“A FAMOUS JOURNALIST.”

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 September 1939, Page 14

“A FAMOUS JOURNALIST.”

[to the editor.] Sir,—It may have happened that owing to large amount of space devoted to war news a certain article published in last evening’s Star was not read by many subscribers, and it may also happen that owing to a greater press of the same war news this letter may never find the pages of the Star, but, if the former was noticed by some and the letter is published then I hope that any conviction of the greatness of the “famous” Madame Tabouis which may be formed in the minds of readers may be banished. Madame’s undisguised admiration of the Communist cause was made very manifest in the Spanish War, battling valiantly as she did for the Republican side and praising Russia as the saviour of democracy, while flaying with her pen the Germans, those instruments of oppression and terror. Her tendencies have been notoriously Left, but I venture to prophesy that like the chameleon she will now change her colour. Russia has sided with her pet aversion, Germany, in the present conflict; how will the noble upholder of liberty take this hefty body blow? It will, I think, tax her literary ingenuity, but Madame is like a straw in. the wind, she does not mould public opinion, she only follows it. Sir, your space is valuable, but may I close with a criticism from one who is more able than I to criticise, Christopher Hollis, noted English writer and lecturer on finance and economics: “We .must be grateful to Madam Tabouis (whom we are persistently called upon to admire as the possessor of recondite secrets upon international policies for giving us proof in her book ‘Perfidious Albion—Entente Cordiale’ that there is no era of history and no country upon which she is not incompetent to write. There can be few living writers who can be so ignorant of anything as Madame Tabouis is of everything. On Page 94 we are told that after the events of 1871 Bismarck and Cavour had no objection to a French colonial expansion. Madame Tabouis omits to give us the most convincing reason why this is perfectly true of Cavour, which was that he died in 1861! So much for the ‘brilliant’ daughter of France. Reliability rather than brilliance is a quality needed by a commentator on world affairs.” So I leave it to your readers to digest sparingly the news bulletins issued from the Tabouis press during the present conflict. The official news bulletins are much more veracious although they might be less spectacular. Yours, etc. VERITAS.