Evening star., 1940-12-29

The organization of Latin America for
hemisphere defense and the protection
of our foreign trade Is held by many,
elect, as essential in any case; but this
result can be accomplished with vastly
less effort and expense, and with far
less dislocation of the existing scheme
Of things. if England remains our COL
laborator in control of the oceans.
There are those who maintain, and no
doubt with perfect sincerity, that in the
event of a German victory we shall be
able to carry on trade with Europe pretty
much as usual. This is the thesis of
Gen. Robert E. Wood, acting head Of
the America First Committee, who says
that when two continents each have
things that the other needs trade in
evitablyS follows, regardless of the feel
ings each may have toward the other.
Political Drive Under Way.
Those on the other side insist that
this thesis of business as usual" is un-
tenable in the light of the revolutionary
character of the Hitler movement. 1t
overlooks the essential fact, they say.
that German economic foothold in
Latin America would mean drive for
political supremacy there-and a success
full drive unless checkmated by the force
OF American arms. The drive, indeed.
is under way. AS Franz Borkenau, a
one-time left-wing member of the Ger
man Labor party, has written: "All
Latin America, from the Rio Grande to
Cape Horn, is swept with German news,
German radio, German whispering cam
paigns, German goods and German
advice The evidence permits of no
doubt that Latin America, to the fullest
possible extent, is already being con-
oltloned' for German domination in the
event of German victory in Europe.
On the part of those who would give
"all-out" aid to England short of war.
there is full recognition that this aid
may eventuate in war, though war. they
say, can come only upon the initiative
OF Hitler There is full recognition of
the horrors of war and of the terrible
upset 1t would cause in all phases of
our life. There is recognition that war
would cause the abandonment, tempo
rarily at least, of democratic rights. But,
they say, the sum of all these evils is as
nothing when measured against the evils
That would be visited upon us in a world
ruled by the Nazis. This school of
thought does not, of course, concede
that our aid to England will necessarily
bring us into armed collision with Ger
many
Under the title of Total Defense 4"
there was recently published a state
ment by committee of the American
Council on Public Affairs replying to
the argument that business will proceed
as usual after the war, even If GERMANY
WINS. Among the members of this COM
mlttee are David Cushman Covle
author and engineer, New Deal ad-
wiser; Paul Douglas, professor of eco-
nomics at the University of Chicago
and viii w. Alexander administrator
OF the Farm Security Administration.
Big Orders Conceded.
The committee grants, in the words of
an important businessman Iately in
washington, that if Germany wins.
there will be lot of big orders coming
over. OF course, for Europe will need
much that the United States can export,
What the committee fears is that unless
the Government is prepared to take
strong action, the orders will be fulfilled
without regard to their effect on Aneri-
can security as a whole
The present article has concerned it.
self largely with the social and economic
reglmentation of the United States to
be expected from a Hitler-made peace.
There would be other obvious results of
such peace, all of them fitting into the
same general pattern of the degradation
of the democratic way of life as We have
known it. Conscription would be fas-
tened on us permanently; our annual
cost for defense, in world where Hitler
would enter the race for power with a
European ship building capacity seven
times our own, would rise to fantastic
heights; the consequent burden of taxes
would be terrific
Could our civil liberties stand up
against the strain of national economy
based to so large an extent on prepara-
.tion for war?
Could our democracy, whether we
elected to lock ourselves In our own
walls or to fight Germany for world
trade, survive?
We face, in any case, a future clouded
with difficulties of kind and degree
we have never experienced. 1t will be
future irnmeasurably more dihicult, our
Government believes, if Hitler wins than
II the United States and Great Britain
retain the Joint mastery Of the seas.