THE CALL FOR REPRISALS.

Evening Star, Issue 23688, 23 September 1940, Page 4

THE CALL FOR REPRISALS.

It needs little imagination to picture the horrors that the people of London are enduring at the present moment. There is terror from the sky, night and day, always with-them. Homes are wrecked, great business houses ruined, essential services such as drainage, water, and gas disorganised, and, worst of all, death and ghastly injury come to the helpless victims of Nazi barbarity. Pity has no place in the hearts of Hitler and his ruthless associates. When these things arc considered it is not surprising that there is a cry for reprisals. Revenge is not the prime motive with those who make such a demand, but the belief that if German civilians were called on to bear what British citizens and their families are experiencing the indiscriminate bombing by the enemy would cease. So far the R.A.F., acting in accordance with the Government’s policy, has confined its attention strictly to military objectives. Though that course has beep followed with the direct purpose of checking the invasion plans, it can be taken for granted that the British Government would in no circumstances other than the present have entertained the thought of dropping bombs on congested populations. Dreadful as the thought is, there appears to be no alternative to employing the Nazi method. Iff urging that the children should be evacuated, the London ‘ Daily Mail ’ uses these words: “ Hundreds have been killed and some have seen their parents slaughtered and watch their world crumble.”

It is a question, of course, of first things first. When Mr Churchill was walking in a London street last week a crowd called to him: “.What about bombing Berlin? ” and his answer was: “ Leave that to me.” Wo know that the Prime Minister is neither indifferent nor timid. He is not lacking in energy or vision. Time has restrained his adventurous spirit, but we can be certain that when the time is ripe he will strike and strike hard. Since he assumed office constant efforts had to be made to wreck the German invasion plans, and there is every reason to believe that, supplemented by the Navy, the magnificent work of the (R.A.F., in widely extended operations, carried out often in the most difficult circumstances, has so far frustrated the Nazis’ intentions. The chagrin of their leaders at the shattering attacks on the enemy concentrations on the coast and on their great industrial plants inland is reflected in their aerial warfare, which is meant to intimidate the British people. But submission to intimidation is not one of the Briton’s characteristics. As the leader of the British railway men, 400,000 strong, says: “We are not as a nation cowering, helpless and defenceless, under assault. We are fighting back with ever-growing power behind our counter-strokes and with everexpanding resources.” Appeals to reason and pleas for compassion find no response from the Nazi regime. In a cold-blooded, calculating way Hitler began a war of aggression which has been conducted with unrelenting ferocity. Inoffensive populations, under the power of the mailed fist, are called on to suffer incredible hardships. And after all this Hitler’s main objective, the destruction of the (British Empire, is as far off as ever, and among Britons the inflexible determination is that the war will not end till his infamous rule is ended. If it becomes necessary to expose German civilian populations to the deadly risks of heavy bombing, such a course will be regretted. On that point, however, the responsibility lies with the German people in allowing themseflves to bo led and dominated by individuals whose mentality is on a level with the savage conquerors of the dim past.