Evening star., 1941-04-26


the most out David Lawrence.
spoken address on American par
ticipation in the war since its out
break in September, l939-was re-
ceived with sober reflections on Cap
itol Hill. For Congress has known
what the executives in officialdom
too have known for long time
that sooner or later the people of
the United States would be asking
what was the good of appropriating
s7,000,000,000 on a lease-lend pro-
gram to help Britain unless the
goods were delivered to their des-
tination.
Mr.. Knox went further. He ex-
pressed what the President and the
whole Government has been saying
that the Nazi government could
not be trusted to deal reasonably
with any other government and
that the challenge of brute force
was here.
Cites Historic DefeatistS.
Neither did the President mince
words. He made it plain that the
minority in America who wanted
to surrender had a right to do so.
He referred to others in American
history who wanted to surrender
when things looked dark. Secretary
Knox did not refer to such groups
in as kindly vein. He used harSher
language. He referred to the Or
ganization of fifth columns, not yet
loosed to the maximum but Suffi-
GENTLY active to warn us unmis-
takably of their presence"
But it was the closing paragraph
of the Secretary of the Navy's speech
which, with the approval of the
President, constitutes the sensa-
tional prediction of active Ameri-
can participation in some form in
the not-far-diStant future
"Proclaiming as we do" Mr.. Knox
said, our faith in the ultimate VIC
tory of good over evil, our devotion
to the cause of human liberty, our
century and a half of the pursuit
of justice between men on terms of
equality, we can no longer occupy
the immoral and craven position of
asking others to make all the sac
rif1ces for this victory which we
recognize as so essential to us. Our
manhood and our self-reSpect de-
mand that we shall assume our part
of the burden"
1t is doubtful whether a stronger
expression of American purpose
could have been made at the mo-
ment, and President Roosevelt was
quick to give his total approval.
Tells of Atlantic Operations.
But the President did something
else He outlined for the first time
the nature of American naval oper-
ations in the Atlantic. He refuted
the popular notion that conveys are
the next step. He distinguished be-
tween a convoy" and a patrol"
The impression grows that both
Britain and the United States no
longer approve of the idea of bunch
ing vessels for the journey across
the Atlantic. Evidently the vessels
will scatter as they proceed from
American ports and will be conveyed
only when they are near European
ports.
Meanwhile the American patrol"
both naval and aerial, will attempt
to spot Nazi or Italian warships,
submarines or aircraft and will re-
port to Washington the presence
and position of such vessels by
radio in plain English, SO that the
British can listen in and send their
fast vessels and planes in pursuit.
The justification for this is the ad-
ministration's decision to keep all
Nazi craft out of western hemisphere
waters inside of a line now 1000
miles from United States shores,
but likely to be extended gradually
as the patrol from new American
bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda
and Greenland becomes more and
more effective
May Bring War Issue.
Will Nazi submarines attack
American planes and destroyers be-
cause they report what they see?
1t will be an interesting point on
which an issue of war or peace
could conceivably turn. 1t means
merely that the United States has
taken over the protection of West
ern Hemisphere waters and, while
not engaging in actual hostilities
herself, nevertheless feels justified
in aiding the navy of one of the
countries which has been a victim
of aggression.
The military value of the new
American patrol system, which the
President intimated has been going
on in a smaller way for more than
a year, cannot be overestimated
Rome dispatches quote authorities
there as believing it means relieving
the British Navy of SO per cent of
its burden in the Atlantic.
Certainly If the British Navy can
now spare its own warships the
necessity of coming clear across
the Atlantic to escort vessels and
can take up the convoy job nearer
to British or African ports, it means
that the same destroyer or cruiser
or aircraft can do double duty.
Nearly two-thirds of the distance
each way will be protected by the
American naval and aerial patrol
system.
There can be little doubt that
British reverses in Greece and
Yugoslavia have merely accentuated
the determination of the American
Government to 60 on and not back
down. If war should eventuate,
off1cialdom is ready for such a
contingency and genuinely believes