Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-15
OUR FATE IF BRITAIN LOSES
Two Grim Alternatives Would Face u S.
By Constantine Brown.

oficial Washington has been holding
its breath since last Friday The news
from Britain has been ominous Fac
tories have been shattered by the re-
lentless German air bombardment;
civilian ana military objectives have
been the targets, OF Reichmarshal Goer-
ing's planes. And the bombs have not
failed to hit their marks in areas like
Coventry, where British industrial plants
and airplare factories are almost as close
to each other as row houses in the sub
urbs. But the British upper and middle
classes have not lost their morale The
same grim determination to stand pat
despite the fierce German attacks has
prevailed during early September.
The most recent bombardmentS, how
ever, are causing deep concern to those
who are watching this life-and-death
struggle from the inside. Since Satur-
Gay, September 7, the German attacks
have been more ferocious; the Nazi
planes swarm in waves of $780, 600 or 700
every day over the British capital and
other important and populous centers.
The air alarm is sounded almost every
hour and there is only short spell be-
tween the all clear and take cover"
How long will the British morale hold
out? That is the anxious question of
high-Yanking officials in Washington.
Like the Gestapo.
The treatment of the British by the
Germans is comparable to the third de-
gree of the merciless Gestapo No man,
no matter how strong or determined. can
go indefinitely without sleep and food,
nor endure continual f1oodlight. This
is about what is happening to British
townSpeople. They go to bed for half an
hour or so to be awakened by screaming
sirens and the whizbangs of German
bombs. Hardly do they return to- their
quarters before another alarm signal is
given and they have to descend into
Easements or shelters again. Some two
weeks ago many Londoners did not
bother to 60 to the shelters as the regu-
lations provided. But now they all do so
because too many private homes, hotels
and hospitals have been hit by the Ger
man bombs. The defiant attitude toward
the ferries" still prevails, but when the
workers go out in the morning after a
white night and see the destruction
caused by the German planes they
realize that the German deviling is no
longer joke.
AS these lines are written, the reports
from Britain are so serious that our high
officials, while hoping for the best. expect
the worst. Berlin has made it clear that
the battle for Britain must be ended one
way or another before the end of this
month or, at the latest, the beginning of
October
Our political leaders are worrying over
what is going to happen If Britain has to
fold up, and what the repercussions of a
British defeat would be in this country.
Two Possibilities Seen.
Two possibilities are considered in
Washington: Britain may not be able to
halt the destruction caused by the Ger
man airplanes; her defenses may be
RACED and the German armies may land
in her islands. If the situation reaches
such possibility, it is felt here that
Churchill and his friends will retire and
Britain might negotiate a peace, while
it is not too late, along the lines indicated
last week in this column
The alternative would be for the Brit
ish government and the fleet to move
out to sea; come to Canada and, while
the islands are occupied by the Ger
mans, continue the war from there in
the shape of a blockade from the Pacific
and the Atlantic. Either eventuality is
believed likely to draw all the resources
OF this country into the conflict.
II the British surrender without Offer
Ing further resistance from the Western
Hemisphere. the challenge Of the totan-
tRriau states In South America IL ex.