Evening star., 1937-12-22

JLOLMDEh IL, 1901.
mately find our military forces arrayed
against It. The result Of this diplo-
macy has been most potent in protect
ing us against war.
Monroe Doctrine Illustrative.
For over . century the warning of
President Monroe In the Monroe Doc
thine has preserved this entire hemis-
phere from the encroachment of dan
gerous neighbors. It has been the
effective guardian Of peace in the
Western world. 1t has never had even
= resolution Of Congress behind 1t. Its
sanction was the realization by other
nations that the President Of this
country was our leader In for eign
af1airs and that his military recon-
msndations were uniformly followed
by his people. A similar warning was
used BY President johnson to drive 4
French in,periAlistic adventure out Of
Mexico In 1885,
Similar warnings have preserved the
eastern entrance to the Panama Cana,
against encroAchments into the neigh
borhood Of the Caribbean Sea. Presi-
dent Cleveland used such 4 warning in
1895 against Great Britain in her dis
pute with Venezuela. President Theo-
dore Roosevelt subsequently used one
when the German fleet visited Vene-
xuela to enforce German policy. In
1lnnftnNhArAA
years Of our national life, growing
stronger as we increased in power,
that outer line Of diplomatic defense
to our national safety has stood to
protect US against incipient encroach-
ments which might later become
threatening.
Mr.. Ludlows proposal would at one
blow demolish the efficacy Of that
front line. 1t would be taken Is q
notice to all the world that this people
would not fight until long after such
outer defenses had been broken
through and an actual physical in
vasion Of our own territory had been
begun. 1t would indicate that any
statements to the contrary by our
Presidents could be safely disregarded
by venturesome powers.
Navy Would BE Useless.
Our second historic line of defense
has been the American Navy. Unlike
the Army, which in peacetime is reau-
iarly reduced to skeleton organiza-
ton, our policy has been to keep the
Navy ready for immediate action. Co.
operating with it now is our air force
also supposed to be in constant readi-
ness. The chief purpose of this readi-
ness is the same as that behind our
diplomatic line. namely o'keep all
enemies at a safe distance from our
shores. Its chief function is to save
US from the kind OF an attack which
Mr.. Ludlow's amendment would per-
NIT, namely q sudden surprise offensive
by air and sea against the populous
cities Of our coasts.
And for the benefit of any reader
VINO may not have kept In close touch
with the facts and dangers of modern
war of1ensives. let me say that unde,
modern conditions a hostile expedi.
ton which had defeated or eyaded
our Navy and approached within zoo
miles OF our coast, not only could
within "a hours strike q devastating
blow upon one Of our great cities and
its neighbOring industrial centers but
could within . week thereafter land
hostile force of at least 100 600 men
upon our shores. To meet such an
invasion our present Regular Army
collecting all its mobile elements from
the various quarters of the continent
could not be counted upon to assemble
more than so or 10 per cent of thi.
number or to do 1t until after the
hostile force was ashore and ready
The National Guard could not be as.
sembled, let alone organized into tacti-
cal units. disciplined and equipped
for many weeks later.
To support this outer protective
line OF our naval defense we have dug
and fortified the Panama Canal SC
that our combined feet can act in
either ocean, and We have also con-
structed the powerful naval base at
Hawaii. Within the semi-circle formed
by the supporting points of Panama
Hawaii and Alaska. at a distance of
more than 1000 miles from the main
land Of the continent, our fleet is now
ready to operate As defense against
= Western attack. But with all our
ships and guns and planes in readiness
II this amendment passes. the signal
to fire could not legally be given even
should hostile expedition enter the
circle with aircraft carriers and air
planes ready for action against our
cities
1t is idle to say that am citing an