Germany Preparing for the Worst.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 229, 24 November 1916, Page 8 (Supplement)

Germany Preparing for the Worst.

Bv THE EDITOR OE "JOHN BULL".

When (bo you think the war will end? That is a question on the lips of -everyone. Nowadays men when they meet have somethng more important than the weather to talk about—war. War occupies all our thoughts. "When do you think the war will end?" How ln'my times has that query been addressed- to me by politicians, by soldiers, by the expert, and the layman? No sane person will attempt to give an answer to a month, and I notice that Cabinet Mnisters when they .speak of our present victories are always careful to hedge —to make certain that whether peace comes suddenly or is indefinitely delayed, they will be on thb right side of prophecy. My own view is that if you want to know exactly how the war is progressing—the war, I mean, on sea and land, the war of economic pressure as well as the bloody fight n the trenches —you cannot do better than go to Germany for your informaton. I am quite ready to admit that you have to be somewhat of an expert at newspaper reading to divine between the lines of the German press if you would find out what is happening on the other side of the Rhine. And the difficulty is enhanced by the fact that the German people, although the truth is slowly dawning upon them, are still in great ignorance as to the progress and fortunes of the war. We have sometimes complained of the Press Bureau for keeping back the truth and for watering down unpleasant facts. But, compared with German methods, it need' hardly ' c said our official attitude toward the public is one of complete frankness. Yet, in spite of the suppression and the deliberate lying which arc indulged in by German officialdom, the truth is gradually leaking out, and the Hun | press—conscious that its readers are ■ becoming aware, however faintly, of the true state of affairs—is beginning to discuss matters with a. rcvealng candour which would have meant imprisonment, or at least steppage of publication, a few months ago. THE CHASTENED HUN. What a change lias come over the spirit of the German dream! While taking the curative waters of a British Spa—and they are just as good as tho German, which none of us will ever drink again—l have found leisure to study somewhat closely the German newspapers. It was worth the time. Let anyone with a pessimistic spirit —if there be one such left now in this hap pv land of optimists—and e fair knowledge of German do what 1 have been doing. I can promise him an eyeopener. He will first of all understand that the Great Offensive has already penetrated to the Rhine. The pushing back of the German soldier has st'.ll to bo accomplished. But the mind of the German nation has already felt tho blow —that is the psychological result of the splendid effort of the Allies on all fronts. It took a fortnight before the average German heard that Rumania was in the struggle on our side. 1 Now the bitter pill has been swallowed : and, having recovered speech after tho shock, the German is denouncing our new Ally with all the guttural hate and insane anger twhieli, as a rule, are reserved for us alone. Greece —or at 1 any rate, some of her best statesmen aire also being made the subject of gross denunciation. It is a good sign. It means that Germany fears the worst. I only hope that Tino will very soon come to bis senses. Tho fact is, tho Great Push, like the (wonderful Verdun defence, has upset all the calcula- ' tions of the Kaiser and his war gang. At the beginning they had everything as they desired —well, not everything, for Paris and Calais were taken off the menu. But they started the aw fill ' music of war, and having prepared for it and having willed it when they wore ready they were long able to call the tune. Now the Allies are dictating time and occasion over the battle fronts, just as they will dictate the terms of peace. The Mad King and his myrmidons know the game is up, and impotent fury is taking the place of a i real military offensive. ; A CHANGED TUNE. ' With tho stern consciousness of impending defeat, those who seek to foi m and guide public opinion in Germany ' are trying to buoy up the national spirits by denunciation of wicked Britain more frantic and more unrestrained than ever before. But behind the insults and the taunts, underneath the ' braggadocio of the bully, is the fainting heart of the beaten man. Don t I for <r et that a few months ago German statesmen talked of territorial conquest—their mouths .watered lit the. ' thought of the fair fields of Belgium and the rich cities of Northern trance. ; What they had got they would hold, l together with a mighty bulging pnrse —the gross indemnity which pooi, 1 paralysed England would have to pay ' to proud aud victorious Germany 1 'io- ' day the tune is pitched in a minor key.' Those who still believe in territorial gain and big money-bags sing their songs under their breath no one ; listens to them. The sane and sobered I minds are now engaged in denouncing all thoughts of land gaiins and as in ; rooivey exactions from the hated British —well, no one is so foolish as even ! to mention them. Stripped of cverv ; possession outside Germany, denuded of all those Colonial lands acquired : t so much cost and held only by colossal " outlay, Germany realises that she is a beaten Empire. She is fighting on—- ~ not for what she may gam, but lor , what she can save. 1 have told you ot ; the Kaiser's peace proposals—ot thoso plans, too clever by halt, by which h< hoped to be. able to withdraw his ioicp - to the Rhine, and, once there cstahv lished, to hold out for a. war of ex- ; haustion. We may expect that < broken War Lord, who is statesni.m . enou.'h and soldier enough to understand to what desperate straits ho has brought his country, .will make ot or attempts to save his throne by manip- ' ulating peace. But the people of Gcmanv, the common folk, are alu ady n dire'straits for food. Their spirit 's waning—they must at all costs be promts! from breaking down altogether ■ H' th.. Kaiser i< to make still more - i frantic effort to keep back the foe now Mtvssin" him with merciless force We-t - I 'md East, on his unhappy and inisI ,r„ided subjects the brunt will fa". < 1 Therefore, to prevent tb'e growing discontent and rising anger reaching <laii--1 «rer point, the hungry Huns at lioni" must be made 'to understand what c I. - > f ( >at would mean. Lealle s are being ' circulated in Ccrniany describing '» tho most lurid colours the tonal,h ' meaning of victory for Britain. Just ' ns thev try to prevent u^ surrendering by telling then, that as ■ ! soon as they get to the enemy hn^ their throats ;! re cut. so they a.r o «■* „-

