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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Farnham F. Dudgeon President Asks Billion Dollars For National Defense Program; Nazis Smash at Maginot Line (EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspnper Union. eNGiIand ' f THE HAQur yjT oj ,1111111125 MILES IIHhhw6 raS france 'r BUSINESS: Confusion "When business is good with us, it indicates an upswing in business conditions throughout through-out the country." So i said none other than I Postmaster General I James A. Farley as he announced that postal revenues reached an all-time ; high at the close of the last fiscal year. He also ventured the prediction that the current year would The above map graphically reveals how close German bombing wings are to England's coast should the Nazi war machine continue to hold The Hague, capital of the Netherlands. As indicated, it is only 125 airline miles from this point to Harwich, England, and London is only 100 miles southwest south-west of Harwich. Lower arrow points to Sedan, where Germans launched their first attack on France's famed Maginot line. see an even larger James A. increase in postal Failey returns. In such increased reve- Immediate objective in France, of course, would be to break through the Maginot line and render these fortifications useless to the defenders. defend-ers. This is a major undertaking judging from the claims made for the defensive strength of these defenses, de-fenses, but word has come through that in the Sedan sector, 146 miles northeast of Paris, the German army engaged in a terrific bid for a definite foothold. THE WAR: On Scltcditle Since the outbreak of war last year, the prediction that with the coming of spring fighting would "open up," has been on the lips of observers everywhere. As Adolf Hitler's military machine thrust itself it-self across The Netherlands, into Belgium and France, these predictions predic-tions were at last coming true. For the world was witnessing what was hailed as "the greatest battle in history." his-tory." As in 1914 the German forces were making the most impressive showing show-ing in the first few days of the fighting. This time fortifications are believed to be stronger and less open to attack but the Nazi army and air fore has developed offensive offen-sive war to the point where no defense de-fense appears to be impregnable. In The Netherlands, the Dutch army was ordered to cease firing, thus ending resistance to Germany's swarms of bombing planes and motorized mo-torized troops. nue he observed a general improvement improve-ment in business conditions. For some time business analysts have been in accord with Mr. B'arley in his thought that business was fairly good and getting better. Now the pattern of war is beginning to stamp itself in the industrial and agricultural fields and these impressions impres-sions are sure to be felt. Foreign markets for farm goods will probably be lost for the time being at least, but there will be a shift in the demand for manufactured manufac-tured goods from the warring nations. na-tions. In particular the allies will no doubt be forced to speed up their purchases of war supplies, mainly fighting planes and equipment. Whether the ultimate result will be a loss or gain for industry in this country is still uncertain. One thing was certain, however, confusion confu-sion was the byword on the stock market. Up went some stocks, down went others. Best guess was that the war would tend to accelerate U. S. trade with our neighbors in the Western hemisphere. hem-isphere. And if demands for large PREPAREDNESS: Speed Up Appearing before a joint session of congress, President Roosevelt outlined a plan asking for an immediate imme-diate appropriation of $296,000,000 for building up the nation's army, navy and air forces to protect the United States from any foreign invader. in-vader. He also asked for authorization authoriza-tion of future appropriations, totaling total-ing $280,000,000, bringing his entire request to over a billion dollars. This sum is in addition to regular military funds for the next fiscal year. Particular emphasis was placed upon a plea to strengthen U. S. air power quickly. U. S. home-defense supplies materialize, materi-alize, war equipment manufacturing firms should register neat gains. POLITICS: Inside Track For a long time New Dealers have been claiming that their champion. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, could have tlie Democratic nomination for the presidency for the third time if he wanted it. Fact now is that with 499 delegates solidly pledged for him and with New York's 94, practically his for the asking, he will have enough votes to be nominated nom-inated on the first ballot come convention con-vention time. And the third term tide was rising Scope This intensive fighting along the ' 200-mile front from the North sea to Saarbruecken was of utmost importance impor-tance to the allies and Germany alike. This was indicated by the staggering amount of force each side whipped into the fray. Some experts claimed that this first great battle might be the most decisive of the war. It appeared that Adolf Hitler firmly believing that "the Hour" had come, or forced through Germany's internal situation, had decided to stake all in one gigantic gamble. As thousands of Nazi planes rained bombs upon military objectives objec-tives and communication lines, England's Eng-land's royal air force flung back the challenge by loosing ton after ton of high explosives in areas near important im-portant munitions plants along the Rhine and upon large German troop concentrations. f JjA( f 'I" 1 Vf , fsp f I t: N' t : Objectives What the aims of the German high command in the great land offensive actually are, of course remain a with the war. Many Washington politicians have felt for months that the President's decision to become a candidate hinged largely upon the development of Europe's conflict. With the outbreak of the "big battle" it appeared to them that he would decide to make the race. Other observers felt he would withhold with-hold accepting or rejecting the nomination nom-ination until it has actually been tendered. Cordell Hull, secretary of state, appears to have the inside track for tlie nomination if President Roosevelt Roose-velt refuses it. Montana's Sen. Burton Bur-ton K. Wheeler seems to be running second only to Mr. Hull in the Democratic Dem-ocratic "if-HE-doesn't-want-it" club. GEN. JOHN PERSHING Did he like the President's ttilk? Pointing out that the United States navy was second to none and that the army was at the greatest peacetime peace-time strength in history, he urged that production of airplanes and the training of pilots be speeded up to provide the needed force in this division of military defense. While war plane production has been in- closely guarded military secret. But in general it appeared that with The Netherlands at their mercy and with key airports in that country available avail-able to the Nazi air force, intensive inten-sive bombing of the British Isles was an ever-present threat. creased from about 6,000 to over 12,000 per year, the President asked for an annual output of 50,000 each year. All this must have sounded good to 79-year-old General John Pershing, Persh-ing, A. E. F. commander in the last world war, who two days earlier in a rare public statement had said, "Preparedness is as necessary today as it was when war was de- MISCELLANY: Fire destroyed $1,500,000 in war goods stored in the National Guard arsenal at Montgomery, Ala. An Investigation was ordered as Adj. Gen. Ben M. Smith reported he saw flames break out at the front and near the back of the building at about the same time. Back to the United States from the Antarctic came Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Hii said he was back because he had bien ordered to return, being under navy orders. His expedition has already charted about 900 miles of unknown coastline coast-line in Little America, according to Byrd. "Daughters of the American Depression," De-pression," some several hundred strong, assembled in Washington for .clared in 1917, and we find ourselves in the same condition . . . every energy in this country should be devoted de-voted to the idea of putting the United States in a condition of thorough thor-ough preparedness against the possibility pos-sibility of war." The galleries were packed and the atmosphere in the house chamber tense as tlie President, speaking slowly and carefully, told how the changing methods of warfare were rapidly making the isolated posi- a conference on unemployment. Claiming to be a cross section of 3,000,000 unemployed women of America, they planned public meetings meet-ings and hoped to obtain restoration restora-tion of a last year's WPA wage reduction re-duction for women workers. A contract for continuing Italy exhibit in the New York Worla's fair was signed with the provision that "if future international events render it advisable" the exhibit may be withdrawn. tion of the United States less and less of a factor in national defense. He cited air line distances between U. S. shores and foreign owned possessions pos-sessions and went on to point out that it is the air phase of military preparedness that must receive the special attention of the United States. |