Evening star., 1940-04-10

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have been af- David Lawrence.
fected so far as their preparations
are concerned, for what has hap
pened in Europe merely confirms
what these military folks have been
saying for long while, namely that
governments no longer declare war,
but act suddenly and without warm
ing.
To be prepared for any eventuality
Is the business of the Army and
Navy, and while nobody foresees at
the moment any possible point of
contact between any of the European
belligerentS and American interests,
there is tendency to be prepared
for any surprise no matter how fam
tastic at the moment.
May See Submarines.
Thus as the area of hostilities is
extended, it will become increas-
ingly important for the Nazis to cut
off, if possible, the shipments of raw
materials or finished planes from
Canada. Any day now it would not
be surprising to find few sub
marines of the long-range variety
cruising in the vicinity of Canada
The British fleet cannot be every
where on the earth's surface nor can
her air forces protect British surface
ships against all aerial attack.
The Russians have many air
bombers of a large cruising radius
capable of dropping bombs at con-
siderable distance from their point
of origin. If, it is reasoned here,
the struggle to prevent Scandinavian
iron ore from reaching Germany
resulted in the mining of Norwegian
waters by the British and the seizure
of Norwegian and Danish territory
by the Nazis. it may well be that
later on, especially with Russia more
active. there will be efforts made by
the dictator states to cut off the
North American continent as a
supply base for the war in Europe
Gradually as more of the earths
surface is drawn into the conflict,
there is a tendency here to regard
the future with considerable con-
Germ. President Roosevelt has felt
all along that the world was full of
potential sources of explosion and
that any minute might see COM
plete change in the lineup of the
belligerent forces.
Presidents Statements Discounted.
Unfortunately, since this is poll
tical year, much that the President
says is discounted, for it is no secret
that most New Dealers feel that
serious international situation would
provide sufficient justification for
third term for Mr. Roosevelt. The
anti-Roosevelt elements in our ma
tional life, especially the Republi-
cans, have sensed this contingency
and are inclined to look with sus-
picion on anything said or done by
the administration in the foreign
field.
If President Roosevelt had fol-
lowed his original intention, as ex-
pressed to Postmaster General Far
ley, and had openly proclaimed his
intention early this year not to be
candidate for denomination, the
Presidents leadership would at the
moment be impregnable. AS it is
domestic politics colors much of the
thinking hereabouts, and as events
in Europe tend to grow more tragic
several currents of thought are gen.
Grated among the politically minded
one of which is the incredible, but
nevertheless somewhat widely held
view, that the administration would
welcome series of events making
Americas participation in the war
on the economic side more certain.
A Growing Apprehension.
The usual chorus of comments
from Capitol Hill to the effect that
1--WE must not be dragged into the
war" is being heard, but different
tune will be heard if any overt acts
touching American territorial waters
or interests should be mistakenly un-
dertaken by the Communist or
Fascist states.
There is a growing apprehension
here in many quarters that war may
be in the offing for all the world
IN the next two or three years, but
nobody has yet suggested exactly
how it might happen and so far as
the desire to remain at peace is con-
cerned it is as strong as it ever was,
but subject to change without much
notice, depending now as in 1917 on
what the belligerents do.
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