Evening star., 1941-04-15
The Convoy Question

Inc IdCJ lIldL HT6SlQ6nI ROOS6N6lI
Is making a determined effort to
find some method of inSuring the
0'safe delivery of American-made war
supplies to England and the other
opponents of aggression without
actually placing them under the
protection of American naval vessels
should not be permitted to obscure
the fundamentals of the convoy
question. Nor should the American
people hesitate to think this problem
through, for there can be no intelli-
action-Should Mr.. RooSevelt's pres
ent efforts fail-unleSS the basic facts
are clearly understood.
- AS a nation, we are committed to
the policy of giving all necessary
, aid to Britain and her allies. That
~ means all aid necessary to insure
their victory, or, at the least, to pre-
vent their defeat. This American
policy, which is based on the belief
that maintenance of the British En-
pire is vitality important to our own
security, has been evolved slowly all
of the implications of each important
step in its development having been
fully considered before the step was
taken. And now that this policy
has been adopted, with the approval
of the great majority of the people,
: there is mounting evidence that we
must decide, and decide soon, as to
Just how far we are prepared to go
: to see that it is made effective.
Obviously, this national policy will
be defeated if the war supplies we
=. are producing fail to reach their in
f. tended destination. And at this time
the axis powers are sinking the mer-
chant ships in which these supplies
must be transported at rate which
is greater than the combined British
and American capacity to replace
them. If this is to continue, the end
, of Britain is in sight.
But the President repeatedly has
made it clear-without being very
speciic-that he is determined that
the British shall not lose the war
because of any failure to insure de-
livery of the promised help. And
that attitude suggests two possible
courses of action.
One is to build or otherwise ac-
uuire merchant ships faster than the
axis can sink them. That is solu-
. tion which offers little hope, how
ever, for, as Admiral Land has said,
: 1t is like throwing fuel on fire in
stead of extinguishing the flames.
When a merchantmen is sunk its
valuable cargo of war supplies in
variably is lost, and in many cases
: the members of the crew go down
with the ship or are taken as prison.
ers. There is also the fact that more
and more ships will be needed to
carry away the ever-increaSing out
put of American factories and to
supply the British armies fighting on
many fronts.
The other possibility is to cut down
the rate of losses by breaking the
German and Italian counterblockade
of England. This the President is
trying to do by a variety of eXpedi-
ents, such as the transfer of old
destroyers and Coast Guard cutters
to the British, opening the Red Sea
to American shipping, establishing
an American protectorate over
, Greenland, and permitting the re-
pair of British ships in American
yards. But we must face the fact
, that these measures may fail, that
palliatives may not suffice to prevent
essential war supplies from piling
up on our docks or being sent to the
bottom of the Atlantic. In that
event, what will the American de-
cision be? Will we turn back from
the policy upon which we have set
tied, and abandon Britain and her
allies to what would be their almost
certain fate, or will we use the
American Navy, either in our own or
British hands, to convoy merchant
men across the Atlantic? We ought
not to blind ourselves to the fact
that this is a decision which may
have to be made-Sooner perhaps,
than Is generally realized.