The McDowell times. [volume], February 14, 1941, Image 5

About The McDowell times. [volume] (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941

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MAGAZINE SECTION
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne
Washington Experts See War Crisis
In Europe and Asia Within 90 Days
As Hitler Premises’ German Victory;
U. S. and Ford Clash on Labor Policy
(rD.TOR-8 NOTE—When •pinion, are ..pressed In three column., they
are mo.e of the new. analy.t and not neccarily of tbl. new.paper.)
— iReleased by Western Newspaper Union i
BARD1A, LIBYA. — Two
Australian soldiers of the
British forces in Libya look
at the nameplate of the main
street in this city. After en
tering Bardia, the Aussies
changed the street name from
uBenito Mussolini” to “Aus
tralia.
60 TO 90 DAYS:
Crisis Will Come
In Washington, where bets can be
obtained on almost anything, the
odds are 55 to 45 that the United
States will be at war with Japan
within 60 to 90 days. Peace is on
the short end.
The view is shared by competent
observers. Whether there will be
actual armed conflict probably will
depend on what happens during this
period. The predictions are being
made not by goosebone prophets but
on careful analysis of political, mili
tary. geographical and economic
factors.
Those most apprehensive in the
capital are concerned with adoption
of the lend-lease bill which would
give President Roosevelt full pow
ers to place the nation on an all
out war footing. They believe Japan
is a full partner of the Axis and will
act on orders from Berlin.
They believe that within 60 to 90
days Hitler will order the full force
of his powerful attack let loose on
Britain and they are doubtful of the
outcome. They fear the United
States will be faced with an enemy
on the Atlantic and the Pacific at
the same time.
For America the chief immediate
political factor is the triparty pact
among Japan, Germany and Italy,
signed last September. The pact
provides for co-operative action if
either of the others is involved in a
war. These officials believe the
treaty is an outright offensive alli
ance aimed at the U. S., Just as
Nazi spokesmen said at the time.
In Tokyo those immediately con
cerned are seeking full powers for
the cabinet headed by Premier
Prince Fumimaro Konoye, who is
pledged to the "new world order."
In both countries it is the appar
ent desire on the part of leaders to
prepare public opinion for the worst
so that there will be no outcry
which would force modification of
the programs
Crisis Year
President Roosevelt’s birthday is
a holiday in Germany, but not for
the same reason. In Germany it is
celebrated as the birthday of the
Nazi acquisition of power. Annually
Hitler makes a speech. This year
was no exception.
But his speech bade the German
people to mark the year 1941 as an
exception. He promised it would
be the victory year. He said the
''♦tack on Britain was near, that it
would come without fail in spring,
and he warned that no aid from
the United States would be permit
ted to reach England,
Every ship carrying help to Brit
ain, he said, would be torpedoed,
no matter what its ownership, no
matter if it was convoyed or not.
Also in the theater of war:
C. The British continued to make
headway in Libya, besieging Ben
gazi, the last main port held by the
Italians and threatening to ex
tend their lines to the border of
French Tunisia. *
C. In East Africa they also battered
their way into Eritrea. The Italians
retreated in trucks. An Italian
army of 100,000 there was said to be
in a bad way.
C, German Big Berthas were firing
from the French channel ports into
England. Whereas before the pro
jectile toppled into the Dover area,
now they were reported to reach 10
miles inland.
WAR CONFIRMED:
Senators Hear Report
When Wendell Willkie decided to
go to England to “see for himself”
the progress of the war, there was
sarcasm in some sources. It was
said the G.O.P. nominee intended to
“confirm the rumors of war in Eu
rope.”
Willkie went, he saw and hurried
home. Hardly had he arrived in
London when an announcement was
made that he would reduce the
length of his stay in order to report
home sooner. Even after that, an
other 48 hours was cut from the
schedule at the request of State Sec
retary Hull who asked him to testify
before the senate committee consid
ering the lend-lease bill. Willkie’s
speed on the journey over and back
seems almost a rebuke to the isola
tionists who have emphasized how
far away England really is.
But there was more sarcasm for
Willkie’s trip. It came now from
Republican sources. The national
convention of Young Republicans,
meeting in Des Moines, Iowa,
heard a resolution which condemned
the party leader for his support of
the bill. The resolution was not
passed. It met with displeasure at
the hands of many G.O.P. stalwarts
who believed Willkie’s position in
support of the administration policy
should not be criticized at this time.
A few days earlier, in fact, the
Pennsylvania state Republican com
mittee itself went on record as fa
voring the aims of the lend-lease
bill and requesting the state’s Re
publican congressmen to vote for it.
Some G.O.P. newspapers, however,
were not pleased. One declared
Willkie, by supporting the Roosevelt
foreign policy, was a “Quisling” to
the Republicans.
