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Show Weekly News Analysis Axis Adopts 'Confusion' Plan To Force More Concessions lly Joseph W. La IJine EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of the news analyst, and not necessarily ol the newspaper. Europe Almost forgotten by war-mad Europe this month has been little Albania, whose conquest by Italy really started the cauldron boiling. While Benito Mussolini quietly made the tiny Balkan state part of King Victor Emmanuel's monarchy, Europe Eu-rope became a frantic checkerboard of moves and countermoves in which harried France and Britain seemed badly outmaneuvered. Biggest news came from the Balkans,, where democracies concentrated on Grecian Gre-cian friendship while Premier John Metaxas quavered under threats of Axis invasion if he continued hobnobbing hob-nobbing with Britain. Finally, al- , a. : ' I : - . . d 1 - v i .i j GREECE'S METAXAS Britain was nice, Italy even nicer. though British Prime Minister Chamberlain ofEered a weak "guarantee" "guar-antee" of protection to Greece and Italy, Premier Metaxas took pains to proclaim joyfully that Italy promised prom-ised to respect the Greek frontier. This, he said, symbolized a "new period of Italian-Greek relations," but it was merely symbolic of how lesser European states, one by one, are bowing to the Axis rather than accept doubtful "protection" from France and Britain. By mid-April the post-Albanian crisis had subsided but another was plainly in the offing. Newly strengthened, Italy and Germany are expected to jab soon at any of 20 possible points, confusing the democracies so badly that all dictator dic-tator demands will be granted. Among possible attack points: Spain. The civil war is over but Italian troops are still arriving in defiance of the Italo-British Mediterranean Mediter-ranean pact. The excuse is a "victory "vic-tory parade" on May 2, but shrewd old Field Marshal Henri Petain, whom France named its first envoy to Burgos, has returned in disgust to explain that he was snubbed and treated insolently, and that General Franco is a tool for the Axis. If this is true, Italy or Germany could attack France's southern border, British Gibraltar or French Algeria from bases in Spain. Mediterranean. Gaining nothing by howling for French Tunisia in northern Africa, Italy has changed her tactics, reverting to silence. But several German troop trains have passed through Italy bound for Italian Libya, potential operations base for a Tunisian campaign. Balkans. Italo-German thrusts converge here, focused on Rumania, Greece and Turkey. Docile tools of the Reich, Hungary and Bulgaria have massed troops on Rumania's border, threatening to strike if King Carol gets too friendly with Britain. Yugoslavia is neutralized, surrounded surround-ed by Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania. Al-bania. From the latter point, and from Rhodes and other islands of the Dodecanese group, Italy could strike at either Greece or Turkey. Northeast Europe. Poland, fearful of invasion yet jealous of her independence, inde-pendence, risks German invasion from north and west as the price for a military pact with Britain. Also to the north are Lithuania, Latvia Lat-via and Estonia, tools of the Reich and potential points of invasion into Poland. Likely sources of trouble here are Danzig, which seeks annexation an-nexation by Germany, and the Polish Po-lish corridor, where Germany wants to build a highway from its "mainland" "main-land" to isolated East Prussia. Western Europe. Mysterious German Ger-man troop movements have brought reinforcements on both sides of Belgian, Bel-gian, Swiss, Dutch and Danish frontiers, fron-tiers, any of which might be crossed in a brisk German coup. Less likely like-ly is a strike against France, which would precipitate a general war. Result. Though forced by public opinion to stiffen, Mr. Chamberlain's government still hopes to woo Italy from the Axis and make peace by appeasement. Mr. Chamberlain will not declare war, which is the only alternative to a stronger foreign policy pol-icy if the government would remain in power. This failing, parliament has become so hostile that Anthony Eden, ex-foreign minister, is an excellent ex-cellent bet to succeed Mr. Chamberlain Cham-berlain when the next crisis arrives. Domestic In New York marine underwriters boosted war risk insurance. The treasury announced $365,436,000 in gold fled to the U. S. in March, while $49,000,000 more arrived in two mid-April days alone. At Rome, Mussolini Mouthpiece Virginio Gay-da Gay-da wrote in a caustic editorial for his Giornale d'ltalia: "The United States should heed timely advice before those European nations (Italy and Germany) which have been chosen as targets by America, are forced to occupy themselves in the same spirit with American internal affairs." Back in Washington from Warm Snrinps. whprp hp hnH nt-nm. ised to return next fall "if we don't have a war," President Roosevelt heard two cabinet officers (Hull and Morgenthau) warn that a European war is likely unless effective curbs are placed on Nazi-Fascist threats to the world economic structure. What his seemingly casual remark intended, the President later explained ex-plained was that "we" meant not xx VIRGINIO GAYDA He offered advice to the U. S. the U. S., but western civilization. It also gave "positive direction to public thinking" on the European situation. While a Gallup poll was reporting that 65 per cent of the U. S. popula-' tion favored boycotting German-made German-made goods, congress was busy creating cre-ating a foreign trade program that would fight the Reich with its own weapon, namely, barter. Its gist: The U. S. would trade wheat and cotton surpluses for such strategic materials as tin and rubber. Since neither Italy nor Germany can furnish fur-nish tin and rubber, the U. S. would be joining the Stop Hitler bloc economically eco-nomically by dealing primarily with Britain and the Netherlands. Moreover More-over the move would jibe with "cash and carry" neutrality being debated simultaneously in the senatebecause sen-atebecause the barter plan