The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-11-28
Economic
~MahA9hA
Happenings That Affect the Dinner
Pals, Dividend Checks and Tax
Bills of Every Individual. National
and International Problems Insep-
arabic from Local Welfare.


about to befall Britain and all other
powers which dare to oppose German
ltalian-Japanese ambitions to create a
new and revolutionary "world order"
But in much of the present boasting
there is a hollow and discordant note
For it is a plain fact that today the
dictators are winning most Of their
battles on paper instead of the field
of action.
The war, in other words, is not 60
ing well, from the Nazi-Fascist point
of view. Germany has apparently
abandoned hope of invading England
a move which, according to Hitler's
original calendar, was to have been
completed months ago. Her air at
tacks go on, and they do much dam
age. But there is no evidence to in
dicate that the plane can win a war
or break the morale of a proud and de-
termined people. In the meantime,
English plane production, buttressed
by imports from this country, moves
steadily forward toward the day when
Britain will be Germany's equal in the
air. Nazi raiders and submarines have
sunk an immense amount of British
shipping. But Britain's merchant ma
rine is still vast, and is being added
to almost daily And new British war
ships, including one or two 35000-ton
super-dreadnaughts, have lately been
commissioned.
Greatest fiasco has been that of
Italy One expert recently observed
that Germany alone is stronger than
Germany and Italy together, and that
may very well be true-Italy is one
of the least self-contained of nations,
and Hitler must keep supplying her
with materials which he could use to
advantage at home. On top Of that,
the military experts are shaking their
heads in amazement over what they
regard as the almost incredible stu
pidity of Mussolini's much -bemedaled
general staff. The invasion of small,
poorly-armed Greece is a vivid ex-
ample. Italy attempted to use blitz-
country in which there are few roads,
and she started in the worst possible
season. 1t was inevitable that her
losses would be tremendous. No au-
Ithority believes that Greece can hold
out indefinitely, but Italy's victory
will be won at great cost, in prestige
no less than in men and material. And
in the meantime, England has been
able to establisffSEir, and naval bases
on the Greek islands which are of i'm
Imense Importance in cementing her
hold on the Mediterranean.
The British air attack which dis
iabled three Italian battleships and a
number Of lesser craft is, if English
reports of the action are true, one of
the major victories of this war. 1t
means that the Italian fleet has lost
close to half its effectiveness so far
as the surface vessels are concerned
And that, in turn, means that Britain
can now release ships from the Medi-
Iterranean to other places where they
are badly needed for purposes of con-
voy, and to hunt down and engage the
German raiders which are operating in
the mid-Atlantic.
Watch Africa now-the next show
down will probably come there. More
and more of French Africa has dis
Iayowed the German-dominated Vichy
government and is throwing in with
the "free French" cause led by Gen
eral De Gaulle. Mysterious General
Weygand is now in Africa. He was
sent there by the Vichy authorities to
hold the colonies. But reports leak
out that Weygand may have an en-
tirely different plan in mind-that he
may join De Gaulle or, at least, keep
the part of Africa he controls out of
an alliance of any kind with Germany.
If he does that, it will be blow to
the Axis, which must conquer Africa
as main step in its program for de-
stroying the lifeline of the British
| Empire.
Also watch the Far East There is
quiet on the surface there at the mo-
i'Ni'', 'oC IilNit ID luI
meath. Japan has been withdrawing
great quantities of troops from China.
Some fear she will use them in a
foray against French Indo- China and
the Dutch East Indies or, if worst
comes to worst, against the Philip
pines. Ray of hope is provided by Far
Eastern experts who insist that Japan
knows she is far too weak to provoke
US into war, and that she will back
down if we maintain a strong and un-
yielding policy
Most Of the columnists have been
busy as bird dogs in forecasting what
course the Administration will now
take. And all of them seem to have
different ideas. Some think the Presi-
dent will pursue a conservative policy;
others that he will go in for expert
Iment on bigger scale than ever.
For the time being, discount all of
those forecasts considerably. Only one
man, the President, knows what he
plans to do, and he hasn't talked
about it publicly. The speeches and
statements he has made since the
,electiOn have been moderate in tone