Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-07-27
The Spot To Watch

llldllelN ~ III Unity VI "@'ioiA 40
seeking tqs.achieve adequate defense
for themselves, the spot to watch is
.Argshtina. That second largest
La%ilt. American country seems now,
aS-ft usually has before this, to be
the fly in the ointment, in that it
holds back on nearly every proposal
put forth both at the Havana con-
ference and on other occasions.
One headline declares "Argentinc
Safe on All-American Band Wagon
Now" and eighteen hours later
another story on the Havana gath
ering is captioned "Argentina May
Scuttle Pan-American ParlcyS. In
other words. it is 4 case Of now you
see it and now you don't.
1t is already fairly we'll establish
ed that the far southern republic is
honeycombed with Germans and
Italians. Whether they went there
to make an honest living us some
har" AZ. OF were planted as StOOgcS
or storm troopers for Herr Hitler
matters little. If and when der
fuehrer gives the word. they will
function a. he wishes, and that
means they will combine to over
throw the republican form Of GOV
eminent IN favor Of Na:i regime.
All reports point to the ease with
which this could be accomplished.
Once the ice is broken, it will be
simpler matter for like groups TO
effect coup i'll other Latin Amcri-
can countries. and the fifth column
drive will be on in earnest. 1t IS
then that Uncle Sam will develop Il
headache OF the most serious nature.
And doses of familiar brands Of
powders will not ease the pain. Ger
tainly in the present status of United
States preparedness, there will be
little we can do about it. Our cOlm-
try is in no position to police the
whole OF the Western Hemisphere;
we already have our hands full at
home.
When Joseph Gocbbcls. HitlcrS
propaganda minister. said Il year ago
that Poland would be taken in
eighteen days and France in sixty
days. reporter asked. what about
the United States" oh" said
GoebbelS. that will be easy. That
will be an inside job" Yet Hitler
would have the Americas believe he
has no designs on them.
The moral is simple and clear,
namely. we are face to face with Il
crucial situation and have no time
to lose. not even a day, if we arc to
escape the fate of other peoples. The
dictatorS never keep promise, but
make good their threats, as all the
world now knows.
Holland. it will be remembered,
adopted 4 passive attitude toward the
NaziS, but Hollands plight today
proves the folly OF that course. Right
now the inside job" of the Germans
here3ts to rock us to sleep and de-
LAYS. 6er national defense. When
EAland' is crushed. il ultimately she
Isl Hitler will turn his attentions
here as soon as he can consolidate
his gains over there.
The German dictator regards the
present program a the beginning Of
world revolution, and if England
goes under, the job Of stopping Hit
Ter will be that Of the United States,
almost single-handed.
Since no one knows the mind of
this mailman. his point of attack
would not be divuIgcd, but it is hard
ly likely that it would be direct
assault on this country at the outset.
First he would bore into some one or
more of the Latin American states
which would submit to German
tactics, and where the opposition
would be virtually nil. That would,
in turn. become a jumping off point
for reachil us.
On tn1 rf&ce, Latin American
rcpHDI'r II. than Argentina, arc
moving az with the program Of
Uncle Sam. But that is the weak
spot, and it is the spot to be WATCH
ed the Argentine. II the safety
Of the United States rests in the
loyalty and units of the other twenty
Western Hemisphere republics, VIC
had better sleep each night with one
eye shut and the other on our gun
you furnish the gun.
We are more athletic than our fore
10 II &c