Evening star., 1940-03-12
Mr.. WeIIes' Findinos


conference with Great Britain's lead
ers, having in turn consulted those Of
Italy, Germany, France and Poland
the last-named in exile on French
soil. The Undersecretary of State
will return to the continent via Italy
later this week, pay a farewell call
on Premier Mussolini in Rome, and
then sail for the United States.
The American people will be we'll
| advised not to pin too rosy hopes on
! the results of the Welles voyage of
discovery, as far as the outlook for
an early peace is concerned. Though
the Undersecretary's soundings in
London have only begun, with a
private audience with King George
| and preliminary conversations with
Prime Minister Chamberlain and
Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax. it
may be assumed with assurance that
he will have found a universally of
British war views by the time he
winds up his consultations with
other government leaders and par
liamentary spokesnfen, including
"his majeSty's loyal opposition"
John Bull "sits tight" idiom
for our Standing pat"-on the issue
paramount in the present war, from
the British standpoint. THE Sc
curity for which Britain took up
| arms" Lord Halifax is authorita-
| lively reported to have told Mr..
Welles, "is still the keystone of our
war aims. To achieve it there will
have to be German government
which can be trusted to keep its
word This paraphrases the more
familiar allied contention that the
British and the French will fight
until "Hitlerism" is destroyed.
Besides absorbing authentic infor-
nation of the belligerents' war and
peace aims, or what these are pro-
feSsed to be, Mr.. Welles cannot fail
| to have formed some conclusions of
I his own as to the attainability of
these rival claims and hopes. On
their face, they are utterly irrecon-
ciiable. Short of the enemys COM
plete defeat, neither the Nazis nor the
allies can remotely dream of achiev-
ing their respective type of victory,
for neither side would think of &C
cepting, except as an utterly crushed
combatant, such conditions as Ger
many and the western powers, pub
licly at least, avow as their respective
irreducible minimums.
Nor is it likely that so keen an
observer as the Undersecretary
will leave Europe without frank
realization that the wars outcome is
still the quintessence of doubt The
10000, 100000 marks which Hitler
publicly boasted last Fall that he had
spent on creating the Nazi war ma
chine tells the story of the resistance
Germany is offering to the superior
resources for war which the British
and French empires between them
possess. Against that potential pre-
ponderance, the Nazis are matching
the higher state of preparedness in
which they took the field. The task
of Britain and France still is, while
holding the German juggernaut at
bay, to catch up as rapidly as pos
sible, under war conditions, with the
tremendous advantage which Ger
mans greater readiness has given
her. Most authorities agree that
they have not yet done so.
Mr.. Welles tarries in a Britain
waiting anxiously, if unafraid, for
that total war" by the Germans so
long heralded for this spring, per-
haps for this month. AS West Wall
and Maginot Line continue to cancel
each other out, British opinion in
clines more and more to the belief
that an air offensive in force may be
the next item on the Nazi program.
Air fighting to date has been desul-
tory and inconclusive. German
bombing attacks, in particular, de-
spite inceSSant raids on British
coasts and shipping, have not been
Of character to justify final judg-
ment as to the relative advantages
of aircraft over surface ships, on
which the safety of Britain's sea-
| girt shores depends, and with it the
whole allied cause.
Mr.. Welles is certain, before quit
ting the precincts Of Downing Street,
| to inform his British hosts of Ameri-
can displeasure over the Royal
Navy's treatment Of our shipping
and over the seizure and search Of
our mails. Trifling as such Incl
dents may appear in Britain's eyes,
measured against the background of
her blockade necessities, their nuis-
ance Importance in the Anglo
American scheme of things should
not be 'underestimated at London.
Perhaps the Undersecretary of State
may find it appropriate to bring up
the blockade and mails episodes if
British statesmen, as it has been
suggested they may do, see fit to
| register their dismay at the inoppor-
tunism Of an American emissary's