would give "nations which have control of the seas" access to American supplies sup-plies as provided by the controversial controver-sial Pittman resolution. Britain and France are those nations. People Dropped, at his own request, Thomas R. Amlie, former progressive progres-sive Wisconsin congressman, from consideration as a member of the interstate commerce commission. Reason: Congressional reticence over confirmation. Sentenced, in New York federal court for smuggling, Mrs. Edgar N. Lauer, wife of a New York state supreme court justice. Chosen, as "American mother for 1939." Mrs. Elias Compton of Woos-ter, Woos-ter, Ohio, mother of Nobel prize winner, win-ner, Dr. Arthur Holly Compton; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technol-ogy Pres. Karl Taylor Compton; Lawyer Wilson Martindale Compton; Comp-ton; and Mrs. C. Herbert Rice, missionary mis-sionary and wife of the principal of a college in India. Taxation Time was when the ambitious U. S. mother wanted her son to be banker. But nowadays the hand that counts money keeps far less of it. Today's ambitious mother should tutor tu-tor her son (or daughter) to enter the motion picture industry. At Washington, the house ways and means committee received its annual an-nual list of top flight U. S. wage earners and thir salaries for 1937, disclosing that Movie Magnate Louis B. Mayer led the pack with $1,296.-503 $1,296.-503 ($1,161,753 as production executive execu-tive for Loew's, Inc.. S134.750 as vice president of Metro-Gold Metro-Gold wyn - Mayer) Second place went to Loew President J Robert Rubin. $651.-123; $651.-123; third, Publisher William Randolph Hearst, $500,000: fourth, Loew's N. M Schenck, $489,602. Of 63 salaries top ping $200,000, an even 40 were report- ed by movie work- Louis B. ers. Highest paid Mayer cinema star: Greta Garbo, $472,499. Highest paid radio star: Maj. Edward Ed-ward Bowes, $427,817. Highest paid industrialist: International Business Machines' Pres. Thomas J. Watson, $419,398. One consolation lor bread-and-butter workers is that the more a man makes, the more he pays the government. gov-ernment. Sample: More than $800,-000 $800,-000 of Louis Mayer's $1,296,503 probably prob-ably went out in federal taxes. On net incomes of $50,000, the government govern-ment gets 17.7 per cent, or $8,869; on $1,000,000 it gets 67.9 per cent, or $679,044. Often neaped atop this levy is a state income tax, like New York's, which ranges from 2 per cent of the first $1,000 taxable income to 7 per cent of all taxable income over $9,000. Pan America In late March Argentine officials reputedly discovered that Nazi agents were undermining their country. coun-try. Pape unexpectedly printed a facsimile of the letter Germany's Buenos Aires embassy had written to the Berlin foreign office, saying: "We are able to annex Patagonia." Hardly willing to surrender a rich, unworked section comprising one-third one-third of Argentina's territory, police dug for dirt, soon discovering a well-organized well-organized chain of Nazi centers di recting the work of German agents throughout the nation. Alfredo Muller, chief agent, was arrested and charged with plotting against the state's security. More raids inland in-land disclosed more Nazi communities, commu-nities, and after three weeks' probing prob-ing it became evident Germany had probably committed a blundering tactical mistake. Reasoning: Alone among the larger South American nations, Argentina Ar-gentina has favored German barter commerce. The rest of Other America has eschewed it, knowing that Nazi political and military agents work hand in hand with Nazi tradesmen. Having discovered a Nazi threat to its security, Argentina Argen-tina is already clamping down on German imports, ready to join her neighbors in a solidarity declaration. Thus the Patagonian incident fits perfectly with President Roosevelt's often-experienced dreams of Pan-American Pan-American unity. Meanwhile, several thousand miles away, Ecuador is worrying over the chance that Germany may seize the strategic Galapagos islands, is-lands, which lie 1,000 miles southwest south-west of Panama, and which California's Cali-fornia's Rep. Edward V. Izak recently re-cently wanted the U. S. to purchase as a naval base. Aviation ' Some 4,100 miles southwest of San Francisco and 3,250 miles northeast of Australia, just south of the equator, equa-tor, are Canton and Enderbury islands, is-lands, the former named for a Massachusetts Mas-sachusetts whaler wrecked there in 1854. Both islands went officially unclaimed until March, 1938, when President Roosevelt saw them as a vital link in U. S. defense and a log- 1 ical base for trans-Pacific aviation. When Great Britain disputed the 1 claim it was announced last August ' that both countries would use the is- 1 lands for commercial aviation, but 1 not until recently was a formal treaty signed. Its 50-year provisions: U. S. and British administrators will reside there, exercising powers to be determined by consultation; American interests will build an airport, air-port, to be used by British aircraft in return for a fee. Pacific aviation is boomed by the pact, for Canton and Enderbury lie only 1,850 miles from Hawaii, directly direct-ly on the route a ship would take to Sydney, Australia. Canton boasts i a quiet lagoon nine miles long and three miles wide, ideal for planes. ' But aviation to the contrary, many I a congressman was dubious when asked to ratify the treaty. Reason: If Britain were involved in war, an attack on British property in the Pacific Pa-cific might force the U. S. to defend the islands, thereby getting its own feet in the international puddle. Miscellany At Memphis, Tenn., juvenile court authorities played host to a 16-year- f old Mississippi farm girl who said she (1) had never seen an electric light; (2) had never talked over a i telephone; (3) didn't know Frank- lin Roosevelt was President; (4) had I never seen a Christmas tree; (5) had never eaten an ice cream cone; (6) had never seen a motion pic- b rure; (7) had never been higher t than the second Boor of a building I and never heard of an elevator. |