THE COLONIST. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1917. "BOLOISM' IN ALL SHAPES AND FORMS."

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14545, 25 October 1917, Page 4

THE COLONIST. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1917. "BOLOISM' IN ALL SHAPES AND FORMS."

In tie course, of his speech at the Albert Hall on Tuesday, reviewing the war situation with his accustomed breezy optimism, Mr. Lloyd ■ George put his hearers on their guard against the insidious campaign Germany is ceaselessly carrying on in every part of the world tt rough her hordes of spies, agents, and hired criminals. "We must beware," he said, "of people who are trying to sow dissension. The enemy on most of tie battlefronts has organised with deadly care and ingenuity^ an offensive behind tie lines. I know what I am talking about, j France discovered it in time. Look j out for Boloism in all shapes and forms. The. enemy is attempting toH divide the nations. and pit one ally against another, but I am glad to say that the Allies are working witti the greatest harmony." The ramifications of Germany's detestable, system of underground diplomacy, if the word may be used to describe one of the most abominable aspects of the German conception of war, is a subject of daily revelation. "Boloism," the word coined by Mr. Lloyd George to characterise the meanest form these conspiracies take, probably would not even to German minds seem worthy of such a description. It aims at sapping the confidence and stamina of the enemy civilian population by every I conceivable form of terrorism and outrage, financial, political and industrial, and the dissemination of false news, frequently by purchased renegades, such as 8010 himself. A si ape taken by the campaign in 'France was described recently by the, special correspondent of "The Times" at French Headq\:,arters. It is part of a general plan for keeping up or raising the spirits of the public in Germany, and, as they fondly imagine, for sowing the seedsof depression in the minds of the French. The policy of their news- : papers and of the fertile brains ttat

| control their wireless messages is t< convince-their readers that the Frencr ■ nation and armies are morally and ; physically exhausted, and tfcat, therefore, all that Germany has to do i« i .to hold on a little longer, waiting foi i the inevitable collapse. It is carried jon with much epeciousness by cunningly cliosen extracts from French newspapers, JjJnd, even official documents1, by confident prophecies of th« impending fall of the Ministry, and ec on. Jn Germany the campaign of poison gas is carried on chiefly by the newspapers. In France it is secretly and insidiously worked by German agents, who, by one means or another, contrive to spread their stories not only in Paris and other big towns, but also at the front, and endeavour to make each of the two separate worlds of civilians and soldiers believe that in the other (of whicfr, except for the coming and going of the permissionaires, they know very little from their own personal observation) there is a growing spirit of discontent and discouragement. There is nothing of the kind. The enemy must prepare their false witness with greater skill than they lave shown so far, if they expect more iihan a few timid spirits to believe it, and oven then it will fail in its object of creating dissension between the men in the fighting zone and tire population behind it. They are all solid for France, for their Allies, and for victory. "That, at least, is how it strikes an English observer" says the correspondent. "All of us are tired of war,, as a man is tired and strained when he is running a long race. But because tr is is^ a race not only for self-preservation, but for all that we hold dear and believe to be right, we will run till we drop. And we do not mean to drop u,ntil the race is won. That, I am convinced, is tho spirit of France," "Boloism" is not confined to France, and it is not entirely engrossed by such ineffective endeavours as those mentioned by tie correspondent. The term may be used generally for the'protean forms of German espionage and sabotage in evidence in every country on earth. It has been very conspicuous of late in Australia, and we have it in New Zealand. The Prime Minister's warning should be taken to Ireart in every part of the Empire, and the malignant eraBade must l)e dealt with by more determined, measures than any of the' Governments of the Empire have yet been moved to. adopt.