Britain Cannot be Beaten

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 103, 2 May 1941, Page 7

Britain Cannot be Beaten

THE MORAL FACTOR AUCKLAND, May 1. “Anybody who has been in London since the blitz began knows that the British Empire cannot be beaten,” said Mr. W. S. Boas, a Dutch journalist who arrived by the Honolulu Clipper from the United States. Mr. Boas, who is president of the Netherlands Publishing Corporation, a concern that publishes Free Netherlands newspapers in Britain and the United States, will spend some time in New Zealand before continuing to the Netherlands East Indies. “The general opinion among prominent and well-informed people in the United States is that it is ridiculous to think that the British Army was sent to the Balkans with a chance of defeating the big German military machine,”'Mr. Boas said: “It was sent to gain time, and, if in that respect things might have turned out more favourably, it will not make any difference in the ultimate result of the war. The British Empire will get a few more hidings, perhaps, but even after taking the Balkans Hitler will not win the war.

“The change will come the moment that 10,000 aeroplanes, but not one less, go over Germany and give the country a thorough pasting. The difference in. morale will count. The British can take it, but the Germans cannot.

‘ 1 Mr. Churchill and his associates can speak out and tell the British people that there are hard times ahead, but each time a dictator speaks, he must find new stories to prove to his people how invincible he is.” Mr. Boas issued a warning against magnifying stories of strikes and sabotage in the United States. He expressed the view that President Roosevelt had the position well in hand, and said that the moment the huge American industrial plan started working in full, United States production of armaments would put in the shade anything ever seen in the past. “Every new Gallup poll proves that American public opinion is each day becoming more in favour not only of helping Britain but of beating Hitler,” he continued. “Too much attention should not be paid to the words of men like Colonel Lindbergh and Senator Wheeler, whose influence was enormously over-rated as a result of clever propaganda. “Figures speak louder than words,” Mr. Boas said. “Last week Colonel Lindbergh gave a cleverly advertised lecture in Chicago and 10,000 people went, but the Polish leader, General Sikorski, who also spoke in Chicago with practically no propaganda help, attracted 75,000 people and had to accommodate ' them in a sports ground. ’ *