Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-19
Aid to China

AS American trucks, loaded with
American supplies, move again over
the Burma road to the relief of
struggling China, the United States
Government is taking logically COM
Elementary and prudent steps to
bolster China's financial ability to
maintain and accelerate the flow of
urgently needed defense supplies to
Chang Kai-shek's fighting men.
Federal Loan Administrator Jesse
Jones disclosure that negotiations
are under way for extension of addi-
tional credits to China should help
to convince the war lords in Toxic
that the United States is not to be
swayed by japanese threats, or by
totalitarian intrigue, from its estab-
lished policy of standing firmly for
our rights in the Far East. Those
rights, grounded in international
law, include free and open commerce
with China and protection Of our
own interests in Asia. They do not
contemplate recognition of a new
order" planned and dominated by
Japan, with China's open door"
opened only when Toxic sees fit.
But our interest in the survival of
free China goes deeper than mere
respect for international law or a
natural sympathy for a courageous
people engaged in battle against
grasping and merciless invader.
When Japan formally aligned her
self with the Berlin-Rome axis,
America found herself the objective
of sinister pincer movement, with
European aggressors threatening us
in the Atlantic and their Oriental
ally seeking to awe us in the Pacific.
These threats, fortunately, at pres
ent are only in the potential stage,
for two very good reasons-Great
Britain and China. The tripartite
threat cannot successfully be trans
lated into military action against
us so long as Britain and China re-
main unconquered. They are our
main outer bulwarks against the
surging forces of international
brigandage on the rampage in the
world today. Because this is so, our
Government properly has adopted a
fortnight policy of extending aid
of various sorts to Britain and China.
1t would be serious blow to Ameri-
can security if either of these valiant
nations went down under aggressor
pressure.
The Star believes that the United
States can and should do much more
to help Britain and China maintain
their vital outposts of freedom.
Britain urgently needs more war
supplies. We should redouble our
efforts to increase the flow of planes
and of any other materiel which we
can spare. China needs not only
supplies, but credit with which to
secure them So far we have lent
China about S85 100000, to which
we have tied certain strings. None
of the money, we cautioned the Chi
nese, could be used for direct pur-
chase of the implements of war which
China requires to carry on her battle.
At first the caution was prompted by
policy, later by statutory limitation
on the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation and the Export Import
Bank. Our neutrality laws forbid
governmental loans to belligerents,
but we got around that restriction
by failing to recognize Japan's unde-
clared war on China as a full
fedged conflict. The money which
we lent China for military pur-
poses was, in effect, war loan,"
because it released other funds in
China for the purchase of warplanes
and guns and ammunition. The re-
striction on R. F. c. loans for mu-
nitions destined for other hemi-
spheres became law last March. Yet,
while we have been hedging our loans
to China with sham provisos regard
ing war uses, we have been supplying
Japan with iron and copper and
cotton and oil and other materials
with which to crush the very nation
which the loans were intended to
help. This program just does not
make sense and it is high time that
America realized it and acted &C
cordingly. Only policy Of appease-
ment would seem to justify contin-
ued indecision and hesitancy in
clamping additional embargoes on
Japanese trade and In removing all
restrictions on our loans to China.
And surely the overwhelming ma
jority of American people have dem
onstrated in recent months that they
are in no mood for appeasement of
any aggressors or combination
thereof.
Scott Circle Underpuss