Evening star., 1940-10-25
Washington Fearful
Of Nazi Threat if
Reich Gets Dakar
Transfer Of Bases Seen
Likely to End British
Power in Mediterranean
BY EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER.

to appease its conquerors, may place
its colonial naval bases, such as
Bizerte and Dakar. at the disposal
of Germany and Italy for carrying
on the war against Frances former
ally. overshadowS all other foreign
political problems in Washington
this week end.
For, were Dakar TO pass into Ger
man hands and be quickly trans
formed into German air and sub
marine base, not only would Great
Britain have suffered another great
defeat. but South America would be
vulnerable to German air attack
and the whole problem of hemi-
spherlC defense be called into CUES.
ton.
Out of the welter of speculation
and INSTRUMENTATION that the con-
facts between Fuehrer Adolf Hitler
on the one side and Chief of State
Marshal Henri Philippe Petain and
Vice Premier Laval on the other
have provoked. there emerge a few
starkIy dlsquletlng facts:
l. Chief of State Petain, Vice
Premier Laval, Foreign Minister
Paul Baudouin and company can
never 60 back along the road to
submission which they forced their
beaten and unwilling country into.
To do so would be an admission
that the policy was a failure as we'll
as an lenomlty. They can, however.
be outdlstanced along the road of
koWtoW by other Frenchmen, no.
tably. by jacques Doriot and Gas
ton Bergery, who are Fascists. not
only from calculation but from con-
vlctlon
Petain Only Check.
But. leaving aside Marshal Petain.
NJ. Laval and NJ. Baudouin are
not 10 enjoy the power. and the
fruits OF power. as the reward for
their dropping an ally in the middle
OF a War. what was the use of be-
trayal? Therefore. if there is to be
a competition as to who can eat
more axis humiliation. and like il.
M. Laval and NJ Baudouin do not
intend to be outdistanced by any
one The amount that they-and
France through them-will take is
limited only by a certain squeamish-
ness on the part of old Marshal
Petain.
Z. 1he axis powers would like
France. more or less. to go to war
on their side, They do not, ap-
parently. want the French actually
to fight Britain because that would
mean they might have to begin
treating France somewhat as an
ally and not as vanquished enemy
portions OF whose anatomy are one
day to be Topped off broiled and
eaten by the conquerors. They desire
France to turn over colonial naval
bases and defend them against
probable British attack with French
ships. airplanes and men.
3. In addition to continuance IN
power, the French rulers ardently
desire to be allowed to return to
Paris-Versailles and collect about
them a real" diplomatic corps
quite as though they had remained
q real government. To purchase
this. they seem willing to turn over
the colonial naval bases. on the
ground that they cannot really
prevent the axis from taking them.
anyway; but they are reluctant to
take upon themselves the onus Of
defense. What they offer the axis
Is merely an extension of the oc-
cupled zone to certain colonial spots,
with France remaining as neutral
as before.
French May Have to Yield.
4. Over this point. negotiations
have struck a hitch and it is likely
that the second meeting of French
plenlpotentiarieS with Hitler. on the
latter's way back from the Spanish
border, was for the purpose of trying
to reach a compromise. 1t is also
likely that the French desire for
definite" peace settlement will have
to yield to the axis intention of
granting merely an intermediate"
one
So much for the situation.
Washington considers that it is
full of danger for us. For the trans
fer Of French North African and
Syrian naval bases to the axis could
bring about a collapse of British
defense in Egypt. The United States
needs British resistance in the Medi-
terranean to continue. A transfer
OF Dakar on the west coast of
Africa 10 the axis would be worse
fl1o,, ! ho n oh
lenge to this country, in meeting
which American isolationists could
find themselves in full agreement
with the most eager adherentS of
unlimited aid to Britain. For ''isola-
zionist" in Washington, generally
means not peace-at- price
man. but believer in hemisphere
defense. German possession of
Dakar threatens hemisphere de-
tense.
1t might not constitute an "at-
tack" from abroad in the sense
President Roosevelt meant in his
Wednesday night speech On the
other hand, it might be considered /
as something incompatible with our
ideas OF what We can tolerate.
A curious by-product might be
the reconsideration of the kind of !
Army We really need. The large
Army We are in process of producing
will eventually be very formidable, /.
but not in l94l.
Offense Held Only Defense.
There is military group in
Washington, consisting largely of
those who have studied modern
warfare on the spot in some foreign
country, who did not think it is very
pertinent what kind of an Army we
have in l943 They believe that
what We want is the strongest pos