CRACKDOWN:
For Defense
The war department announced
award to the Fargo Motor com
pany of Detroit of a $10,298,128 con
tract for trucks. At the same time
it let it be known that the Ford Motor
company was low bidder but that
their estimate was thrown out be
cause Ford refused to agree to labor
policy restrictions. The specifica
tions of the contract called for ob
servance of the labor policy state
ment adopted by the defense com
mission last fall. Through this part
of the specification the Ford bid
had drawn a line in red ink, block
ing it out.
The refusal of Ford to observe the
provisions of the bidding is not the
first difference between the com
pany and the government, nor is it
the first business the firm has lost.
The automobile manufacturer held
out against the NHA, and the gov
ernment stopped buying Ford cars.
In Pennsylvania the state also can
celled an order then for several mil
lion dollars. Last fall Ford refused
to accept a defense commission con
tract for airplane engines because
the material was scheduled to be
shared with Great Britain.
Supporters of the most rccerrt ac
tion within the government declared
that it was wrong to award defense
contracts to a manufacturer who
has been held guilty of Wagner act
violations.
A Ford spokesman asserted that
while the manufacturer would re
fuse to make defense material re
quiring compliance with the law, he
was willing to make any material
possible without any profit to him.
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Four-Alarms Worth of Fire
The upper stories of a six-story building at 661-3 Broadway, Brooklyn,
N. Y., take on the appearance of a roaring furnace during the four-alarm
blaze fought by more than 200 firemen who played streams of water on
the flames from roofs of adjoining buildings. Stores on the lower floors
W«ne. -protected by th* fast action of the firemen.
Col. Lindbergh at Senate Hearing
In his second appearance in two weeks before the senate foreign rela
tions committee Col. Charles A. Lindbergh stated that extensive Ameri*
can aid would only prolong the war, without materially affecting the re
■hows Walter F. George, chairman of the committee, Col.
IJndbergh, and Sen. Gerald Nye, a member of the committee.
Adm. Kichisaburo Nomura, new
ambassador extraordinary and plen
ipotentiary to the United States from
Japan, is pictured as he witnessed
the review of the Thirtieth infantry
at San Francisco presidio shortly
after arriving in Amerlea. With No
mura is General Dewitt, command
er of the Fourth army. Left to rifht:
Admiral Nomura and General De
witt.
Killed in Bomter
Capt. R. 8. Freeman, commandant
of Ladd field, who was killed when a
four-motored huge army bomber
■mashed Into Ragged Top moun
tain at Lovelock, Nev., killing the
crew of seven.
Outdoors Moves Indoors at Sports Show
r r***^arc.*
To Speak
. »° S?fcPI2irt H* annoaI Prevne of outdoor sports February 22
to March 2, at the International Sportsmen's show. These pictures, taken
at last year a show, are typical of what is comtaf. Indians from a
number of tribes will add color to exhibits, wildlife will become friendly,
and the bow and arrow will be exhibited in competitive events.
Secretary of Labor, Frances Perk
ins, (above) is scheduled to address
a special ^roup banquet for women
at the Fducation Congress which
will be held in Atlantic City, N. J.,
| February £2-27.
Public Places Censorship
Upon Undesirable News
Opposing Viewpoints Dismissed as False;
Government Aims to Increase Trade
With Latin America.
By BAUKIIAGE
National Farm and llama lloiu Commentator.
WNU Service, 1S95 National Press
Uldg., Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON.—As emotions rise
here over the debate of American
foreign policy and America’s role in
connection with the F.uropeun war
a strange sort of censorship is set
tling down upon the nation. I can
feel it in the mail which I receive
from listeners to my broadcasts.
It is not a government censorship.
It has nothing to do with company
rules und regulations, it isn't even
voluntury deletion on the part of
writers or commentators. It is a
censorship which the public itself
invokes and it is quite as effective
as the kind imposed by Herr Goeb
bels. I have encountered it before.
It is simply a flut refusal on the
part of the individual to believe any
thing he doesn’t want to. He puts
it into operation with u twist of the
dial when he hears something he
doesn’t agree with on the radio or
by tossing the newspaper into the
corner when his eye catches a senti
ment of which he doesn’t approve.
But let me give you some striking
examples of this ’’audience” censor
ship—of how the public will believe
only what it wants to.
The Athenia was sunk while I was
in Berlin. Shortly thereafter, com
ment of a high American official
was cabled to German papers.
This official in Washington had re
ferred to the “torpedoing” of the
ship with the implication that the
Nazis did it. The Germans with
whom I spoke (people Who couldn't
have known any more about what
really happened than I did) were
astounded.
c*ven u we wamea 10 lorpeao a
ship full of Americans,” one of them
said, "we wouldn't be quite dumb
enough to do that when the last thing
we want is to get the United States
into war. If it was torpedoed at
all the British did it to get you in
on their side."
When I got back to the United
States I found that it was accepted
without argument that the Germans
had done it.
To the best of my knowledge it
has never yet been determined Just
what happened to the Athenia.
