CAMPAIGN OF LIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15930, 29 May 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

CAMPAIGN OF LIES.

FOSTERING GERMAN HATE.

GROSSEST LIBELS CIRCULATED.

It is instructive, fays I'.yc Witness, to study the means lvlicrehy the " campaign of hate" against Great Britain is nitiiuluineJ amongst the German troops. Theic is no doubt that- among members of the Government, the official gang, the military party unci the professorial class, hatred of lib lias needed no eucouiagemcnl: It is a spontaneous exhibition of rage, spite, and exasperation, due to tlie failure of the secret ambitions and docp-laid schemes of years, brought about by the fact that the British nation has not proved so flabby as it was thought to be, and lias spoiled the easy victory upon which the Germans counted.

Amongst the population animosity is seduously, though quite unnecessarily, losteicd by articles, '•hymns,' and libel* which are'so malevolent that 'tin would defeat their purpose with any people capable of sane judgment. The soldiers who have left the Fatherland and are fighting on foreign soil, however, cannot uc influenced to the same degree by the.--meant. But this docs not imply that measures are not implored to engender in them the same senseless fury that obsesses their countrymen at .home, the. outcome of which, acting as they do upon natures inclined to brutality, is apparent in the various acts of savagery committed by the German forces.

As regards the official incitement of the troops against the British, more than one order was published about the time of the attack upon Ypres in which we were characterised as the "most hated foe,' "barbaric troops,' and accused of using "dum-dum" ammunition.

This is the translation of a portion of an article from the Taglichc Ruudschau, one of the leading German newspapers, dated Berlin. .March 28, 1915. It refers to the Battle of Neuve t'hupelle : — "British Methods of Making War.—ln this battle the English have again given striking proof of wh.it depths of infamy tliay ore capable. At their first assault they drove Sikhs and Gurkhas, apparently unarmed, and with uplifted hands, in front of them. The Germans, naturally, did not shoot. ,so the enemy reached our trenches without losses. At their second assault these infamous English ' canaille' d.'ove the German prisoners captured that morning in front of them in the attack on our trenches; those who refused to advance were beaten to death."

The Kolnisthc"Zeitung., another leading newspaper, publishes a letter purporting to be from a German officer who fought against Us at Neuvc Chapclle: —

" I must confess that before I joined the army I used to look upon the stories of English cruelties and dirty tricks with considerable suspicion. Now I have had personal experience, and .must admit that, black as matters are painted by our newspapers, they are- in reality still blacker. The following are examples, for the accuracy of which 1 can vouch, as they were communicated officially -to the troops by our division; 250 English in German greatcoats ana! helmets made signs to -a party of German soldiers to join them, and then shot them down at close range; German prisoners were used during attacks by the British troops as cover for the adranee, etc."

Presumably'such libels serve their purpose, and are credited by those' for whom they are intended. '