Evening star., 1940-01-03
Nazis Not Starvinq,
Correspondent Told;
Party Man. Smiles
All Is Good Here in
Germany, ToIkotive
Eater Declares
(Forty-Fourth OF a Series }
By WILLIAM l.. WHITE.

SASN1II, Prussia (By AlrmalD.-
So I packed my bag, but did not
go to Czecho. Instead am pointed
up toward the Arctic Circle in
search of a war. From here the
steamer will thread its way toward
Sweden through the mine fields.
boat or plane should some day leave
for Finland, where they are said to
have sad little war going on.
The only powder the war CORE
spondents in Berlin have smelled
to date is that on the shoulders of
the night club hostesses. But up
North a brave little democracy is
spilling its blood in the snow to alb
solutely no purpose, for nobody is
going to help it and it cannot pos
sibly win, so I am going up there
to watch the wrong side win, and
in passing let me say that I am
very tired of doing this. Nothing
will be proved by the suffering OF
this little people except there are
still men who are willing to die for
freedom, which is an old story in
Europe.
But it is not old in America be-
cause people which has always been
free cannot possibly know how nice
freedom is, just as man who has
never smothered can never know
how nice fresh air is, and Ameri-
cans can therefore be pardoned for
thinking that these foreigners who
will go out and die for some alb
stract noun like freedom are may
be little silly in the head.
Life in Small Town.
But o, my friends, they are not
silly, and you can never know this
until you have been for some time
in place where there is no free
dom.
So while I wait for the boat to
sail for Sweden, let me tell you
something about these North Prus-
sian small towns.
I had to change trains at Strals-
und and there was time enough
between them to have dinner in
the railway cafe, which was already
pretty we'll filled with the leading
business men and thinkers and
takers of this small town. The
waiter put me down at table with |
five of them. One was the owner |
of the cafe, small man who did |
not talk much because he owned |
property. The man next to him
talked great deal, so I guessed |
that he owned less property and
had less to be careful of, although |
he was pretty fat. The man be- |
yond this village windbag identi-
fled as the village party man be-
cause he had his party button on |
He was the plumpest of all, and |
because he was the village party
man he did not need to say much. |
Whenever any one passed our
table and saw the party man they
would say Hell Hitler!" and give
the salute. Then everybody at our
table except me would sreturn the
salute and say Hell Hitler!" In
small towns they do this much more
than in Berlin.
started to eat my founder, and
I remarked to the village windbag
that it was the best founder I had
ever eaten.
"We used to sell it to England"
he grinned. Nov we eat it our
selves"
Then he asked me where I was
going and I told him.
Finland" he said and he glanced
at the party man. That will not |
take long. Such a small state Rus
sia such big state"
Which do the Germans like bet
ter" asked, "the Firms of the
Russians?"
One Big State--Strong.
Before he answered. the talkative |
man looked at the party man. But
the party man was eating his fried
herring and said nothing. So he
said:
Finland is a small state. There
are too many small states in Eu-
rope. America-and he spread his
arms-a big state. Strong! Soon
Germany and all Central Europe
will be like that, too-one big state
-strong!"
Here he looked at the party man.
The party man continued to eat his
herring, but he nodded approvingly
At this the talkative man looked
very pleased. I remarked again
how good the founder was
"All is good here in Germany"
said the talkative man. The hotel
keeper did not say anything I said
I could see that it was. You could
have had herring, if you did not
want founder or a pot roast And
we have butter, too. Yet the Eng
lish say we are starving"
Waiter" said the talkative man,
"bring the American schapps and
some beer" I thanked him and said
he must later have one with me.
$50 now you cannot write for
your papers that all is not good in
Germany and that the people are
starving" And he looked at the
party man. This time the party
man actually smiled, so the talka-
tive man looked very pleased with