ENEMY PROPAGANDA IN UNIED STATES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13973, 20 April 1916, Page 3

ENEMY PROPAGANDA IN UNIED STATES.

Mr Harry Britain, well-known m con-, nection with the Empire l'rees Union, has just -returned to England Jroin a long tour m the United Mates and furnishes the following interesting account of the state of puolic feeling throughout .the Union ; THE JEASI\ - - "Taken as a whole irony Jiaine*,to Maryland, the East is not only preIJonderatingly pro-Ally but tlio energetic pro-(ierman. uanipaign has almost entii-ely missed lire. Most of the great daily papers, a& well as the weekly arid monthly magazines, are so strongly .on our side/.> and the general opinion is so. pronounced, that many Americans, aswell as British citizens, who have not b6en through the country for the last 18 months' find it had to believe that the same conditions do not hold good througlfout the Union. . . "This is, of course, even more the case with a very large number ,of Eastern Amiei-icans who have never' been West, and who soniewhat naturally look upon the great cities of New York and Boston as entirely representative of the sentiments of their .enoi-mous country. This same mistake is almost invariably made by our owij, people here, who are apt "to draw their .knowledge of American opinion from extracts mainly taken from the New' York Press, and reproduced by papers on this side.

THE AHDIJLJi: WEST. "In the great Middle West the situation is. unfortunately by ho means sosatisfactory as it ia in* the Eastern* ■States,, and here we -nd, of 'course, not only a very large portion of the pppula : ' tion, but also a majority of the- strenuous Teuton element. '__,• "Now, before the event of the war, many a man m this vast region had a somewhat narrow horizon- He was vvondrously busy 'making good,' and had no ( time to take much interest m happenings outside the United States; m fact, he was often indifferent to events taking place on his own Eastern or Western seaboard.; and small blame to him, when one remembers that there are almost as many miles between the Middle Westerner and the Coast as there are between Southampton and the Sahara. ■ ■

."Here there was an opening for the missionaries of the "All Highest,' w«th a chance of steering the opinion ol many m this huga section hx the dosh'ed direction, and this the Teuton has been trying to do since the early days pf the war, by means of a campaign as vigorous as it often is capable, and which has certainly increased m intensity during the past few months.

"Under the cloak of 'Peace Movements 1 innuinerablo mass meetings lia.ve been held, accompanied by the distribution of shoals of literature, mainly for the purpose of working up the sentiments of the masses against permitting the manufacture, and sale of munitions of war and other articles listed as contraband to Great Britain and her Allies/

"In order to further influence American opinion m their cause organisations such as the 'Teutonic Sons of America' have been springing up m all directions , for the purpose of consolidating the German and irreconcilable Irish votes m connection with the forthcoming Presidential campagin, as well as m future National, State and City campaigns throughout the country. "A well organised and subsidised press campaign has long be.en m hand. Contracts have been made m advance for space supposedly for advertising imposes, Which space has been filled by articles contributed by prominent pro-. Germans together wilh reading matter which would not othenvise have heen accepted for publication. '•The German advertiser (and many of the big department stores are m this category) has brought a.ll kinds of pressure to bear on papers at all anti-Ger-man, and terrorism is by no means unknown : e.g., the ed'fcor of the — — /one of the few out and out pro-British ' no-nnrs m Illinois) told nu> that lift had received numerous threats that if th? naper did not change its policy the plant. anct building would be blown up. "The quiet, persistent work of the cinematograph has been used tQ its full-

ost extent, by the propagandists for a !"'l yt:ar and Ji-half. and the all-p t 'rvad"ig power of tho 'movies' m tho U.S.A. >« limitless. Tho .mighty German army is. seen m all its imposing strength; It is shown fraternising with the civilian element, being- kind and almost nursenko with little children to the accompanying lilt o f appropriate music, cul> mmating, of course, m the waving of «ag« and 'Die Wacht am .Rhein.' ; THE FAR WEST.

