and almost impressive skill? Does not everybody realise that the Northcliffe Propaganda is too shrewd to work by means of mere newspaper tales that could easily be disproved, and therefore resorts to the much more subtle method of carrying unrest, disloyalty, and alarm into our country and into the lands of our allies by means of verbal communications of all sorts? Paid rascals are systematically employed for this purpose. It is this sort of person who propagates these wild stories in Germany and upsets our sense of proportion in connection with war events. These are the facts. Let people bear them in mind before they promote the Northcliffe Propaganda by repeating every bit of washerwoman's gossip as gospel, even though it be without the slightest foundation in fact."
In the Hamburg district matters were much the same, for the influential shipping journal Hansa printed the following on September 14:—
