Evening star., 1945-01-02
HitIer's $ Speech Seen
AS Significant News

AS Sl0HlIiCuW NCWS
Petty Quarrels Between Allies
Will Prolong War, Writer Says
BY David Laurence
Hitler's speech can be dismissed a.
the eflusions OF an egotist who Is des-
perately trying to bolster the morale OF
the German people, but there Is never
theless in his New Years broadcast
some significant news.
Undoubtedly Hitler prepared the ad-
dress with an idea Of what arguments
would appeal most effectively to the
German nation, and 1t Is interesting to
note what extensive use he made OF the
petty quarrels among the Allies and
especially of their plans to dismember
German territory
1t is to be noted, too, that he spoke
scornfully Of the tendency of the Allied
statesmen to count their chickens be-
fore they are Matched and especially
did he seem to gloat over the delays
that frustrated the Allied plans for VIC
tory in 1943 and then in 1914. Persons
who are given to overconfidence and
wishful thinking can ignore these COM
ments Of Hitler as inconsequential, but
careful reading of what he said ought
to be made by those who are responsible
for our so-called psychological warfare.
1t Is commonly assumed that psyche
logical warfare Is the routine business
Of some underling in a Government
agency or Of some subordinate unit in
the Once of War Information. But
the persons who really conduct psyche
logical warfare for the Allies are Messrs.
Roosevelt, Stain and Churchill and
that group of apologists in our midst
who have begun already to belittle the
democratic process by arguing that any
thing which the Big Three may say or
do is right or is above criticism.
Hitler's Opportunity.
Hitler's opportunity to keep his nation
fighting frantically will grow rather
than diminish and the war will be pro-
longed exactly as many months or years
as the Governments in power at Wash
ington, London and Moscow are indif-
ferent to the things that can make a
a lasting peace as distinguished from
the things that keep enmities alive and
hatreds perennial.
There must be candor and frankness
in discussing international affairs to-
day. The world must be delivered from
the so-called experts who come from
that r,ro cficol oroIIr IF rborv;,,icte and
reactionaries who tell us now that ideals
must be abandoned because ideals are
an evidence of lack of imagination and
practically.
Such outbursts, for instance, as that
which came from the London Econo-
mist the other day are natural con-
sequence of the diplomacy Of today
which believes in hush-hush and OH
cial camoufiage of real points of diff
ference among Allies. The British peo-
pie have evidently never been told
how strong isolationism has been in
the United States and how danger
ously Mr.. Roosevelt had to stretch the
statutes to come to the rescue of the
British with destroyers in 1910.
British publicists, now that Britain
has been saved by American help once
more, must not assume that they can
do again as they did after the last war,
namely, brush aside American idealism
and expect America always to come
to the rescue when power politics" and
spheres Of influence" bring on European
wars. Maybe the next time the British
really will misfire and forfeit American
aid through sheer stupidity.
In Britain fortunately, however, there
Is growing liberalism which frovns
on the materialistic ruling classes who
think more of monarchies and class
distinctions than they do of ideals. The
imperialists have already begun to carve
up not only Germany but the whole
world and the sad part of 1t is that
they have American influences allied
with them which echo that same self
ishness and narrowness of view.
Step to Totalitarianism.
When We begin to read that ideals
are worthless We must be prepared to
hear that the might -makes-right doc
trine is best after all. This is but a
short step to the philosophy of the ex-
ponents of totalitarianism.
One would think from reading re-
cent comments from the British ex-
| perts and some of their American
brethren that the truths in the Atlantic
Charter are of no binding Importance
at all and that the parents Of the young
men who have made the supreme sacri-
| flee can be bluntly told that their sons
were killed in order that imperialism
may live on. For it looks as If we al
ready are being given the same anes-
thetic that was administered when
Lloyd George and Clemenceau carved
up Wilson idealism at Paris after the
last war.
Ideals. If sincerely and honestly ex-
pressed, can end this war where
swashbuckling boasts and threats have
failed. But men who have themselves
compromised with truth and principle
cannot speak with conviction. The
Allied cause needs new leadership and
new spokesmen because its premiers
and presidents have proved themselves
lacking in idealism. Maybe the national
legislatures can supply the missing soul
The hope Of the world perhaps lies
In few men of vision in the British
Parliament and the American Congress
who are not afraid to insist on ideals
even though inconvenient to tradition
unpalatable to pride or expensive to
someone's postwar pocketbook.
Reproduction Rights Reserved)