Evening star., 1941-10-23

nsohF "eAm"h"' nave Ucc4l u 0l1
fcult decision for Mr.. Hull TO make
because he has been in the stripe
pants, silk hat and morning coat
business for q long time, and with
that experience comes the art Of
penning politely disagreeable mes
sases to foreign powers.
He has undoubtedly written many
such notes in his time, and the
chances are that he instinctively
reached for his fountain pen when
the news OF the Kearny reached
him.
But good for the man from Tenn
essee! He ceased for moment to
be a diplomat and became an in
dignant human being and said no
note would be sent to an interns-
tionsl highwayman. -
1t would be hard for any one with
as many as one and one-half rad
corpuscles in his veins TO disagree
with the Secretary OF States policy.
To write Hitler note OF protest
would be little different from drop
ping the burglar who ransacked
your house n note something like
this:
My dear Burglar: 1t has
been brought to my attention
that on Thursday last you broke
into my home. blackjacked the
cook and stole everything Of
value I possessed. You cannot
imagine how deeply hurt and
offended I am at these unvar-
ranted actions Of yours. Ny
whole family has been called
into discussion and Is in agree
ment that you are in the wrong.
We feel you deserve this rebuks
and have been instructed I'd
tell you that until such time as
you make proper apologies We
shall continue to be deeply off,
Tended. will expect an i'm
mediate answer from you and
your promise that you will not
rob me in the near future"
II Mr.. Hull had sent a note, what
good would it have done? The
Germans have made 1t plain over
and over again that they are a
peaceful fun-loving people and that
the last thing they'd ever do would
be to shoot at one of our boats. n
Too, II Mr.. Hull had sent a note
the Germans could have pointed out
that they certainly would not have
done such q thing right on the eve
Of paying q pretty compliment to
President Roosevelt. They did pay
him compliment, you know. Right
out Of a clear sky they announced
they hated him worse than they
did Mr.. Winston Churchill and pre-
NOTED him 10 the position Of War
monger No. l."
So that Is no small honor, coming
from the Germans, because they
have a fair country varmonser Of
their own. Give Herr Hitler q saddle
and he could ride with the Fodr
Horsemen Of the Apocalypse and not
need to ask for q head start. -
Come to think OF 1t, I wonder how
Hitler feels about his own peorle
ranking him below Mr.. Roosevelt
and Mr.. Churchill as a warmonser.
The chances are he is going 10 be
sore as the devil because he has
worked long and hard at establish
ing himself as the No. / Enemy of
Peace and Order. <
The thought Of having a couple
OF Johnny -Come-Latelies" placed
above him is bound TO annoy hin.
Still, II he ever thinks about such
things, Hitler probably feels pretty
sure that when the day OF final
reckoning comes he and he alone
will be judged as the No. / top
ranking varmonger Of all time.
But to get back TO Mr.. Hull and
his refusal TO waste State Depart
ment stationery on notes to the
MANS. he is right in taking the first
step toward cutting a lot Of red
tape which is meaningless and OUT
moded. The day Of diplomatic
courtesy is past. The pen may still
be mightier than the sword, but the
pens Of France, Poland, Norway,
Holland and all the others haven't
done anything to prove this point.
DISTRIBUTED b, MeSaurht Syndicate. fneo