Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-04

hence of our northern border-to at
tack by way of Iceland and Green
land has been matter of grave con-
Germ since the invasion of Norway by
the Nazis. Canadian troops have
occupied DaniSh-controlled Iceland
for protective purposes, but if Britain
fell, Iceland undoubtedly would have
to oe abandoned by the Canadians.
Iceland is stepping stone to Green
land, which, in turn, is only a short
Jump to Canada. Greenland must be
considered as a part of the Western
Hemisphere, and its invasion by a
European power could not be coun-
tenanced under the Monroe Doctrine
any more than an attack on Canada
could be permitted by the United
States. To forestall such threat it
is necessary that we should have not
only a military understanding with
Canada regarding Joint defense, such
as the joint board is working on now,
but that we should have in the vi
cinity, for our own self protection,
major operating base for fleet units
and aircraft. Newfoundland is ideally
situated for this purpose.
From Newfoundland the new de-
tense line will extend southwark to
Bermuda, far off our bulging At
lantic coast line. 1t was indicated
that two bases would be established
IN Bermuda, one on the east coast
and another on the Great Bay, at the
western end of the island. If Ber-
muda should be captured by hostile
power, bombing planes would have
convenient springboard for attacks
on the populous Atlantic seaboard of
the United States. Both Newfound-
land and Bermuda are vital to the
defense Of Canada, and the British
government probably had this con-
sideration in mind in making an out
right gift Of base sites in those loca-
tions.
The Bahamas are militarily impor-
tant because they stand guard over
the Florida straits, between Cuba and
the American mainland. This pas
sage now is protected by a military
station at Key West and by the big
base at Guantanamo, Cuba. To the
south of Cuba lies Jamaica. Bases
In the Bahamas and Jamaica will
vastly reinforce the security of the
Greater Antilles. We have naval
and air facilities in Puerto Rico and
the Virgin Islands, but the remainder
OF the Lesser Antilles group, bending
southwark to Venezuela, are now
virtually unguarded and hence very
inviting to an aggressor with an eye
Venezuelan and Colombian oil fields.
This alarming gap in the canal de-
Tense scheme will be closed when
bases are set up in Antigua, st.
Lucia and Trinidad and on the coast
of British Guiana. Antigua is less
than three hundred miles southeast
Of the Virgin Islands, st. Lucia Is
about five hundred miles below An
tigua and Trinidad is another five
hundred miles to the south and close
to the Venezuelan shore. The last
fortified area in the great chain will
be on the mainland, in British
Guiana.
Other links may be added to this
chain shortly. Mr.. Roosevelt indi-
Gated that negotiations for several
more bases are under way. The
United States could use profltably
an air base in Nova Scotia, where
the British already have one. A base
in Danish Greenland would be worth
a fiotilla Of destroyers in time of war
with European foe. Naval stations
and air fields are needed in Central
and South American regions close to
the Panama Canal, lifeline of the
fleet. The American people are GER
tain to view with satisfaction any
further acquisitions which add to the
impregnability of the continent and
thus complicate the problem con-
fronting a would-be invader.
For legal authority to consummate
the exchange Of destroyers for bases
by executive agreement, the Presi-
dent relied on an opinion by Attorney
General Jackson upholding his au-
thority in this respect. In brief, Mr..
Jackson held that the President de-
rived authority to acquire the bases
by executive agreement from both
constitutional and statutory sources,
the constitutional authority being
applicable because the agreement
imposes no future obligations on the
United States, but merely grants the
privilege of developing the bases if
Congress chooses to appropriate
funds for that purpose.
In the more controversial matter
of disposing of the destroyers, the
Attorney General held that "the
right of the President to dispose of
vessels of the Navy and unneeded
naval material finds clear recogni-
ton in at least two enactments of
the Congress and a decision of the
Supreme Court" One prohibitory
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