News Behind the Headlines

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 260, 17 November 1939, Page 1 (Supplement)

News Behind the Headlines

. . . PAPAL PEACE All week news-men waited for confirmation of the rumoured peace proposal from the Vatican), but no offer has come. Of Poland, Pope Pius XII. said: “ Do not despair, or harbour rancour through hate. We do not say to you, ‘Dry your tears.’ ” . . . KITCHEN FRONT The blockade is having a telling effect upon the German people. Food is scarce and hard to get. All but soldiers and party officials go to bed hungry. In restaurants venison, wild pig and wild fowl, hunted in the forests, have taken the place of pork, veal and beef. The system of community shopping has been abandoned, and food queues have reappeared. Housewives spend most of the day waiting in line. It is no longer possible to entertain guests unless they bring their own food with them. . . . KISSING BEARDS Clean Germans must manage on one cake of soap per month per family. A tube of shaving cream must last five months. Hitler girls passed resolutions not to refuse to kiss men with beards. ...TAXES Income tax in Germany is up 50 per cent., tobacco tax 20 per cent., beer tax 14 per cent. It is a crime to ask for a rise in salary or for extra pay for overtime work. Every able bodied man must pile up sandbags. . . . RADIO Radio stations no longer broadcast organised programmes, but confine themselves to bulletins, warnings, pep ’talks, and propaganda, interspersed with recording of military or classical mtisic. ...THE PRESS Newspapers are down to single sheetsi' All print the same official news, which consists of: (1) Comments from the press of friendly neutrals; (2) abuse of England; (3) Hitler’s or Nazi leader’s messages. The enemy is referred to as England. France is seldom mentioned. . . . CLOTHING Clothes are rationed as well as food. Men are allowed only two suits, and must prove that these are worn out before they can buy any new ones. . . . BOADICEA Last English Queen to lead her people was Icini ruler Boadicea, who massacred a Roman garrison to revenge an insult to British honour. Last week Queen Elizabeth emerged from the Buckingham Palace dugout in a morning gown of her favourite blue. While not exactly bestriding a war chariot she was by hei husband’s appointment, Com-mander-in-Chief of the thiee women’s auxiliaries to the fighting services—Women’s Royal Naval Service (“ Wrens , Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (Wafs), and the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service (Wats), and the uniforms of these organisations were added to her waidrobc. . _ . . . WOMAN’S WAR The greatest triumph of World War 11. has been the work of 15,000,000 British women. In the first week of wai nearly two million children, oldsters, and invalids were moved from congested cities to count!y districts. The advent of as many as ten strangers to some country homes has taxed tempers and management to the utmost, but on the whole the home front was held by heroes. ... CASUALTIES ~ Worst economic casualties of war are typists and clerical Shop girls, too, were ' sacked by the thousand. Selfridge’s dismissed. 1,000, John Lewis 300. Those remaining mostly had to accept 25 per cent. cut. Wives of well-paid business men ; called tof.the colMait2 : poverty 1 run out - ' |" ... complaint! There are some 1,500,0(Vq women employed in war but another million are in Frjd work. , Inefficiency of titl| d leaders is causing much grumii _

ling, not so much on account of . favouritism, but because there is not enough work to occupy the women already engaged. Auxiliary police women are being recruited; 2,000 women are being trained as bus conductors in London; and 300,000 are busy preserving, bottling and canning. . . . LETTER WOMEN All women are labelled in groups by combinations of letters. People who gibed at the American system of letter abbreviations, such as the C. 1.0., A.A.A., A.F.L., now find themselves referring familiarly to Wats, Wvs, Waacs. Here are a list of women’s organisations and their abbreviations: — V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment) were formed in 1909 to serve as nurses for the duration of the war. Wages, £3O to £4O a I year. They wear blue gingham aprons and are trained by doctors ; and nurses for service in military hospitals at home and abroad. Membership is now 60,000 (1918, 126,000). Wrens (Women’s Royal Naval Service) has 2,000 members, who cook, keep books, cipher, etc., at naval bases. Mostly naval wives they are paid almost Navy ratings. , . ... Wats (Women s Auxiliary Territorial Service) arc inside the familiar khaki uniforms (tunic, skirt and cap). 1 hey are the successors of the celebrated and occasionally indiscreet Wane’s, who went to France 57,000 strong in World War T. Wats (now numbering 20,000, aged 18 to 43) live in barracks, play hockey (watched absorbedly bv soldiers off duty), dance, specialise in make up and midnight parties. Fannies. Affiliated with tne Wats) are several thousand. “Fannies” (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry). Founded in 1909, they were motorised, and now drive ambulances. Wafs (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) are the top service in the woman’s forces. Ran are largely society girls. Eleven thousand are now in jobs. Many more thousands wish to join. They live in hotels near aerodromes, wear neat jumpers, and help repair motors, chauffeur officers. Chief attraction of the service is the proximity of gallant airmen. Wvs. Not so tony. not smartly turned ouL unpaid, but by all odds the biggest, most valuable, most womanly of the British female war services arc Wvs (Women’s Voluntary Service). To Wvs goes the honour for World War IP’s most important event —the evacuation of women and children. . . . CONSCRIPTING WEALTH Last month close-lipped Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir John Simon, announced a war budget of £2,000,000.000 for the current year (equal to £5 per week per family). In the drastic taxation that followed incomes were cut by a tax of 371 per ccnt - 11S more than six times what the British taxpayer had to pay in 1914, 36 per |C.ent. more than he had to pay last year, and ten times what ;the United States citizen pays. A man earning £2 a week now pays tax (without any Social Security benefits). Last week the British taxpayer suddenly realised what had been done to him. The Government had conscripted wealth. Said the press: “No Labour Government would have dared to submit such a Budget.” . . . WHY ESTONIA Many people have wondered what reasons, if any, Russia had for . demanding the use of Estonian ports. The Baltic base of the Red Navy is Leningrad, which is frozen up light for three months of each year. Estonian harbours, however, are just below the ice line, and can be used all the year round. . . . BALTIC BLOC A sad man is A. Hitler asi he watches his late enemy, “ s<jum pf ; , the fearth ” StMinj repeat Jthe ggfo.U-Yin. y- y l -V° -H- 1 ? and' ' bh.idge'on onyjdne Baltic" Power after another 4 .}*; For more., than 20 years it has been a German ambition to invade Russia through Estonia. One of the terms .of the Estonian-Russian Pact was that each agrees to defend the other against aggression from any great European Power (i.e., Germany). Last .A

