Evening star., 1941-03-03
British Aid
Continued From First Page }

the danger of following the impulses
of our hearts instead Of the die
tateS Of reason"
When he had concluded Senator |
George read from a report Sen
ator Walsh had made to the
Senate in May, 1910, when the Naval
Committee was urging % per cent
increase in the American Navy. That
report, Senator George said, con-
tanned the following excerpt:
From all the evidence available
1t appears that the United States
can be defeated and conquered with
out military conquest of continental
United States. Without a Navy
capable of controlling the sea areas
against an enemy, an effective
blockade against our foreign COM
merce can be established and main
tanned at points thousands of miles
from our coasts and well beyond
aircraft range. Our outlying pos
sessions will be captured and used
against us as advance bases. There
will be nothing to prevent the estab-
lishment of bases, by force if nee
essary, in this hemisphere, from
which, as well as from aircraft car
riers, repeated bombing raids can be
dispatched against our highly in
dustrialized areas.
Might Close of Imports.
''It is obvious that such a war
will not be particularly expensive
to a well-prepared enemy. 1t merely
involves the expenditure of addi-
tional fuel and ammunition for his
ships and the replacement of losses
in his aircraft. In fact. such a war
might even prove quite lucrative,
provided the enemy managed to
secure sufficient portion of our
destroyed overseas commerce.
Military and naval operations
that so threaten our industrial ex-
iStence as to make our ultimate ca
pitulation inevitable, such as closing
all avenues of imports to us, by
blockading our ports, or the ports
from which we import essential raw
materials, might easily force us to
accept drastic terms to avoid COM
plete collapse or certain military
invasion"
Adding his own comment, Senator
George said:
Il prefer to follow the magnifi-
cent report the Senator from Mas
sachusetts made to this body less
than a year ago"
Senator Walsh explained that he
was presenting at that time the
need for a stronger Navy, and twas
certainly not trying to show we had
the size and quality of Navy We
need"
Senator Clark, an opponent, coun-
tered by reading an excerpt from a
speech Senator George made on
April 13, 1889, in which he said, Il
venture the statement that if we
let Europe alone there will be no
war"
Admits Mistake.
at was mistaken in that predic-
ton and am perfectly willing to ad-
NIT my mistake" Senator George
retorted. The difference between
me and the Senator from Missouri
is that he never knows when he
makes a mistake, although the rest
of the world clearly recognizes it"
Senator Walsh contended that if
the American Navy had to meet q
hostile fleet within reasonable dis
lance of the Pacific or the Atlantic
Coast line the American Navy would
win, but that if the engagement
took place thousands of miles away,
the risk would be great.
Senator Bridges took the floor late
in the day in support of the bill. He
praised the fight being waged against
the dictators by Britain'and Greece,
and declared:
"T am certain the materials we
alone can supply are essential to
make their victory possible. I am
certain that their victory is neces-
sary to our future unmolested Sc
curity.
Conscious of these self-evident
truths, I have chosen to support
the 1end-lease' bill. The present
status of the measure is far differ
ent from the bill as originally intro
duced. I hope for further amend
ments providing further safeguards
but not interfering with the OBJ
jectives Of the bill to provide ef-
fective aid to Great Britain, her do
minions, Greece, and China.
I'm supporting this bill and the
consequent aid to those who fight
for the preservation of liberty and
decency, am being consistent with
my policy of favoring that legisla-
ton which is designed to protect
and preserve the present and future
security of the United States and
help keep our people at peace"