The Wilmington morning star., 1944-09-29
Strainir,g At Gnats

A new argument against any word of criti.
clsm OF Soviet Russia has made its appear.
ance or If not exactly new, it has been heav-
Ivy stressed OF late. 1t takes the form of saw.
ing that every censorious word uttered in this
country against Russia helps to prolone the
war by whipping up German hopes of a rift
In Allied unity. No distinction is apparently
made between honest doubts of Soviet policy.
prompted by this very anxiety for Allied uni
ty, and malevolent anti-Soviet propag anda. The
Germans know that the war is lost II they
keep on fighting. it is on the desperate chance
that the enemies drawing in on them from
all sides may yet fall apart. Therefore, as
one RADIO commentator put it few days ago,
every harsh word against Russia is so much
oxygen pumped into the lungs of q collapsing
Germany. The same theme is everywhere in
print. s
This Is, in the realm Of pure logic and the
ory, plausible case. The only things against
1t are the facts OF the last six months az
written by the Red Army in the east and
the western Allies now fighting on the Rhine.
We say six months because the radio com.
mentator quoted in our preceding paragraph
began his remarks by saying that obviously
the relations between Soviet Russia on one
hand and America and Britain on the other
are rot as good as they were six months ago.
ana ne went on to say that this was a nat.
uraI state OF things in one respect Six months
ago the Allies were not yet sure Of victory
as as tney are now Allies never quarrel when
they are in peril and need each other every
moment OF the day. Allied unity begins tc
crack when the danger is over.
But II we grant the basic contention that
tne Allled nations are not as good friends a.
they were six months ago. it certainly has
not been reflected in the behavior of the Allied
armies. Just as the commentator warns u.
that every harsh word against Russia put:
new life into Germany, the Red Army storms
into the suburbs of Warsaw. vivid editoria
picture shows us beaten, wounded, starving
exhausted German people eagerly scannins
the American press for unkind remarks abou
Russia, and on the front page of that same
paper the Red Army storms into Tallinn.
On the other side the Soviet press has hae
some very harsh things to say about the Oh
positlon party IN our election campaign, bu
TINS does not induce the. Republicans under
Patton and Hodges to sulk on the Job.
What the Germans have seen in the pas
six months, if we are to accept the origina
statement. is Allied relations deterioratng'
and the Allied fronts remorselessly closing il
on Germany like the red hot metal walls il
Poe's THE Pit and the Pendulum Alice
relations are getting out of joint but Alice
strategy is working like clock. What il
there in the military story of the last 81,
|
that the beautifully oiled Allied machine viii
stop before the job is finished.
Actually this argument Of tx Germans pin
ming their sole hope on an Allied quarrel lead
us to just the opposite conclusion. Instead O
keeping up resistance the Germans should b,
surrendering without loss of time. They shoule
do everything in their power to speed up til,
armistice or the peace, because it is onl,
after the peace that alliances begin to cracl
up. The wise man in the story who found him
self caught between two enemies charging
at him from opposite directions sprang to on,
side and his opponents crashed into each other
He did not stand his ground and try to hole
off his assailants with one arm apiece, hopin,
that ultimately the two men would get to dis
| like each other more than they did him.
That would be the theory on which Ger
many is supposedly fighting to the last Onl,
it happens to be IN sharp conflict with anothe,
favorite theory, that Germany hopes to &c
out of Allied disunity softer peace than sh,
would get if Soviet Russia alone had the dis
position of Germany's fate. If 1t is Americ;
and Britain from whom a beaten German,
expects milder treatment, she is hardly soin,
at the Job in the right way by making tn;
western Allies pay heavy price for ever,
inch Of the distance between the Rhine anc
victory.
| OF course, It may be mistake to ASSUME
that the German mind is capable OF reasoning
at all. Otherwise the Germans must have no
uced that Marshal Stain and his general.
criticism as some friends Of Soviet Russis
are in this country. 1t is good many months
now since a large body Of American public
opinion has spoken out frankly about Sovie,
policy in relation to Poland But instead Of sulk.
! ing in its tents. the Red Army In this perio