The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-05-09

sition with respect to the new Eu- ropean war. He said the United States would remain a neutral na- ton, but that he could not ask every American to remain neutral in thought as well He promised that so long as it remained within his power to prevent it there would be no blackout of peace in the United States
 Arms Embargo Lifted
 Late that month he asked for repeal of the arms embargo and in November there was enacted into law the So-called cash and carry egisation under which belliger- ents could buy what they wished in this contry so long as they paid cash and carried it away in their own ships.
 Duding the winter of the 'phony' war. the United States efforts were concentrated mainly on ways of bringing the conflict to an end. MT Roosevelt sent his Undersectary of State Summer Welles to Europe to consult, the leaders of all belliger- ent nations. That mission failed to uncover any hope that all-out conflict be tween the AaXis and Britain and France could be avoided. But MT. Roosevelt had told WelleS before he started that the chances were probably 1000 to one against being able to do anythiong that could change events.
 Soon after Welles' return and and his pessimistic report, the "phony war ended, Germany marched into Denmark and then Norway, and followed up with the invasion of the LowlandS, and then won the Battle of France within weeks.
 Then followed Britain's darkest hour" and the efforts of this gov ernment began to turn to all aid possible for the Allies short of war"
 Destroyers to Britain
 In September, 1940, President Roosevelt exchanged 50 average U. s. destroyers for the right to lease for 99 years air and naval bases on British Atlantic posses sions. The same month Germany, Italy and Japan signed a treaty o1 alliance which gave the European conflict more of it's forthcoming global aspects.
 In december, 1e4O, President Roosevelt proclaimed the United States to be the arsenal Of democ- racy and said that American de- fense would be planned with ut most urgency and integrated with the war needs of Britain and other free nations resisting aggression.
 By January, 1941, MT. Roosevelt was telling ongress that at no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today That same month he intraoduced the lend lease bill in Congress and there fol- lowed one of the most important foreign policy debates in history since the 1920 debate over the League of Nations. The bill became law in March and immediately thereafter the President requested S7,0OO 100000 to accomplish the oo- jectives.
 Bv the summer of 1941, events ln the Far East had taken a mere se- rious turn with the Japanese occu- patton of French 1ndo-Chlna. American policy had been based on keeping out of war wit hJapan at any costs so long as there was the threat of American involvement in Europe. American naval and mln- tary officials had asked the State Department to buy time for them in the Pacific.
 Peace On Japan's Terms
 Japan's policy had been to achieve it's "co-prosperity sphere without resort to war. It proposed that the United States use its ln- fluence on Generalissino Chlang Kai-shek to obtain peace between China and Japan on Japan's terms. For that purpose it sent Saburo Kurusu here on a special mission late in the summer-at about the same time MT. Roosevelt and Churchill were drafting the Allan tic Charter off the coast of New foundland.
 After weeks of negotiations in Washington, the Japanese obJec- tives became clear with the sub- mission of it's final offer-that the United States abandon China to Japan. Secretary of State Cordell Hull's answer to the Japanese pro- posals late in November settled the issue. It called among other things for the withdrawal of all Japanese troops from China and French Indo-China-a move to which the Japanese militarists would never have acquiesced.
 Before the Japanese delivered the note rejecting the American counter proposals and announcing the end of the negotiations, the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor. Within a week the United States was at war not only with Japan but with Germany and Italy.
 Hull's final words to the Japa- nese diplomats after they delivered the Japanese reply on Pearl Har- Dor day to the American proposal will long live as an example Of in by a man who sought but failed to keep the United States at peace. Hull said:
 Tn all my 50 years of public serv- ice I have never seen a document that was more crowded with in famous falsehoodS and distortions falsehoods and distor- tions on a scale so huge that l never imagined until today that any government on this planet was capable of uttering them
 The Japanese envoys left HullS office without making any coln- ment. At Pearl Harbor, the war had been going on for more than an hour.