DEFEAT OF HITLER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24430, 16 October 1940, Page 6

DEFEAT OF HITLER

WHY IT MUST HAPPEN SOME HISTORIC PARALLELS MR FRANK MILNER’S ADDRESS The birth of the German legend o 1 invincibility, how it was beaten in the past, and how it will be beaten now, formed the basis of an address on “ The Challenge of Nazidom to Our Empire,” given by Mr Frank Milner, C.M.G., rector cf Waitaki Boys’ High School, before a large audience in the Town Hall last night. Mr Milner held the close attention of his audience throughout while he analysed the cause of Hitler’s rise, traced the course of his march through Europe, and clearly outlined the factors that must bring about his defeat. He was loudly cheered at the conclusion of his address. and was later accorded an enthusiastic vote of thanks on the motion of Sir Percy Sargood. The Mayor. Mr A. H. Allen, presided. “This political blizzard in the form of Nazidom is no new thing,” Mr Milner said, “for it is deeply embedded in the past., You can go back in a straight line to at least 100 years before Christ, and you find the Germans at this expert game of theirs—crossing the Rhine in natural forays on Gaul and as far as the Alpine ramparts of ftaly. You find a primitive Goebbels still gobbling abcut the power of German arms and giving the Roipan soldiers the ‘ jitters.’ They were repeating legends of the Invincibility of the Germans, and it took Caesar a long time to recall to them that they were members of the most powerful legions in the Roman army. Thirty-three limes have the Germans crossed the Rhine ravaging and pillaging, and it was that slogan of the invincibility of Germany with which Hitler captured the idealism of the youth of his country Only Hope of Peace

"It seems a horrible thing to say,” Mr Milner went on, “but until-that myth is exploded and that idea of, the invincibility of Germany is shattered there is no hope of continued .peace in this world. ' The German people are warlike mainly because of the Prussian element, and that element backed up Hitler’s movement because it saw that through . his instrumentality it could erect again the military might of Germany. These gangsters in power must keep up the slogans of warfare; they must step from conquest to conquest. from stunt to stunt. The. swastika now flies over 10 capitals of Europe. Never before has one man held such power over such a huge area with such congested populations. It is almost a miracle, because only a few years ago Germany was down and out.” Mr Milner analysed the Nazi creed of Nordic supremacy (as though Europe were a sort of human stud farm), of the • deification .of the State instead of human flesh and blood, of the persecution of the Jews, and of the ideal of world-domination, and asked what the war was really about. It was simply the old question, he said, of human enslavement versus freedom, individuality, and personality. By their demand for the regimentation of the whole mentality within the State the Germans had since 1931 been goosestepping back through the ages. It was that sort of force that was now opposed to our civilisation, which was working for the fullest development of the freedom of the individual. A Psycho-Pathic Genius

"There is no doubt that Hitler is not merely a neurotic freak,” Mr Milner said. “The man is a genius, but he is a psycho-pathic genius. He has stripped off all moral scruples and has sold his soul to the devil. He had at least seven years’ start on us in .this war and spent £900,000,000 on arms in each of those seven years, but we are catching up.” > ■ : Some would say that this war was a clash of jarring imperialisms, Mr Milner added, but there was no comparing the Bri.ish and German positions in that respect. Started, admittedly, from economic and adventurous motives, the British Empire had proved as the years went on that it was the only colonising power that granted the right of selfgovernment, and it. had carried out that principle consistently since. The colonies were free to put taxes on the goods of the Motherland or to do anything of the kind they wished, but they were, of course, governed and.administered by wise men who realised that their only hope lay in remaining within the ambit of the Empire. It was a spiritual axis, not a legalistic or coercive axis, that bound the Empire. People—some in New Zealand—who called the Empire a vampire, did not know what they were talking about, for at a time when it was in absolute ascendancy it had. for instance. looked after the interests of the small nations, and had given independence, one alter the other, to Belgium, to Italy, to Greece, and to Portugal. At the same time it had upheld the rule of law. and had worked out the ideals of constitutional government that we were carrying on to-day. “ She Will Smash Hitler ” Mr Milner spoke of the historic transfer of 50 American destroyers for the lease of eight Atlantic bases for the United States, and referred to the tremendous resources in the United States that were now at the disposal of Britain. “ The position of Hitler is now hopeless so far as winning the.war is concerned,” he said. "He may hang out for some time, but not only do we get air parity by the end of this year, but about that time also there will be a great increase, with Roosevelt’s .reelection. in the amount of American help we will receive. Americans who were doubtful before now realise that the blitzkrieg has been beaten. Britain smashed the Kaiser and she will smash Hitler. With our navy, with our air forcfe. and with our army we will get rid .of. these gangsters, who-, can--under-stand only force, going ( i bn' tstrdhgthened by the knowledge that we have the moral and material support of those who know that Britain is the bulwark of free men all over the world.” (Cheers.) Songs with a patriotic flavour were sung during the. evening by Miss Bertha Rawlihson and Mr Arthur Mac-: donald, and appropriate selections were played by the Kaikorai Band. .