Imperial Valley press., 1941-04-29
u. s. : MADE SAFETY LANE
FOR SHIPS TO BRITAIN

The realism of President Roosevelt's
foreign policy has never been so well
demonstrated as in the decision to use
naval ships and airplanes to create
safety lane" PARKWAY across the Allan
tic for ships delivering war materials
to Great Britain.
We believe a great majority of the
American people will support the Presi-
dent and their government in the deel-
sion, even while realizing the gravity OF
the step.
ANY such support. of course, is based
on the already established national poll
CIV of giving all possible material aid to
Great Britain. The people have demon
strated already that they favor such
policy. Unless the people want to re-
verse that policy, which Is not likely,
any consideration of naval action must
begin with acceptance of our desire TO
furnish the materials of war to the Brit
ish
Technically, our use of naval vessels
and airplaneS TO patrol a 3OO-mlle VIDE
swath of the Atlantic to a point some
where near Greenland can be regarded
as a natural precaution to keep sea war
fare out of this hemisphere. Actually,
such patrol will release British war
ships to concentrate in the more danger
Gus waters near the British Isles. Our
ships would not be sent out to fight.
Their mission would be simply to spot
German raiders, subs or planes, and re-
port their position To any merchant ships
bound for Britain. We must face the fact
however, that there is inherent in such
a mission the danger that German raid
ers will fire upon or otherwise provoke
battle with the ''obServers.'
Realizing the dangers inherent in the
safety lane patrol, we must balance them
against the reasons for establishing the
patrol.
The biggest reason is this: We would
be weakening ourselves if Wa did not
guard the sea lanes in our hemisphere
area. We would weaken ourselves by the
identical measure of every gun. tank or
airplane sent to the bottom in this hem
isphere or near it by German raiders. 1t
is not only the British who lose every
bit of armament sent to the bottOm we
suffer the loss too If we had kept the
arms at home, they would not have been
sunk According to our national policy,
however, we would rather send them to
Britain than keep them at home. There
fore it is up to us to do all we senSibly
can to see that they get to England.
PROFITING BY THE MISTAKES
OF EUROPE'S NATIONS
OppUSlClOl 10 the <AlldUIic pdIIOI picti
comes largely from the same group who
originally opposed the draft, then the
lend-lease bill, and have since opposed
every step toward preparedness on the
grounds it also is step toward war.
Perhaps this IS a step toward war, but
the fact is that it does not necessarily
lead us to war. 1t is just as truly step
toward greater defense of this hemisphere
and that defense must be assured at all
costs.
Those who complain most bitterly
against Roosevelts international policies
are the very ones who criticize most loud
" the criminal negligence of statesmen
in Europe's smaller countries. who re-
fused to prepare for war because they
argued such preparation might bring on
war They found out that war came
whether they were prepared or not-and
the world today knows the result Of un
preparedness.
1t is illogical to criticize the smaller
nations of Europe for going under one by
one instead of making a coordinated
stand all at once, and yet to balk against
this country's steps to aid the British,
1t is beginning TO seem that we are in
much the same position as those coun-
tries-we can help now, or fight alone
later