The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-14
IT SETTLES NOTHING

IT would be foolish to suppose that the Rus
1 so-Finnish peace will settle anything IN
Europe. On the contrary, it may be accepted
as providing a wider stage for war.
Russia will not stop with the dismemoer-
ment of Finland. There are still the Scandl-
ro,i.n countries and the Balkan states to
he dealt with. STAIN is not likely to stay MS
hand until he has completed or failed IN MS
effort to absorb the Baltic area in its entirety
and the little nations Of southeastern Europe.
Now that he has taken so much OF F1nlano
he will be encouraged to increase his actlVl'
ties in both these regions.
Furthermore, the end Of the Finnish cam
paign and the consequent removal OF the de-
mand for supplies and munitions there Will
open the great reservoir OF Russian resources
to HITLER and his armies, and to the Ger
man people who have begun to feel the pinch
of the British blockade. With supplies avail
able from the west, Germany may well lausn
at, the British navy and its attempts to starVe
the Reich into submission. The German nlgn
omman may be expected to launch the
major attack, so long forecast for the open
ing up OF spring, with better chances OF
success than while her chief ally mad lts
hands full in the Arctic war.
Britain and France passed up a major op'
of settling their dispute with Ger
many quickly by Withholding military aid
from Finland until too late. If they had STEP
ped in promptly, with an army corps whlle
Russian invaders we're on the run and before
STAIN had time to assemble the great hordes
he finally sent into the battle, even at the
violation of Swedish and Norwegian neutrali-
ty, they might have made their blockade OF
Germany truly effective and eliminated Rus
STA Is a potent force against them In the
middle-European quarrel.
Thus the British government once more
shows the fallacy Of its appeasement policy,
which its declaration and prosecution OF war
against Germany has not wholly rooted out.
The Allies, under British leadership, stand
to lose heavily by the lack Of action for Fin
land, not only for the help the Finnish sur
render will give Germany but for the loss
of face they will suffer among the neu-
trails as a consequence OF that ~inaction. The
surrender of Czecho-Slovakia to the Germans,
in an effort to appease HITLER, will not be
Nor will the rape of Poland. In
both, Great Britain, the Allied leader, had
nothing better to offer than flimsy excuses,
in the one because she put her faith in
H1rLER's promise to stop his conquests, and
in the other that she could not reach the
battlefield in time to help, although her war
planes have since flown from her OWL shores
to the Polish borders. Now her refusal to
take a hand in Finland, because she had not
been formally invited to help, and allowed
Finland to fall a prey to STAINS greed, can
not fail to impress neutral nations, however
strong their sympathy with the Allied cause,
that Britain is not strong at the roots Of
her government, but inclined to waver in
emergency, unable to make up her mind which
way to go, whether the hard and safe, or the
easy and unfruitful way.
And right now, "loss Of face is something
Great Britain can i'll afford. It would seem
that this is the time for that cabinet shake
up recently forecast, with a strong man placed
in the premiership.