MORAL ABUSE

SIR,--Your protest against the " orgy of moral abuse " is indeed welcome and entirely just. But you appear to overlook the fact that the moral abuse of the enemy is a peculiarly English habit—or Anglo-Saxon, because the Americans indulge in it even more crudely and violently than we do.
The origins of it are to be found partly in politics and partly in religion. It is taken for granted in our modern politics that Englishmen cannot be induced to take part in a war from motives of patriotism alone. Any exhortation to fight for country or empire would be odious to Labour, the best-organised and strongest of our political parties. Some moral cause must be alleged: the sanctity of treaties, the rights of small nations, the preservation of democracy or of liberty, moral right against brute force, resistance to lawless aggression, and so forth. It follows that, since we are fighting for right morals, the other side must be fighting for bad morals. Nothing good, therefore, can be said for them. And since they are evil men fighting for an evil cause, of course they will use evil means. Hence universal readiness, and even eagerness. to believe that all manner of cruelties and treachery are being committed by the enemy, and the demand is readily gratified by the journalists. And we can't be expected to fight such wicked men and methods in kid gloves, and so cruelty on our part is defended and even advocated.
Also, since we arc fighting for right morals, God must be on our side. The Old Testament promises of victory to Israel are appropriated to ourselves. And since we are fighting a holy war, a crusade, no considerations of prudence, no comparison of our armaments with those of the enemy, no sober examination of the military prospects of victory, still less any humanitarian shrinking from the prolongation of slaughter and destruction must be allowed to distract our minds. Every war becomes a war of annihilation. There can be no compromise, since we are fighting against an evil thing. The other side must be crushed utterly; there must he no parleying with them.
The traditions of British party polities make all this easier. It has been taken for wanted for generations that the party politician will lie for his side. Every measure proposed by the other side must be bad, their motives always base. G. K. Chesterton pointed out that the chief defect of the public school was " its utterly blatant and indecent disregard of the duty of telling the truth," and its training of men to lie for their side. Like other upper-class vices. this has been slavishly copied.
The remnants of Protestant theology are a contributory cause. People are either virtuous or vicious, predestined to be good or bad. The elect cannot sin and the sinner cannot repent. Added to this is the belief that the British have in some mysterious way been appointed guardians of the universe. We are the chosen people.
SIGMA.