The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-12-12
Economic /.
eMhA@hA
That Affect the Dinner
Pals, Dividend Checks and Tax
Bills of Every Individual. National
and International Problems Insep-
arabic from Local Welfare.

Bills of Every Individual. National
and International Problems Insep-
\ arabic from Local Welfare.
! The British haven't announced it
loffcially-but, according to the inter-
national grapevine, major British
strategy now is to knock Italy out of
the war. That explains the recent
increase in British naval action in the
Mediterranean. 1t also explains the
many observing and reconnoitering
trips the Royal Air Force has been
making over Italian soil. The British
haven't begun to shoot the works as
yet. They are increasing the severity
of their attack on Italy slowly and
gradually, and it may be spring be-
fore the assault reaches full momen-
tum.
1t is obvious that this strategy is
sound. Italy has definitely proven
herself the weak point of the Axis,
in the opinion of practically every
military authority. There seems to
be an astounding lack of morale on
the part of the mill run of Italian
troops. The large Italian navy has
shown strange disinclination to
fight, and Italian detachments have
actually run at full speed for home
when confronted with English squad
rons Of inferior speed and gun-power.
And Hitler has so far hesitated to
give Italy helping hand, and has
let Mussolini stew in the bitter Greek
juices of his own cooking. 1t may
be that Germany is so far spread out
now, due to the various Axis "vic-
tories" in middle Europe, that Hitler
simply cannot spare the troops and
equipment that would be necessary to
saving 1taly's bacon.
Tone of recent Italian press COM
ment is significant. When Italy in
vaded Greece, the papers all took it
for granted that the affair would be
over in matter of weeks at the out
side. Now Italian editorial writer's
are talking about long campaign.
The official army communiques have
lost their past boastful note. They
say little, and attempt to gloss over
the staggering Italian reverses. And
rumor has it that considerable pro-
portion of the Italian people-who
never wanted war, and who dislike
Germany far more than they dislike
England-are getting tired of the
way things are going.
From the British point of view,
Italy is fairly soft picking. Her in
dustrial capacity is largely concen-
trated in the Milan area, which is
|similar in terrain to our own Middle
Western plains~-Aauntry, enjoys good
weather most of the year, and so is
easy to bomb. The Italian air force
is large in numbers, but apparently,
small in skill and courage. Don't be
surprised if you read before long Of
British air raids of almost unprece-
idented intensity over the Milan and
'ITurin regions. ~9fa
AS this column has pointed out
before, the Greek Italian war has
been giving England a chance she
would not otherwise have had to OBJ
tain air, naval and perhaps submarine
bases on the Greek islands. These
bases provide an almost perfect start
ing and supply. point for action in the
Mediterranean. Reports now say that
large British naval detachments are
roaming the Mediterranean, their OBJ
ject to ferret out and destroy Italian
naval power
If, as England hopes, Italy should
fall, the blow to Germany would be
, terrific. Hitler would lose more than
a partner of dubious courage and
power. He would take terrific beat
ing in prestige in the small countries
he has forced into his grandiose Axis.
! 1t is undoubtedly true that Britain
depends on opposition within these
countries to help her win the war.
: Germany's policing problem is one of
the most difficult in history. You
can't shoot all dissenters. And one
man in a factory, trained in sabotage,
: could disrupt production for months.
1t has lately been reported that Eng
land is starting secret sabotage
: eIsystem in central Europe.
= Interesting sidelight on British
= plans is provided by report that
5 an English purchasing agent recently
came to this country with orders for
= l,0C0 monster tanks of the 7O-ton
variety. Told that such implements
of war would destroy British roads,
he replied that they weren't designed
; for use in England. Obvious implica-
, tion is that Britain is already laying
! plans for eventual invasion of the
D.. German-dominated continent.
Z, 1t doesn't look as if this is going
, to be rubber stamp Congress, de-
-, spite the Presidents precedent-break-
: ing reelection. The final election re-
, turns were hardly in before Congress
l refused to adjourn-in the face of
White House pressure-and passed
the Walter-Logan Act, which is some
thing the White House definitely did
not want.
Significant point is that both these
I