The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1940-05-24
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AMERICAN POSITION
WASHINGTON, d. c.

Behind the Presidents speech to
the American Scientific conference
was a very genuine worry over the
protection of the Western henri
sphere.
The President threw aside
speech which had been prepared for
several days before, and during the
tense hours just after Holland and
Belgium were invaded he dictated
new draft which emphasized the inn
portance of Pan-American unity,
plus force, to protect these CONT
nents. He even raised the question
whether the American nations could
stand idly by while dictators con-
quer the rest of the world. lat
Behind all this were some very
careful studies which the President
and his naval and military strate-
gists have been making of Western
hemisphere defense.
It may sound like scare headlines,
but it is no exaggeration to say
that to the strategists who take out
paper and pencil to figure on pro-
tecting the u. S. A., Nazi activities
in Norway, Denmark, Holland and
Belgium have meant the very def
mite scrapping (for the first time in
our 164-year history of George
Washington's Farewell Address on
American isolation.
Here is how the strategists figure
it out. The keystone of American
defense has been:
/. A big navy in the Pacific.
2. Friendship with Great Britain,
which rules the waves Of the At
lantic.
Assuming that the British feet
should disappear from the Atlantic,
the United States would then have
to maintain two fieets-one for the
Pacific and one for the Atlantic.
And Il would take at least four
years to build q new feet for the
Atlantic.
RIGHT ON FOREIGN FORECAST
No matter what they may think
of Roosevelt's domestic policies or
politics, some of his severest critics
right on foreign strategy.
Exactly two years ago the Presi-
dent told his cabinet in categoric
terms that he was convinced, war
was unacceptable in Europe, and that
the results would be serious in the
extreme for the democracies.
Last summer, also, he informed
congressional leaders that war was
inevitable in the autumn got
scoffed at for his warning.
In view of the Presidents con-
sistent record for accuracy on
things international, his present
views are very much worth record
ing.
By nature, Roosevelt is an OPP
tinist. But regarding the present
allied position he is not optimistic.
In fact, he is inclined to think that
the allies are in for defeat, that
their situation is much more seri-
GUS than the American public re-
allies.
Naturally, the President is not ex-
pressing these views publicly. Also
they are subject to change. But the
close study he is giving to the Mon
roe Doctrine, the defense of the
American continent, and especially
to the possibility of enemy air
bases in Iceland, Mexico, and
around Panama, all indicate that
he is figuring on the distinct pos
sibility of crushing allied defeat.
RED HERRING
One of the weapons Of modern
war is the red herring. Honor has
departed from warfare. The Nazis
used subterfuge to get into Norway,
German aviators dressed in Dutch
uniforms to land in Holland. Italy
Unanswered in the Mediterranean
to keep the British from sending too
many ships to Scandinavia. Musso-
lini was the red herring.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable
to figure that if Germany ever want
ed to land troops in the Western
hemisphere, Japan would be the red
herring, would send her fleet to-
ward Hawaii. Probably she would
not land in Hawaii, but merely ma
neuver enough to keep the U. s.
fleet in the Pacific, prevent it from
protecting the Atlantic coast.
At present only four cruisers, plus
one small airplane carrier and some
decrepit destroyers, guard the At
lantic. Before the Pacific feet could
return through Panama to the At
lantic, Germany could land all the
troops she wanted in Trinidad, or
Puerto Rico, or the northern tip of
South America.
Military minds calculate that Ger
man troops even could be landed in
Newfoundland, which has, at Bot
wood, one of the best airports in
the world. And from Botwood, they
could land in Maine about as fast
as u. S. forces could concentrate
against them.
Germany, however, is not likely
to bother with New England. Far
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