Evening Star Newspaper, May 14, 1940, Page 9

Nazi Action Speeds U. S. Defense Condition Akin to Panic Seizes Some Legislators By DAVID LAWRENCE. Judging by the conversations on Capitol Hill and the sudden de- cision on every side to build up America’s defense weapons, there can be no doubt that the possi- bility of defeat for the allies is more strongly in the minds of the wh ole official group here than it ever has been before. Ever since the start of the war last September, there has been & disposition to assume an air o of detachment on the theory David Lawrence. that even if the allies lost, America could remain aloof from the conse- quences. Now with the startling developments going on overseas, a condition akir to panic seems lo; have seized some legislators. Over- night they now want to correct mis- takes that only time and intelli- gence, rather than money, can possi- bly correct. There is a certain amount of hys- teria, too, about the war bulletins. The quick changes and the approach | of German forces closer and closer; to the channel ports of England | makes the situation quite compar- | able to the uneasiness which pre- | vailed in the summer of 1917 and | 1918 when big drives were started and German superiority of big, long- range guns had begun to cause| fright. . ‘The spectacular nature of air war- fare has undoubtedly brought new problems, but conservative military | folks still insist that airplanes do not | land big armies in countries of any substantial area or fighting equip- ment. That Holland and parts of Belgium would be overrun has long | been anticipated. but it took the Franco forces in Spain a long while | to subdue the Loyalists, and, whlle‘ the airplane was destructive, it was/| by no means the weapon that alone | brought defeat. y Hope for Quick Decision. What the new turn of events means undoubtedly is that the Nazis hope for a quick decision—they believe they can frighten the British and French people into submission. But, instead, they are merely stirring | up a determination to fight a pro- Jonged war. The longer the strug- gle, the more difficulty the Nazis| have in getting enough materials to | maintain their armies of occupation | and their air forces. | As for America, the invasion of | Holland and Belgium has set off a | spirit of determination, too. It isa| resolution not to be caught napping. America’s defense machine is not adequate. It will have to be mate- | rially improved. This means that | airplane production will have to be stepped up fivefold. And this in turn rebounds to the benefit of the allies. | America hopes to keep out of war, but military prepartions will be be- gun at once on the assumption that America may be dragged into the conflict. The Nazis may hope, as did their predecessors in 1917, that victory can be accomplished before American might is brought to bear decisively in the struggle. But the difference today is that, while the Nazis are confident of the use of the airplane and other devices which they think can bring the allies to terms before the United States will do anything about it, the prepara- tions which America is about to make will proceed on the basis out- lined by President Roosevelt last Baturday night when he asked: “Can we continue our peaceful construction if all the other con- tinents embrace by preference or compulsion a wholly different prin- ciple of life?” ‘Will Not Go Unchallenged. This means that a Nazi victory will not go unchallenged by another group of powers some day, in which the United States may play an active part, and that from a military, naval and aerial viewpoint, the United States is planning to defend North and South American con- tinents against aggression. Before long. it will be apparent that a collaboration of Argentina, Brazil and Chile and the United Btates will become necessary in. or- der to agree on joint steps of defense for this hemisphere. Never before has this been done, though .in 1820 Brazil proposed an offensive and defensive alliance with the United Btates. ‘What Argentina’s Foreign Minister emphasized over the week end—the need for a revision of concepts of neutrality in the light of realism— is already taking hold here. Neu-| trality laws as such, are not con- sidered as binding as they were a | fortnight ago—or, at least, before the German government again tore into scraps of paper a pledge as solemn as any that has ever been given to a smaller nation that its Keystone Always Makes Good HousE P that Wealhers the Weather . E. J. MURPHY CO. 710——12th Strect N.W THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, The Capital Parade Evidence British ;Aeun to Help Themselves Changes Anglo-American