The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1940-05-23
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DANGERS PARADED
WASHINGTON, ID. C..

WASfilNOION, II. Y.
A digest of those thousands of
kilograms" drawn by the Presi-
dents Pan-American speech on Hit
ler's latest blitzkrieg would be valu-
able.
Ninety per cent of them were re-
ported by Secretary Early to APP
prove and the other 10 per cent to
be from "peace-at-any-pricers." An
analysis would be valuable because
I can't see how you can approve a
speech when you don't know what it
means. 1 have discussed this speech
with several informed people. They
don't know what it means-and I
don't.
From it's condemnation of treach-
erous brutality of Hitler the approx
al should have been 100 per cent
and also for its plea for pan-Ameri-
can unity in defense. This unity
the President called "our solution"
But then he said: SIS this solution
our solution-permanen or safe if
it is solved for us alone? I
think not!"
What does that mean? 1t may
seem slight phrase to be quib-
bling about, but no utterance by a
President of the United States on
our future course in a world at war
is a "slight' phrase. This one
wasn't intended to be slight. 1t was
coupled with an assertion that too
many of us have been deceived by
the ''false teaching of geography
into feeling safe, physically, eco
nomically and socially" from the
impacts of attacks on civilization
elsewhere. Then followed state
ments that, from the point of view
of conquest, Santiago, Chile, is clos
er to Europe than Alexander found
Macedonia to be from Persia or
than the distance Caesar travelled
from Rome to Spain-that is, four
or five hours from Africa to South
America as compared with four or
five weeks it took the armies of
Napoleon to go from Paris to Rome
or Poland.
I don't know what that means but
it sounds like "our frontier is in
France" The statement identifying
airplane timetables with the pace of
conquering armies or from the point
of view of conquest is utterly mis-
leading-almost as misleading as it
would be to say that the speed of a
race horse compares with that of a
telegram. An airplane can go from
Africa to South America in a few
hours. But an army can't. 1t can't
go at all if our navy and air force
are efficient and afioat and not chas-
ing boogey-men in the east Pacific.
This aspect of the speech was cryp-
tic observation coupled with sensa-
tional and misleading terrorism.
It creates an occasion to repeat
the quotation from Lloyd Georges
speech that upset Chamberlain.
''The nation is ready as long as its
leadership is right, as long as you
say clearly what you are aiming at,
as long as you give confidence to
them that their leaders are doing
their best for them"
The President does the deliberate
reverse of Saying clearly what he
is aiming at" His carefully guarded
exterior seems to be full to the
bursting point with some kind of in
terror content he doesn't often re-
veal but every time a new pressure
comes, a little of it squirts out-like
frontiers in France" and ''quaran-
tine the aggressors. The whole
country is behind him at any cost or
effort to prepare this country for de-
tense of this continent. 1t is 80 per
cent against any attempt at ode
Tending" America by attacking in
Europe or Asia-with either men,
money or materials. 1t would be a
politicians well as naval and mill
tary-catastrophe.
For, even for the relative strategi-
cal ease of continental defense, Mr..
Roosevelt has not prepared the mill
tary and naval weapons to make
good his position and the whole of
recent history proves that blufing
on bobtail is suicide.