Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1940-04-13
BY CHARLES p. STEWART
Central Press CnlILlnniSt


Washington. April l3.-Uninvad2d
neutral Europe'S diplomacy IN Wash
ington is as iittery just now as the
Scandinavian legations are. Per-
hapS even more so. Little cOuntrie.
that the war already has stopped in
TO at least know the worst. RcDrc-
SentativeS Of the other small nation
alltles are in the position Of acute
uncertainty rs to when the light
ming will strike them. TO say thai
the situation keeps them awake al!
night ism, eNaggerating. MOI only
arc they on the Job from early until
late. Lights also blink from their
chanccllOly windows from late until
carly. l don't suppose the various
ministers do without any sleep
whatever, bu; they all maintain Il
dog watch apiece, anyway.
The initial news that the Germans
were attempting 10 land in Norway
tthey subsequently succeeded in do
ing ~ and that the NorWegiuns were
Trying 10 resist them, broke on Wash
lngton in the wee small hours OF
April 9. Diplomatic gossip is ,hut
Minister Munthe dc Morgenstiernc
bounced out Of he'd in harry.
4 few minutes later came the It'd
ingS that the Na1iS were in Denmark.
Minister Wadstcd. being out Of
town. wasn't disturbed 50 immcdi-
Itely, Lat his entire staff Of dcputic.
was.
Long short Of daylight Dutch.
Belgium. Swiss and other outfits
were switching on their incandes-
cents. They haven't been turned off
sincc then at any nocturnal hour.
Our State Department
OlW own state department wasn't
bit behndhand. 1t always does
MAINTAIN d night watch. Secretary
Hull was on Il short vacation al Al
lantic City. but the Washington news
wasn't cold before the telephone an
nounced that he was streaking it
back 10 the capital
President Roosevelt, likewise hOli-
daying At Hyde Park, was hard after
hiu
ThenretorWard neither the rresi-
dent nor any uppcrmost runctionaly
OF Uncle Sans foreign office (Our
state Department. has been more
than an arms reach distant from d
phone receiver, day or night.
Chairmen Fittman and Bloom, re-
5pectiVely OF the Scnatc's and repre-
.entatiVcS' foreign relations commit
ices, are COUPLE OF other harricd
tatCSmen.
II goes almost without saying that
the British, French and German en-
JaSSeS are getting no rest. The Rus
sian and Italian places are buster
than bird dogs. Japan and China
are alert, too. Neither one is sure
yet how its interests will be affect
ed. faVorably or contrmriWisc. Tur-
Icy and the Balkan countries, Of
course. are included among the
desperately anxious neutrals.
In short, there never was Il worse
worried diplomatic corps than Wash
ingtonS at present.
Latin American embassies and
legation arc slightly less perturbcd
than our own government or the
rest OF the peWee neutra!S. They're
Watchful, but they're not so imme-
diateIy under the gun They get
a bit Of sleep occasionally.
Military Opinion
Yankee army and navy men arc
as interested as anybody.
Their theory is that Russia may
consider this first-class npportun-
ity TO make grab at the northern
ends Of Sweden and Norway, Us well
IS Finland.
And yet-thcy suspect that Ger
many won't like this idea.
They sJumise, too. that Norway
and Sweden, combined, and backed
1y Britain and France, may lie mid
ding hard to lick. Dcnmark'S geo
eraphy is to its disadvantage, in
comparison with Germany. That's
recognized. But there's a little
water between Germany and the
northern peninsula. And the Films
already have demonstrated that, sup
ported by the SWedes and NorWe-
gianS (and adequately helped by the
Allies) they might have stalled the
And Japan, as an anti-}usSian in
riuence, is in the background.
American diplomacy has its pre-
ference.
American military strategy is