Relations By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBERT KINTNER. On the topic of foreign affairs, too many American political leaders sound like Neville Chamberlain on a bad day. This country has no right to feel excessively superior about the English leadership. Yet it is a fact distinctly worth recording that the retirement from the cabinet of Sir S8amuel Hoare and Sir John Simon will make a marked difference in the relations between the English and American governments. Y Of Chamberlafn himself, the opinion of the President and the men around him has simply been that he was a well-meaning old man earnestly doing his tragically inadequate best. But of Sithon and Hoare, clever, cold and shortsighted, the American policy makers have always been deeply suspicious. They have thought that the extreme defeatist view- point of Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy reflected the thinking of these two men. And they have blamed them for the dank half-heartedness which has sometimes afflicted the British war effort. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, S8imon was the real bete noire. Early this winter, in this space, it was recorded that in the highest Treasury and State Department quarters, the theory was held that the English were attempting to “crowd” the United States on the question of credits, Treasury and State De- partment officials joined in accus- ing the English treasury of “playing poor.” At the time, this theory ap- peared to be the result of mere over- sensitivity on the part of American officials. . Now that the whole story is known, however, it becomes much more easy to understand. A man like Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, jr., who was tely anxious to do everything in his power to help the allies, could not help making his own conclusiohs when he saw the niggling policies imposed on the Anglo-French purchasing mission from London, The head of the purchasing mission, the able Arthur Purvis, and his equally well-equipped French colleagues were anxious to use the resources of American industry to the full in behalf of the allies. But they could hardly hope to do so when, for example, their air contracts calling for construction of 10,000 war planes were cut in London to 4,600 planes, or more than in half, Real Suspicions From various signs, such as the constant objections from London to the clause in the air contracts requiring payment for the planes whether or not the war was over, the American policy makers even deduced that an appeasement of negotiated peace was still favorably looked on in some quarters. They may have been right or wrong in this, They may also have been right or wrong in blaming Simon and Hoare, Certainly some one was bitterly to blame, for from the first hour of the war it was clear the allies needed as many planes as they could buy, borrow or steal, and the real effort to get all the planes deliverable has only just begun. The important point is that this suspicion of the half-heartednéss of the allies has now utterly disappeared. The old proverb, “The Lord helps them who help themselves,” applies to others besides the Almighty. The converse application of it, unwillingness to do much for people who seemed unable to do much for themselves, has beeh extremely visible in American public opinion. It also has been visible, even more significantly, within the administration. Its disappearance is a great gain. Being Too Smart ; One reason for the niggling allied purchasing policy was, of course, the English and French fear that when their cash resources gave out this country would simply let them go under. But here, it seems increas- ingly clear, men like Simon and Hoare were guilty of the kind of mis- calculation which originates in being too smart. Now that the allies really are helping themselves, the desire in this country to help them if neces- sary is growing by leaps and bounds. In the past two or three days, your correspondents have talked to ostensibly isolationist Republican Senators, extreme New Dealers, moderates in the administration and L WELL YES. IT'S THE CHEAPEST AND SAFEST THING, To 0o in Congress—in fact, to men of every po! political color. From all sides in a rtually unanimous chorus has come the admission, sometimes grudging but always frank, that if and when the time came, this country ought to help the allies by supplying the sinews of war. There is no emotion behind this admission. It arises from the conviction that in the end helping the allies by all methods short of sending an expeditionary force wil] be the cheapest and safest thing to do. It is important in another respect that the admission is being