiers in France
and we were turning out munitions
at rate the Germans could not
believe was possible.
The more evident it was that u
boat warfare mad failed, the more
vehement were the Grman naval au-
thor:ties in asserting it's success. Ad-
miral Holtzendorff, head of the adj
miralty, announced on July 20 that
they were taking into consideration
the counter meaSureS-that meant
the mine barrage, the destroyers,
patrol boats and all the new things
1~f~ hot
they were building many more sub
marines, and he declared that final
success is guaranteed"
Berlin Keeps UP Bluff
The Germans never did admit their
failure( and even after submarine
crews had mutinied and U-boat war
fare had ended with the recall Of
their submarines in October, they
were still bluffing their own people.
AS late as November 5, less than
week before the armistice, we
cauhgt this bulletin from Berlin:
English wireless service reported.
and this report was circulated also
in neutral newspapers, that German
submarines had passed Norwegian
coast on their way home with a
white flag at the masthead. This
is a pure invention. English wire
less has thus again circulated a lie"
This in spite of the fact that they
were al hurrying home, some of them
tpassing so close to the Norwegian
coast to avoid mines and destroyers
that they could be plainly seen from
shore.
When the allies were smashing the
German lines and driving back their
armies all along the front, Berlin
was flashing out reports of success
fully repulsing attacks and taking
up more favorable positions" When
tho French and Americans NV ter
rifle attacks drove them across the
Marine Berlin announced:
"Master1y Move" on Marine
'"The excellent execution of the