Evening star., 1941-12-11

Z . ~ A.
Roosevelt by his
superb address David Lawrence.
over the radio set forth the essen
tiak of the international situation
and the need for calmness in the
face of rumor. But the Nation is
suffering not so much from lack OF
information as from a hastily de-
veloped case of apprehension and
lack of confidence in the Navy and
Its air auxiliary.
What must be taken into consid-
Grafton is that the fortunes OF air
battle are fiuctuating and that the
true test of the clash of air power
and sea power has come again and
again in European waters only to be
scoffed at by the naval experts. The
Importance of air power has been
conceded but never to the point OF
admitting that the air arm by itself
might be important enough to be
developed in size and quality to an
equal rank with the Army ana
Navy. On paper air power is given
high rank but in actual operations
1t is still a new and, from our stand
point, an untried force.
Long-Rrange View Necessary.
This may mean defeats and re-
verses at the outset but 1t is the
long-range view which American
public opinion must adopt at the
present time. Defeats are hard 10
bear and they destroy confidence
and spread fear but in the hnal
ANALYSIS the airplane and the mod
ern ship are products OF a mech
.nized age, and that nation or group
of nations will win this war which
has the steel and the aluminium
and the mass production capacity 70
put engines and airplanes ard ships
Into commission fastest and In
greatest quantity. .
japan has a steel capacity OF
5000 900 tons as against capacity
here of more than 10 times tnat
amount. Americas factories can
produce a linitless quantity OF
engines of destruction. 1t will take
time but in the end the might OF
America will be modified. Lives
will be lost and these are not re-
placeable. but the battleships and
the airplanes lost by the United
States can be and will be replaced
without difficulty.
It is a serious question how val
liable capital ships really will be IN
the future. Present construction
will be completed but the need OF
America is for more and more air
power
Long-range bombers can be built
by America in greater quantity
than by any other country in the
world. That's our specially. And
in due time the tons of explosives
being turned out so rapidly now In
America will be transported by
those bombers over Japan and every
island or locality which the jap
anese now hold,
Means Empires Destruction.
What it means is the ultimate
destruction of the Japanese EN-
uire. It may take several years
to do the job but the sudden attack
on Pearl Harbor has told the United
States that as long as uncivillzed
elements exist which perform acts
of treachery between nations, there
is only one answer. Such nations
must be rendered powerless ever
again to let loose the fires OF war
on unsuspecting nations.
The British people have felt that
way about Hitler and the Nazi mil
itary machine. But in the United
States many persons have preferred
to allow their deep prejudlces
against the British to obscure the
issue. Even today there are some
who hesitate to see America 60 to
war with the Nazis. Some day when
the Hitler air forces come from an
aircraft carrier and attack some OF
Americas outlying bases, the de-
mand will be for war. Democracies
prefer somehow to let the initiative
be taken by the outlaw governments
The administration is apparent,
of the belief that Hitler will strike
before many days and that the dec.
laration of state of war will ther
come as a matter of course. Mean
while, our Government is taking
every precaution against furthe
surprises on either coast.
May Delay Offensive.
The important thing for nationa
morale is to consider the long-range
rather than the short-range, view
point. The British have been traine'
toward that attitude by their cruel
ing experiences of the last tw'
years.
America perhaps will be on tn
defensive in the Pacific for severa
weeks and hot soon be able t
strike serious blows on the oftenst
But as time elapses, week by wee
and month by month, the Japanes
will be the ones to grow appre
hensive. They may take strategi
islands now and even parts of tn
Philippines, yet they cannot hol
them indefinitely as British an
American and Dutch sea power a
we'll as air power is combined TO
action. One fact overlooked gener
ally is that the British-Dutch-Ame
lean feet never has had chanc
to function as a unit and it wi
take some time to develop the nee
essary coordination of movemer
and strategy between them. -Japa
u q L