made so soon. For as the sense of our true position becomes more widespread, the demand for immediate rearmament grows more urgent. And while national preparedness is vital, it also is vital that this preparedness should not be accomplished at the expense of the allies, whose réed for war supplies is far more pressing than ours. ' (Released by the North American Newspaper Alliance. Inc.) territorial integrity would not be violated Asked for Assurances. The record of what has happened th respect to small nations in the last few months is the impressive fact that is changing public opinion on the maintenance of technical neutrality. President Roosevelt, it will be recalled, asked Chancellor Hitler last year to give public as- surances that he did not intend to attack Holland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Poland, among other countries in the list. The Nazis ridiculed the query and called it im- pertinent. - History reveals now that after the President of the United States asked for solemn assurances those which were given to the small- er nations were flagrantly disre- garded by the Nazi regime. The German psychology is that might makes right and strikes ter- ror. It.does temporarily, but free nations accept temporary reverses and gird themselves for a long, long fight for human freedom. America’s benevolent neutrality to the allies has been brought into being by the Nazi violation of Dutch and Bel- gian neutrality. America is not in the war and hopes to keep out, but the American war machine will be brought quickly to top efficiency and will supply the allies with their needs. Ultimately, credits will be extended. Opposition to this has arisen in Congress, but the Amperican people will support it because they believe that it is better to help the allies stave off defeat than it is to become involved in war with the Nazis when the allies have been defeated and are unable to help. Clearly the European war is no longer a phony affair in the eyes of anybody in Washington. (Reproduction Rights Reserved.) Dr. Lewton to:Speak Dr. F. L. Lewton, curator of the division of crafts and industries, Smithsonian Institution, will speak on “Textile Ornamentation” at the National Craft Training Center, 1317 Fourth street S8.W. | Teachers Wil Elect Election of officers and a tea were | to feature the final meeting of the | Junior High School Teachers' As- sociation at 3:45 pm. today at Langley Junior High School. Miss Etta Matthews, president, will pre- WHEN YOUR HAIR BEGINS TO THIN af thede Paints P.-T. A. Plans May Fete The May fete of the Phoebe A. 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Such opinions ot ho!m;lul “‘gu” questions of interest to its readers, such opin themaslves and directly opposed Star's eflort are presented in The among \ de_contradictory t’l';’ho Star’s. The Political Mill Taft Supporters Forecast Big Victory In Ohio and West Virginia By G.' GOULD LINCOLN. ‘Today Ohio Republicans are troop- ing to the polls to elect a solid delegation to the Republican Na- tional Convention supporting Sen- ator Robert A. Taft for the pres- idential nomina- tion. The dele- gates will be instructed to vote for Taft until he is nom- inated or until released by the Ohio. Senator. Gov. Bricker, a candidate for ° renomination, is the choice of & lot of Ohip Re- publicans for the presidential ' G. Geuld Lincoln. nomination if Taft cannot get it. The Governur, however, is playing the game for Taft and will go down the line for him. The Taft supporters are confident that the West Virginia primary, also held today for the electiog of dele- gates to the G. O. P. Natis Con- vention, will result in an increase in the Taft strength. Indeed, they have claimed for some time the support of the West Virginia dele- gation. Neither Dewey nor Taft entered the West Virginia primary— and Dewey stayed out of Ohio’s primary as he has out of other States which have favorite sons to put forward for the presidential nomination. The New Yorker was ready to fille in West Virginia had Taft filed there, and Taft was equally ready to file there had Dewey entered. Senator Taft is starting another swing through the Middle West to- morrow night, a swing which the Taft managers believe will do much to crystalize support for his pres- idential nomination in that section of the country. He goes first to Cincinnati, and then to Chicago, Des Moines, Topeka, where he is to be & guest of former Gov. Alf M. Lan- don; St. Louis, where he is expected to make an address giving in detail his views of America’s foreign policy, and finally Indianapolis. During this trip Mr. Taft will meet with many of the Republican State lead- ers. It has been