"The (Situation is most interesting, and m many ways peculiar, with an atmosphere almost like that of another laiftl : the great mountain range cutting off these States of the Pacific slope Iroin the rest of the country almost a,s effectively as if they formed, a separate island. Th© people of the Coast have many of the characteristics of the original pioneer; they, are believers m quick thinking and straight talking, hopeful, optimistic, hospitable, immense believers m their own capacity, original and entirely unconventional.

"Speaking roughly, the great majority of the educated classes are heart and soul . with the Allies ; but there is a well-drilled, well-trained and restive minority' whioli makes its presence felt m innumerable, ways. Scattered up and down the Coast are many colonies of Germans, hostile Irish and Jews, the latter both numerous and prosperous, and /very largely of German origin and sympathy. (It is. I think, correct to state as a general rule that by the time the German settles on the Coast he is a man of means and is. thereby able to associate on equal terms with other leading 'citizens m the larger affairs of the country.)

"In some of the big cities on the western slope there' are excellent papers, which take a very fair-minded view of tire Avar, but I regret to say that the samo is by n6 means the case m California, >vhere the solidity of the German?' element seems to have been used almost as. a club to keep most, of the •daily, papers anti-British, or at least neutral, with 'a slight bias oh the German side! This has naturally resulted m very considerable ignorance as to British policy, which is hardly ever alluded to except for purposes of abuse. .."The existing "German and Austrian societies are, of course, well organised, and no doubt through them much information is being obtained for official purposes by the special agents of the Central .Powers. Prvate civilians and .ex-naval and military officers have all been at the beck and call of the. German Consulates, whidh m most cases, even before the war, were fully staffed. Their ramifications are everywhere, and one constantly cdnies across instances of the wondrously small meehes cf. the nets they use. *

"The German spy system is completeness itself, and it is only when something particularly atrocious occurs that public attention is forcibly .focussed on this ever-present danger;' but all the timft. this grt?at machine is: slowly forging ahead and inventing other forms 'of frightfukiess for future application. ' The above are merely «a selection of the^ devious methods of German propaganda, and could be largely added to by many an American who has carefully studied the 1 situation, and whose study has led him through tho maiiy •sections of the Great Republic . sinco' August, .1914. ' Let us,, therefore, reaJise that the American people are engaged m a strenuous struggle, and upon their own .soil, .with some of the Kaiser's hordes : and although the fight is not with* the mafchine. g-tm and . bayonet, it k none the 'ess difficult, because the aggressor, whenever he can- avoid/it,, declines to come out m the open. ' ; ' i - "In. going round this great and hospitable land, where f have always enjoyyd,.'such a warm and/ kindly, >velcomo, 1 met hundreds of Americaiv citizens who Here working night and day for the viefory tliey hope for a« sincerely 'as we do. Do not let us attempt to discourage them by portentously ' announcing that •m their struggle with, the Teuton schem-•ei-s they are fighting an exploded myth, -\ndthait as far as German propaganda is coiicerned 'the whole thinir is pitifully weak and inefficient.' The enemy may bo a. fiend,' but he is not always a fool, wd for Heaven's sake don't let \is maJce .a hobby of under-rating him. "Tliere are to-day thousands of American citizens m the great Middle Wes.t and, .West to whom the jfrritish case has never been presented, and who have no conception of such matters as the fair <>nd "square deal which the Government. is endeavoring to accord :.to American shins and' merchandise, r- We cannot, be DarHes to anything on the lines of the /ooisonous German proivigandaj , and an Enorlishman wouldihever dream of suggesting it; but 1 one or two effective 'iietK^ds hnvo hen pro.posed (and by our American friends) which would, aijswedly make for a cleared knowledge and apprpc'atioti. "If onlr the ripiht kind of tinderstandstariding can be achieved between Brits\hi and America there will'be a brighter oirtlook for the future history of the wwld." j ;