Evening star., 1940-10-20

Some tHOughtS OF the bTlLlSH people
on the uar outlook are set forth here
By an internationally kno1On authority
on political science ,Oho has frequently
been spokesman for the British Labor
party. Prof. Laski has been for many
years on the faculty of the University
of London and has lectured at num-
Der of American universities. He is the
author of "The American Presidency
and other books.
LONDON, Oct. 10 (By Wireless) We
are clearly entering upon new phase
of the war. The axis pact means nothing
if it does not imply anxiety by the die
tators to confine the struggle to Britain
in the sure knowledge that victory over
its people is about all for which their
resources are adequate.
They have failed in the blitzkrieg and
and they now want freedom to maneuver
in new theaters of operation. But they
want to insure themselves against the
risks implied in extension of their front,
and the threats to America and the
Soviet Union are an effort to obtain
this insurance.
We in Britain heard with immense
satisfaction the stirring replies by
President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull
to the axis threats. AS long as a full
understanding is maintained between
ourselves and the United States, we be-
heve not only that we can hold, but
also that we can maintain the pressure
necessary to wear our opponents down.
But that full understanding is essential
and I think few things are more heart
ening to the average man than his
utterance shows more and more clearly
that the people in the United States
have grasped what is at stake in this
war.
New Confidence Seen.
1t is interesting to note what has
happened to British opinion about
America in the past five or six weeks.
There is comparatively little discussion
of American entrance into the war
That is felt to be a matter which
Americans alone can decide. The real
change is the disappearance of the
feeling. widespread and sometimes bitter,
that the Americans enjoyed the spec
tacle of superb dramatic performance
in which they were detached observers.
The magnitude OF our realization of
the conflict is fully understood, as is
American realization of the essence of
the conflict. And the result of that is
to make the predominant public opinion
one of new confidence in Anglo
American relations and their historic
significance. I have been given new
insight sometimes in unexpected quar-
ters, into American isolationism.
1T is" said a distinguished labor
politician to me the other day, the
Atlantic equivalent of appease-
ment, and we all know that the time
for appeasement has gone"
I think We all know it, though the
problem of extending the results of that
knowledge to every aspect of policy has
still to be solved. 1t is good to see Mr.
Churchill repairing the mistake of the
Burma road. But it will be better still
to see him prove in actual event his
realization that neither Franco Spain
nor Petain France can be appeased No
one is comfortable about the Dakar epi-
sode, and the failure there is obviously
more profound than that of naval intel
ligence. No one. either, believes that
Serrano Suner Spanish foreign min
ister) can be allowed to flirt with the
idea of providing a new bridgehead for
the dictators to the Mediterranean and
Africa and continue to expect Spain to
be treated as a friendly power. When a
nation is fighting for its life. it cannot
permit friends to shower affections upon
its enemies
Democracy Must Act.
But if the knowledge is to be effective
then we have to make up our minds to
a conclusion that clearly has not yet
been realized either in Whitehall or
Westminster. 1t is a conclusion which
has just been formulated in the mo-
mentous words of the American Presi-
dent and its consequences are the pivot
upon which all issues of this war now
turn. The world must be made safe for
democracy. But if it is to be made safe
experience in the last decade has made
it obvious that it is unsafe in the pres
ence of powerful relationships, whether
in Europe or Asia. For dictatorship
means aggression and aggression means
war and on the modern scale war is
fatal to the fulfllment of democratic
aspirations.
This means that the Churchill gov
ernment must not delay announcement