Evening star., 1938-10-17

PASsAeAAA "a Nv
ton, not mere
words, by Germany's rulers which
will convince the whole world that
reason can be relied upon to settle
disputes and that the methods of war
are not going to be necessary.
Germany is looked upon by the
American Government as an ag-
gressor state. England and France
are considered to have surrendered in
the Czech crisis not because they
wanted to but because they were in
a military sense, especially in avia-
ton, unprepared to do otherwise.
Preparing for Eventualities.
Believing that Germany will not
stop with plans for expansion in Cen
trail Europe but will look toward the
undeveloped resources of South Amer
lea. the United States Government,
under the leadership of President
Roosevelt and Secretary Hull is pre-
pairing for all sorts of eventualities.
This policy has not been arrived at
suddenly. 1t has been in the making
for more than year, during which
time it is learned the United States
has tried to reason with Germany
through diplomatic channels in most
persuasive ways but to no avail. Like
wise the United States, it may now be
stated, has looked with considerable
anxiety on the Chamberlain policy of
.placating Hitler, which began when
Anthony Eden resigned
The inside story is that the United
States is not at all concerned over the
purely territorial questions of Europe
but with the rise of an arbitrary force
in the world which can only make war
inevitable. 1t is not Germany alone,
however, which has shocked the
American Government into action. 1t
is the realization that Germany, Japan
and Italy are working together
against American interests and ideals
and that Russia cannot be depended
upon in military way for help.
AS matter of fact, the United
States is not going to try to depend
on Britain or France, either. What
ever is necessary to secure respect for
the American voice in international
affairs, that is to attain protection for
American ideals and American rights
in this hemisphere. will be done if it
takes the biggest navy and the biggest
air force the world has ever seen.
Matter of Self-Preservation.
. The intricacies of the German pol
icy of aggression are known in detail
to our officials who have never per-
mitted their knowledge of what is 60
ing on to be publicized in anything
that would start jingo sentiment
Instead it has been decided not to
employ words but action to express
American determination. If the Ger
man-Japanese-It Italian combination re-
spects only force, then the language of
force is to be marshaled in the larg-
est campaign of armament America
has ever undertaken.
The fact that this armament build
Ing comes at time when there Is
need to employ more people and re-
lieve the domestic economic strain is
only a coincidence. The more i'm
portant consideration is whether
America can any longer afford not
to arm. Germany is already attempt
ing to make trade arrangements with
South American countries which may
lead to more unemployment in the
United States if certain American
trade is lost. So back of the new
national policy here is feeling that
. .self-preservation on all fronts, domes-
tic and international, calls for an up
building of the Nations defenses.
Most conspicuous in the armament
program will be aviation. This means
not only more planes and pilots but
more aircraft carriers for the Navy
and possibly the development of two
big fleets for the Atlantic and the
Pacific with special attention on the
South Atlantic as well as on the South
Pacific as major points in a defense
plan for this entire hemisphere.
The whole program cannot be viewed
enthusiastically at all by those of us
who believe in moral force and who
feel that more intensive use of moral
force can still be made to penetrate
the thinking of the people of Germany.
There is not the slightest antagonism
to the German people prevalent in
America and it is yet the hope of
lovers of peace that other ways can
be found to bring Germanys rulers
. 10 a realization that their present
policies can only lead to another world
war.
Saarbruechen Speech Last Straw.
For America today is in the same
position she was in during 1914. There
was no intention then to enter a
European war, but America began to
prepare. The preparations here
helped to supply munitions and ma
terials for Britain and France and
when the United States entered the
war in 1917 a running start had been
made on the Industrial side. The
same thing is about to occur. A world
war is certain unless the moral forces
in America and throughout the world,
including the Germans resident among
us, can use their influence with Hitler
to prevent what is beginning to seem
an inevitable catastrophe.
Germany may wonder what has
happened to bring about the change
since the Chamberlain Hitler con-
ferences. The answer is that the
speech made by Herr Hitler at Saar-
bruecken was the last straw that broke
the camels back. 1t was taken here
as . reputation of the spirit of the
Munich settlement. Until GERMANY
finds ways Of bringing about a new
faith in her professions Of peaceful