Evening star., 1940-06-23
Sees Dark Future
For Soft Nations
By ODen L. Scott.

/
Victory for Hitler in Europe is going
to mean a rocky road ahead for the
United States.
Kickbacks from a German dictated
peace can be expected to Jar this Nation
to its foundations. Those kickbacks will
affect and influence internal affairs and
policies. They can be expected, at the
same time. to affect and influence pro-
foundly Americas relationship with the
remainder of the world and its attitude
toward the remainder of the world. Any
thought of return to normal in busi-
ness or in government then could be
dismissed.
Reasons for this conclusion, which is
that of the very best informed of this
Governments officials, are several.
Take first the matter of American
markets in Europe. Those markets are
vital for the cotton, wheat and tobacco
farmers OF this country and they are i'm
portant for some large branches of
American industry. Sales of American
products abroad amount annually to
$4,000. 100000 and are concentrated
among the 4OO,0O0,o00 Europeans who
are on the verge of Hitler domination.
Great Britain is the largest single Gus
toner. German plans call for England
to be reduced to the status of collection
agency for income from empire invest
ments that would largely be syphoned to
Germany Hitler plans a CLOSED" sys-
tenn OF trade for all of the nations he will
dominate, and goods from the United
States do not figure prominently in that
plan. This means the loss of large
proportion of this country's European
and British markets.
That Is only part of the picture. An
other part appears in Latin America.
Markets for American products have
grown greatly in the southern part of
this hemisphere. Those markets are 60
Ing TO interest victorious Hitler. who
needs the raw materials of Latin America
to fill out his closed system of trade.
The Germans will offer to Latin Ameri-
can nations the industrial products Of
Europe-produced by what will amount
to slave labor in conquered territory-in
exchange for the cotton and wheat and
copper and oil Of Argentina and Brazil
and Venezuela and Mexico and Chile.
The German offers will be on a price
basis that cannot be met by the United
States with its high-cost production.
The result will be an inevitable narrow
ing. not only of European but of Latin
American outlets for American goods.
Still another part of the picture is to
appear in Canada. Canadians now find
an outlet for the bulk of their agricul-
tural products and their industrial prod
ucts in the preferential market of Great
Britain. A defeated Britain, under Ger
man control of foreign policy and trade
policy, will no longer offer this market.
Canadian agriculture is competitive with
American agriculture and Canadian in
dustry, in important part. is actually
American industry that has located there
in the form Of branch factories-in
order to get the advantage of tariff re-
ductions in British markets. Defeat for
Britain would leave Canada as an acute
problem on the doorstep of the United
States.
There remains the Far East. Japan
now needs the products of American in
dustry and American agriculture. The
United States needs many of the prod
ucts of the territory controlled by japan.
But the Japanese-with peace in Europe
will quickly try to arrange for new
sources Of supply because the United
States is threatening and has threatened
to cut of American supplies.
In other words: German victory and
the adjustments that will follow that
victory promise to leave the United States
isolated. as not too vast island. in the
midst of a world of enemies who will be
intent upon using every trade and propa-
ganda weapon they possess to reduce
this island to state of internal discord
and impotency.
There seem to important officials here
to be just two courses that the United
States can follow in the world that
looms ahead
One would be to strike out on bold
and determined policy of development
for this hemisphere in order that it may
become strong enough to resist encroach-
ment from either Europe or Asia. The
American State Department apparently
intends to pursue this policy on an at
tempted basis of cooperation with the
other nations, under which the United
States would supply the cash and the
organization for a marketing agency to
handle surplus Latin American COM
modities.
Success of any such plan would de-
pend upon the honesty of purpose and
upon the degree of real cooperation
among Latin American rulers, some of
the most important of whom are Fas-
cists in spite of their protestations to the
contrary. The fact is that. racially and
Intellectually, Latin America is closely
tied to the Fascist group of nations in
Europe. The economic ties likewise are
close.
Any attempt to follow purely mega
tive policy Of dealing with these Latin
American nations is likely to result in
disaster for this country Consequently.
there are some important officials who
are convinced that American co-opera-
ton with Latin America must be on a
firm basis-with the sort of understand
ing that will permit American capital
and some American labor to venture into
the active development of these nations
in hot h =