Evening star., 1941-01-31

points, after which Senator Gillette
said that narrows the issue over the
bill to the question of whether the
third and fourth points can best be
accomplished by keeping defense
weapons in this country. or sending
them to England in the hope of
stopping the war on that side.
When Senator Nye read to him
criticism he had made of President
Roosevelt's methods before he en-
tered the cabinet, Mr.. Knox replied
Not Functioning As Republican.
Senator, I'm not ashamed Of hav-
ing been Republican all my life
but I'm not functioning as a Re-
publican now"
A highlight of the session came
when Senator Connally, Democrat
of Texas, accused Senator Nye OF
being a "hater" and "villifier" OF
Former President Woodrow Wilson
He made the statement while Sem
ator Nye was asking Secretary Knox
how the steps being taken by this
administration differ from develop
ments in the Wilson administration
preceding entrance into the last war
Denying every one Of those
statements, I believe the question
goes directly to the issue before us, u
Senator Nye replied to the Texans
criticism.
Says Avoiding War Is Aim.
Mr.. Knox said that in "a large
sense" there is no similarity between
the present crisis and the events OF
1856. At present. he said, every
effort is in the direction of avoiding
the necessity of this country enter
ing the war.
When Senator Nye continued to
read criticisms Mr.. Knox had writ
ten about the. policies of President
Roosevelt in recent years, the Secre-
tary emphasized he was then editor
of a Republican paper, and do not
deny any of those things" then he
added:
But in this very grave crisis I
think every good American should
adjourn politics"
desperate" Air Race Seen.
Secretary Knox declared that
there had been "lull' in German
airplane production in the last
month or two, during which, he
said, American and British plants
had produced more planes than
German plants.
This was due, he declared, to a
desperate" German search for a
new type of ship that will make all
of the airplanes in the air now
obsolete.
The British, too, he described as
desperately seeking" such a new
design. adding that this was one
reason why American plant produc-
ton capacity should be increased
rapidly.
Then" he said, "if we find some
design that will make every other
plane in the world obsolete we car
turn them out by the hundreds"
Senator Gillette asked Mr.. Knox
if it weren't true that even a strong
Navy would have difficulty in over
coming shore batteries.
That's what makes the attempted
invasion of England so dubious" Mr.
Knox replied.
Discusses Perils to United States.
When Senator Gillette sought tc
show it would take hostile power
long time to build naval bases
with dry-docks and refuelling facili-
ties, in this hemisphere, Secretary
Knox replied that if the axis powers
controlled the sea by eliminating
the British navy, and, considering
the possibility of infiltration in some
South American country having a
substantial German population lit
would not take very long"
If, under such conditions, the axis
fleet wanted to attack on this side
it would hot have to wait to build
dry-docks, Mr.. Knox declared. He
reminded the committee that the
British and American Fleets out
numbered the axis powers in sea
strength, but If the British Fleet
was not in the picture the situation
would be reversed.
In his prepared statement chal-