the policy of the Taft campaign to deal with the leaders rather than to go into the primaries. It may be an effective " Talk to Kentuckians, While Senator Taft will not go into Kentucky, he will in a posi- tion when he is in CincTnnati to talk with Kentucky Republicans, just across the Ohio River. tucky Republican State Convention will be held May 22, and there, too, Ithe ‘Taft supporters hope to pick up a lot of delegates to the na- tional convention. The Indiana Re- ,byblican . State Convention takes place May 24, and the Taft visit to Indianapolis will come at a stra- tegic time. Indiana is a battle- ground.: If the Taft people can get a large proportion of the State's delegation to the national conven- tion, it will be very helpful to the Ohio Senator. The Hoosiers have no favorite son of their own. The campaign managers for Taft be- lieve that Indiana Republicans look with much favor on their candi- date. The Ohio and West Virginia pri- maries are engaging attention out- side of the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Both States will chose delegations to the Demo- cratic National Convention ready to vote for President Roosevelt for & third-term nomination. In Ohio this can only be done indirectly— promptly hair at these The Ken-| | 8o the Democrats are electing dele- gates instructed for Charles Saw- yer, who was the Democratic guber- natorial candidate in 1938, with the understanding that if Roosevelt will run, the delegation will go to him immediately. Senator Donahey de- clined to play this Roosevelt stalk- ing horse role, much to the chagrin of the New Dealers who believed that Donahey would strengthen the Democratic ticket in Ohio. The Senator would not even run for re- nomination, howeyer. The Ohio Democrats are engaged in a bitter fight over the guber- natorial nomination, with former Govs. White, Davy and several other contestants entered. The Repub- licans have a brisk race between Mayor Burton of Cleveland and Representative Dudley White. for the Republican senatorial nomina- tion, with the chances favoring the latter. Neely in Bitter Fight. Senator Neely of West Virginia is engaged in a political life-and- death struggle with the State House crowd. He is running for the gu- bernatorial nomination against Carl Andrews, Democratic State chair- man, backed by former Gov. H. Guy Kump and the present Gov- ernor, Homer Holt. There are two other entries, R. Hugh Jarvis of Morgantown and Elmer Jones of Charles Town. The latter has an- nounced his support of Senator Neely, but his name remains on the ballot. Charges have been made by Senator Neely that the State House crowd has collected a huge slush fund—a fund raised by taxing State employes 2 per cent of their sala- ries, and that this money is being used to defeat him. Neely is not up for renomination this year to the Senate. His term runs until January, 1943. But it became ap- parent that if he did not trim the State House machine this year, it probably would strike him down in | 1942. | Rush D. Holt, the boy Senator who was elected six years ago by the voters of West Virginia before he had reached the satutory age of 30 for United States Senators, also has a fight on his hands for renomination. His principal oppo- nent is former Gov. Kymp. Also in the race are Judge Harley Kilgore and J. Bulb Shahan. Shahan is a| former State Senator. Holt was nominated and elected in 1934 with | the support of the C. I. O. and Senator. Neely, Since then he broke violently with the C. I. O. and with the New Deal administration in| Washington. He also broke with! Senator Neely but in recent months | the trend of Democratic affairs in the State has brough® them closer together. This would be the case in view of the fact that Kump, Holt's opponent, is a bitter foe of Senator Neely. K Vandenberg Campaign Strategy. The Vandenberg - for - President campaigners are putting forward the Michigan Senator as the man best qualified for the Republican nomi- nation, in the face of the war sit- | uation abroad. “The war in Europe | demands more than ever the neces- sity for seasoned leadership in America,” says a specially prepared campaign document which Howard C. Lawrence, Vandenberg campaign manager, is distributing to Republi- can leaders in all 48 States. “Not one man—not one dollar—for war on foreign soil” is the slogan carried in huge type in the document—a quotation from the Michigan Sena- tor, who is strongly opposed to America’s entry into the war in Europe. It is pointed out that Van- denberg has been “an active member of the Senate- Foreign Relations _ALDNESS 1S APPROACHING EN your hair stops growing and starts going at the crown, temples; fashioned hit-or-miss