The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-02-20

aret She never dd anything 10 uS VIC nave tno
slightest reason to think she ever will We have no
reason TO think she ever intended to. Her economic
advantage lies altogether to the east, not to the west.
Ii was eastward that Hitler tried to go. He had moth
ing against England. Germany's advantage lay in
Hitler's intended move, first against Soviet Russia, so
as TO tear off and annex the Ukraine; then further
eastward advances, Of course, including Turkey and
thus bringing Germany TO the Mediterranean. But
England, the historic dog in the manger, wouldn't
let Germany advance in any direction; Germany must
forever be confined in the economic straight-jacket
made for her by the Treaty of Versailles. So when
Hitler undertook to rectify the injustices of that
so-called treaty by reannexing German-Poland, Eng
land declared war on Germany and compelled her
satellite, France, to declare war too. Hitler was thus
obliged to turn west to defend hs country against
its formidable assailant.
'Then why are we at war with Germany? For
come reason we were at war with her in 1917. In
that case, too, we had no quarrel with Germany;
in that case too we went to war because England
did. U know the pretended reasons that were given
then, and are given now, so don't bring them up to
me as If they were true ones) Always we will go to
war when England bids us; not only now, not only in
1917, but every time in the future when the main
tanning Of her imperialism imperialism, not demo
eracy', that word ie only a pretense) gets her en-
broiled with some other power, at it constantly will
even If she defeats Germany in this, only the second
and far from the last Of such wars, so caused.
~And why must we always fight when England
bid as? Because we are still an English colony, as We
we're before the revolution. The war made no chang
in our status towards England, except one. We
fought because England wouldn't grant us self-gov-
eminent; it was a rebellion, not a revolution. We
won self-government. Taught by that experience,
England stopped depriving her colonies of self-gov-
eminent, and has made Canada, Australia, New Zea-
land and South Africa as self-governing as we are.
The difference is simply that Canada, for instance,
calls her head man a Governor General and we cal
Li~n m Dran,Iar - Ill III a..aA -4- o-o nc
much an English colony as Canada is, or Australia,
and as we were before we rebeled to force self
government from her. Today Canada, South Africa,
and the rest are free to stay out of the war if they
insist; so are we. They are, however. expected to
go in, and SO are we. They have gone in, and so
have we.
This is that historical perspective l have been
speaking of. BY it, looking back over all the evidence
of the past TIA years, l see that we never broke
loose from England at all We simply rebeled to
extort self-government from her. Learning from
that lesson, she granted it to the other, except Ire
land; and in 1922 rebellion, again called in by the
PROSTATE state G,Ireland), again won the victory
another PROSTATE state, America, had won in 1888.
Culturally we have never ceased for a moment to be
English. This, and this only, is why we are again at
war, as Australia and South Africa are, in a conflict
that is no concern Of ours-a war caused only by the
imperialistic British desire to preserve the balance OF
power in Europe, on which balance her own leadAr
ship of Europe rests. A purely European question,
which concerns nobody but England and Germany.
and least of all concerns the United States.
"You say of 1917 we went over there and af-
ter we had won the diplomats began anew their
selfish ~grasping'. Not anew; not began; that self
ish grasping was what the war was started for in
1914. The diplomats only carried out the war aims
of the victorious party. Again it was a fight over
the European balance of power; Germany wanted to
expand and England wouldn't let her, because any
expansion would lessen England's leadership of that
balance.
"As for this expansion which Germany tries to
get Kaiser Wilhelm ii, said she needed "a place in
the sun and Hitler says she needs living room
tlebensraum), and both phrases mean the same
thing. In Germany "a millions are crowded together
without room to breathe, five families having to
live on a space which in America would be regarded
as too small for one family. All Europe is similarly
crowded; but England, alone, has escaped the &C.
onomie consequence by conquering and annexing
countries in Asia, Africa and North and South
America Canada, which she grabbed from France,
and British Guiana in South America, which / guess
she took without war;. She's got lebensraum' but
won't let anybody else have it if that would endanger,
not the balance of power, but her domination of that
balance. She also tried for centuries to expand on
the continent of Europe, but always in vain, so
she turned next to Asia and started by eonquering
the Empire of India.
"You speak Of ours being the birthplace of
freedom and justice Throughout the nineteenth
century ours was one outstanding nation in land
grabbing, Imperialism, and wars for conquest In
lS46-4S We tore off the whole northern half of Mex
leo so that We could construct out Of the grab the
present states Of California, Arizona, Utah, New
Mexico, Nevada, and a great deal of Colorado. We
annexed the republic of Texas in 1S45 without having
to fight for it. We threatened England with war
until she backed down and let us take the wilderness
which is now the states Of Oregon and Washington.
We warred on Spain and took from her Puerto Rico
in this hemisphere, the Philippines in Asia, and less
important places in the Pacific. Our stomach was