The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-10-15

'The ships would not be unoer tne Navy but merely armed for selt-oe- fense," he explained.
 Asked whether Arming ships would change their status so that they could be attacked without warning under international law, Knox re- piled that the distinction means very little since Germany aready mas been conducting 6 campaign oi piracy" on the high seas.
 Knox said that the fact that Bri- tain has armed her merchantmen has had "a profound influence ot German submarines and airplanes and said that 8 large number" oi Nazt aircraft had been downed by them. He refused to reveal the numbers. .,.
 "The arming of our ships will force the submarines to change their methods of attack" he con- tinued, "They must conserve their supply of torpedoeS. If 6 ship Is un- armed, the submarine will come to the surface and sink 1t with gun fire"
 The arming, he continued, will force the submarines to conduct op- i erations below the surface, slow ing them down and irnpatring ther marksmanship.
 "There is no doubt that 1t will increase the security of our ves- sels, if they carry guns" he said. "They will drive the planes up high and reduce their chances of bomb hits"
 Size of Guns
 Knox said that three, four or flve- inch guns will be used, although probably all will not be for the dual purpose of combating both aircraft and submarines. The gun crews, he said, will vary from 10 to IS men each and will stand continuous watches.
 He added that improved defenses have been found against submarines and implied that the British have been destroying large numbers of German U-boats, but said that "very wisely" they have not been telling about 1t.
 Under the plan approved by the rules committee, the house will de- vote all of Thursday to debate on arming the merchant ships and an additional hour on Friday. Then amendments will be considered, with 6 final vote late Friday. No amend ments may be offered except those pertaining to Section 6 of the Neu- trality Act, which the measure would repeal. This would prevent the opening of the issue of complete revision such as removal of combat zone prohibitions.
 The house foreign affairs commit tee approved the repealer at ah early morning session.
 The bill-an amendment of the neutrality law repeating Section 6 which prohibits the arming of ner- chantmen-was moving through the house on @ high speed schedule without mishap. Opponents are now planning to make their big fight against it in the Senate. Asks Repeal of Act
 Director of Civilian Defense Fiorello H. I.aGuardia, in a speech to the United Women'S Organiza- tions last night, called for repeal of the neutrality acts prohibitions against arming ships and their en- tering war zones, declaring that de- livery of American war goods by American vessels Ito the docks of Britain" would assure defeat of Hit- Ter within B months. He called for adoption of "D.OD. policy delivery on the docks"
 Senate isolationists, who met yes- terday to plan their fight, said the Navy Departments report on the ate tempted torpedoing of the destroyer Greer was ammunition" for their side. The report revealed that a British plane had informed the Greer of the presence of the Subma- rine and dropped four depth bombs near 1t, whereupon the Greer trail- ed 1t. The torpedo attack and the dropping of depth bombs from the Greer followed.
 President Roosevelt cited the in- cident in issuing his "shoot-on- sight" orders to the navy, charging that the Greer had been the object of an unprovoked attack in broad daylight.
 Senate isolationists said that navy's report showed that the of- ficers of the submarine might have believed the Greer was responsible for the depth charges dropped by the British plane.
 Administration supporters in the Senate declined to comment on the report which was written by Chief of Naval Operations Harold R. Stark and released last night by Chairman David I. Walsh, D., Mass, of the Senate naval affairs commit tee.
 What extent the isolationists plan to use the report in their fight against the armed merchantmen bill ir the Senate was not revealed But II Senators met yesterday to plan their strategy and announced that they would fight 1t down the line" and provoke s full dress de- bate on the administration's foreign policy.
 Here's the lineup of senators who attended yesterdays meeting:
 Sen. Hiram w. Johnson, R., Gal Veteran of many fight on inter. national affairs since coming to tho senate in 1916. He and the lats Sen. William F. Borah led the flghi against United states entrance intG the League of Nations.
 Wheeler Is There
 Sen. Burton K. Wheeler. D.. Mont Leader of the present congras. lElunal expedition Co President R0ose.