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Show United Nations Are Forced Into Postponing Offensive AxisPreparedforWarBeforeFightingStarted While U. S. and Allies Must 'Prepare' As Battles Are Raging. km By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commentator. WNTJ Service, 1343 H Street, N-W, Washington, D. C. It is an open secret that the high commands of the United Nations have agreed to postpone the hope of a general offensive for a year possibly two.; Circumstances have forced the rewriting re-writing of the old military adage which says "The best defense is offense." of-fense." The axis powers were prepared pre-pared for war before they started fighting. The United Nations had to prepare after they started fighting. The axis powers choose their own time and place for battle. They have the initiative. For the United Nations, because they have no choice, the best offense is defense. Besides preparation, the axis pow- rades cannot risk too much to help them. At least they cannot risk offense of-fense which might temporarily distract dis-tract the enemy. So we must expect more enemy victories. While we make over our civilian way of life into a military way of life we must expect to hear the cries of the defeated and the dying. While we sacrifice the things which the axis civilians began sacrificing sac-rificing long ago, we must expect our soldiers and sailors to sacrifice their lives. The longer the war lasts and the fewer men and supplies we risk until un-til we have so many equipped men and supplies that we can afford to risk them, the sooner our victories will begin., The longer we-make the war now, the shorter it will be in the end. ers Germany and Italy in Europe and Japan in Asia have another advantage, geographical position. That is, their supply lines radiate out from their own or occupied territory, terri-tory, to the fronts on which they i choose to fight. Although the total naval power of j the United Nations is greater than ! that of the axis, it is so widely J spread that it cannot contact the enemy at any one point where the enemy is not superior. In places where the enemy lacks ships it more than makes up in air power. When the United Nations have trained and equipped land forces and have constructed naval air forces superior in quantity to the axis they will have an even greater advantage than mere numbers of effective ef-fective man power. Then they will be able to take the initiative and when the axis is placed on the defensive, de-fensive, the latter powers will have one of their advantages of today turned into a disadvantage, namely, their geographical positions. They will become prisoners to sea power. Sea power will cut them off from the resources necessary for the armies and navies to carry on war, and food and fuel for the civilian populations to carry on life. Business Man Gets A New Friend and Adviser Back in the hectic summer of 1933 when the Blue Eagle was spreading its wings the NRA, if you have forgotten for-gotten I had a strange experience. I was standing in the corridor of the department of commerce where the NRA had its headquarters. The place was seething with business men all trying to find out what they could and could not do under the Blue Eagle. There were offices of information and guides and deputies and building guards trying to direct each worried business man to the place where he could (try to) find out what he wanted to know. On this particular day a little man came in. He looked confused. He was most humble. The guards eyed him suspiciously and treated his request re-quest with doubt if not scorn. Finally Final-ly he turned to me: "Sir," he said, "could you tell me " "What does your firm produce," I started to ask. "Oh," he replied with a frightened look, "I'm just a consumer." Today it is the producer and not the consumer who claims that he has been getting the run-around in Washington. Cognizant of this the President has turned to. the man who established Washington's first national na-tional information bureau, as a result re-sult of needs of the NRA. His name is Lowell Mellett. He is one of those "anonymous advisors," one of the executive assistants to the President, Presi-dent, a former newspaper man and friend of newspaper men. He runs the Office of Government Reports. His office sees all, knows all, that is happening in government. It publishes the United States Government Govern-ment Manual, one of the most comprehensive com-prehensive current guides to the government departments and agencies agen-cies ever issued. So now Lowell Mellett is going to head the clearing house of government govern-ment information. When his Office of Government Reports is expanded, expand-ed, as it is to be under new orders from the President, this institution will be the guide, philosopher and friend of the wandering business man. No matter what your business busi-ness with government is, you will come to Mr. Mellett' s office and tell him your troubles. He will get hold of the man who knows the answer. That will save shoe-leather and patience, pa-tience, time and money. Hereafter when you come to Washington you can tell your troubles trou-bles to Mellett. Raw Materials Will Count The United Nations can build superior su-perior land, air and naval forces because be-cause they control more raw materials. materi-als. So, military experts say, the task of the United Nations is to remain on the defensive, wasting down as much of the enemy's power as possible pos-sible while building up their own. Holding as much ground as possible, but sacrificing territory which they do not need now in order to save manpower and supplies which they do need now. The territory can be won back by the United Nations. The manpower and supplies which the enemy loses cannot be replaced. This is not a popular kind of warfare. war-fare. It is the kind that makes the people rise up and demand new leaders to bring them quick victories. vic-tories. It makes armies and navies restive. It is bad for morale. But it is the only kind of warfare that the United Nations can engage in now. More haste on the battlefield will make less speed toward final victory. According to this plan, the defenders defend-ers of the Philippines, of Singapore, of the Netherlands Indies, must fight as long as they can. But their com- ; , i t 'i , , " ' Curfew Law For Washington? The department of justice has ordered or-dered a nine o'clock curfew law for alien enemies in the "vulnerable zone" which is a belt stretching from Oregon to Los Angeles and extending 150 miles inland. Strange lights flashing on the seacoast, weird stories of bombs that came near exploding under bridges and aqueducts, were the things that compelled this move. But lights that go on and off late in the stilly night right here in Washington have been reported, too. But there are no alien enemies who are causing this temporary illumination illumi-nation in the witching hours, but hard-working girls employed by your Uncle Sam, according to Representative Rep-resentative Wilson of Indiana. Mr. Wilson says that all this must be stopped. He declares that these girls are promulgating the theory of "too little and too late" too little sleep, too late hours. And so he has sponsored a plan for a curfew for government workers. FURLOUGH ON THE FARM The kid sister gazes wide-eyed at her sailor brother as he spins a yarn of the sea while helping her with the farm chores. Official U. S. Navy Photograph. |