Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS by edward C wayne more aid to great britain problem faces opening sessions of congress tempo of attacks on italy stepped steppe d up report heavy eavy british shipping losses EDITORS NOTE when opinions are espre ed in the heie columns they re those of the news analyst and B net necessarily se r is ol of this ibis newspaper new paper released Relea ted by W es tern newspaper union i CONGRESS washington gloomy As the new congress comes into being it meets in a washington that is marked by a mood far from optimism there is public talk which may be nothing more that britain has only a 90 day grace period before hitler strikes hard and that britain is far from well prepared and american aid has fallen down the first job of the new congress will be to stir the public industry and labor out of that lethargy efforts already have begun in in speeches by defense chief william knudsen and secretaries stimson and hull the topic of all is the same it is much bucl later than you think they hope by painting the defense picture in its true colors to convince workers employees and the general public that there must be an immediate all out arms production and all other considerations labors right and profits must step aside until the job is done new board one step in this direction was appointment by president roosevelt of a new super production board on defense it has been given complete executive authority all the constitution allows according to the president to act in the name of the government ern ment the national advisory dea de bense council which has been carrying on the work up until this time has been pure that advisory it lacked authority the new board will have authority probably more than most people expect and will crack down knudsen has been named chairman and sidney hillman C 1 I 0 vice president and enemy of john L lewis is vice chairman war secretary stimson and navy secretary knox are arc the other members job ahead the job is monumental army housing is 60 per cent behind schedule with only soldiers on active duty out of a contemplated not a single airplane ordered since congress voted money last july has been belive delivered red if any tanks have been delivered it is a secret when it was decided to build one munitions plant and work on construction more than 40 hours a week that was news most startling of all was the lack of realization on the part of too many that in this war those nations which sensed their danger too late have reached their war potentialities too late or not at all r CHANGED MAN new V U S envoy in 1936 british foreign minister anthony eden asked the L league eague of nations to vote an embargo against italy because the duce invaded ethiopia the man who led the fight ight against such a proposal was a frenchman pierre laval at the ANTHONY EDEN personal and patriotic delight moment coment french premier laval lava supported up ported italy and kept thi leagues leagues action from being anani edens battle at geneva aroused the ahe enmity of mussolini and so bitter was the exchange that prime min ister neville chamberlain then in ii the beginning of his appeasement appease men irive drive forced eden to resign in ii edens place came lord halifax a i member of the cliveden set and sup porter of appeasement he laid the groundwork for the pact of munich where czechoslovakia was sold down the river and hitler gained the idea all europe would bow to his whim but times change and sometimes men change too lord halifax now is described as one of the most determined men in england in support of the war effort the death of lord lothian british ambassador to the united states gives lord halifax a new task he steps down from the foreign ministry where he directed ambassadors to become an ambassador himself being assigned to washington back into the foreign ministry in london goes anthony eden who would take personal as well as patriotic delight in knocking out mussolini pierre laval hes out of the french cabinet at this time but german influence is seeking to have him replaced until such can be brought to pass he will live in paris under protection of the nazi invaders WAR ON ITALY tempo increases fearful of being too optimistic but still hopefully the eyes of the democratic nations were turned on italy reverses for the fascist legions were reported by the greeks in albania and by the british in egypt there were continued reports of falling morale on the home front if italy should crack it would be a serious blow to the axis even an tr em C BENITO MUSSOLINI lie ile heard a jew few excuses axis is no stronger than its weakest spoke the forward march of the kilted gilted greek in albania appeared to be slowed down there were des counter attacks by the italians and some towns were re taken but the greeks were certain it was just a momentary halt and the march north could be resumed from africa field marshal rodolfo graziani reported to the duce on why his egyptian campaign had been such a dismal failure and why after making a 75 mile advance into british territory he halted for three months and then suffered a serious defeat he said he had riot not received mechanical equipment from home which nad lad been promised to him even before the british attacked and drove him far back into libya he reported he knew of their plans he denied the campaign against him was a surprise and said that so many italians reportedly as high as were lost because they chose to fight into the last spasm rather than retreat but excuses dont win battles and good reason or no the libyan forces had lost all their gains and were in a desperate plight to save the remnants of their army the british indicated that an even more extensive blow was being aimed and hinted much of libya may be in their hands by spring even the british navy mocked the italians in broad daylight with flags flying and openly inviting attack a squadron of the royal navy swept through the straits of otranto and into the adriatic private lake it was an open dare to the italians to come out and fight but no fascist mano man o war appeared so the british crossed over to valona vaiona albanian port used by forces and turned their guns on the harbors then they sailed out into the mediterranean again spies executed on armistice day november 11 the royal air force called at the italian naval base at taranto in the subsequent in formalities london says bombs were dropped that sank or crippled half italis navy mussolini gave his answer to that one italian naval officer and a civilian were executed and 22 others jailed including a woman who was given a life term spies said the fascists they were accused of giving information that helped the british locate the vessels |