THE CHASTENED HUN. KAISER S SHATTERED A CHANGED TUNE. DREAMS. GERMANY IN DESPAIR.

ing to nerve the nation to hopeless esistancc by picturing the meaning and measure of defeat. This new kind of propaganda in Hunland is one of the most hopeful and most healthy signs. BRITAIN'S DETERMINATION. Vi hat is it the German peopJe are bciing told? Well, it is a characteristic mixture of half-truths an dwliole lies. You can separate the one from the other for yourself. According to this leal let, the ma jority of the German nation are unable to appreciate what defeat at the hands of tho British would mean. (Note, by tho way, how they fear us rathe rt-lian the Allies in general.) It is a dangerous mistake, they are told, to regard as vain lion sting the speeches of British Ministers and M.P's who declare their aim to be tho overthrow of militarism, the destruction of Krupp's works and the banishment of the Kaiser to St. Helena.

" 'Sink, destroy and burn' was ever Englands' motto." What follows is worth quoting textually:—

For God's sake let us not deceive ourselves about England's determination so to force Germany to her knees that she must accept England's conditions without resistance, and be wiped out for ever is a competitor in the world's markets. All classes of the people are united in this resolve, from the First Sea Lord to the humblest dock labourer at Newcastle-on-Tyne. It cannot be too firmly insisted that strh a victory for England would mean irreparable catastrophe for the German Empire. Not only would the German Empire be dissolved, but our people themselves would be most seriously threatened with extinction, especially in view oi the Russian torrent pouring in from the East. After that, you will not be surprise! to learn that a British victory would ruin the .whole of the German middleclass, especially the trading middleclass, because good-bye all hope of making the Allies pay Germany's war cost, nad so for generation to come the Huns' war burdens would grow enormously. KAISER'S SHATTERED DREAMS. Don't you agree that this frantic appeal to the German nation to realise what defeat would involve —a defeat which is as certain as the sequence of day and night is supremely significant? It. is the frenzied appeal of official despair. Remember, a little while ago the temper of the German people and the tone of the German press wore very different. Then we were beaten to the dust: the dlay wis to come when the Uhlan would ground his lance in Trafalgar Square, and the Kaiser would ride alons: Whitehall to Buckingham Palace : We were to be humbled —broken in our pride. _ India, was to be ai jewel in the Kaiser s crown. From Berlin to Baghdad the. wonderful German railway trains were to run with luxurious speed, linking West and East—consolidating the German's power in Central Europe, expanding his "Christian" influence in the whole Mussulman world, bringing the Orient under the benign sway of German Kiiltur, breaking the Hohenzollern flag in the breezes of the world —the might and power of the Kaiser would be proclaimed in al lands. That was the dream, that the Imperial fantasy. Contrast the not long distant past, with the eloquent and outstanding present. Germany is beaten. "The tide has turned" is the more polite phrase. But in my view, the irresistible waters of victory are flowing with relentless force. Nowhere can the Kaiser turn for comfort, nowhere can he look for hope. Austrian and Hungarian—Bulgar and Turk—are fighting, not to conquer, but to avert overthrow. The German people are growing thin and pale under the power of our Naval blockade, which even yet is not as tight as it might be, and must be drawn tighter. German war material is waning while ours —including those wonderful armoured cars—grows every day. Ask our military experts of what the German shells are now made and the measure of their efficiency, and you will understand what 1 mean. One Generalissimo may be substituted foi another, one form of tactics scrapped and another tried to meet the altered conditions. But nothing can stop the relentless tread of tho Russian, the climbing gallantry of the Italian, the grit of Serb and Rumanian, the dogged and conquering bravery of I'rench and British. THE LAST LAP.

And so we come to the last lap; but, as often happens in a contest, that lap may test our stamina to the uttermost. All' said and done, the German is a desperate fighter, and he will die hard. Mr. Hales recently repeated a warnin"' which he gave us a year oi more ago of one method of fnghtfulnoss to which the enemy may resort in his despairing death throes. And who shall say what others there may be in store. Of course, in the end we shall overthem all —but we must piepr.red. On the other hand, the Kaiser mav have shot his bolt, and instead of further exasperating the Allies and alienating the sentiments of the -Neutrals, may endeavour, at the elevent.i hour, to placate them by a semblance of repentance. But here, too. we must be equally on the alert, or assuredly we shall again be fooled. Persona.K, 1 lean to the idea that he will resort to E latter policy, and I bare already indicated the line* upon which I t i n, it will proceed. StiH, our duty is p n. Shells and m< n—men and shel.s. li.oikade and more blockade: money and munitions, and ever more money and munitions, for our Allies: and a stout heart a united front, and a resolute will at home. Then tbe ghastlv will soon be over, and the « be ridded, once and for ever, of the accursed Hun. And the ictorj will ho hastened when the German wake up to a full realisation of the™ in which they have been duped-a id t mav not- be for the hat, d British, after all, to .lecr'eo St He.e.i for the hist of the Hohenzollei ns.