The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-10-17

N41411d III 1OOS, dA4O U11AO " This plan was revived again dur ing the Panay incident in 1888, but each time there were differences of opinion inside the Administra- tion and the plan fell flat.
 Today, almost exactly the same problem faces the administration, and again there are basic differ ences of opinion = differences which are honest and natural when the future peace of the country is at stake.
 The group inside the Cabinet which favors a complete stoppage of Japan's raw materials of war, especially her oil, includes Secre- tary of War Stimson, Secretary of the Navy Knox, Secretary of In- terior Ickes and Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau = also cer- tain admiralS in the navy. Per- haps it is significant that the strongest advocates of complete embargoes against Japan are the three Republican members of the cabinet-Stimson, Knox and Ickes.
 On the other hand, the State Department plus some of the admirals favor a go-slow policy toward Japan. They believe in applying the embargoeS gradually, or as MT. Ickes described it, "cut- ting off the Gog's tail by inches" JAPAN MIGHT ATTACK
 Specifically, they do not believe in cutting off Japan's oil supply which is the all-important ques- tion under diplomatic discussion between the British and Ameri- can governments.
 The State Department concurs that cutting off Japan's oil would pralyze her fleet after her pres- ent two and half months supply was exhausted. But they also believe 1t would force Japan to move into the Dutch East Indies immediately in order to get more oil.
 However, the embargo group within the Cabinet con- tends that the Dutch East In- dies are fortified sufficiently to withstand four months seige
 and that with the U. S. fleet on guard in that general area, Japan could not risk an attack on these islands.
 What makes the intra-cabinet debate doubly vital is knowledge. that as long as the British fleet keeps the Italian and Nazi fleets bottled up in Europe, the U. s. fleet can operate as 8 one-ocean navy, thereby keeping most of its vessels on guard against Japan in the Pacific. But once Bri- tain's naval defense weakens, then the United States will have the navies of the European dictators to contend with in the Atlantic, plus the Japanese in the Pacific.
 And two-ocean drive on South America by both the dictators and Japan is more than the navy likes to contempate. That is the chief argument behind the total embargo now" group.
 LIMITED EMBARGO ON OIL
 The Cabinet difference first came to be heard more than a month ago when the action-now group placed on the Presidents desk an executive order embar- going the sale of oil. They ar- gued that with the military clique in, Japan actually threatening war, they could not continue to give the Japanese navy this vital fuel. The President concurred and signed the order. Then 1t went over to the State Department to be carried out. And the State Department revised the order so that it applied only to, high-test gasoline.
 The embarg0-now group also advocated an immediate stop page of all scrap iron shipments to Japanu. But the State De- partment again intervened so that scrap iron shipments con- tinued on everything except 'sN0. I scrap" and even No. 1 scrap could be shipped on license. It was only the other day that the sale of all scrap iron, after much urging by the National Defense Commission, was finally ena- barg0ed.
 The question of cutting off oil to Japan still is Q moot question inside the Cabinet. and is being discussed with the British govern ment.
 NAVY vs. STATE DEPT.
 Last week one argument over this point and over general naval