The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-04-14


 All this took place during a period of diplomatic double-cross- ing in which British banks actual ly were lending money to Ger many for rearmament, and the Federation of British Industries was negotiating a secret pact with German industry in violation of the Anglo-American trade agree ment.
 British double-crossing finally became so fragrant that when Roosevelt, Hull and Welles got the full drift of it, they sent a virtual ultimatum to Chamberlain declaring that as far as the United States was concerned, Great Bri- tain could fish or cut bait. CZECHOSLOvAKIAN INVASION Part of all of this may be denied, but the actual facts are that tension in U. S.-British relations came to a head on or about March 16, one day after Hitler had swallowed the remains of Czecho- slovakia.
 It will, be recalled that on March IA, just as the entire world re- alized Hitler was about to break his pledge to the Czechs, Ameri- can correspondents in London cabled that the British govern ment saw no cause for alarm. This was because the British foreign office had called in U. s. correS- pondents and told them that the British government was unper- turbed.
 British serenity continued next day even with Nazi troops actually on the march, and 1t was not un- til two days later thath the Bri- tish government began to burst forth in a fine flare of righteous indignation over Hitler's violation of his pledge at Munich.
 Reason for the British right about-face was partly British public opinion. But in the in- terim, also, Chamberlain had re- ceived from Roosevelt the mes- sage just referred to, in which the President warned that Bri- tain could expect no more sup port from the United States, moral, material, or through the sale of airplanes, if the Munich policy continued.
 In effect, Roosevelt bluntly asked whether Britain was Nazi nation or a democracy, and warned that the United States would watch Chamberlain's future policy for the answer.
 HISTORY AFTER MUNICH
 To get the full picture of Bri- tish double-crossing, and to un- derstand what led up to this ccrisis in Anglo o-American relations, 1t Is necessary to trace events after the Munich crisis last October.
 Following Munich, the RoOse- welt administration instructed Ambassador Joe Kennedy to suggest to Chamberlain that the only thing Hitler understand was the straight-arm, and that it would be an excellent idea to call an abrupt halt on appease- ment.
 Supposedly Chamberlain agreed. Whereupon Roosevelt and his State Department mapped out a program carefully calculated to show Hitler that he could give the democracies no more lip.
 To this end, the United States deliberately recalled its ambassa- dor from Berlin, deliberately planned that Secretary Ickes :. should scold the Nazis and that Acting Secretary Welles, in turn, should scOId the German charge d'affaires for his effrontery in protesting. It was no accident that Roosevelt's address to Con- gress on the state of the nation vigorously slapped down the dic- tators and asked for heavy air armament.
 Furthermore, American sound- ings taken in Europe all showed that this strategy was having an excellent effect, that Hitler and Mussolini both were worried. BRITISH CHICANERY
 But about this time, the State Department began to get wind of what the British were up to. In the first place, British bankers had engaged in a scramble for business in Sudetenland. They had