Evening star., 1943-06-30

degree and on an even vaster scale.
have never indulged in shallow
and fugitive optimism but I. have
though 1t right to make this state
ment because am sure it will not
lead the slightest complacency or
relaxation of the awful force which
is now being brought into action.
This force will be remorselessly
applied to the guilty nations and
their wicked leaders who imagined
that their superiority of air power
would enable them to terrorize and
subjugate first all Of Europe and
afterward the world. They will be
applied and never was there such
case Of the bitter bitten.
During the summer our main at
tack has been upon the handspring
OF German war industry-in the
Ruhr-but as the nights become
longer and as the United States Air
Force becomes more numerous our
strong arms will lengthen both by
night and by day, and there is no
industrial or military target in Ger
many that will not receive as we
deem necessary the utmost applica-
ton of exterminating force.
The war industry Of Germany has
already to some extent been dis
persed in numerous smaller towns
When the cities are disposed of we
will follow 1t there.
Presently the weight of the Rus
sian air attack, now mainly alb
sorbed by their long front line. will
contribute an additional quota to
the total blitz.
This is, I can quite we'll believe,
the somber prospect for the German
people and one which DR.. Goebbels
certainly is justified in painting in
the darkest hue.
Tyrannies and Cruelties
Being inflicted on Europe.
But when we remind ourselves OF
the frightful tyrannies and cruelties
with which the German armies,
their gauleiters and subordinate tor
mentors are now affiicting almost
all Europe; when we read of
mass executions Of Poles, Nor
wegians, Dutchmen, Czechoslovak-
ians. Frenchmen, Yugoslavs and
Greeks; when we see these ancient
and honored countries of whose
deeds and traditions Europe is heir,
when we see them under this merci-
less alien yoke and when we see
their patriots fighting with fierce
desperation, we may feel sure we
bear the sword of justice and we
resolve to use that sword with the
utmost severity to the fullest and
to the end.
1t is at this point that the heavy
defeats recently sustained by the
U-boats play their part in the
general attack upon German morale.
Apart from mysterious promises of
revenge, one hope which DR.. Goeb-
bels holds out to the German people
is that though they suffer the ex-
treme tribulation of air bombing, the
U-boats on the ocean are inflicting
equal or even more deadly injuries
upon the British and American
power to wage war. When that hope
dies-and die it Wilt will appear
to the most dispassionate observer
that a somewhat raw and bleak out
look is beginning to open itself be-
fore Hitler's accomplices and dupes.
We must allow these corrective proc
esses to take their course.
Meantime. this is not a time for us
to indulge in sanguine predictions.
Rather should we remind ourselves
of st. Pauls Epistle to The Corin-
thians: Wherefore let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed least
he fall"
I may therefore say that our
affairs are in considerably better
posture than they were some time
ago and that we intend TO remain
steadfast and unwearying in doing
our duty and our best, whatever
may betide
l have still TO speak Of the war
in the Mediterranean about which
there is so much talk at the present
time. Mussolinis Italian Fascists,
who are after all only small priv
ileged proportion Of the real Italian
nation, seem to be suffering from
the war of nerves of which they and
their German masters made so much
use in former times. So far they
have only been subjected to pre-
liminary and discursive lombard
ments but they already are speculat-
ing feverishly where the blow will
fall and what will be its weight.
1t Is no part Of our interest to re-
lieve that anxiety. They may re-
member how they themselves struck
at the Turks in Tripoli. at Abyssinia
and Albania and how they fell upon
the Greeks and set out to conquer
Egypt, And they may look back re-
gretfully to the day when they used
to disturb the peace of the world
and when it rested with them which
weaker community could be struck
down first.
Months of Organization
Needed for Campaign.
can do nothing to help them re-
solve their fears, which, communi-
Gated to their allies may perhaps
have led to the remarkable long de-
lay OF the opening of the promised
German offensive against Russia.
But have some words of caution
to say to our own people. First of
all, great military operations are
dominated by the risks and turns of
the future. I know of no certainty
in war, and that is particularly true
OF amphibious war. Therefore, any
mood of overconfidence should be
severely repressed.
Another point which should be
comprehended is that all large and
amphibious operations, especially if
they require the cooperation of
two or more countries, require long
months of organization with refine
ments and complexities hitherto un-
known. In war all impulses, impa-
tient desires and sudden flashes of
military instinct cannot hasten the
course of events.
1 cannot go further today than
to say this-very probably there will
be heavy fighting in the Mediterra-
mean and elsewhere before the leaves
of autumn fall.