Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W labine nazi russ thrust into balkans feared next move in europe reich threatens low countries la in these columns they are expressed EDITORS NOTE when opinions and not necessarily of this newspaper paper analyst I 1 aro ro those of the news released by western newspaper union THE ITHE WAR norse blitzkrieg I 1 the government thereby the kingdom of ass assumes u M C protection of alvo ruay for the duration the government sovern a erni ment is contin convinced ced that it doncas ozais 4 best interests by this action all resistance would hate haie to be and bould be broken day before britain had planted nine mine fields along the norwegian coast hoping thereby to block nazi trade lanes through Nor ways territorial waters hopping mad oslo protested more resolute germany took action so fast so secretly that it was over before the world knew nazi troop ships seized copenhagen while the government ordered danes to offer no resistance up north along the norwegian coast the reich staged a modernized version of the old trojan horse trick at bergen narvik barvik trondheim Trond heim and other ports peaceful looking merchant vessels suddenly bristled with guns crewmen turned into marines iwhite warships steamed up the oslo fjord 30 heavy motored tri bombers landed troops at oslo airport and sent them marching aga against in st the city the government fled I 1 inward n d to harnar hamar hurling a declaration of war at the invader after seven months hostilities had finally started reactions what happened at sea the next two days was at best a guess for no observer knew how many nazi allied and norwegian ships were locked cocked in the biggest north sea battle since jutland in 48 hours an estimated 27 naval vessels reached davey jones locker 20 of them german f r early reports told that british ships had pushed their way into bergen and other norwegian atlantic 4 f V r t MODERN TROJAN HORSE nazi merchant merchantman mae at al bergen ports held by the nazis they were even reported steaming up oslo fjord threatening to bombard the CRY city unless the germans evacuated but such news was premature despite fierce fighting every norwegian port remained in nazi hands though several troop transports were sunk in the rak battle it was substantiated within a few hours that nazis had landed in in oslo alone in london frerich premier paul reynaud flew to london for conferences at no 10 downing street A lew few hours later he left smiling returning to teu tell an enthusiastic paris I 1 am sure the allied navies will live up to their glorious traditions meanwhile britaina Brit ains neville chamberlain told commons this fresh and rash act of aggression will red bound to germany s disadvantage though men of both britain ECHOES ECHO E S 17 S and the war HANDLING C U S diplomatic problems in norway is mrs J borden harriman minister to that country athe the past three years and the second moman itoman envoy in U S history it was she who broke through the barrier ba r of silence with the first official news that war had come to norway aa A british army officers daughter she married a wealthy U S banker who died in 1914 A RISE in U S pork prices was forecast since great britaina Brit ains supply source in denmark has been cut aff kofl mainly however department of agriculture officials predicted the nazi occupation would have little immediate effect upon farm exports THE STATE department worried over lover the plight of americans lin in scandinavia all of whom were reported safe ONLY A SMALL S part of the in U S credits credit extended to denmark norway and sweden by the export rt import bank have been used according to warren lee pierson president of the bank the nor had planned t to ci buy mostly wheat lard cotton thread for fish nets and some other agricultural products most of Den marks anticipated purchases were machinery and manufactured goods and france were sinking with their ships the folks back home were somehow relieved that the war had finally started in the lowlands adolf hillers Hit lers blit blitzkrieg brieg in scandinavia brought justified tear fear to dutch and belgian hearts it was learned authoritatively that the nazis delivered a virtual ultimatum to both countries informing them that any attempt to place themselves under british french protection would serve as the signal for an immediate lightning attack strict censorship was clamped down in both countries while britaina Brit ains war czar winston churchill hinted in a speech to the house of commons that the allies expected this to be the next site of nazi aggression in the balkans significantly silent was germanys germanas Germ anys axis partner italy but a fast developing crisis in the nearby balkans held great potential danger same day as german troops reached oslo propaganda minister joseph goebbels charged the british with sabotaging germa nys danube river outlet to southeastern europe precipitously the next 24 hours found russian troops massing on Ru manias Bessar ablan frontier w while hile hungary and bulgaria received simultaneous from germany give us control of all shipping danger here was that the allies might consider this bringing war into the balkans A few hours later it was learned without confirmation that the allies had placed mines in every british french owned oil well in rumania threatening to blow them up if the germans or russians invaded in russia silent as a sphinx about these