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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LaBlNE Expanding Soviet Domination Presents Threat to Germany; Afghanistan Drive Predicted (EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) 1 by Western Newspaper Union. CONGRESS: Oratory Minus the strength of his convictions convic-tions 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 of October's bright blue weather, was over-run with oratory. The issue: Neutrality; whether to keep the arms embargo now enforced against Europe's belligerents, or to substitute substi-tute "cash-and-carry," in which belligerents bel-ligerents could buy what they pleased, taking it away in their own ships. One by one the flower of the senate's sen-ate's 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 re-tain the arms embargo. Idaho's Borah, Nevada's Pittman, Michi- I gan's Vandenberg, Texas' Connally, Washington's Schwellenbach, North Dakota's Nye and Louisiana's Overton Over-ton led the parade. Sample repeal talk (by Connally): "Unless the act is changed the United Unit-ed States will be brought to the brink of war, perhaps plunged into its dark and cruel depths." Sample anti-repeal talk (by Vandenberg): Van-denberg): "I do not say that repeal precipitates us into the war ... in the long view, I do not believe we can become an arsenal for one belligerent bel-ligerent without becoming a target fur another." After a week of this sort of thing some trends, amazingly, were apparent. ap-parent. Majority Leader Alben Barkley claimed repealists 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? Shouldn't Path Rumi would D follow with Scandin- & im STi L vin boat deliw- """V fMI i, . Si fl ing bmtwr to Britain t& fdlfi. TNdt A"antic ff.Jr UCGdn ff Finland, Denmark, Norw.y, ?e4v Si Itt SwdBnrfiiuiid)rMocow -y y 'VJ B on l"i'VtMw4tt to ihlp ,J V? (gf ambor to Bftaln via Whit I I , . i M Sea rout. kAi.nlIytobt ' . Finland axpacta m (fr1 NaU blocks In Baltic. A. "unimon"logn w lf I ,1 I ' mutual auittance 1 1! FINLAND 1 TtC VI C04l (-$) I Eonia completely I IT iJ B (W3'C ESTONIA- u'd" RuM'" 'ENGLAND fM ULfSP CT II I. Na lJW A . w; aiptcted to y fV GERMANY USSIAl RUSSIAN ACTIVITY IN THE BALTIC Why, if not to itulumule Cermun ambitions? RUSSIA: Kiss of Death? A welter of confused comment came sharp on the heels of Russo-German Russo-German partition of Poland, trade agreement and promise to co-operate for European peace. Even the relchstng 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' status; (3) general disarmament. Japan, long friendly to Germany, attacked the Reich in Its press. Sum total of comment was that Russia's Dictator Josef Stalin is interested only In himself, and that Germany must eventually1 discover it has kissed death. Baltic. Heavy was the activity here (tee map). The Russian bear's big red paw reached into Estonia and made it a virtual protectorate nA I " nut the speech itself was far less specific. There was a plea for armistice arm-istice and a conference: "Since this problem must be solved it would be reasonable to start . . . before millions mil-lions . , . have sacrificed their lives." There was no capitulation over Poland. In substance: Poland's future fu-ture will be determined by Germany and Soviet Russia alone. A Polish state may be created, also a separate sepa-rate regime for Jews. In toto, the 90-minute harrangue offered nothing new. On the western west-ern front, French soldiers merely tightened their belts and sighed. There would be no peace. At Sea Never has Germany accepted responsibility re-sponsibility for sinking the Athenia, British vessel sunk mysteriously oft Ireland's coast the day Britain de- harboring Soviet naval na-val and air bases. Next it reached into in-to Latvia for the same purpose, so that For-eign For-eign Minister Minis-ter Vilhelms M u n t e r s ik?T . V TEXAS' CONNALLY . . into Us dark and cruvl depths." credit restrictions be applied against residents of belligerent nations as well as the nations themselves? How were "belligerent waters" to be dufinud, would they include ports of Canada, Australia, Hongkong and other French-British possessions? The credit issue evoked most debate. de-bate. Thoroughly disgusted with extending ex-tending any credit after the way European nations have failed to repay re-pay war debts, Missouri's Sen. Bennett Ben-nett Champ Clark and Minnesota's Sen. Ernest Lundeen dragged out a weather-beaten suggestion: That France and Britain surrender their western Atlantic insular possessions (Bahamas, Jamaica, Newfoundland, Trinidad, etc.) to the U. S. clared war on Germany. The German Ger-man 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 Europe's war. A month later Germany's Grand Admiral Raeder did a strange thing. Through the U. S. naval attache at Berlin