The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-03-25
By Dreso Pearson

get what she wanted in Manchuria, and now Musso.
iit decided to get his from the last remaining indes
pendent country In Africa.
Once again. the forces Of peace finched The,
League Of Nations invoked sanctions but 1t did not
ban oil from italy. without OIL italian warships
and airplanes would have been powerless But Brit-
ish and American oil companies were too powerful.
italy made the next big hole in the flood
against war by defeating Ethiopia
After that it was Hitler's turn and he walked
into the Ruhr and the Rhineland His troops were
ptfuy small compared with the huge French Army,
and they were given double set or orders, one to
advance, the other to retreat Immediately II the
French resisted. But the French Cabinet, after de-
batting all day. and after getting no cooperation
from the British, yielded to the appeasers Hitler
now sat across the Rhine, having opened another
big hole in the safeguards against war.
Next chapter was HitlerS seizure Of Austria.
Again the powers Of peace sdestepped 1t was easier
to procrastinate than to act.
Meanwhile Roosevelt had side-stepped in regard
to Spain He had every reason to know the Axis
was using Spain to rehearse the war they intended
to bring IN Europe he was adV 3 OF inns fs
were opposed to any lifting Of the arms embargo
against Spain, and F.DR. permitted Franco silent
3co-partner Of the Axis to entrench himself lat one
end Of the Mediterranean next TO strategic Gibraltar
Regarding Japan, however, Roosevelt was no APP
peaser At the urging Of Admiral Leahy, he proposed
to Great Britain that the American and British nees
aration for this FDR. delivered his famous quar-
antne" speech In Chicago, urging an economic block
ace OF ag8reSSOT naClonS simultaneously LHe
started part Of their fleet through Gibraltar to
Singapore.
However, the Axis, probably DECIDING American
diplomatic cables, discovered what was happening
and MusSolini started submarine campaign against
British merchant shipping in Spanish waters So the
British fleet turned back from Singapore and re-
manned near Spain and Gibraltar.
+, III
Roosevelt however, persevered. Calling the Brus-
sells conference Of the nine power nations supposed
to protect China he gave Norman Davis, head Of
the American delegation full power to invoke an
economic blockade against Japan
Following this FD.R. made his greatest mistake.
He went on fishing trip In his absence, appeasers
inside the State Department made rnincemeat Of his
instructions to Davis. Every move Davis made at
Brussels was stymied in Washington. The attempt
to block Japan was complete fasco.
That attempt, in the Autumn Of 1887, was the
last real move to save the faltering machinery Of
peace In October, 1888, at Munich came one more
semi attempt but 1t was haH-hearted and every
realist knew that there chance whatsoever Of
stopping Hitler by giving him the Sudetenland.
But unfortunately, many diplomats are not real
lists. II they were, they never would have permitted
the first small generations of the worlds peace ma
chinery in Manchuria, in Ethiopia, In the Rhineand
History has way of repeating itself Today the
first test Of the United Nations over Iran may be
the first break in the machinery in which people
of the world have pinned such hopes. The test can
rot be side-Stepped or postponed