Evening star., 1942-02-22

Returning from a flrst-hand inspec-
ton of the shambles at Pearl Harbor,
Associate Justice Owen j. Roberts of the
Supreme Court was shocked by "the
smugness of the United States" and its
sense of superiority and satisfaction"
Fortnight William J. Bait, No. man
of the war production effort and pioneer
champion of all-out armament, was as
usual the first to utter the fateful word
of the hour. Don't kid ourselves" he
exclaimed, I'VE have chance to lose
this war!"
The American Federation of Labor
pressed the admonition a step further.
1T is obvious we can lose the war;" one
of it's official organs pronounced. The
same meaning was put in buffer Ian
guage by Admiral William H. Standley,
former Chief of Naval Operations and
newly appointed Ambassador to Russia.
America can be licked" he affirmed;
America can be brought to her knees!"
Tide of Criticism.
Under the impact of a rush of dis
asters that began December 7, the ques-
ton for the first time was brought into
the open as to whether the present gov
ernments of the United States and Brit
ain are competent to fight the war.
Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland, on
the Senate floor, struck full at the White
House, till then immune from criticism
save in relation to the industrial pro-
gram. He expressed doubt whether the
Commander in Chief of the Army and
Navy has the slightest idea of how to
sink the japanese feet, and demanded
that the war be prosecuted on military
basis rather than one of politics and
social reform"
Even Prime Minister Churchills
granite prestige was rocked to its founda-
tions by the triumphant dash of German
battleships through the English Cham
mel from Brest to Helgoland, accom-
panied as it was by the loss of the Prince
of Wales and Repulse, the surrender Of
Hong Kong, the failure of the second
campaign in Libya, the collapse of British
Malaga and the fall of Singapore.
In view of the existence of an acknowl-
edged and redoubtable crisis, an at
tempt will be made herewith to define
what the job actually is. through a COM
parison of the strength and weakness,
the advantages and handicaps, of the
embattled camps of nations.
Allies Should Win.
Should a moral be drawn, it would
probably be that whether the Allies can
or will lose the war, they should win it,
granted another year of time, by reason
of their decisive and rapidly mounting
superiority in vital elements of combat
If they are defeated, it will probably be
due to their own incapacity for bringing
to bear conclusive predominance of
resources. Success or failure in this re-
spect will depend chiefly on skill in the
realm of high military craftsmanship.
That there is nothing wrong with the
American fighting man and his equip
ment, SO far as it goes, has been proved
on the Bataan Peninsula and Wake
Island; in the straits of Macassar and
the Marshall and Gilbert Islands; and
by the Flying Tigers" of Burma
Germany, Italy and Japan converted
their manufacturing plants to combat
production years ago, while the United
States is only now beginning funda-
mental transformation, process which
will require three to IL months. Recent
estimates of the Department of Com
merce, based on the first German figures
made public since the invasion of Poland,
are cited to the effect that the Reich,
with its factories long before on a war
footing, has trebled its output of NUM-
tions and combat implements since 1889
to a current figure reckoned as equiva-