Show weekly news analysis ddn emphasizes 17 faith in U S democracy in inaugural speech by edward C wa wayne EDITORS NOTE when opinions arf r expressed in these columns they jr r those of the news analyst anil and not necessarily ol of this newspaper THIRD TERM TERAI inaugural after taking the oath of office as president of the united states for a precedent breaking third term franklin D roosevelt delivered to a waiting nation a high tribute to his faith in democracy in the inaugural address which was marked with wih constant references to the spirit of america and the spirit of democracy the president declared that the purpose in his next tour four years of office would be to protect and perpetuate the integrity of democracy for this he said we muster the spirit of america and the faith of america we do not retreat we are not content to stand still As americans we go forward in the service of our country by the will of god while some of the pomp of other inaugural days was missing because of the solemn pall of foreign affairs that hung over washington the thousands that lined pennsylvania avenue to watch the president pass cheered loudly as they saw his party the day was bright but a raw wind chilled the onlookers high point of the days historic rituals came when the president standing below the capitols white dome placed his hand upon a year old family bible and swore for the third time to preserve protect and defend the constitution the oath was administered by chief justice hughes of the supreme court CHURCHILL looks ahead winston churchill following his conferences with harry hopkins Roosevel ts personal ambassador ON HARRY HOPKINS Roosevel ts personal ambassador looked into the future of the war during 1941 he said that britain would not find the war less terrible this year than last would have to face continued destruction of british towns and cities without being able to make adequate reply he admitted hillers Hit lers great advantage in being able to move his armies about europe at will churchill said britain wanted no armies from overseas in 1941 but would need a constant stream of munitions far more than tha i we can pay for britain however is not in ex if such aid comes said churchill he said we have enough men on the fighting line to hold the front line of civilization if we get american aid and american credits this unheralded address before a glasgow audience was widely quoted in the lend lease fight in washington bitterness arid and unity president Roosevel ts inauguration day came at a time when the fever of the country was away above normal in a bitter bittar fight over the lease lend bill no 1776 not since the supreme court fight had the press of the nation printed stories of such vitriolic attacks by one group upon another with counter charges and charges flinging themselves across committee tables with apparent utter abandon party lines were smashed to smithereens with wil willkie ikie ik ie claiming the republican party would kill itself forevermore it if it failed to recognize the principle of blank check aid to britain and allow roosevelt all the power he desires republican tinkham countered with the charge that willkie was incompetent on foreign policy questions ambassador kennedy was being welcomed with open arms by isolationist editors and hailed as a comrade and then said he considered the isolationists the worst defeatists of all american unity supposedly the nations greatest safeguard during the stress of national defense preparedness pa redness appeared jeopardized national leaders differed in their prescriptions for the critical moment as far as the poles they ranged from carter glass virginia who wanted the U S to declare war at once to the outright isolationist and noninterventionist interventionist non of the type of senator wheeler who opposed no 1776 from opening word to finish while this was the temper of official washington a couple of U S sailors fanned the flame by tearing down a nazi banner from a german consulate celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the german reich they clambered up to a ninth story flagpole in san francisco to cause a national crisis to become that much more critical while thousands cheered on the sidewalk below ASIATIC turmoil grows all europe and all the western hemisphere was watching the diplomatic battle between the united states and japan before a backdrop of asiatic warfare that was becoming daily more sanguinary and gloomy even the battle of siam was assuming more headline proportions with conflicting reports from french indochina indo china and from siam itself as to the success of the counter moves most positive claims were made by little siam which claimed that important indo chinese border points had fallen to their arms and while the french did not deny these facts they did claim that any such advances had been purchased at an enormous loss in manpower the burma road was still open but closed for days at a time by slides and bomb damages and there were unconfirmed reports from within china of unrest in the chinese forces and signs that chiang kal kai shek might have a minor civil war on his hands before long european diplomats of the axis powers were striving to keep japan and the U S at odds thus hoping to cement japan more firmly to the axis CABINET rolls sleeves for once in a national issue apparently patently ly that entire part of the presidents cabinet which could conceivably have anything to do with the situation rolled up its sleeves and went to bat forno for no 1776 the lease lend bill calling tor for all out aid to britain I 1 treasury secretary stepped into the arena declaring that britain was right then at the end of her dollar rope and that some form of unpaid for aid must be found if britain was to continue to get supplies hull in a most powerful session with the committee which left the nation stunned excoriated the gotali ta rians and called for the nation to realize that the crisis was real and immediate stimson war secretary declared in in a two day bout with the committee that he favored sending amer 71 7 1 I 1 k I 1 ARA A 11 CORDELL HULL with others he went to bat ican warships anywhere and that britaina Brit ains complete crisis was a matter of 60 to 90 days navy secretary knox hinted that the real crisis might be the wresting of britaina Brit ains navy from her control by the nazis who then would be able to establish themselves in south america the whole affair was topped off by president roosevelt throwing open the files of the state department to wendell willkie and a head to head talk in washington between the former rival candidates As an aftermath and sort of anticlimax came a cabled report from churchill himself