The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-13

Japan also differs from our Euro. pean enemies on the military front. The European Axis Is depending mainly upon land war for victory. Japan's ultimate destiny depends mainly upon sea warfare. Ger many's conquests are over land, and Japan's are basically conquests over sea.
 Japan with Manchuria is nor mally about self-supporting as to food. Her conquests have given her far more rubber, oil, tin, lead, zinc, copper and hardening metals, rice, and vegetable oils than she needs. She has a possible shortage in iron. Her people are far better of in standard of living than before Pearl Harbor. ,t
 Elated Over Victories
 The spirit of her people, de- pressed during some years by cost ly and inconclusive fighting in Asia, has been given a fresh impulse by apparent victory over the white races. t-4"t'
 Her great weakness is that all her conquests are like beads on a string. And the string is her mer- chant marine and its air and naval protection. Through that alone can she, for the present, maintain her garrisons and her many sup plies to support the home front. If that merchant ship lifeline should be, cut by adequately based air planes, all the southern arms of the octopus would be paralyzed.
 The Japanese airplane, ship and tank output is not one-fourth what we can produce. Her ships, planes and men are under steady attri- ton from the British and ourselves With every growth of our air and sea power and our advancing bases this destruction becomes more se- were. Merchant shipping is the Achilles heel of her "co-prosper- ity order" in Asia. And if her sea transport be steadily crippled, she will start degeneration in muni- tions and raw materials on the home front.
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 DemOcracies
 The Axis armies have overrun 12 independent democratic Coun- tries and part of Russia. Over 200, 900 ,000 people have been ray. ished, their men murdered, their women and children starved. Many of these countries have always lived partly upon food and feed for their animals imported from over- seas. As the result of the blockade they have had to slaughter their animals down to those that could be fed. Their ground crops are de- creasing. Their fertilizers have greatly diminished. Their agricul- tural machinery is run down. Each winter the food Is less and less. Theirs is not food shortage. They are starving.
 The normal" ration of meats and fats combined in these colln- tries ranges from two to four pounds per month. Compare this with the American consumption rate of about 20 pounds per month. | AAoVV Q ou4tCy VI a A4A1AbS4 OA Belgian industrial areas which shows that 35 per cent of the chil- dren are suffering from scurvy rickets and tuberculosis. Most o1 the city schools are closed because the children are too. weak to do their work. The mortality is ap- palling. The same stories come from other cities.
 Urges Trial Distribution During the last 1S months have repeatedly insisted that the block. ade should be opened to allow an experiment in supplies for their soup kitchens which feed the woi men, children and unemployed men. I proposed that the experi- ment should be conducted by the neutral governments of Europe after agreements with the Ger mans that both the imports and the native food should be unmol. ested and that the whole should be supervised by agents of these neutral nations. <. Six months ago, under the pres