British Fliers Interviewed.
I’ll give you another example.
While I was in Germany I had a
chance to interview the first three
British airmen shot down in raids
over German territory. To be per
fectly frank I found them, even the
two who were laid up with injuries,
extremely satisfied with their treat
ment. Naturally they had a good
deal of attention being "firsts." And
in those days the feeling wasn’t so
bitter.
I did report the factual things they
told me—I interviewed them with no
Germans present and we all spoke
freely.
But did the British public believe
it?
I should say not. An Internation
al News Service dispatch from Lon
don to American papers the next
day quoted "diplomatic circles as
being concerned" and stating that
"one spokesman labeled the broad
cast an obvious fake.”
But no Englishman at that point
wanted to believe what those boys
said about their treatment or their
personal feelings toward their cap
tors.
Broadcast Cut Off.
ine imra experience was me most
amusing.
I was broadcasting from Berlin
and I wanted to get over the Idea
to my American listeners that while
I was well treated I was under cen
sorship and that if I departed from
my censored text I would probably
be cut off So I said this:
“It is very much as if I were in
the office of a man whose whole fu
ture is suddenly at stake, still he is
kind and courteous to me. He of
fers me his hospitality. He let’s me
use his typewriter and now he
pushes his busy telephone across
the desk to me to let me talk to you,
right before him.’’
And right there I was cut off the
air The American listeners knew
what I was driving at and imme
diately surmised that the Germans
had cut me off because I was criti
cizing the censorship. But a few
days after the event I was sum
moned to the German foreign of
fer ar.d questioned at length by a
: igh v suspicious underling.
“Why,” he asked haughtily, “did
th« National Broadcasting Company
cut you ofT when you were praising
the Germans?”
Meanwhile I had been notified of
what had happened and 1 explained,
truthfully that I had been cut of! be
cause I had reached the end of a
period and that had I continued,
it would have interfered with a regu
lar commercial program. But did
my Nazi accuser believe? Did my
American friends believe when I re
turned? Definitely not!
That is the censorship which is
growing ns the nation is stirred
over the debate on the lend lease
hill. And not only do pros and antis
defend their cause with patriotic fire
but each is ready to declare that
the other who disagrees must be
silenced for the good of the Repub
lic. That is the kind of individual
censorship against which no protest,
however powerful, can prevail.
Seek to Improve
Latin American Market
“Good fences make good neigh
bors."
I once quoted that line from a
New England poet to n Dakota farm
son and he flew into a ruge. He
said it was typical of the unneigh
borlincss of the Yankees. Well, be
ing prairie-born myself with a long
line of New England ancestors I am
inclined to sit on that fence and look
both ways. Perhaps we ought to
say that there is nothing unneigh
borly in a good fence so long as it
has a gate.
And Uncle Sam feels, the same
way about the "Good Neighbor"
business as it applies to South Amer
ica. The farmers on both sides of
the international fence, the Latin
American farmers and the North
American formers, while they are
all for unity, economically, political
ly and culturally, are a little wary
about competition.
Thut is why the department of
agriculture talks so much about
"complementary" or non-competi
tive products in its program for de
veloping trade with Latln-America.
We want to sell goods to South
America. We have lots of things
they want. But in order to buy our
goods they hove to have American
dollars. They con get the dollars if
they can sell their goods to us.
Many of the things they would like
to sell us we already have—especial
ly agricultural products.
Therefore certain questions ad
dressed to the department of agri
culture are pertinent. Here they
are along with the official answers:
Principal Imports.
What are the principal agricul
tural products we now import from
Latin America?
“Our agricultural imports from
Latin America are of two general
types," says the office of foreign
agricultural relations.
(1) "Complementary or non-com
petitive agricultural products, con
sisting for the most part of coffee,
cocoa, bananas, sisal, henequen,
special types of wool, spices, essen
tial (volatile) oils, and tagua nuts.
Such products are normally import
ed to meet the whole of our re
quirements since they are not pro
duced at home."
(2) "Supplementary or competi
tive agricultural products. These
include cane sugar, vegetable oil
seeds, cattle hides, unmanufactured
tobacco, meat products, vegetables
and vegetable preparations, dutiable
wool, goat and kid skins, and lin
seed, to mention the more impor
tant.”
How does the department of agri
culture propose to increase trade be
tween the United States and Latin
America?
"By developing in Latin America
for United States consumption the
tropical and semi-tropical products
which are not competitive with our
agriculture."
Does Latin American co-operation
mean increased imports into the
United States of supplementary or
competitive agricultural products?
"No, that is not the aim of the
department’s program."
What are the complementary or
non-competitive products of Latin
America, the imports of which can
be increased?
They consist of crude rubber,
cinchona bark from which quinine
is made, abaca or manila fiber, valu
able for the making of ropes for the
navy, rotenone-bearing plants ex
tremely valuable for insecticidal
purposes.