The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-03-25
as preparation for this.


 as preparation for this.
 However, the French also are seriously considering taking the initiative against the Siegfried Line. There would be two reasons for such an attack. One is dis. satisfaction in France with the way the war is being fought. The French. people are fed up with de- lay and they are demanding ac- tion.
 Second is the lesson taught by the Mannerheim Line, namely that these modern defense lines are not impregnable. The Man. nerheim Line was modelled after the Siegfried Line, and the French believe that If the Rus sians could break through Finnish resistance, the French army can break through the Germans.
 The German army, of course, cannot be compared with the Finnish. But on the other hand, the Russians were seriously hand icaped by snow, freezing weather, lack of daylight and the Finnish lakes.
 Tn the end the French prob ably will wait for the Germans to march first. But whichever. side starts, the loss of life will run into at least half million.
 When Sumner Welles left Washington he and Roosevelt felt there was about 1000-to-l chance for peace, but that this one chance was worth exploring. When Welles left Italy he felt that even this one chance had about vanished.
 J. EDGAR HOOVER
 Not many people know it, but Super-Sleuth J. Edgar Hoover had private talk with the president last week in which Roosevelt gave him aIi emphatic 100 per cent o. K. This has completely quieted any talk inside the administration that Hoover might exit.
 Real fact is that there has been much closer cooperation between Hoover and new Attorney General Jackson than press reports indi- cate. Jackson was not exaggerat- ing when he said he was acting on Hoover's recommendation in abol- ishing wire-tapping.
 Exactly one year agO--March %, 1939-Ho0ver wrote cOnfi- dential memo opposing a bill then i'm Congress at the instance of Morgenthau's Treasury De- partment, giving government agencies the right to tap wires.
 Hoover's report at that time was one of the most vigorous defenses of civil rights recently written. He said ne had men who were expert in tapping wires, but that if he let them practice 1t to any extent they would turn crooks in no time.
 He recommended that wire- tapping be used only in kidnap- ing and espionage cases, and that even in these, legislation permitting it should be written by liberal lawyers such as Judge Pec0ra or Morris Ernst.
 NOTE-When Attorney General Jackson abolished wire-tapping even on espionage cases, the FBI one day before had unearsEed a Nazi attempt to sabotage the Queen Mary. But day after Jack sons edict, they followed ire case only by shadowing the plotters not by tapping wires.
 SENATE SCHOOL TEACHER
 High school students who are Hooking into Senate galleries these days wish that teacher might be as lenient with them as Senate Chief Clerk John Crockett Is with his school-room of 96 members.
 At high noon, the gayel falls in the presence of less than a dozen members. The bells ring, and Crockett begins his chore of rounding up enough Senators to do business.
 'sNEr. Adams .. MT. Andrews ... Mir. Ashurst ." calls out the veteran clerk in . booming voice For every six names he calls, only one "Here" Is heard. He gets through the B's, the C's, and the D's. Then he slows up.
 '.Mr Gerry ... (lcng pausel .. MT. Gibseg1 Z. longer pauseJ MT. Gillette"
 Clerk Crockett. who lacks the