Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W labine expanding soviet domination presents threat to germany r 1 afghanistan drive predicted EDITORS NOTE when opinions are expressed in these columns they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper released by western newspaper union path russia wa follow anth scan ito avian boats delav ing timber to brit a atlantic 40 1 wh ite ocean finlan akse 41 0 SW on n cl a e is to r to via white finland erbec to I 1 nazi block in baltic ar agn mutual assist ce FINLAND pact with zvi at N Y th I 1 V wonia completely EST I 1 under russian domination K VS lithuania la ma D N R V LATVIA RUSSIAN ACTIVITY IN TUE THE BALTIC why if not to stalemate german ambitions RUSSIA kiss of death A welter of confused comment came sharp on the heels of russo german partition of poland trade agreement and promise to cooper co oper ate for european peace even japan long friendly to germany attacked the reich in its press sum total of comment was that dussias Rus sias dictator josef stalin is interested only in himself and that germany must eventually discover it has kissed death baltic heavy was the activity here see map the russian bears big red paw reached into estonia and made it a virtual protectorate harboring soviet naval n a and air I 1 i r bases next it reached into latvia lor the same purpose so unexpectedly that F foreign mi minister nis vilhelms M mun u n t e r s A scooted off VILHELMS to moscow and signed a treaty next it side swiped lithuania nominally within germanys germanas Germ anys sphere of influence appropriating transit privileges from the baltic seacoast to inner russia no commentator needed to stretch his imagination to see the reason russia not trusting her nazi accomplice is merely strengthening her baltic position 7 two balkan question marks were left first finland won wondered dered whether she would be called to moscow ue like her baltic neighbors second the soviet made arrangements to rent finnish danish nor norwegian begian and swedish boats to haul timber from the white sea to britain in defiance ot of the nazi blockade balkans having intended to stay in moscow only three days the turkish delegation headed by foreign minister sukru remained two weeks apparently representing all balkan states anybody could guess what was in the air but many observers believed russia sought to neutralize the black sea control the strategic dar canelles da nelles and thus assure herself a free hand to move against afghanistan and thence to india both within britaina Brit ains sphere of influence THE WART WARI no peace consigned to the inside pages of V U S newspapers were reports of actual knife to knife combat in eu ropes war germany laughed over a british claim that bombers had 11 raided berlin with propaganda leaflets german troops were beaten back a bit in the one engagement ga featuring point blank shelling between tanks the long missing pocket cruiser admiral scheer popped up off brazil to sink a british freighter a german sub sank a finnish boat a british mine out pointed a norwegian steamer off singapore but this was merely one side of war As customary in the war of 1939 most news came from state council chambers or from the speakers rostrum armed with his kiss of death pact with russia see above adolf hitler proposed to force peace upon the allies proposed further that the mediation should come through his erstwhile friend to the south benito mussolini to berlin went italis foreign minister count galeazzo ciano for what was reputed to be a stormy conference in which the reich was charged with introducing the soviet ireat into europe and thereby causing italy to lose faith in the axis meanwhile der fuehrer got the answer to his speech in advance prime minister neville chamberlain told the house of commons the V war ra r must go on until hitlerism is crushed no one expected anything new in the reichstag speech word got around that hitler would end the war on terms including 1 removal of international trade restrictions 2 creation of some form of polish state under german supervision and readjustment of the czechs czecho status 3 general hi ament but the speech itself was far less specific there was a plea for armistice and a conference since this problem must be solved it would be reasonable to start before millions have sacrificed their lives there was no capitulation over poland in substance polands bolands Po lands future will be determined by germany and soviet russia alone A polish state may be created also a separate regime for jews in toto the 90 minute harr angue offered nothing new on the western front french soldiers merely tightened their belts and sighed there would be no peace at sea never has germany accepted responsibility for sinking the athenia british vessel sunk mysteriously off Ir elands coast the day britain declared war on germany the german charge that britain herself