Evening star., 1942-11-15

| o.
An effort has been made to
shun 1Dishtul thinking. 1t wiu
be kept in mind that during this
internal OF II months there was
an exchange of roles betUeen
"hope" and "haue-not" peoples,
and that month after month ,pit-
messed events OF unparalleled dis
aster for the United Nations.
BY RICHARD L. STOKES.
The most significant and most
hopeful development on the United
States side of the first II months
OF war came a week ago when an
American-led expedition, superbly
organized and equipped with the
latest weapons of military science
made a staggering bid for control
of North Africa and the Mediter-
rean.
President Roosevelt, in the words
of Winston Churchill, was the au-
thor" Of this mighty undertaking, >
the news of which electrified the
peoples of the United Nations. In
a London speech last Tuesday, Prime
Minister Churchill said:
THE President of the United
States, who is commander in chief
of the armer forces of America, is
the author of this mighty under
taking, and in all of it I have been
his active and ardent lieutenant"
Other events have marked a turn
for the better-a turn belated but
nevertheless distinct. In the Coral
Sea, off Midway, in the Solomons
and New Guinea, important points
were scored against Japan. Field
Marshall Rommels dash for Alex
andria was not only stopped but
converted into rout and head-lone
flight. In Washington, a dramatic
burst of energy preceded the Afri-
can expedition and brought hope
that the American colossus was
rousing at last to all-out war.
Stalingrad held. and assurance
grew that the Red Army would sur
vive.
Thus, we have reached the point
in the war described by Churchill
in these words: This is not the
end It is not even the beginning
of the end. But 1t is. perhaps, the
end of the beginning"
Battle of the Potomac.
The national course largely has
been set by one man, Franklin De-
lano Roosevelt, President of the
United States, though Congress,
despite Pearl Harbor, has continued
to complicate the struggle by dis
putes on both sides. From time, to
time during the year the Congress
has been seen to crawl before spe-
cial interest lobbies. to procrastinate
with life-and-death measures for
election reasons and to galvanize
into action only under White House
threats. On the other hand, Ger
tain investigating committees of the
legislative branch, notably that led
by Senator Truman of Missouri
have given valiant aid by forcing
competence and thrift upon the war
effort.
The appomatox of "The Battle Of
the Potomac" lies in the future, but
its Gettysburg occurred only recent
ly, when the presidential desk ap-
peared to have shaken down at last
into unity of purpose, at home as
we'll as abroad. History will have
much to say about kind of split per-
sonality which long beset Mr.. Roose-
velt's counsels. The certainty and
audacity of his foreign, military and
naval policies will be contrasted
with his cropping, irresolute touch
on the domestic front.
Critics will point to personal weak
nesses which include extravagant
optimism, overweening self-confi-
dence, aversion to confessing mis-
takes, tendency to pick second-rate
men, fragrant indulgence of their
errors and vanity in refusing to owe
anything to previous administra-
tions, especially that of Woodrow
Wilson.
Under the last head falls the
Army's M-Day Plan, drawn from
lessons of World War I. Half the
program, that Of military mobiliza-
tion,, was carried out to the letter in
the Selective Service System. The
chart for industrial mobilization,
| founded on achievements of Bernard
M. Baruch's War Industries Board
of "a years ago, was borrowed and
put into effect from beginning to end
by the Germans. who thereby framed
an economy which has stood up
under nine years of narrowing stress
and shock. In America, the country
of its origin, the Baruch plan was
tossed bodily out of the window
Progress since January has con-
sisted mainly in salvaging this plan
item by item, at first with reluctance
and embarrassment, but of late with
signs of whole-hearted acceptance.
Program IL Months in Arrears.
There is ground for belief that
American rearmament is II months
in arrears of what it could be today
except for inertia and chaos In the
war industrial enterprise The waste
of that single year adjourned for
priceless months the opening of a
second front against the Axis: it
may prolong the war and multiply
casualties throughout the United
Nations. Every American delay has
translated itself directly into losses
of territory, resources and lives.
Incompetence in the war effort
was among the issues stressed by
Republicans during the election
campaign, resulting in the swing to
them November 3. There were other
grounds for the Administration re-
verse, but 1t was the electorates
first opportunity for expressing its
reaction to the catastrophe at Pearl
Harbor and the disasters that fol-
lowed.
Conversely. without President
Roosevelt the Nations preparedness
probably would lag two years behind
it's current stage. His vision of the
worlds peril was less acute than
that OF Joseph Stain, who took
"Mein Kampf" seriously and began
to rearm the moment Hitler rose to
power: but at least it was sharper
than that OF most OF his countrymen
and Of statesmen holding ONCE in
pre-War France and England. Az