flatly denying that he wanted america to declare war that he wanted munitions not men FORWARD go the greeks As m germany still continued to withhold aid to italy in albania the greeks moved steadily forward in their effort to drive italian forces from the western shore of the aar adr adriatic A thousand crack troops were reported captured in one engagement and all along the southern and eastern battle lines the advance was steady but slow many american greeks most favorable to their country mens cause were most cautious about the situation however informed sources holding that the germans were holding back only because of the difficulties of fighting over mountainous balkan terrain in the wintertime ter time they believed that the nazis would move in force perhaps not through bulgaria which would bring turkey perhaps russia into the war but through while admitting that many things may happen in the next two months to change the situation these sources felt anything but confident that the grecian forces in the long run could drive out the italians particularly on the northern front was the advance slow though in central albania klisura had fallen and Te was apparently a certainty and greeks in the north it was felt might be particularly vulnerable to a sudden attack from either the bulgarian or the yugoslavian Jugo border german aid on the albanian front to that point however had confined itself to the entrance of a few and bombers from the forces quartered reportedly on italian soil WRECKAGE by night sir hugh dowding former british air chief arrived by plane and interviewers asked him has britain the answer to night bombing and it if so can you tell us what it is 9 sir hugh tapped his forehead significantly antly saying we have the answer but Ws its here and here it must stay news from the invasion front however did not bear out completely what the former air chief said for the nazis were continuing to hammer at british cities and towns in the new air blitz technique with devastating effect yet britain was sending night fighters into the air and they were doing their victory roll now and then reports came of crowds thronging the streets of london to watch the smoke trails of the fighters across the dark skies and to see bombers hit the earth now and then this at least was a somewhat better score than the british had been achieving and yet it was far short of the scores of nazi ships shot down daily which the RAF had claimed in the earlier days of mass attacks by day on the part of german squadrons dowding created quite i sensation when he gave the figures of the number of pilots on the line at any given time ready to take the air to defend england he set it at between and 1000 most commentators were surprised that it was so small U S DEFENSE in the C L federal loan administrator jones announced that defense commitments of the now aggregate more than including approximately in loans for the construction of defense plants in loans to manufacturers for the purchase of strategic metals and for the acquisition of stocks of rubber fl L knudsen was asked how he is working out his job as chief manager of defense he said laughing 1 I call a meeting we make decisions and then its up to I wiman hillman and me to carry them out sidney hillman ill with a sinus infection in baltimore transformed his hospital room into an office and had frequent conferences with knudsen fl L william S knudsen informed congress that no munitions could move to britain in real quantity until late in 1941 at the rate things are going off althe the war department announced its plans to maintain the army at enlisted men and officers during the coming fiscal year this thi would include tees and national guardsmen guardsman Guards men C L A long stream of american made planes was being flown from bot wood newfoundland to england the record being from breakfast to teatime C L strikes continued to beset defense industry on one day as many as five separate strikes breaking out in widely separated plants all vital to national defense one of them making parts tor for tanks another airplane parts another gun accessories fl leight eight cities were awarded contracts to build merchant ships for the maritime commission apparently patently ly to enter the european trade carrying materials to britain greece greece and china if ff as and when the lend lease bill might become law and practicable EGYPT quiets down in the african campaign the germans began the groundwork of more vigorous aid to italy while the land attacks of the british colonial army continued favorably though not quite so sensationally as in previous weeks the tall fall ol of bobruk another r imp tant mediterranean port was regarded as a foregone conclusion and the british armies in command of lilyas important coastal roads moved at will toward other objectives like derna and benegasi Ben gasi the count rys capital yet there was a feeling almost like an aura of standstill in the land campaign possibly attributable to a rearrangement of forces tor for a new offensive that the italians were anything but satisfied with the situation was the most favorable reaction evident in press dispatches the fascist army in africa was regarded as having been rendered impotent and without german aid in considerable numbers britain was favored to make its victory in africa com complete pj ae yet events seemed to be poin to the fact that the nazis where were plant plan ning such a move in force and watchers anxiously awaited the unfolding of such a plan PLANE versus warship loss of the ton cruiser southampton in the mediterranean after an attack entirely by finally settled the question of whether a first class warship could withstand a first class plane attack the planes won the verdict yet the illustrious ton new british aircraft carrier was more fortunate and escaped though apparently with tremendous damage inflicted upon her the official british phrase stating that she made port under her own power hints that she was limping if not crawling back to malta the illustrious carried plenty of planes yet dispatches failed to tell why more of them did not get into the fight to protect the carrier and save the southampton which was sunk by her own crew to guard her secrets after she caught fire official about the il 11 southampton incident did say that 12 nazi bombers were shot down into the sea but gave no figures about british planes baor day Z inaugural alda day y was really 7 y day for news photographers who covered the event as the above picture clearly shows here charles knell news photo agency cameraman displays a few of the passes necessary to wear and keep in plain view throughout the day s events released by western newspaper union |