The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1941-01-01


: againts the Western Hemisphere mus
: first of all come by sea. But tn
n British fleet is a luxury and not il
r dispensable Chances of a successful
q invasion of North America or the Can
| ibbean-especially with the assumI
4 ton of all points in the Western Hem
/ isphere by the U. S. in such an even
: are negligible, supposing there Il
! any defense at all. Even an invasion
of South America by an overwhelm
ing naval force, though conceivable
, would still be a large order for Hitler
! far larger than anything he has ye
, contemplated. Even if our defense
, program were far from complete, in
vasion of North America from Brazil
would still be impossible until Brazil
were organized to support the invad
ing army. Certainly, the longer Brit
ish resistance continues. the more
time the U. S. has to prepare for war
if the assumption is that America
would be Immediately attacked after
a Hitler victory. The proposition that
war itself is the best laboratory for
testing material and tactics was
proved by the nazis in Spain. The
hitch is that we might be testing ma
terial and planes which would be obso-
lete before we fight-if ever we do.
Least valid of these points is that
through aid to Britain, the u. S. will
build up its own arms industry. If
Mr.. Knudsen is correct in his asser-
ton last week that the arms program
is 80 percent behind schedule, British
orders obviously are not essential to
building up the industry
"or Else"
1t is fairly evident that the Roose-
welt plan was occasioned by an cor
else" ultimatum on the part of Britain.
Certainly the stage is set for a posi-
Dec. I'd Such a peace would mean
an AngloGerman working harmony in
Europe; in international trade and d.
plomacy, it might well be directed
against the Americas. Secretary Nor
genthau's statement to a House COM
more orders in the u S. unless some
kind of credits were extended bears
no real relation to Britains ability to
pay. According to conservative esti-
mates (UNCENSORED, Dec. 7, Nov.
23), Britain has not yet come close
to exhausting assets convertible into
dollars. At his press conference Pres
ident Roosevelt admitted as much. The
City Oondon's Wall STREET. is evil
IDENTIFY determined to continue "busi-
ness as usual" One example which
makes this clear is contained in a re-
cent report of the U. S. Maritime Com
mission NOV. 24) which points out |
that despite the war, the chief foreign |
competition in the shipping traffic be-
tween North and South America |
comes from British lines using char
tered Scandinavian tonnage instead of
requisitioned British ships. British |
shipowners evidently have no desire
to give up this lucrative trade and
use these chartered ships for trans
Atlantic cargoes, despite the reported |
shortage of British shipping. The
only way that the City can simultane-
ousIy wage war and make it's usual
profits is by persuading the u S. to
assume a large portion Of the wars
cost.
ReaIpoitik
This attitude can be called black
mail, but to do so would be to ignore
the fact that such tactics are common
in all international power politics,
British or German or any
thing else. Actually, Britain acts sole
ly in her own national interest with
out too great regard for conflicting
ideologies. Certainly, in terms of in
Realpolitik, the U. S. can
not find security in dependence upon
the good will of any foreign power.
Aid to Britain thus, is based pri-
mary on natural American sympathy
for Britain together with the sound
conviction that the world will be far
less comfortable if Hitler wins. But
Tor only very few Americans is this
sympathy and belief worth the sacri-
lice of American lives. The Presi-
Tents scheme may not get us into the
ball game, but we're warming up in
he bull-pen. If adopted by congress,
he plan would again tell the world
hat the U. S. is acknowledgement"
/ position already amply clarified. The ,
,nly real departure from present prac-
ice may we'll be that in the future it
will become impossible to learn ex-
lctly how much aid to Britain we are .
giving-since transfer of arms
will undoubtedly be treated as a mill
airy secret. !
The nth Congress may approve the
Presidents plan without any serious ,
But the non-interven-
ionist bloc will put up a strong fight
against such a move. It's most likely {
actic would be to demand that Britain {
Jack the loans with sufficient collat- (
,ral-a move to transfer of the col {
ateral c
While the question is before con- d
,ress, administration leaders may l
move to hurry it through on the {
that delay would be fatal to
3ritain's chances. This was indicated
n Roosevelt's advice to the British G
lot to sign contract commitments un-
il congress had approved the plan.
speeches will portray a
esperate Britain losing ground each