week |he Finns were baulking at the same clause. Finland, which has the propaganda honour of being the only country which has never defaulted in its war debts to the United States, is a last outpost of capitalism against the vast unknown of Soviet Socialism. Its efficiency has evolved a compromise between State Socialism and Capitalism as we know it. Finland is the home of consumer co-operatives. Probably with Sweden, the most progressive country in the world. Finland has little trade with her parent country, Russia. In their eagerness to avoid intercourse with the dreaded parent, Finnish leaders tried to bluff their people about the terms of the Soviet Pact. Having some of the spirit, but not technique of. Hitler’s Nazis, their bluff failed when Finnish listeners heard Motoloff expose the trick. . . .STRATEGY A tall, nervous Englishman is Captain Basil Henry Liddell Plart, 43, D. 5.0., V.C., whose theories of modern warfare have done more to prepare Britain than any 50 top ranking generals. His book: “The Defence of Britain,” published last spring, has 433 pages of meaty horse-sense. His axiom that “ defence is the best form of attack ’’ shocked the brass hats, but it impressed a young, up and coming minister, Leslie Hoare-Belislia, who acted on Hart’s advice and completely modernised the British Army. “Our chief risk of losing the war,” said strategist Hart, “ is by pursuing the mirage of a decisive victory on the battlefield. Under present conditions it would be folly for the Allies to attempt an offensive against the German West Wall.” “ ROTHERMERE KINGMAKER” “POWER OF THE PRESS” “VISCOUNT SUED” Towards the end of the last century two budding journalists acquired control of an unimportant little weekly called “Answers.” In a few years’ time their ability to judge what the reading public wanted had earned a handsome profit. . . . THE HARMSWORTH BROTHERS In 1894 the “Evening News,” an ailing London daily, had fallen into the receiver’s hands. An able journalist, Kennedy Jones, had persuaded a shareholder to give him a parcel of worthless shares in the “Evening News,’ ancl with-these Jones was able to induce the publishers of “Answers” to invest £25,000 of their profits in the venture. Thus the publishers of “Answers” obtained control of what had once been an important London daily. Their names were Alfred and Harold Ilarmsworth. Under their skilful guidance the “ Evening News” began to make money, and in five years had made enough for its proprietors to start a morning daily of their own, the “Daily Mail.” . . . MIDAS TOUCH The liarmsworths had the Midas, touch, for although they started the “Daily Mail” with only £15,000 in 1901, by 1914 it was worth considerably more than £1,000,000. The credit for this was due principally to the eldest brother, Alfred, who was raised to the peerage as Lord Northcliffe. Northcliffe had a wonderful gift for judging what the public wanted, and his “Daily Mail” revolutionised journalism the world over. It was the first paper to sell a million, copies, a day. And its influence in moulding public opinion was greater than any other force in Europe. . . . NORTHCLIFFE Alfred Har msworth was a journalist—a writer who dearly loved his art. His younger brother, Harold, however, was at heart a financier, a dealer m\ monqy who had noLint.erest Jn jr- " UELRpTHERMEiRE) In 19lt) Harold Hannsworth, already a millionaire, as the result of his brother’s genius, launched into newspaper publishing on his own. tie bought the “Daily Mirror,” a picture paper, and soon acquired control of two other picture papers.

