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Show f 1 I WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS BY JOSEPH W. LaBIXE Belligerents Fight for Favor Of European Neutral States; 'Flint' Incident Still Simmers (EDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) I .Released by Western Newspaper Union. ' ; THE WAR IN BRIEF I Unorthodox warfare continued on the western front, original positions being assumed after Nazis forced aged Turkish formation of a neutral bloc, using what some observers called poor strategy by apparently neglecting to consult Italy. While the Reich wooed Rumania, Turkey and Hungary by threats, Britain was more subtle. Under consideration at London were trade pacts to assure the neutrality of Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Latvia, Lat-via, Turkey and Russia. To soothe the latter nation. Chamberlain agreed that Dictator Josef Stalin's invasion of Poland had been necessary neces-sary for protection against German Ger-man aggression. Russia continued negotiations with Finland, but their nature remained mysterious. Finnish Foreign Minister Min-ister Eljas Erkko called "just as unfounded as all others" the latest report that Russia had demanded concessions in the Gulf of Finland, a friendship policy between the the French to relinquish early gains. Though 1,-500,000 1,-500,000 German Ger-man troops were massed at the Siegfried Sieg-fried line, any offensive must come immediately I Kremlin and Finland, and destruction of all fortifi- cations in the strategic Aaland is-lands. is-lands. Some obse r v er s believed Russian demands de-mands on ' Finland BUSINESS: Big Stick At South Bend, Ind., the U. S. anti-trust suit against General Motors Mo-tors (for allegedly forcing dealers to use G. M. A. C. financing) went to the jury. In Washington three other prominent anti-trust actions were in the mill: (1) against the American Medical association, being be-ing appealed once more; (2) against Chicago area milk dealers, being weighed in the Supreme court; (3) against building trades, which may mushroom into a nation-wide probe. A fourth potential case centered against 68 life insurance companies producing 90 per cent of all ordinary life contracts, a situation frowned on by the securities exchange com- or not until RIBBENTROP next spring Scornful Three solid days of rainfall left trenches half-filled half-filled with water and stranded the highly touted mechanized artillery. Then came snow and sleet. Diplomatic activity continued at top speed, far overshadowing the actual war. Turkey's new pact with Britain to guarantee the eastern Mediterranean was the source of all efforts, which resolved into a frantic fran-tic scurrying among belligerents to line up neutrals. At Danzig, German Ger-man Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop furnished divertisement by lashing at British Prime Minister Minis-ter Neville Chamberlain for "breaking "break-ing promises." He also tried to drive a wedge between the allies by wooing woo-ing France. Two days later Chamberlain Cham-berlain replied just as scornfully. ' In the Balkans, Britain encour- CHAMBERLAIN were i n -So was he. creased to offset the Soviet's diplomatic defeat in Turkey. But it remained unlikely that Russia would invade Finland. Stl . 'V,;f - : ' - MARINE: 'Flint' Saga German seizure of the 5,000-ton U. S. S. City of Flint bid fair to affect af-fect world commerce far more than all the 100-odd vessels which bombs and torpedoes have sent to the bottom since November 1. Carrying contraband to Britain, the Flint was seized by Germany in mid-Atlantic, taken first to Norway and then to Murmansk, Russia, where her American crew was reported safe. But the Soviet indicated Germany would get the ship, thereby relieving reliev-ing Joseph Stalin of bickering with the U. S. Most observers agreed the Reich was justified in seizing taking 18 days to clear a boat Result: Re-sult: A "gentleman's agreement" to speed inspection. Obviously the Flint incident put Russia on a spot. By releasing her to the American crew, Russia would snub an erstwhile ally, Germany. As it was, the Soviet incurred U. S. skepticism. If Russia again offers haven to a neutral vessel seized by Germany, the Kremlin might well be asked to tell how she stands in 1939's war. There was a strong hint of her position in another Flint aftermath. At Moscow, British Ambassador Sir William Seeds was given a note rejecting Soviet recognition of Britain's Brit-ain's war contraband list because it violates international law and impairs im-pairs neutral rights. Incredulous at such effrontery, ' a London spokesman spokes-man blurted: "Fantastic!" CONGRESS: Victory, Then What? If an isolationist fillibuster was really delaying action on the neutrality neu-trality bill, the City of Flint incident (See MARINE) was enough to end it. Next day the senate agreed to allow al-low each speaker 45 minutes for the