Show HUGH S JOHNSON washington 1 D 0 C LESSON FOR U 9 0 most of the lessons of the war are too obscure to learn the tha fall of franco france cant bo be explained gossip filtering back indicates a stench to heaven we are already officially blamed for not doing something that w wa were somehow supposed to b ba obliged to do who obligated us mr bullitt did say openly that we nt be ba in it nt at the beginning but would be in the end the end come came too soon for franco if she ehe relied on mr bullitt she missed the bus the lesson from france franca is not clear enough to learn but there la Is one lesson from the whole bloody mess mass that simply shrieks no nation can rely on any other and certainly not we on tho the british navy or latin america or on anything buhour but our own strength france created the cordon sant danl dalre tho the ring of little nations like ilka poland czechoslovakia and rumania to keep germany captive she relied on them and they on her sho she relied on the british navy britain relied on tho the french army when hitler began to show strength franco france wonted wanted to stop him BrIt britain atit play when mussolini hijacked ethiopia britain wanted to stop him F franco rance play both let hitler and mussolini build up the strength to ravage the french and british reliance on little nations inthe cordon sani taire and their reliance on britain and franco france one they fell britain and franco france were helpless or unwilling to stop it they are responsible tor for the threat to us today because finally come came the case of poland britain and france at lost last were drowsily preparing but neither was remotely ready nevertheless they shoved poland into the guns the case was weak danzig was a german city the polish corridor was a monstrosity furthermore worst of all hitler wanted no war in the west he was headed cast and southeast F france rance under british pressure joined in declaring war when hitler marched it was one of the greatest and most stupid blunders in history it if not the very greatest it forced hitler to turn to the west the result 1 1 alt already has been the destruction of six small neutral nations and the french empire it terribly threatens the british empire it threatens us recriminations have already begun we hear that franco france want to go to war and britain forced her that the french government want to abandon the defensive and plunge into the disastrous bel glan gian pocket that britain forced it and support it the facts arent clear but the blunders are they shout their lessons to us dont start anything you cant finish get fully ready before you start slapping down ears cars dont rely on anybody but yourself dont push other nations into warlike positions to defend yourself in this blundering diversion of hitler to our direction when he might have gone eastward to wear himself out in battlo battle with the bear of russia we are not blameless we supported and encouraged it morally part of the tha argument to bring france in was that only if she were in war could she bo be sufficiently unified and mobilized for war and that if she did get in she would have time to got get ready afterward exactly that is being said to us in this country today there is another way tu to say it it is get a dictator stop step by muddled step wo we have lot followed blundering european war policies we are still following them our two tayo new war cabinet members believe in doing that that Is why they were chosen our greatest need is new and competent leadership before it is too late WANTED A production MAN DIAN industrial mobilization rn just madly appropriating billions billions aro are necessary but sue cess is threatened it if they are thrown away contracts with suppliers are necessary but they are no good if they dont result in swift and acceptable cep table production so regulated that all the separate parts come to the assembly line properly timed to all other deliveries and with no spoiled work or parts that do not fit I 1 doubt if we are giving enough attention to either cither one of these prin chiples there Is too much ballyhoo about billions it tends to pacify the demand of the people for drive and effectiveness this column began insisting years ago that we call in bill knudsen but not in his present job of passing on and clearing contracts what tins this situation needs Is a great production man and bill is the th ebest best we have he may be good j at contract i but it if he is its just luck that has not been his lifes work there are many men more expert in cc what he should be is fitting army design and specific specification atlon to civilian manufacture to insure the speediest ediest best and most econ economical uini production |