ALL THE WORLD LOVES A FAKER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 48, 25 August 1914, Page 4

ALL THE WORLD LOVES A FAKER

TO THIS EDITOR. Sir, — Permit me to quote Tho Preacher : " Wisdom is better than weapons of w^r, and one sinrter destroyeth much good " ; and at the same time let me hand in a protest against the British or foreign fakei 1 who inspires*, the daily tale of fiction and fabrication that is dished up to us as war news — stuff that seems to be designed to inflame ignorance and scatter prejudice. Most of the matter is un-British, and savours of the "bulletins" that have so often in history .been the anodyne of the French. Is not the fact plain that the Germans have made a • solid and sturdy advance through Belgium? The Belgians have put up an admirable fight and -resisted the might of Germany in a manner that exceeded our wildest anticipations. At best, as a country with a guaranteed independence,- it has not had the incentive to develop its defences, to the maximum. Is it not- fair to assume that when the' French frontier is reached the Germans (comparing the Belgian resistance) will find the road to Paris impossible. Apart from luck or the Victor Hugo theory of the Great Right Hand intervening, I am 'confident tnat an attacking force under modem conditions is at suc4r"tlremendous disadvantages, that if the Germans penetrate forty miles of French territory it will be at a cost of human life that will make that nation impotent as a world-power tor quite a generation. That we are fighting a nation, thorough and painstaking and endowed with great ableness, is a fact that must not be lost sight of, and I can see no good in blinking at it. The German intellect, as displayed in science and philosohpy, and their organisation in business, augurs well fov the capacity of their war leaders, who have perhaps studied the art of war more assiduously than any other European nation. The constant magnifying of 'mere outpost affairs, and the fact that Liege and Brussels are occupied, and in no engagement do the Allies appear to be worsted, carries the impression of incredibility -throughout. . The tales of German brutality and general inhumanity do not ring true, and with long experience of the German character I do not think it so. Stories of the German soldiers running like rabbits and French soldiers acting the part of terriers seem the height of puerility. Try and get us something more fit for men ! Troops, as we have it recorded of the Prussians, who march to battle at daybreak chanting " Morning red, morning red, thou lightest me to my early death," are troops that savour much of the quality of Cromwell's Ironsides, and will acquit themselves as such. On sea we all hope for another sga fight like Trafalgar, Aboukir Bay, or Copenhagen in the vicinity of Kiel, and we have good reason to expect such a success, but it will be a waiting game. Meantime the steady application of our energy and enthusiasm in the direction you give such an admirable lead — ' namely, pf utilising any and every channel of assistance— witl redound much more to our credit and be much more effective than dwelling on the fabrications of the cable man. We are something more than children, and the spirit of Harold Begbie's note on the Tommy Atkins correspondence in your Saturday's issue is still among us. Nine out of ten of us would still struggle up to win when the referee begins to count. A bas the faker! — I am, etc.,