The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-09-06


 Another was delivered the next day, September 2, and delivery is promised at the rate of 35 per month. The total order is 100 which means three months before they can all be delivered.
 Also on September 1, the Martin company of Baltimore delivered its first attack bomber to France. A total of 215 are ordered, with de- livery at 35 month, which means six months to finish.
 INVOCATION OF THE NEU- TRALITY ACT WILL PUT AN END TO THESE DELIVERIES.
 Also, France has ordered 200 North American bombing planes of which 116 were completed Aug ust 16. The Vought company is manufacturing 40 interceptors or fast pursuit planes for France, largely undelivered, while Curtiss Wright is manufacturing 50 en- zines with propellers for the Bri- tish, and 26 for the French.
 British airplane shipments are slightly better. Largest order is with the North American com pany for 400 training planes, of which about 300 have been de- livered.
 Lockheed also is selling the British 250 reconnaissance
 planes, for spotting air raiders before they reach London. Cost is S27 7,000.0 900 or an average of about $I0S,000 per plane.
 About half of them have been delivered. i-t
 Total French and British air. plane orders placed in this coun- try during the 13 months from July. 1938, when the first British order was sent. to August 26, 1889, was $121,432,419.
 WAR SHOTS
 New nickname for the Under Secretary of State is Paul Revere" Welles. On the morning war broke he drove from his Maryland home IA miles to the State Department in exactly 19 minutes. It was at 3 a. m. Diplomatic reports from Germany indicate that Hit Ter has the younger generation em- phatically with him, even in Aus tria. This is not so true of the older generation. But it is the young men who do the fighting. =. The British embassy in Wash ington has been worried about wire tapping. It has examined its its telephone wires more than once. When a critic like General "Iron Pants" Johnson pays tri- bute to the advance preparation of Roosevelt to cushion the effects of war, then it must be o. K. ITALIAN NEUTRALITY?
 Too much credit should not be given Benito Mussolini for his announcement that Italy would stay neutral. Rather definite in- formation was picked up by the French and British. and even by our own people, that this was pretty much pre-arranged by the two Axis bosses.
 Hitler's plan always has been
 to isolate his Polish quarrel as
 far as possible - in other words,
 put the squeeze on Warsaw from
 both the Russian and German sides, making it difficult for the
 British and French to get to the
 aid of Poland.
 Chief avenue of punishment against Germany has been figured out as the roundabout attack through Northern Italy, then up through Austria. which has no great love for Hitler.
 Naturally neutral Italy would serve to block an attack. That
 is why the French and British virtually decided, even before Hitler bounced on Poland, that
 if Mussolini remained on the sidelines they. would give him an
 ultimatum to make up his mind
 immediately whether he was 'Wltn h1tier or againSt nim.
 The French and British did some fast behind-the-scenes horse trad- ing with Mussolini just before the storm broke. And the French actually offered him two worth while concessions in Africa: Q) Djibuu, the Red Sea port which form an outlet for Ethiopia; and (2) the strengthening of the Tunis frontier in favor of Italy. This meant .ceding almost half of Tunis to Italy - an area largely sand dunes, yet politically an im- portant concession.
 However. the concession came too late. Mussolini, as far as the Allies could ascertain. appeared to be bound hand and feet. per-