methods, but by the skilled use of modern therapeutic agents: Quick, sure relief from scalp worries has come to a quarter-million Thomas clients during the past 20 years. Save your hair—your time—and your money by consulting Thomas first—TO- DAY. Thomas can help you to avoid bald- ness. Call today for a complete scalp exami- nation—no charge or obligation. See for yourself exactly how Thomas ends scalp + (Seporate Depariments for Men end Wemen) HOURS—$ AM. to T PM. SATURDAY to 3:30 PM. A. We, the People Germans Contribute Two New Twists To Art of International Homicide By JAY FRANKLIN. [ “Roll up that map. It shall not be wanted thesz 10 years,” said Pitt of the map of Europe, when they brought him word of Napoleon's great victory at Austerlitz over a century ago. The German unprovoked attack on Holland, Belgium and Luxem- bourg effectively rolls up the “map of morals” as frontiers are liquidated and the sovereignty of neutrals is obliterated more effectively than our Federal Union has wiped out State’s rights. For it is the nature of war, that the enemy establishes the choice of weapons and this war of the Germans has established a revolution in morals so complete that the basic structure of human society lies in Last September, Poland wanted to negotiate—she was blitzkrieged. Denmark was protected by s solemn “non-aggression” treaty with the Reich—she was overrun by Nazi troops in a single day. Norway had leaned backward to grant the Germans unneutral facilities—she simply exposed herself to a Trojan horse invasion which conquered four-fifths of the country in three weeks. Holland had not only main- tained scrupulous neutrality, but had served as a source of economic : provisioning and _trans-shipment g for the Germans; Belgium likewise had clung to her traditional neutrality—now both are being bombed, invaded and despoiled by the Navi invaders. Twists to Homicidal Art Thus the Germans have contributed two new twists to the art of international homicide In their type of war, you do not attack your enemies but attack your friends and peaceful neighbors. Equally sig- nificant is their technique of “total warfare,” in which you do not fight the armed forces of the enemy, but bomb his civilians, especially the women and children So far. by trading on the fundamental assumptions of peaceful society, they have scored impressive successes, and even hope to win a decision in their struggle for world-empire. Yet from their very successes, two counterforces emerge. The first is the growing conviction that the safest posture toward Nazi Germany is a state of war, since even the semblance of peaceful rela- tions with the Third Reich simply serve as a stud farm for the Trojan horses and exposes you to sudden, unprovoked attack. The second is to encourage the fine art of counter-revolution, counter-terrorization and assassination inside the borders of Nazi Germany. For the art of wholesale betrayal can be played by two sides, and men who have themselves lost all they value and men who have junked all concepts of morality and human_solidarity cannot be trusted to “heil!” and goose-step indefinitely. From a German victory can emerge nothing | but a protracted reign of force, intrigue and crime and a world which in self-defense must convert fitself into an armed cemp and man fits social ramparts against treachery, discontent.and disunion. Sees Roosevelt Elected So far as American affairs are concerned, Roosevelt has given another impressive demonstration of his foresight and his “feel” for world events. The true tipoff on the German attack is revealed now | to have been Hull's statement on the Dutch East Indies and the decision to keep our battle fleet at Hawaii The prompt measures to “freeze” | Dutch and Belgian assets over here indicate that the President was | ready to set limits tu the extent to which a German conquest of the Low Counries could convert their assets to a base of Nazi operations inside our economy From now on, there is no doubt that Mr. Roosevelt will be a candidate for re-election and will in fact be re-elected—at whatever cost to the third-term “tradition” and his personal 1nchm-f tions—in order to conserve our greatest national asset in the form of | his unique abiliies A [ I Unnoted casualties of the California primary were Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana and Mr. John L. Lewis of the C. I. O. They had rolled out & “Ti.jan horse” of o their own, in the form of the Pat- terson ticket of delegates to the Democratic - National Convention. On the eve of the May 7 balloting, the California New Dealers werc deeply alarmed over a belief that this camouflaged Wheeler-C. 1. O. ticket would beat