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Show " . NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS H Written lor The Telegram By Ray Tucker 4- ' tary goods Is moving from the , United States to the allies in violation of the spirit If not the letter of the neutrality act. Machine Ma-chine tools, meats, canned goods and other products are pouring Into Canada by freight for transshipment trans-shipment to Great Britain and Europe. The customs officials at Wash Inton, In a telegraphic order to WASHINGTON The conservative conser-vative sea dogs In the navy department de-partment are smiling more cheerfully as a. result of their Intensive study of the battle in which three British cruisers crippled the Graf Spec and drove her to her death. For a while, they feared lest they might have to regret their earlier conclusion that the pocket battleship was a maritime freak which did not meet this nation's needs. Inasmuch as a detailed report is unavailable because of the sinking of the German vessel, the admirals' Investigation was based only , pn an analysis of the tour ships' movements, the damage suffered, the casualties, etc. What Impresses them most I the failure of the fJraf Spee to do more Injury to ships of less tonnage, ton-nage, thinner armor and smaller guns. They don't attribute the Germans' Inferiority to lack of training of Hitler' crews or to their inexperience the result of the years when the allies stripped the old enemy bare ef warships. The Germans' poor gunnery was. In navy experts' opinion, due to vibration resulting from the fact that the Graf Spee was powered pow-ered by Diesel engines rather than steam turbines a necessity in order to save weight The eight Diesels apparently shook the ship so severely that sighting and firing accurately on the run became an Impossibility., As a raider of merchantmen, the Graf Spee was a "natural" though her total of- tonnage destroyed was negligible but she was a flop In an actual engagement So the admirals and their big bat-tie bat-tie wagons are safe. The tentative and confidential report which Representative Martin Dies has supplied to his fellow Investigators of alienism Is the most scathing indictment of the administration since the senate Judiciary subcommittee's literary burial of the court-packing bill His review of the committee's work is factual enough, and arouses nobody's anger. But when he reaches the summing-up summing-up stags, he makes the charge that the administration Is shot through with "communists" who do not believe in the American form of government What la worse, he makes the point that these alleged soviet sympathisers conceal their true faith by posing as "liberals." Thus, by Implication, Implica-tion, he smears the highest officials of-ficials a fellow traveler la the direction of Moscow. A steady srolume of nanmlU- . their field forces, have held that such shipments are exempt from the cash-and-carry provisions of the neutrality act The producers or owners do not have to transfer title, and the purchasers do not have to pay cash on the barrel head. The strange situation situa-tion results from the state department's de-partment's decision that Canada is not a part of the war zone into which It would be dangerous danger-ous to send American goods. And there Is no official recognition of the fact that these shipments are destined for the belligerent powers. Exports to Canada have shown a steady Increase since the start of the war, with a skyward leap following repeal of the embargo act But the real rise In this type of shipment will not be reflected re-flected In commerce reports for several months. The orders have skyrocketed as' a result of the official ruling that American exporters ex-porters can hand their stuff to our Canadian cousins If they don't go too near the British water. It's another way of aid-big aid-big the allies with "methods short of war." Although Harry Woodring and Louis Johnson still continue their merry feud behind the walls of the war department, the two collaborated neatly to dramatize the army's need for vast appropriations appro-priations for the purchase of equipment and weapons. The Russian Invasion may be an 111 wind to Finland, but It may do much good for the army on Capitol Cap-itol MIL r On the same day that Secretary Secre-tary Woodring Issued his annual report Assistant Secretary Johnson John-son gave out a report of his conference with. Finnish repre-, repre-, sentatlvee seeking to buy ready-made ready-made antiaircraft and rifles from the United States. Mr. Johnson noted that the only makers- of such weapons In this country were a few governmental arsenals, ar-senals, and that their production could not be sold to a foreign government without authorization authoriza-tion from congress. He broadcast broad-cast the news that there Is no private munitions Industry in this country at the present moment mo-ment None of any importance, that Is. The secretary also Chief of Staff Marshall underscored the Johnsonian statement by calling upon congress to keep on appropriating appro-priating funds for the doughboys and artillery men. Most members, recalling the huge expenditures of recent years, have thought that the army was In tiptop shape and ready to rush onto the field of battle. Now they know or should that It couldn't win a battle against an equal number of Boy Scouts. It would. In fact have no more success against the Finns than Stalin's troops have had. Copyright 1940, McClure Syndicate. |