The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-02-20

E ed with beauti-
 EdsOn full cunning, and they can be counted on to catch any unguarded kings at large in the deck.
 For many years it was consid- cred that Americans didn't. know how to play this game. We were too direct in our dealings. We be- lieved in open covenants openly ar- rived at. We said what we meant and we didn't play the diplomatic game with aces up our sleeve and motives concealed. The result was that the boys from Europe made us look like suckers at Versailles, and in the Kellogg pact.
 F. D. R.'S NO" IS BIG
 NEWS IN TOXIC
 In the early days of the New Deal, MT. Roosevelt manifested a certain mastery of timing in handling domestic issues. Later, there was some belief that he lost the gift and that bad timing was largely responsible for much of the second term confusion.
 Recently there. have been a couple of moves on the American diplomatic front which have made Washington observers wonder again about the smartness of our timing, and as situations in Europe, in the Orient and at home become all the more acute, this sense, of timing be- comes all the more important. The incidents in question all have to do with our relations with Japan.
 To set the chain in motion, two things may be said to have happened in the natural course of events.
 First, scare went up from the region of Singapore and Neither lands East Indies. The Japanese fleet was reportedly on the move, and the British and Dutch from Malaya to Australia feared for the worst. Sec ond, Admiral Nomura arrived in Washington as new ambassador form Tokio, charged with improving Japanese American relations. Glad hands were extended all over the place.
 Official Washington really believed there was a chance for these rela- tionS to improve. Thes, Presidents clear MOP when asked if he thought war would break out in the Pacific was big news in Tokio. Sideline eX- perts who had been predicting war in another 15 minutes had to suck back most of their predictions.
 NO TRUSTING
 TO LUCK L sA And then what happened?
 The President asked Congress to appropriate $898 million to build bombproof shelters, improve harbors and strengthen air and submarine bases in Alaska and on half a dozen tiny islands south and west of Ha- waii, outposts of defense and offense against Japan. Westernmost of the projects is at Guam.
 Only $4,70O,000 was asked for Guam, and that was earmarked for harbor improvement. Such sum is of course only fraction of the $500, ,000,O00 or so that the navy has previously estimated necessary to do a real fortifying job on Guam, but this is a first step that must be completed before the real defenses can be begun. It is therefore an indication that the administration would like to see Guam fortified, eventually, and as such is must be salt water and sulphuric acid in the slant eyes of the Japanese. For Guam is only 1900 miles from Japan and the subject of its fortiflcation has been so painful to the Japanese that Congress always previously re- fused appropriations for such pro- jects. The island today is practically undefended tnd indefensible.
 What, therefore, about the timing on this move? It could hardly have been accidental, and SO the whole days proceedings had the effect of saying that while we don't think there will be any trouble in the Pa cific, still, we won't trust to luck. IT'S ALL A JUGGLING ACT
 We'll, maybe we're learning. We have tossed out, from time to time, sly hints that we might be interested in moving part of the U. s. Pacific fleet to Singapore. Whether that is actually done or not, the mere talk of it is good medicine for some peo- pla, if given at the right time.
 Of course, If these various an- nouncements and hints have the ef- feet of forcing Japan to advance her schedule of expansion and attempt to move southward before U. s. de- lenses in the Western Pacific can be completed, then administration tim ing will be considered bad.
 The point to bear in mind is that every American move plays its part in this Japanese juggling act. With drawal of American citizens from Japan, increasing Notifications in the Philippines, restrictions on ex- ports of scrap iron and aviation gas ----all these have had to be carefully timed. Let one move be badly timed, and the whole act would do a pratt fall.
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