Show OUR FIRST LINE DEFENSES A furore was raised in washington recently when members of the military affairs committee claimed that president roosevelt stated in a secret meeting at the white house that americas first line of defense was in france or on the rhine and while the president denied having made mi ade this statement it stirred up the totalitarian states and adolph hitler countered by announcing that the ger man italian first line of defense might be the panama canal with more reason and assurance he might have further stated that the first line of their offense was already established in the united states senate with representation on the military affairs committee and judging from the nazi fascist bund rallies staged in new york and san francisco he might also have added that they were recruiting sizeable armies of reservists in the land of the free and the home of the brave in the presidents message to congress on preparedness he listed among other items an appropriation of five million dollars for the fortification of our farthest west island of guam which is situated some thirteen or fourteen hundred miles from japan in considering the presidents program the house of representatives decided that it was unsafe to venture this close to the land of the rising sunt sun as it might irritate this member of the totalitarian combination and so erased it from the program if america is afraid to improve and protect a rightful possession because it is within 1500 miles of pugnacious japan it is time 6 we stopped berating england and france about the munich betrayal japan is reported to have threatened the destruction of the american ameria an fleet in case we dared attempt the fortification of our island of guam and so we offer our abject apologies for ever having thought of a thing so audacious and politely strip it from the agenda ye gods to what straits will these policies of appeasement to the dictators bring us there are only two courses open when dealing with a bully one is to prostrate yourself meekly apologize and hope to keep out of his sight in future and the other is to let him know that you are not afraid of him and at least keep him guessing as to your strength and prowess then if he challenges you give him all youve got and try to teach him a wholesome respect for you in the future following the chamberlain lead the congressmen have chosen the method first mentioned above wilson got goi us into the world war largely by his pacifistic methods and repeated avowals thit that we did not rear our boys to be soldiers teddy roosevelt kept us out of war and created a wholesome respect for the monroe doctrine when following instructions the commander of an american warship fired fireda aa a charge through the rigging of a provocative german grmon cruiser in the canal zone the fortification of guam is a matter of small moment in the defense of this country antry co and possibly it would have been better had it not been thought of but since it was it would be cowardly to retreat on the proposition now in in view view of japans threats certainly we are within our rights if ve feel it advisable to fortify guam and it cannot possibly be any of japans business 1400 miles is surely a reasonable distance to approach a nation with which our our relations are not unfriendly scarcely this many yards separate the frontier fortifications of many of the european nations another first line defense matter on which congress might well spend a little time tiffie is the employment of skilled engineers from three of the nations leading airplane factories to assist japan in the establishment ofa military airplane industry in japan based on the best developments in this country here is something of far more inore importance to america than the much debated question of the sale of airplanes to france over which the lawmakers are still haggling and fussing whether they know it or not the negative element in congress is doing more to promote and compel a dictatorship in this country than any other one thing sheia it becomes impossible to take any step for the protection and benefit of american citizens in this country without advertising it to our potential foreign enemies it cannot help but discredit the potency of our americana Ameri cna form of government and someone should have the authority to clamp down on some of the propaganda splatter guns whether they are arc in the congress or elsewhere |