AMERICAN AID TO BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23318, 2 May 1941, Page 9

AMERICAN AID TO BRITAIN

SHIPPING POOL TO RE CREATED REPLACEMENT OF LOST TONNAGE (Received May 1, 9.45 p.m.) (U.P.A.) WASHINGTON, April 1. Mr Roosevelt has ordered the immediate pooling of 2,900,000 tons of merchant shipping to accomplish the objective of all-out aid to the democracies. Prom this pool Britain would be able to draw tonnage to replace that sunk. . Mr Roosevelt, in a speech made when he was opening the defence bonds and savings stamps campaign, declared: “We are engaged in an allout effort to perpetuate American democracy by aiding an embattled democracy. The old world emphasises the need of new and stronger defences as a result o| revolutionary changes in military science. “Lands safe In 1931 by virtue of their mere distance from possible aggressors are now overrun by mechanical conquerors—distance no lortger guarantees safety. “We, therefore, are multiplying production, for which I frankly appeal for the financial support of the people. It is a privilege to share the cost of defence. We must fight the threat wherever it appears—it can now be found at the threshold of every American home.” PRODUCTION OF AIRCRAFT “AXIS OUTSTRIPPED” CLAIM BY AMERICAN SPOKESMAN (Received May 1, 7 p.m.) (U.P.A.) WASHINGTON, April 30. A spokesman for the American aircraft industry reported to the United States Chamber of Commerce that according to the best estimates obtainable, half the United States aeroplane production, plus Britain’s output, now exceeds the total aeroplane production of the Axis powers. . The total production of. the United States this year will* be 18,000, and next- year 30,000. The War Department has awarded a 43,000,000 dollar contract for aeroplanes and parts to the Douglas Aircraft Company. This is believed to presage the development of a fleet of 70-ton aerial dreadnoughts, approximately twice the size of the army’s present biggest bombers. NEW ORDER IN EAST_ASIA TOKYO NEWSPAPER’S COMMENT (Received May 2, 12.30 a.m.) TOKYO. April 30. The newspaper “Kokumm,” referring to the eminently favourable international position in which Japan finds herself, declared in a front-page leading article: “It is absolutely necessary to stop aid to Chiang Kai-shek by Britain and the United States and .other third Powers in order to settle the* China hostilities.” The “Kbkumin” claims that victory for the Axis is practically assured and insists that the situation demands an expansion Of the drive against the old order elements in Japan and collaboration with Germany and Italy to establish a new order in East Asia.

BASES IN THE ANTARCTIC

ADMIRAL BYRD’S SUGGESTION

(Received May 1, 7 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 30. Rear-Admiral R. E. Byrd told the Appropriations Committee of. the united States House of Representatives that the Antarctic could be made a strategic supply base should the Panama Canal be destroyed. ' Palmer Land is 500 miles from the southern tip of South America, and

could be used as a base for ships and a cache for vital supplies. Little America could be used as a landing place for aeroplane flights between the United States and Australia.

WORK OF AUSTRALIAN AIR SQUADRON

LONPON, April 30. “If I were handing out the George medals I would give one to every member of the Australian Air Force 10th Squadron,” declared a Royal Air Force squadron leader, who has just returned from a heavily attacked British port where the Australian Air Force squadron is stationed. The daily task of these men Is to make wide sweeps of the Atlantic sea routes. Dozens of Australian senior officers and aircraftsmen are voluntarily giving the greatest help to the strained welfare services, assisting to extinguish blazing buildings, and to dig out the dead and wounded from the wrecked city. Others have organised special services to attend casualties, feed the homeless and take prompt measures for their evacuation.