TOPICS OF THE DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21178, 30 July 1940, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Swift Action Needed “There is a very real danger to this country,” said Lord Mottistone in the House of Lords. “As a Cabinet Minister himself put it to me, suppose a crowd of airmen were to drop down in Hyde Park and 200 of them appeared there. I am afraid the first reaction of ordinary people, if there were no soldiers, sailors or airmen present, would be to say : ‘Tut, tut, we must telephone to the police.’ I believe that is perfectly true, but what would be the good of telephoning the police, because at the same moment as those airmen appeared in Hyde Park the telephones would have been put out of action. I do not know if your Lordships have considered that the methods which the Germans have adopted with astonishing success in, I think, no fewer than nine great cities without firing a shot, had been adopted previously in America by gangsters like Scarface A 1 Capone. This man held up completely the whole city of Chicago so that no man could get justice except by favour of A 1 Capone. His method, pursued with infinite skill by the German Gestapo, reinforced by a brilliant army and staff, have enabled the Germans to do the remarkable things which they have done. But what is it based on ? It is based on highly specialised technique and on the fact that every German young man is thoroughly trained to arms and to swift combative action. We ought to be so trained. We used to be.”