he sent word that the Iroquois, Caribbean vessel chartered to bring refugees home from Britain, would be sunk with her 584 American passengers pas-sengers in the same manner as the Athenia. PAN AMERICA: Insulation? SCOOted Off VU.IIELM8 MUNTEHS to Moscow and signed a treaty. Next it side-swiped side-swiped Lithuania, nominally within Germany's sphere of influence, appropriating ap-propriating 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, ac-complice, is merely strengthening her Baltic position. Two Balkan question marks were left. First, Finland wondered whether wheth-er she would be called to Moscow, like her Baltic neighbors. Second, the Soviet made arrangements to rent Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish boats to haul timber from WHITE HOUSE: Statecraft In Paris, U. S. Ambassador to Poland Po-land Anthony Drexel Biddle paid his first official call on the new president presi-dent of Poland-on-wheels, Wladislaw Rackiewicz. In Washington, Secretary Secre-tary of State Cordell Hull issued a statement that the U. S. will continue con-tinue to recognize Count Jerzy Po-tocki Po-tocki as Polish ambassador, and refusing re-fusing to recognize that nation's seizure sei-zure by Germany and Russia: "Poland "Po-land is the victim of force used as an instrument of territory . . . Mere seizure of territory, however, J does not extinguish the legal existence exist-ence of a government." By the same token, the U. S. said nothing about Poland's $179,000,000 war debt, which Germany and Russia Rus-sia wouldn't pay anyway. When Austria was seized by the Reich, the U. S. promptly blundered by handing Austria's war debt bill to Herr Hitler, not realizing this constituted con-stituted tacit U. S. recognition of the seizure. When Czecho-Slovakia was captured, the U. S. said nothing. noth-ing. Poland, likewise. This month, for the first time in its century-old existence, the Monroe Mon-roe doctrine grows water wings. Biggest Big-gest accomplishment of Panama City's recent conference of 21 American Amer-ican nations was the 300-mile "safety "safe-ty belt" around both northern and southern continents, inside which Europe's belligerents are denied activity ac-tivity on land, sea or in the air fSea Map). Immediate reaction of wizened seamen and diplomats was to brand the "safety belt" impractical. First, canadN I V3 UNITED 3 . STATES .HI Nor,h s Kii:S! Atlantic ftlfsoimiSfii fra, AMERICA South Kj Jrtr Pacific iSSt JSBs? the White sea to Britain In defiance of the Nazi blockade. Balkans. Having Intended to stay In Moscow only three days, the Turkish delegation headed by Foreign For-eign Minister Sukru Saracoglu remained re-mained two weeks, apparently representing rep-resenting all Balkan states. Anybody Any-body could guess what was in the air, but many observers believed Russia sought to neutralize the Black sea, control the strategic Dardanelles Dar-danelles and thus assure herself a free hand to move against Afghani-8tan Afghani-8tan and thence to India, both within with-in Britain's sphere of influence. THE WAR: No Peace Consigned to the Inside pages of U. S. newspapers were reports of actual knife-to-knife combat in Europe's Eu-rope's war. Germany laughed over a British claim that bombers had "raided" Berlin with propaganda leaflets. German troops were beaten beat-en back a bit in the Saar, one engagement en-gagement featuring point-blank shelling between tanks. The long-missing 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 outpointed a Norwegian steamer off 'NO TRESPASSING' ZONE Insulation is expensive stuff. each American nation may decide for itself whether to refuel belligerent bellig-erent submarines. (Argentina will, thus inviting violation.) Second, most of the patrol responsibility fell on generous Uncle Sam, who thereby there-by found himself minus ships to safeguard his own waters. Third, shippers decided the safety zone ! would permit German ships now ha-vened ha-vened 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 enthusiastic over new trade possibilities below the equator equa-tor now that European factories are busy making cannon. To his press conference. President Roosevelt indicated in-dicated he will ask congress to increase in-crease the Export-Import bank's credit authorization from $100,000,-000 $100,000,-000 to $500,000,000 next January. 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' speak-ers' 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 Italy's Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano for what was reputed to be a stormy conference in which the Reich was charged with introducing the Soviet threat into Europe and thereby causing caus-ing 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 war must go on until Hitlerism is crushed. No one expected anything new in ' |