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Show Washington, D. C. CRISIS MAKC1I 15? Secretaries Stimson and Knox did not go into details when they told congress they expected an International Interna-tional crisis in 60 to 90 days, but actually their war department experts ex-perts have gone so far as to fix the approximate date of March 15 for the crisis to break. I This estimate is based not only I upon the already known fact that ; British shipping and its convoys soon rnust be reinforced, but also on secret se-cret negotiations to establish an Eastern Front, thus make Hitler fight two wars instead of one. This was one of the big reasons r for the pilgrimage of Col. "Wild Bill" Donovan to North Africa, also for visits of officials from the American Amer-ican embassy in France to Algiers. Their reports are extremely significantasserting signifi-cantasserting that .Marshal Wey-gand, Wey-gand, commander of the French forces in Africa, has become vigorously vig-orously pro-British. , Furthermore, he has stated quite bluntly to American representatives that if he were sure of getting sufficient suf-ficient tanks, airplanes and ammunition, ammu-nition, he would undertake a campaign cam-paign against the Italians immediately. immedi-ately. These supplies would come to Ca- sablanca, on the coast of French Morocco, and what is more important, impor-tant, they would come from the United Unit-ed States. Next move in this strategy, after crushing the Italians between British-French ' pincers, would be to transport French, troops to Greece and further north in order to bolster the Jugoslavs along the German border. bor-der. Conversations between the British Brit-ish and Jugoslavs already have progressed pro-gressed to the point where London believes that country is ready to resist Hitler. However, the Jugoslavs Jugo-slavs are most insistent on one thing ample munitions. Furthermore, the Turks have moved three divisions from Anatolia, Anato-lia, in Asiatic Turkey, to Thrace in European Turkey, in order to be Teady for Hitler. ROY HOWARD AND WILLKIE Wendell Willkie' s decision to go to London to gather first-hand information informa-tion to support the lend-lease armament arma-ment bill brought him a grateful bow from the White House, but it cost him a hot verbal battle with one of the most potent press backers of his presidential candidacy. Roy Howard, of the Scripps-How- ard group of newspapers and an ardent "negotiated peace" advocate, spent the better part of one night trying to persuade Willkie to drop the trip plan. Back-stopping Howard in his arguments ar-guments was Bruce Barton, former New York congressman and defeated defeat-ed G. O. P. aspirant for the seat of New Dealer Sen. Jim Mead. Like Howard, Barton was one of Willkie's earliest and staunchest boosters and played a leading role in putting him over at Philadelphia. Howard and Barton strove mightily might-ily in their effort to win Willkie over to their views. But the former G. O. P. standard-bearer stood firmly by his guns. - He contended that aiding Britain to beat back the Axis aggressors was crucial to U. S. security; that he had always advocated this and did not propose to change his position. Also, that while he didn't pretend to be a friend of Roosevelt, Roosevelt Roose-velt was elected and if he was to ' function as President he had to have authority to do so. He (Willkie) would have demanded this had he been elected, so he was not going to permit personal feeling or partisanship partisan-ship to prevent him from urging such a policy for his successful rival. CELEBRATE INAUGURAL ON JACKSON DAY President Roosevelt's inaugura-, inaugura-, tion took place on January 20, but the formal Democratic celebration of the history-making third-term victory vic-tory will not take place until March 29. That is the date that has been fixed for the Jackson Day dinner, the annual affair when all good Democrats come to the aid of their party with checks. In the past me dinner usually has been held late in January, but this year, because of the inaugural and a reorganization within the national committee, it has quietly been decided to hold it in March. National Chairman Ed Flynn and his lieutenants hope to make the affair af-fair bigger and more profitable than ever before. One plan is to stage dinners in a lot more cities. Another, suggested by Richard Reynolds, new national treasurer, is to combine the victory celebration with a reunion of all factions; fac-tions; that is, the return to the fold of "absent" leaders. Among those Reynolds has in mind are men like Al Smith and onetime one-time Budget Director Lewis Douglas. Doug-las. They now see eye-to-eye with Roosevelt on foreign policy, and Reynolds believes this opens the way for a big party rapprochement rapproche-ment by expanding the Jackson Day celebration into a unity nffair. . MERRY-GO-ROUND The reason you seldom see a picture pic-ture of Secretary of War Stimson is that he is camera-shy. The flash bulbs hurt his eyes. |