sank the boat hoping to drown its american passengers pin the blame on germany and thus draw the U S into Eu ropes war A month later germanys germanas Germ anys grand admiral raeder did a strange thing through the U S naval at berlin he sent word that the iroquois caribbean vessel chartered to bring refugees home from britain would be sunk with her american passengers se in the same manner as the athenia PAN AMERICA insulation this month for the first time in in its century old existence the monroe doctrine grows water wings biggest accomplishment of panama cites recent conference of 21 american nations was the mile safety belt around both northern and southern continents inside which Eu ropes belligerents are denied activity on land sea or in the air see hapl immediate reaction of wizened seamen and diplomats was to brand the safety belt impractical first CANADA UNITED north STATES akl at antic ML anz SOUTI ak T r south 95 aar pari fic F NO trespassing TRES PASSING ZONE insulation is il expensive stuff each american nation may decide for itself whether to refuel belligerent submarines argentina will thus inviting violation second most of the patrol responsibility fell on generous uncle sam who thereby found himself minus ships to safeguard his own waters third shippers decided the safety zone would permit german ships now ha in american ports to continue their inter american trade meanwhile the U S planned to make hay in south america for more than a month business men have waxed ent enthusiastic husia over new trade possibilities below the equator now that eur european factories are busy making cannon to his press conference president roosevelt in indicated he will ask congress to increase the export import banks credit authorization from to next january CONGRESS oratory minus the strength of his convictions is the man who can be swayed by oratory this purpose however stood as a ghost beside every man who shouted in the U S senate chamber which in the first days ot of octobers bright blue weather was overrun over run with oratory the issue neutrality whether to keep the arms embargo now enforced against Eu ropes belligerents or to substitute cash and carry in which belligerents lige rents could buy what they pleased taking it away in their own ships one by one the hower flower of the senates far famed oratory club rose and pleaded that the one sure way of getting the U S into war is to 1 repeal the arms embargo 2 retain the arms embargo borah nevadas pittman man texas connally Sch north dakotas nye and louisianan Loui overton led the parade sample repeal talk by connally unless the act is changed the united states will be brought to the brink of war perhaps plunged into its dark and cruel depths sample anti repeal talk by 1 I do not say that t repeal precipitates us into the war in the long view I 1 do not believe we can become an arsenal for one belligerent li without becoming a target for another after a week of this sort of thing some trends amazingly were apparent majority leader albert alben barkley claimed had picked up one or two votes more important however the once vague issue was sifting down and its rough spots were becoming apparent among them should 90 days credit be allowed 1 wa 1 j T TEXAS EX AS CONNALLY into in to its dark and cruel depths credit restrictions be aepli applied ed against residents of belligerent nations as well as the nations themselves how were belligerent waters to be defined would they include ports of canada australia hongtong Hong kong and other franco british possessions the credit issue evoked most debate thoroughly disgusted with extending any credit after the way european nations have failed to repay war debts massouris Mis souris sen bennett champ dark clark and minnesotan Min sen ernest lundeen dragged out a weather beaten suggestion that france and britain surrender their western atlantic insular possessions bahamas Ja jamaica maida newfoundland trinidad etc to the U S WHITE HOUSE statecraft in paris U S ambassador to poland anthony drexel biddle paid his first official call on the new president of poland on wheels wladislaw hackiewicz in washington secretary of state cordell hull issued a statement that the U S will continue to recognize count jerzy as polish ambassador and refusing to recognize that nations seizure by germany and russia poland is the victim of force used as an instrument of territory mere re seizure seizure 0 of territory arri ory however however does not extinguish the legal existence of a government by the same token the U S said nothing about polands bolands Po lands war debt which germany and russia sia pay anyway when austria was seized by the reich the U S promptly blundered by h handing anding Aus war debt bill to herr hitler not realizing this constituted tacit U S recognition of the seizure when czechoslovakia czecho slovakia was captured the U S said nothing poland likewise |