Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-10 | Page 8 | Morale of Germans Needs 'Bucking Up'

Morale of mm keeds miiiG up ; Men Selected in All Ranks to Spread Propaganda Among Comrades. By NEWTON C. PAKKE, Staff Correspondent of International News Service. W IT i 1 TH K A IK RICA N A 11 MY 1 N FRANCE, Dec. 9. The German government govern-ment has begun a great psychological drive to "buck up" the morale of the soldiers, sol-diers, and convince them that, reardle of the appearance of an American fighting force in the front lines next year, Germany Ger-many cannot possibly be defeated. A notebook found on a captured German Ger-man captain discloses the inauguration of a new system by winch the kaiser nopes to pi event iris men from becoming faint-hearted. This system begins with great general head.Uari.ers workers down : gradually through the headquarters of i armies, divisions and even companies. ! Tn each company, men believed to be 1 thoroughly in sympathy with the policy I of militarism, are selected to spread propaganda among their comrades in the trendies and billets with the view to de-teat de-teat ing i he arguments of those soldiers who are weary of the war. "To these selected men certain private instructions" are issued, containing, among others, the followins: precepts: "Make it evident that the military interest in-terest stand?, first of ah." "iake the future of the submarine warfare war-fare stand out." "Strengthen the desire to win and the willingness to bear everything." "Do not persuade, but convince." The men selected for this propaganda are further instructed to deliver lectures to their comrades on these questions: "Why should we defeat Kngland?' "Why does the war last so long?" "Wnv soldiers should subscribe and urge theb- families to subscribe to the war loan." The disclosure of the existence of this new system in accepted as evidence that the kaiser's government is by no means satisfied with the present state of the soldier morale, despite the Russian collapse col-lapse and the Teuton successes in the Italian campaign.