goings on was moscow the no 1 ally but observers wondered if hillers Hit lers invasion of norway and sweden might be part of a plot for eventual nazi soviet dismemberment of scandinavia sweden on the hot spot held her breath in sweden thoroughly alarmed certain she was next on adolf hit lers list sweden ordered a constant watch full army mobilization and nightly blackouts to ewery every pound of Sw edens ton merchant marine went the radio message seek a neutral haven and stay there WHITE HOUSE scandinavian rebound back from a hyde park holiday sped franklin roosevelt it was time to take more neutrality precautions off to the state department in search of U S aid went Nor ways minister wilhelm morgen and Den marks henrik de kaufmann kauffmann soon the wheels began turning swiftly first presidential job was to extend the ban on U S shipping against norway sweden and arctic ports of both russia ia and pi finland 1 n d next while envoys mor gens and kauffmann waited anxiously the president C L froze au all bank bal ances and 1 foreign ex MORGENS assets tseu frozen c change h a it g e transactions involving norway and denmark thus preventing the reich from seizing those count rys assets in the U S C L authorized foreign sale of several new type warplanes war planes CONGRESS idle week day before germany invaded scandinavia north carolinas sen bob reynolds made a speech said he norway sweden and denmark did not get into the last world war they are today within a stones throw of a repetition of the same thing and they are not going to get into it rest of the week outside of ribbing bob reynolds congress managed to spend a little time in committee sessions most eyes were on the european war however congressional items ill L to avoid boosting the debt limit colorados senator adams suggested that the treasury be authorized to borrow money to meet specific appropriations IC several senators got worried about alaskan defenses reason russia has recently built fortifications in the north pacific one suggestion was that the U S should take sovereignty over wrangell island which lies midway between alaska and russia C L ohlas senator tatt taft labeled per cent regimentation several provisions of the wagner lea bill relating to investment trusts C L president roosevelt vetoed the starnes alien deportation bill reason its penalties for alien spies and saboteurs sabot eurs were superfluous POLITICS fourth try thrice white haired silver tongued norman thomas has run for the presidency on the socialist ticket in early april when his party inaugurated the 1940 national convention season socialist thomas came back again at washington c the convention named as his vice presidential running mate a 34 year old economics professor from the university of chicago maynard C krueger pronounced kreeger backed by a campaign fund yet to be 1 I THOMAS AND KRUEGER they hate haie a program raised candidates thomas and krueger promised to stump the country from may until october on a two point program 1 complete isolation from the war and 2 socialization of major U S industries other political news fl 41 in illinois gov john stelle who rebelled against the kelly nash homer machine watched painfully many months while gov henry horner ailing badly let a regency run the state finally feeling his oats a few days before the primary election stelle took an unprecedented step he declared himself governor summoned the legis legislature lature in special session and fired samuel L state finance director and right hand horner man on election day stelle lost the democratic gubernatorial nomination to harry hershey machine candidate fl in both illinois and nebraska primaries G 0 P hopeful tom dewey rolled up impressive primary votes unopposed in the first more noteworthy in both states was the way franklin D Roosevel ts supporters won delegates to the national convention ven tion biggest upset braskas nebraskan Ne defeat of sen edward R burke agriculture wheat forecast with Eu ropes war ap apparently parent ly spreading the U S took stock of its cupboard released was a periodic agriculture department forecast on winter wheat production heavy with bad news statisticians figured about 29 per cent of the acres seeded last fall had been abandoned for lack of moisture and other unfavorable conditions total winter wheat production therefore will be lowest since 1933 but this added to a normal spring crop of and a carryover of about will leave uncle sams granary in good shape MEXICO rebuke for almost three years the U S has sought vainly to secure a settlement on american ci owned wn ed oil lands which mexico expropriated though arbiters have been near the goal posts several times negotiations have invariably broken down in early april secretary of state cordell hull got angry forwarded to mexican ambassador castillo najera was an unusually sharp note which the state department made public a week later one rebuke during the past 25 years one american interest in mexico after another has suffered at the hands of the mexican government LABOR republic loses for unfair labor practices resulting in the little steel strike of 1937 the republic steel corporation was handed a labor board order last year directing reinstatement ol of about C 1 I 0 strikers with back pay of more than republic protested but the third cir auit court of appeals upheld decision this month republics Republic la case reached the U S supreme court verdict NLRB again upheld |