The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-10-16
SENATORS SHOULD
KNOW TRIP CAUSE
Continued From Page One)

those bases if Britain were not our
ally. Yet there are Senators who
seem to think that after this war
it will be possible for us to keep
the bases without continuing the
British alliance. This is total nom
sense, and the sooner they realize
it the better.
Some of them seem to have fixed
their eyes upon the island stepping
stones from Hawaii to Australia.
But the most elementary knowl-
edge of military strategy ought to
make them realize that these
islands are valuable only as the
stepping stones to Australia and
New Zealand. Without these Brit
ish nations as our allies at the
other end, t h stepping stones
would be as useless and as unsafe
as a bridge built way out across a
big river but never connected with
the other shore.
Now, no one, I suppose, is so
idiotic as to think that we would
desire, or that t h Australians
would cede to us, bases on the
Australian continent. That being
the case, the little stepping stone
islands are in themselves of prac-
tically no military value unless we
have a firm military understand
ing with Australia. In other words,
it is the alliance which makes the
bases important. The bases with
out the alliance are bridge hang
ing in nidair.
The same principle holds in re-
gard to bases in the Atlantic. Ice
land, Greenland, Newfoundland,
are vital to the defense of the
North American continent. B u t
what real military value woul d
they have if we could not count
absolutely upon the support of the
British Isles in the defense of these
outposts? Without the substance
and reality of an alliance with the
sea and air power of Great Britain,
Iceland is military liability
With Britain, it is a vital link in
the chain Of our common security.
In the South Atlantic we now
understand the Importance to the
whole Western Hemisphere of
bases on the bulge of Brazil, in the
Portuguese islands and in h e
French and British West African
empires. But since no one is luna
tic enough to think that Brazil,
Portugal, France and Britain are
going to be asked to cede these
territories to the United States, it
follows that the use of these bases
must be based on a system of Sc
curity alliances.
The Senators are quite right to
be interested in tn future of
these bases. They are crucial to
the defense and security of the
whole Western Hemisphere. But
they must see that the airfields
and naval installations can be de-
Tended and maintained only with
the wholehearted cooperation of
the countries in which they are
situated What military value is
there in an airfield in Africa un-
less Africa can be counted upon in
case the airfield is threatened?
Without the equivalent of an
alliance with the country, a
base in that country is mean
ingless.
Now, once the Senators have
faced that fact, they are bound
to see that there is no point in
agitating themselves about ny
particular base. If we continue
our alliances, we can obtain, by
reciprocal agreement, of course,
not only the use of all the bases
that could conceivably interest us,
but also the support of powerful
countries if ever we have TO use
these bases in a war
1t follows that to negotiate about
the future of the bases is to nego-
tate about the bone and sineW of
the alliances which are necessary
to the security of the American
republics. Without the necessary
alliances. we might gouge out some
real estate, but we could in no
possible way obtain the certain use
of the indispensable strategic bas-
es. With the necessary alliances
we shall have the bases in the
way which gives them their max
imum military value.