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Show the battleships of the contending groups. For this reason, the nations Involved In-volved in the present titantic conflict con-flict are bending every energy to prepare for the contest on the high seas which will decide the mastery of the world for generations to come. battleships, of which six are modern mo-dern vessels. In addition, the two democracies have twenty-one battleships bat-tleships under construction, as compared com-pared with sixteen for the Axis powers. While the German army has been able to march from one end of Europe to another, and the outcome out-come of present fighting in Europe may be decided by the preponderance preponder-ance of German air power, it is still the consensus of expert opinion opin-ion that the word commerce, in the future, will be controlled by the nations which control the high seas and that this will depend upon Looking at Washington C S. POLICY PLAIN TWO THREATS OF WAR i (1) JAPANESE IN FAR EAST j GERMANY IN EUROPE PARTIAL WAR LIKELY VON-BELLIGEREXT ALLY TO CONTROL THE SEAS THE SITUATION TODAY BIG GUNS DECISIVE BATTLESHIP STRENGTH The foreign policy of the United States, as enunciated by the president, presi-dent, approved by congress, and endorsed by the people of this country, is in direct conflict with the foreign policy of Japan in the Far East and of Germany in Europe Eu-rope and adjoining territorial areas. The only way to be certain that this country will not become engaged en-gaged in war with a member of the Axis group is to bring about, by compromise and concession, some agreement between the foreign for-eign policies which inevitably means conflict unless adjusted. In the Far East, the Japanese pursue a policy which conflicts with principles espoused by the United States for many years, including in-cluding the open door in China for the commerce of all nations, and the territorial integrity of the Chinese Chi-nese nation. Certainly, war is possible between be-tween Japan and the United States unless an adjustment of these conflicting con-flicting principles can be brought about. Japanese control of -the trade in the Far East runs counter to the hope in this country for a progressive development of world commerce and also clashes with our doctrine of the freedom of the seas. When we survey the issues that exist between the United States and Germany, we find that an inevitable in-evitable clash is indicated by Hitler's Hit-ler's assertion that he will sink American ships that interfere with his war purposes, that he will not accept our definition of the freedom free-dom of the seas, and that when the war ends, he will make trade upon his own terms. Without sea control, the United States and Great Britain will have no independent world commerce, with the result that they would sink to the status of secondary powers, with incalculable effect upon the standard of living of their people. Responsible officials in Europe, likewise, recognize the importance of world trade. Only recently President Pres-ident Wetter, of Switzerland, while accepting participation in European Euro-pean collaboration, insisted that this would not be enough because "we depend on world trade and wre cannot live separate from the countries coun-tries overseas without seeing our national economy and our culture decline." Consequently, he said that the Swiss hope and purpose are "for a better and freer reestab-lishment reestab-lishment of world trade." Ultimate control of the high seas will depend, in the opinion of responsible res-ponsible officials, upon sea control, which, in turn, will depend upon naval power. In every navy of the world, at this time, the battleship is regarded as the backbone of sea power. Other warships, shore stations, sta-tions, supply vessels, and even aircraft air-craft revolve around the big guns of the battleships. At this time, the United States and Great Britain possess thirty-three thirty-three battleships, of which five are modern vessels. Germany, Italy, Japan and France have seventeen The United States, on the other hand, says-.it will fight to protect American shipping on seas outside the combat zones, that we will fight to insure delivery of war goods to England, that we will fight to prevent Hitler from securing secur-ing control of the seas and to prevent pre-vent his acquiring Iceland, the Azores, or the Cape Verde Islands, or other places which could be used as bases of attack against the Western Hemisphere. Obviously, the conflicting determinations deter-minations of the United States and Germany will result in hostilities unless one country or the other backs down. At this time, the president presi-dent has Hitler in a position where he must take offensive action to prevent our supplies from reaching England, or to stop them on their way to other areas outside the combat zone. On the other hand, the United States is in a position where it will have to take offensive action to prevent Hitler from acquiring ac-quiring possible bases. As the situation stands now, the United States will make no overt move against Germany although it will continue to act under its own interpretation of international law. American ships will carry American Ameri-can goods in accordance with the policies of this nation. Should German airplanes or war-planes war-planes attempt to stop this commerce, com-merce, it can be asserted, upon very good grounds, American aircraft air-craft and warships will be used to protect the American merchant ships. Whether such incidents will lead to a general war remains an open question. For the present, our policy is pronounced and is being gradually and more effectively implemented. im-plemented. The next move is up to the Axis powers. Since the passage of the Lend-Lease Lend-Lease bill, the United States has been a non-belligerent ally of the British Empire, pledged to the defeat de-feat of the Axis powers, but with the scope of our assistance limited by our own decision. We have promised to provide, in unlimited quantities, the supplies sup-plies that the British may require to defeat Hitler. We have not committed com-mitted ourselves to take any offensive of-fensive action agains Germany, but since the president's fireside chat, it is crystal clear that force will be used, if necessary, to guarantee the delivery of supplies and to protect pro-tect this country from the evil which would exist if Hitler, or the Axis group, secures control of the high seas. The importance which is placed upon control of the seas is explained explain-ed by the belief that Hitlfr will lose the war if he fails to acquire control of the seas. Together, Great Britain and the United States can dominate the Atlantic, Pacific, and the Indian oceans. They control two-thirds of the world's industrial machinery and three-quarters of the world's mineral resources. Controlling the seas, they can exchange these resources re-sources on their own terms. Moreover, More-over, they will have access to the resources of Latin America, as well. |