Show Round Merry By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. S ALLEN WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Friends Friends of the p president in Hyde Park the other day were urging him to deliver another fireside chat They wanted him to keep the American public buoyed up P enlighten them further on American foreign policy One of these friends was Florence Kerr assistant assistant assistant as as- of Civil Defense Administrator Fiorello Florello H. H LaGuardia She said saith Mr President a lot of us would like to have you make a fireside chat every we week k or orten orten orten ten days give us the news hot off the griddle rIddle and keep leep our minds straight about the international international situation All right Florence the president r replied Ill give a fireside chat a week week and and you you'll 11 get geta a new new president What Roosevelt meant was that It ta takes es esso so much time and study to prepare each fireside fIreside fireside fire fIre- side chat that he would be able to do little else would have hav to neglect affairs of state However the president indicated that he did intend to deliver another fireside chat on the war situation and on American policy withIn within within with with- in the near future Can Russia Last Despite all the conflicting reports from the Russian front U. U S. S experts have not wavered In their belief arrived at regretfully that Inthe in inthe inthe the end Russia cannot stem the tide of nazi mechanized force The tw two big things they for are First that Stalin may keep his red ed army Intact Intact Intact In In- tact retreating slowly and giving terrific punishment pun- pun t to the enemy second that the Russian peasants and army may make it impossible for forthe forthe the Hie nazi army to subsist in Russia It should be remembered that the Russians have been trained for years in the policy of ot the s scorched earth The British left Rumania without blowing up Rumanian oil wells because because because be be- cause British pounds sterling were invested in them British investments came first And the French would not tear up their beautifully paved roads in front of the advancing nazi hordes The improvements of La Belle France came first But But in Russia the first thing the peasant does when an enemy advances is to kill a pig and throw it in the well That spoils the drinking drinkIng drinking drink drink- ing water for the enemy Then he burns his barn and drives away or kills his livestock which are far more precious to him than dividends dividends dividends divi divi- from Rumanian oil wells are to the Brit Brit- ish He and his family m may y r starve but his forefathers have been doing this for generations generations generations genera genera- and he will do it again The Russian peasant also has been trained to guerrilla warfare which however will not help in this war Guerrilla fighting against modern airplanes and tanks is about as effective effective effective tive as the Dead End kids resisting J. J Edgar Hoovers Hoover's G C The Tanks Are Rolling Most significant development In national de defense ense is that at long last we are producing in quantity tanks antiaircraft guns antitank guns and other mechanized weapons which have been the strength of the Germans Up to now the chief emphasis in national de defense ense has been on 1 air 2 the sea and 3 the mach machine ne tools and factories for future pro pro- Tanks were seventh on the priorities list while antiaircraft guns were only a little ahead of them Now however the airplane program is well launched and if 11 the essential metals can be obtained ob ob- ob tamed should increase monthly Also the shipping shipping ship ship- ping program is in fairly good shape And last week the first medium tanks began to rollof roll rollof rollof of the Chrysler assembly lines which means that we are really getting down to to weapons Before medium tanks could be produced it was necessary to build three new factories from the ground up It is interesting that Chrysler which never be before ore had made a tank beat Baldwin Locomotive and American Locomotive Locomotive Locomotive Loco Loco- motive to mass production Ties of British Empire One of the hardest things the British have had to do In this war is to relinquish their cen cen- old tury-old steamship lines and other communications with various parts of the flung far em em- pire Despite a growing scarcity of ot bottoms to carry lend-lease lend goods across the north Atlantic Atlantic At At- lantic the British have hesitated at giving up these traditional routes which made the BritIsh British Brit Brit- ish empire what it was Last week however came an important I and unannounced step in this direction Two British lines to New Zealand and Australia the Manx line and the Union Steamship company com corn pany took their ships off that run and sent them Into the dangerous north Atlantic This move was made only after co consider able pressure from the U. U S. S maritime commission commission commis commis- sion slon which insisted on the transfer Simultaneously Simultaneously Danish ships were allotted to American Amer Amer- ican lean companies to handle the trade to Aus Aus- Note Note Note-A A hitch Immediately arose to stop th the use of the Danish ships when the maritime union unon demanded that hat Danish seamen join the union pay dues and md receive union wages This hitch is is not expected to be serious Distributed by United Feature Syndicate |