Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-12-17

CALL THEM FEES, NOT LOANS
(By Gerald w. Johnson-In BaIti-
more Evening Sun)


American who spoke slightly of
American charity in contributing
TO British relief. Let me repeat, for
IemphaSiS, that the man whose views
I am about to report is an American.
In this paper, indeed, l may argue
that he is more than an American,
he is of the cream Of Americans, he
is Il Marylander. AS Il matter Of fact,
may 90 yet another Step-he rep
reSentS the concentrated essence OF
MarylandiSm. being native-born
Baltimorean. | assert without fear
of successful contradiction that no
man. not Sitting Bull himself, could
be more American than that.
Yet this man was scornful of
lfellow7American who comes through
with dollar for British war re-
lief and then goes off pleening him.
lself on being Charitably inclined.
The same man, argued my friend,
doesn't feel that he is being charita-
BILE when he pays 4 premium for his
| burglar insurance, or when he brings
out hot coffee for the firemen who
are fighting a blaze next door In
such a case he would do anything,
! he would umhesitatingly sacrifice
! his tWenty-year-old rye TO keep the
smoke eaters going strong. What is
hot drink on an occasion Of that
sort? Charity? Bah. AT most it is
! a small courtesy which only a swine
would refuse to offer.
So Far We Have Been HOSs-
Swapping.
! So is British war relief, in this
ImanS estimation. 1t isn't doing any
thing directly toward putting out
! the fire that is already a deadly
menace to our own property and
that grows more threatening the
/ longer it RACES. War relief may
help keep up the spirits of the fire
men; but helping keep up their
spirits isn't charity on our part, 1t
is no more than elementary pru-
dence.
| see no reason why the same
argument cannot be applied to all
assistance to Great Britain. AS Il
matter of fact, up to the present,
/ war relief is the only real aSSiS-
lance we have given the British.
/ All the rest has been highly profit
able trade Every airplane. every
gun. every shell, every last cartridge
we have furnished them so lar has
been bought and paid for at a salts
factory profit.
The fifty-SiN deStrOyerS about
which there has been SO much talk
were all average WarShipS. In the
normal course Of events, within I
few years they would have been
turned over to the WrcCkerS for
whatever they would have brought
as old iron. The navy had no in
tention. barring emergency, Of ever
using them again. But we have
snapped this junk for six fine air
bases that we could not have bought
at any price had there been no emer-
gency. Even if Great Britain could
have been induced to sell, in time
! of peace. she would certainly have
charged many times over the price
! of few thousand tons Of old iron.
Britain Aids Us, Not We Britain.
Yet the British, in their desperate
straits. were so glad to make the
! deal that they threw in, free Of
! charge. an extra base in Bermuda
! and another in Newfoundland. Why,
it was deal fit TO make Shylock 60
out and hang himself for a blunder-
ling amateur in business, To date, in
! fact, the only aid that has been
given is not American aid to Britain,
| but British aid to America, in the
matter of the Bermuda and New
| foundland bases. Doing business with
people at a fat profit isn't giving
them anything.
! According to Lord Lothian, how
| ever, the customer is pretty we'll
cleaned out. It is more than possible,
it is probable. that whiting a few
months we may face the question
iof actually giving, not selling, aid
to Britain. 1t is time for Americans
! to be doing some hard thinking
about the attitude they propose to
assume when that time comes.
j There are three courses that we
might at least in theory, pursue.
One is to refuse to let them have
so much as popgun without cash
! on the nail. Another is to repeat
: our course in the last war, letting
them have what they need and talk
ling in exchange lot of paper
!promses to way The third is to do
flor them what France did for us
during the Revolution. that is, grant
! them out-and-out subventions to
keep them going.
Let's Make it Our Part for Victory.
! Perhaps the first course would
be the silliest on our part, but the
| CAL "c