25 MARCH 1938, Page 26

THE PRESS AND GERMANY

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The Spectator on March IIth thought fit to express the opinion that Herr Hitler was justified in complaining " of the ' irresponsibility ' of the British Press, of its mis- representation of the German situation and of the inaccuracy, which he thinks intentional, of its foreign correspondents."

As specific examples were quoted " recent reports of 40,000 Austrian Nazis ready to cross the border should Herr Hitler's negotiations with Dr. Schuschnigg fail and of unrest among the East Prussian garrisons during the ' purge ' of the army."

" It is true (said The Spectator) that such reports seem to have been published without any confirmation and, to say the least, on insufficient evidence." Within a few hours of the publication of this statement, an invading army of not 40,000, but 13o,000 was on its way to Vienna.

For the information of the Editor of The Spectator—who should be in a position to know whether the Neirs Chronicle, which published the warning report on February 24th, is irresponsible or not in its handling of foreign affairs—I may state that the News Chronicle held documentary evidence of this message from its most experienced correspondent. Events have spoken since.

Reports of unrest among East Prussian garrisons were published by the News Chronicle in common with every Other newspaper in Europe with the qualifying statement that they came from outside Germany. Immediately the permission of the German authorities was secured, the News Chronicle sent a correspondent to investigate on the spot. His con- clusions establishing that a few days later there was no evidence to confirm the reports was published fully and prominently in the News Chronicle.

I leave your readers to judge which is the more irresponsible : the British Press in its fulfilment of the increasingly difficult task of recording the facts of the swiftly moving events that are changing the map of Europe, or The Spectator in its smug and ill-informed criticisms.—Yours faithfully, NORMAN D. CLIFF, Foreign Editor. The News Chronicle, 19-22 Bouverie Street, London, E.G. 4. [The News Chronicle was not mentioned in the article to which reference is made, and it seems strangely anxious to apply to itself criticisms which except in one particular were entirely general. With regard to the one particular, the statement published by the News Chronicle on February 24th that " the Austrian Legion, composed largely of Nazis who fled into Germany after the rising in 1934 is still massed within an easy march of the Austrian frontier," our corre- spondent appears to consider its accuracy proved by the fact that large numbers of German troops—not Austrian legionaries —crossed the Austrian frontier on March r rth-r2th. Those who find the argument convincing will, of course, be convinced. —ED. The Spectator.]