the Roosevelt slate. Instead Burt and “Jawn” were licked by a vote of 14 to 1. Aftermath of this Blitz-Waterloo hE was the House defeat of Senator Wheeler's transportation bill, a peculiar measure: designed to relieve the land-grand railroads of their obliga- tions to the Government, while letting them keep the lands which were the consideration for those special obligations, and to turn control of water transport over the I C C. in the interest of the railroads and to the detriment of the farmers and the consumers generally. So, even before the German attack- on -Holland . Senator Wheeler's hame was scratched from the list of serious Democratic possibilities for the presi- dential nomination (Released by the Oonsolidated News Peatures, Inc.) o Committee for 12 years”; that he|the inevitable pledge of the Phila- has been intimately close to every |delphia vonvention to keep America phase of American foreign policy for | out of alien wars.” | a decade, and is an expert upon for-| The Vandenberg strategy — de- | eign relations. He is pictured as|manding experience in the handling the intimate of the late Senator|of foreign relations of this country Borah, who was strongly opposed to |in the next President—is on all American entanglement abroad, and | fours with that of the third-termers, | finally the document declares: “He | who now insist that President Roose- alone among available Republican velt must be renominated and re- leadership can effectually implement elected. r— THE ELECTRICAL CENTER- DON'T_MISS THIS CHANCE TO BUY THE BERDIX HOME LAUNDRY N\ IT__WASHES, RINSES, . DAMP -DRYS . . . AND : YOUR HANDS NEVER TOUCH . THE WATER! see what @ luxury . . . whet . new Bendix Home Loundry is! EASY PAYMENTS ON YOUR OWN ELECTRIC BILL! i i | ey " Very Liberal Allowance for your Old Washer : et This Changing World Britain and France Speed Production Of Airplanes By CONSTANTINE BROWN. The allies are convinced this is going to be & long war and, while fighting bitterly in Holland and Belgium, they are setting down to improve the pro- 2 duction of the % most important weapon’ in this war — the air- plane. According to official reports which reached the French Em- bassy yesterday, the airplane production has stepped up to 4 1200 planes a month in Great Britain and 700 in France. It Censtantine Brows. is believed that despite the bitter struggle which will take place from now on, this production will be con- siderably increased during the next few months. Of course, all the allies are look- ing to the United States for assist- ance in war materials of all kinds. Credit Open to Dutch, While the French, British and Belgians are still under the penalty of the Johnson Act and must pay cash for everything they purchase in this country, the Netherlanders and the other invaded neutrals can obtain credits. In the present struggle only the Dutch are likely to avail theme selves of the fact that they are able to float a loan in this coun- try with the proceeds of which they can pay for the arms and ammu- nitions they are purchasing here. ‘The Netherlands armies are being pusned back by the invading Gere mans, but have not been routed. Queen Wilhelmina is in London now and will direct her armies from the British capital. In the event the Dutch are compelled to evace uate their country they will re- form on French soil—like the Bel- gians in the last war—and will fight again. But they will need, more than before, a good deal of war equipment, and the allies would prefer that they buy it in the United States. Settlement Considered. There is no question that the Netherlands government can obtain 8 loan in the United States with- out trouble. The Neutrality Act is applied against them, but the John- son Act does not affect them. According to reports from the al- lied capitals there is a thought of escaping the penalties of the John- son Act by offering the United States a settlement which would be acceptable to Congress. No definite proposals have been formulated, but it is believed that before long the British and French might offer some of their Caribbean and South American possessions as & mortgage—not a sale—for the outstanding indebtedness. It would not be a transfer of flag, but just & guarantee, based on real estate, that the debts will be paid after a num- ber of years. Naturally the allies will insist on a drastic reduction of interest to conform with the pre- vailing interest paid by the United States Government when it borrows money from its own people. csrsl@mk THAT OLD ceavy TRON HEAVY MRS. MODERN: A Trade in that Old Iron ... 0n @ new lightweight Westing- house Streamline Iron. 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