Evening star., 1943-09-09

we had in the Panama Canal Zone
Hawaii and Alaska sufficient garri
sons and armament to prevent
hostile landing. AL this took time
and time was what we lacked.
Deficiencies in arms and equip
ment, especially in ammunition ane
airplaneS required for the immedi
ate defense of the Western Hemi.
sphere, the Panama Canal Zone
Alaska and for the Regular Army
and National Guard with support.
ing troops, were so serious that ade.
quate reinforcements for the Phil.
lppines at this time would have lef
the United States in a position o.
great peril should there be a break
in the defenses of France or Great
Britain. ..
Brazil Vital Defense Point.
(Vitally important in the stra-
tegic defense of the United States
is Brazil, which offers the nearest
point of approach to this conti-
nent from the east. 1t is also vital
to the security of the Panama
Canal that the various avenues
of approach through Brazilian
territory be in friendly hands
and adequately guarded. The
traditional friendship between
Brazil and the United States and
complete agreement between the
two peoples on matters of inter-
est to the Western Hemisphere
has had an important bearing on
our defense preparations. Close
cooperation between the United
States and Brazil was crystallized
through the formation of a
joint Brazil United States De-
fense Commission in May, 1912.
This commission has since been
working on mutual defense plans
and matters related to our COM
mon war effort)
1t was not until new troops had
been trained and equipped and Fly
ing Fortresses, fighter planes, tanks,
guns and small arms ammunition
began to come off assembly lines
on a partial quantity production
basis in the late summer of 194l
that reinforcements for our most
distant outpost could be provided
without jeopardy to continental
United States.
The Dutch Plead for Help.
AS an example of the degree of
our shortages, the necessity for dis
approving the requests of the gov
ernment of the Netherlands East
Indies is cited. After urgent re-
quests through the various cham
nels the representatives of that gov
ernment finally called on me per-
sonally in the latter part of August,
1941, and made a moving appeal
for, among other things, an initial
allotment of 25,000,000 rounds OF
small-arns caliber 80 ammunition
They stated that they feared the
disintegration of their ground forces
unless at least small amount OF
ammunition was promptly issued
We had an extremely critical sit
uation here in the United States
but the dilemma of these fine people
was so tragic in the face of the
japanese threat that it was finally
decided to accept the hazard of
reducing the ammunition reserve for
the troops in movement to Iceland
to an extent which weuld permit
7,000, 600 rounds being turned over
to the Dutch. -Four million of these
rounds were to be made quickly
available by shipment from Manila,
replacement shipments being start
ed from San Francisco Immediately
Incidentally, 100000 rounds was
to be the daily delivery of a plant
which was due to get into produc-
ton in early October, but that was
to be too late for the gathering
storm, in the Far East)
Allies Short Everywhere.
On all the fighting fronts the
Allies were in a. desperate situation
due to lack of adequate materiel
while facing an enemy who pos
sessed an abundance of the most
modern equipment conceived at that
time. The trying problem of the
War Department was to meet the
urgent necessities of critical fronts
without jeopardy to the security of
continental United States. Money
in large appropriations had been
made available but not available
was the time in which to convert
this money into munitions ready for
issue.
The Lend-Lease Act was passed
in March, 1941, but it was not until
the latter part of that year that ii
began to be effective in it's results
An agreement for aid to Russia in
cooperation with the British was
implemented in october and was
just becoming effective when we
entered the war as belligerent. In
spite of our situation, 1t was vital
that we help both Russia and the
United Kingdom for our own Sc
curity. This matter was considered
so important that lend-lease aid
continued throughout the crisis OF
our entrance into the war without
-