CONDUCT OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 188, 6 May 1940, Page 9

CONDUCT OF WAR

Political Leaders In Britain Criticized COMMENT IN PRESS Objection To Ministerial Complacency By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. LONDON, May 3. „ The "Manchester Guardian” says: "The Norwegian episode is the more bitter because it follows so much shallow Ministerial optimism and even boasting complacency. “Mr. Chamberlain’s speech immediately before the German invasion was the same as his complacency about his pact of friendship with Mussolini and his innocence about the dealings of Hitler. “His capacity for self-delusion is a national danger because it damps the country’s awareness of peril and almost certainly reflects his complacent handling of the conduct of the war.” . The "Daily Mail" say's: “The scales are falling from the eyes of the British people. We would like to think that they are also falling from the eyes of our leaders. The bitter lesson in Norway will be repeated unless we find the answer to the question, ‘ls the war as a whole being conducted efficiently?” The public has an uneasy suspicion that it is not. “The unfortunate speeches by our leaders in recent weeks indicate that they are fooling themselves and fooling' the public. We must rid ourselves of the tradition of victory and abolish the thought that we will win the last battle. This war is to the death, and we have got to fight.” The Durban correspondent of “The Tinies” says that the newspapers pungently criticize the British Ministry of Information, pointing out that the Ministry issued reports of Allied successes in the Dombas area throughout the withdrawal of the Allies. The Natal “Daily News” says: “The Ministry made fools of news agencies, deceived the Press of the Dominions, and confounded the public.”