Evening star., 1940-10-06
Eliot

Continued From First Page.)
sive or defensive, as to warrant any
idea that she >can successfully in
wade the British island. She has
practically no sea power; what she
has is bottled up within the North
Sea and the Baltic and can not
come out. She is blockaded, in
cluding her occupied territories, by
the British fleet, which denies her
access to any other part of the
world.
Her partner, Italy, has done Moth
ing at all in the war so far. She,
too, is tightly blockaded wit min the
Mediterranean Sea, which is al
most completely commanded by q
British feet which the italian Navy
has shown little wish to challenge
and which has inflicted severe losses
on such Italian ships as have ven-
tured themselves out of harbor. The
much-vaunted Italian Air Force and
submarine force have accomplished
nothing. An Italian army in East
Africa is wholly cut off from any
slpplies or support. another in
Ltbya, more than twice as strong as
Its opponent, has contented itself
with the capture of a couple of
desert outposts-its lines of COM
munications are under constant
British naval attack
Atlantic Command Is Stake.
Meanwhile, by virtue of the open
sea routes which she commands,
Britain has been able to call in the
aid of her dominions, and to receive
much additional assistance from the
United States. Our people are slow
ly rising to the realization that the
stake in this war is the command
of the North Atlantic Ocean, and
they do not mean to let that COM
mand get into the hands of Ger
many.
The Germans and Italians, con-
sclous OF their failu1e-after much
boasting of the we are sailing
against England" order-to effect a
conquest of Great Britain, are max
ing a frantic endeavol to cover up
their failure, and their growing
troubles due to blockade and con-
slant bombing, by announcing a new
and earth-shaking extension of the
axis to include Japan-distant, ex-
hausted Japan, weakened by three
years struggle to subdue a still-bel-
hgerent China. We are supposed to
be frightened by this: We are sup
posed to be divided, and harassed.
and forced in one way or another
to stop our growing and effective
aid to Great Britain.
From Japan, we are frankly
threatened with war II we attempt
to put any obstacles in the way of
Japanese expansion in the Far East.
These threats are echoed in the Ger
man press and even in the italian.
And. yet a cool examination of
Japan's actual position shows that
If she is now firmly confronted by
an American-Englisr embar
coupled with a. guarantee of the
Netherland Indies ard proper mill
tary arrangements for cooperation,
she must yield, or fight under alb
solutely hopeless conditions; Neither
Germany nor Italy could help her
in the least degree.
Need Courage to Act Firmly.
All that is needed on our part is
the courage to act firmly: The rest
will follow. And we are not lacking
in authentic information as to the
facts. For example:
Japan" reports Cornelius v.
Starr. veteran Shanghai editor as
quoted in the New York World
Telegram, ''is the most ever-rated
power on earth" He goes on to tell
OF an interview three years ago with
Gen. Alexander Won Falkenhausen,
a distinguished German soldier, and
former military adviser to the Chi
nese government, who accounted
even then an incredible miscalcula-
ton" that Americans and Britons
should rate Japan as a frst-class
power. Probably fifth rate" was
Won Falkenhausen's estimate.
MOi tlldll GillCC years VI 6HIlduSU-
ing and profitless war; a dwindling
treasury, almost no foreign credits,
a million troops locked up in the
continent of Asia, Russian threat
on her northern front; no hope of
any help from her allies, a geo.
graphical position which permits of
her being blockaded from available
British, American and Dutch bases
which she cannot hope to reach and
destroy in time to save herself; a
navy sharply inferior in strength to
the United States fleet alone with
out considering British and Dutch
reinforcements, and a naval aviation
at least 10 years behind ours in
technical development and outnum-
bered two to one-this is the nation
before whose threats and insults
we are supposed to cringe.
Axis Builds on Our Lethargy.
The Germans know all this. OF
course. They have Won Falkenhau.
sens full report st hand: they have