Evening star., 1942-03-29
Member Of the Associated Press.
Propaganda and Disunion

Mental confusion, indecisiveness,
panic, these are our weapons" The
statement is attributed to Hitler by
Hermann Rauschning. The Office
OF Facts and Figures, in a pamphlet
prepared for the American public,
uses 1t as the text for an exposition
OF the type of propaganda with
which the United States is faced in
its conduct of the war. The propa-
ganda is illustrated by incidents in
Hitlers conquest of other nations
and, according to the Office of Facts
and Figures, is designed to indoctri-
nate the American people with such
beliefs as Democracy is dying"
Our armed forces are weak" I'VE
are lost In the Pacific Our West
Coast is in such grave danger there
Is no point in fighting on" The cost
Of the war will bankrupt the Nation"
Our leaders are incompetent, our
Government incapable of waging
war" and American democracy will
oe lOSL curing Cne war.
Entitled Divide and Conquer" the
pamphlet-which may be obtained
by writing to the Office of Facts and
Fgures-is attractively prepared and
makes interesting reading 1t is
novel as a Government publication
and may be helpful in exposing Nazi
tricks and putting US on our guard
against their effective use in America.
But the reader will not escape the
lesson that much of the criticism of
our Government heard on every
hand today, much Of the nervous
skepticism expressed by citizens of
whose loyalty there Is no question
and even many of the fantastic ru-
mors exchanged at the cocktail hour
are the very thoughts that the Nazi
propagandists, according to the Of
fee of Facts and Figures, wish to
implant as seeds of division and dis
cord in America.
One cannot doubt that expression
OF such thoughts tends to increase
disunity and hamper the war effort.
There is no doubt, therefore, that
they serve the Nazis. The question,
however, is whether their origin is,
as the book implies, Nazi propaganda,
or whether they are the inevitable
accompaniments Of a free Nations
~AfSaA "a {V, oil yyo
long before the Nazi regime. criticism
OF the National Government and the
competency Of It's officials, terrifying
spread of alarming runors and waves
Of hopeless dissatisfaction have re-
hected the changing humors Of pub
lie sentiment. This war is no
exception in that respect and there
is no reason to believe it will be.
Criticism of the Government, dis
satisfaction on the part of the public
with Government officials and the
resulting tendency toward disunity
may follow the Nazi propaganda
pattern But as such criticism can
not be stifed in a free country, the
best way to combat it is through
demonstration, by the Government,
Of the correctness of its own policies.
This cannot be accomplished by es-
tablishing a gigantic publicity ma
chine In the Government. with
controls on every outlet of news, or
by hiring scores Of public opinion
formers and putting them on the
payroll. It can only be accomplished
by winning public confidence in the
Governments ability by show of
ability. Maintenance Of expensive
governmental services when every
citizen Is being called on for sacrifice,
and the evidences Of ineptitude,
wasted effort and lost motion inher-
ent in bloated. overexpanded Gov
eminent personnel are not conducive
to public confidence and will con-
tinue to be the source OF distracting
criticism.