In 1922 his brother died very suddenly after a brief period of mental illness. His brother lost no time in taking over Northcliffe’s interests, which amounted to over £5,000,000. Lord Rothermere’s methods were questioned by members of his brother’s staff, and many legal 'actions were taken against him, but Rothermere was so firmly entrenched that these were unavailing. . . . FINANCIAL WIZARD Between the years 1922-1938 Lord Rothermere has been active in buying and selling papers. His profits- from single deals have been as high as £2,500,000. He controls to-day some 100 newspapers and periodicals. Besides publications and newsprint, Lord Rothermere’s financial genius has found outlets in many ways, and he is now interested in farming, canning, armaments and textiles. His amazing financial transactions are so complicated that even authorities like the editors of the “Economist” find it hard to estimate his wealth. As a guess, this must be in the region of £40,000,000. . . . NAPOLEON OF THE PRESS Towards the end of 1926, the Napoleonic successes of his financial strategy began to afflict Lord Rothermere with a Napoleonic outlook. He turned his attention from the limits of Britain to the wider possibilities of Europe. He acquired property in Germany and elsewhere, and took to spending much of his time in between buying and selling papers in meddling in European intrigue. . . . HITLER’S FRIEND As early as 1927 he had met Adolf Hitler, who was the protege of Rothermere’s German counterpart, liugenburg. A powerful clique of German bankers and industrialists were sponsoring several semi-military organisations, one of which was Feder’s Nazi party. Hitler’s principal financial backer was reputed to be Sir Henri Deterding, the Anglo-Dutch oil millionaire. Rothermere himself has frequently been cited in Germany as one of Hitler’s early backers. The whole power of Rother-

mere’s Press has been used to support both Hitler and Mussolini. Some of the people associated with this clique were involved in the notorious “ Chervonelz Scandal.” This was a plot to flood Europe with forged Russian banknotes and so injure the credit of Soviet Russia. The German police blundered on to the plot; and before they could be silenced, the world had learned that many of the most powerful men in Europe had been party to a petty felony. As with the recent revelations of the activities ,of the “Link” in England, the people involved in the highest circles prevented publication of the facts. . . . THE ZINOVIEV LETTER Lord Rothermere also has been accused of knowing more about the forging of the Zinoviev letter than has been admitted. His paper, the “Daily Mail,” was the first to publish this historical fake which altered the whole course of British, and possibly world, history. « ... A FORGERY The Labour party had won many municipal elections and were making a bid for power at the General Election of 1924. About a week before the election the “Daily Mail” published a bombshell in the way of a letter to the British Communist party from Zinoviev, the President of the Third International. The letter purported to be instructions to unloose terror in England, and the result was the defeat of the Labour party at the polls. Months afterwards it was proved that the letter was a forgery. . . . FINANCES FASCISTS Lord Rothermere’s admiration for Hitler went to the extent of financing the British Fascist party of Sir Oswald Mosley. . . . PRESS RETICENCE While these and many other activities of Lord Rothermere were well known to many in Britain, his power is such that no mention of them has appeared in the Press. The peers who control the Press of Britain live in glass houses, and no one is eager to throw the first stone.

The Inside Story of What is Happening in the World To-Day

. . . “ DIRTY SPY ” Now, however, a surprising thing has happened. This week’s cable news has included reports of an action for breach of contract against .Lord Rothermerc by the Jewish-born Hungarian Princess Stephanie Hohenlolie. Our readers will recall that we reported recently that the Princess Stephanie had been called a “dirty spy” in the Ritz diningroom by the Duchess of. Westminster and friends. . . . SUED BY PRINCESS The unrefuted allegations of the Princess, who is a close friend and propagandist of Adolf Hitler: Her counsel, Mr. G. Hi Beyfus, K.C., revealed that on June 21, 1927, the Princess Stephanie supplied Rothermere with the material for articles sponsoring the revision of Hungary’s frontiers and the restoration of the Hapsburg family. _ These articles earned him almost the veneration of a saint in Hungary. He tried to capitalise on this feeling by suggesting that his son, the Hon. Esmond Harmsworth, should be nominated as King of Hungary. This caused some estrangement

between, •• • the Rrinices j jV^HMB| • - -MH . However. can ! “t&Jee engaged,, the PriM|§ll sonal foreign rerMill salar)fof'£s,ooo'aMß| Thjroti’gh' 'her L«||| corresponded witlHH and the Empress’ trigue to restore /S| thronesXple. was eiS the ex-Kaiser and tral Prince; August Will' was a. ‘ staunch sup Hitler. After a , while, Ltn mere again wished l the Princess, but as-si posed to write her r the Press, Lord Rotfie mised to pay her £5, for life. In 54 years ! £46,000. * . . . HITLER’! In 1936 the priric panied Lord‘ ( chtesgarten to. sceOja 1938 the Princess ffi ||||| ceased. fpayipg ■ Eery. ai S enj|||^i|^sA|lt!ie v .: Pr i hied' that groundwork .for tl Pact. t f ' \ ConjnigKat this tim will .great measi if it succeeds, in ex Rotifermfefe and othe enemies. r • -