bill and an extra 45 minutes for each amendment. Lashed by acid-tongued acid-tongued John Nance Garner, who rebuked the senate for being a "horse-and-buggy outfit," battling solons called a truce to approve amendments (1) banning 90-day credits to either belligerent nations or their residents and (2) lifting shipping restrictions against American Ameri-can boats in the Pacific (except armament), Bermuda, New Brunswick, Bruns-wick, Nova Scotia, Tasmanian sea and Capetown. Rejected was an amendment to make President Roosevelt sole judge of the necessity neces-sity for invoking neutrality. There was good chance another amendment amend-ment would pass: To forbid any belligerent bel-ligerent ship from flying the U. S. flag as defense against a foe. As early as two days before the senate's final vote, Isolationists Borah Bor-ah and Nye conceded administration forces a two-thirds victory. But they were more hopeful about the house, where neutrality would run against pretty strong opposition. An attempt to invoke parliamentary rules (preventing amendments to the senate bill) was conceded little chance. PEOPLE: Dies Coup At Washington, Texas' Red-baiting Rep. Martin Dies achieved publicity pub-licity with his list of 563 U. S. employees em-ployees who are on a "membership A. A. R.'S PELLEY What is public interest? mission and the senate's temporary national economic committee. A fifth case, against certain motion picture interests, was blossoming, in the West. Against this background Trust Buster Thurman Arnold popped a new issue: In District of Columbia federal court the justice department filed complaints charging the Association Asso-ciation of American Railroads and 236 individual roads with violating the Sherman act. The charge: That member roads refused to co-operate with motor carriers in hauling freight and passengers. Cause for action was an A. A. R. resolution of June 25, 1937, which declared public interest would be served "if railroads refrained from establishing with motor carriers through routes or joint rates or fares which invade territory not served by such railroad and which is already served by one or more other railroads." In Washington, A. R. R.'s President Presi-dent J. J. Pelley "welcomed the action in order that there may be once and for all . . . determined to what extent the railroads are permitted per-mitted ... to declare sound policies poli-cies consistent with the public interest." in-terest." WHITE HOUSE: Boys Stay Home Addressing the New York Herald-Tribune Herald-Tribune forum on current events, President Roosevelt added his thoughts on America's responsibility in Europe's war. He excoriated "orators, "or-ators, commentators and others beating their breasts and proclaiming proclaim-ing against sending the boys of American mothers to fight." Commented he: "Such statements constitute one of the worst fakes in current history. It is a deliberate setting up of an imaginary bogeyman. bogey-man. The simple truth is that no person in any responsible place . . . has ever suggested . . . the remotest re-motest possibility of sending the boys of Americn mothers to fight on the battlefields of Europe." THE REICH BREAKS LOOSE Nazi raiders have broken Britain's North sea blockade to raid Atlantic shipping, and Britain cannot hunt them down without weakening her home defenses. de-fenses. Evidences of raiding: British liner Stonegate picked up torpedo victims vic-tims at (I), was then torpedoed herself her-self (2), probably by the Deutschland, which proceeded north to capture the U. S. S. City of Flint (3) and sail her to Tromsoe, Norway, (4) where Stone-gate Stone-gate passengers were dumped. City of Flint was then taken to Murmansk, Russia (5). In the heavily protected North sea (6) a convoyed Greek steamer steam-er was sunk, while three British vessels ves-sels went down 80 miles off Gibraltar (7). A French sub reported driving five Nasi raiders to an African port (8). the Flint, but few expected his next bold move. Berlin ordered a prize court hearing to determine whether the boat, crew or cargo should be freed. Britain began crowing prematurely premature-ly about her "speedy" inspection of neutral vessels by contrast with German blundering. U. S. skippers thereupon complained to Washing-tor, Washing-tor, that Britain's contraband control con-trol was actually pretty bad, often and mailing list" of the pinkish American League tor Peace and Democracy. In the house an argument brewed over the suggestion sugges-tion by Washington's Wash-ington's Rep. iiiiiiai Iptllillllliii litolill John Coffee TEXAS' DIES that Dies' He looked for reds. un-Americanism committee be disowned dis-owned for insinuating that all 563 employees were Communists. d At Phoenix, Ariz., the state insane in-sane hospital announced Winnie Ruth Judd., notorious trunk slayer of 1931, had escaped leaving a note: "I'm only going to see my father fa-ther and my husband . . ." |