The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1942-06-20

Cecil Brown, the well known
foreign correspondent, recent
ly made a speaking tour Of
this country. In radio
broadcast from Los Angeles.
he said that he had been enor-
mouSly impressed by the in
credible strides American I'M
dustry is making in producing
for war. At the same time, he
added, he was disturbed by the
excessive degree of optimism
held by many of us. In short
toe large a proportion of the
American people are not yet
convinced that this will be a
long and hard war.
That kind of optimism is not
held in informed circles. Most
of the experts still think that
another New Years day will
come before the United Ma
tons will be able 10 engage in
major, continued offensive
drives against the enemy. In
194S, they forecast, a gigantic
effort to knock Hitler out of
the war will be made. Then, in
1914, the United Nations will
be able to turn their full and
undivided attention to Japan.
And SO, by that years end, the
war may be over.
Other experts consider that
timetable too optimistic. They
argue that both Germany and
Japan have immense armies
and resources, and that it viii
take another year or two to
wear them down and bring
them to their knees. In any
event, no informed commenta-
tor subScribeS to the current
rumorS that the war is likely
to be ended before 1912 passes
And none of them make the
popular mistake of thinking
that minor United Nations
victories constitute major dis
asterS for the enemy.
In the meantime, this coun-
try has reason to be immensely
proud of the quality and char
acter of its fighting forces.
After the debacle at Pearl
Harbor, it took us months to
get organized. For a long time
there was lack of accurate CO.
ordination setween the various
branches of the military serv-
ices. Now, apparently, condi-
tons have undergone a great
change for the better. The gil
gantic Japanese American sea
engagement around Midway
island is an example. The Jap
aneSe, after making their feint
at Dutch Harbor with a few
bomberS and pursuit planes,
apparently expected that AM
erican commanders would by
Sterically diSperSe their forces.
In all probability, they defln-
itely expected to take both
Midway and Oahu. But the
American commanders, work
ing on extremely accurate in
formation provided by the In
telligence services, were ready.
The Navy, the Army and the
Marines worked in perfect har-
mony. The result was the most
serious setback Japan has yet
taken in the Pacific War. That
battle, coming on top Of the
Coral Sea engagement, must
be causing plenty of headaches
among the mogulS in Tokyo.
They caught our forces asleep
at Pearl Harbor. But our fore
es are 100 per cent awake and
on their toes now.
This latest Pacific battle is
important for the beating
handed japanese military pow
er. Its greatest Importance lies
in the fact that it may have
tipped the scales of Pacific ma
al power in our favor. After
Pearl Harbor, the japanese
feet was supreme in the Pa
cifc. Japan also had air SUI
premacy. Now American war
vessels which were damaged
at Pearl Harbor are back in
service. new ships have been
sent to join the fleet, and our
air power has been tremen-
dously increased. Our produe-
ton capacity is many times
that of Japan in all fields. The
Mikado, in brief, doesn't look
as big and tough as he once
did.
When we finally take the Of
fensive in the Pacific, we may
expect hard going for a con-
siderable time. It is obvious
that Japan has developed the
inundated islands, as well as
her own islands, to a very high
degree so far as military power
is concerned. She may have
literally hundreds of air, naval
and submarine bases and her
plan has been to create a ring
of steel about her own part of
the Pacific. It will be a real
job to destroy these positions =
and We can't do it overnight.