U.S.A’S GREAT DANGER

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 January 1941, Page 8

U.S.A’S GREAT DANGER

GERMAN AERIAL INVASION MR. STIMSON’S WARNING • f [by CABLE —PRESS ASSN.—COPYRIGHT.] (Recd. Jan. 17, 9.45 a.m.). WASHINGTON, January 16. Giving evidence before the Foreign Affairs Committee, on the lend-lease Bill, Mr. Stimson said: “The United States faces a more critical period than in 1917. The British Fleet stands alone as the obstacle to German control of the Atlantic.” ’He urged prompt approval of the Bill as the best and simplest means of defence. “I think we are in very great danger of invasion by air, in the event of the British Navy being destroyed, or having surrendered,” he added. Mr. Stimson said that the Bill was based on the proposition that the defence of America depends largely on effective (aid io Britain and perhaps other countries, fighting the Axis. It was abundantly clear that the established policy was favoured by the public. He emphasised the necessity for the fastest production of weapons to “enable Britain to meet the crisis confronting her in the coming Spring and Summer, and thus preserve her fleet as a bulwark in the Atlantic.” He pointed out that under the existing law, Mr. Roosevelt was empowered to make available to the Latin American nations, equipment manufactured in Government arsenals and shipyards. “I think it is manifest that the defence of Britain is of at least, as great concern to the United States as the defence, say, of Paraguay.” Mr. Stimson, replying to a question, by Mr. Hamilton Fish, said he would seriously oppose amending the Bill to provide that West Indies and other British possessions be taken over as security for any United States aid to Britain. Mr. Stimson said: “The problem for me is not so much keeping America out of the war as keeping the war out of America.” He opposed the suggested amendment to the Lend-or-Lease Bill, prohibiting the release of United States warships to Britain or elsewhere. He said he could foresee conditions in which it might be desirable that the navy should be “transferred.” Mr. Herbert Hoover, in a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urging revision of the Aid Bill, to clear up all questions such as whether it would permit battleships to be given away, or whether American warships could convoy American merchantmen towards the war zone, expressed the opinion that much bitter discussion could be averted if the Bill contained “positive definitions” of the powers included, or excluded, from the measure.

BRITISH ORDERS AND FINANCE. WASHINGTON, January 15. The Secretary to the United States Treasury (Mr. Henry Morgenthau, jun.) has submitted a statement to Congress, showing that Britain during 1941 would be 1,464,000,000 dollars short of the amount required to pay for hei’ war orders in the United States. The statement dealt entirely with Britain’s dollar holdings, not her total financial resources. It showed that 3,019,000,000 dollars would be needed to pay for war orders in the United States in 1941. Of this amount 1,461,000,000 dollars was listed as the total deficit of the British Empire, excluding Canada, during 1941, Britain’s available dollar assets at January, 1941, amounted to 1,775,000,000 dollars, including gold, American securities, and direct and other investments. Mr. Morgenthau said the British had paid for and taken delivery by January 1 of 1,337,000,000 dollars’ worth of material. BRITISH MINISTERS. LONDON, January 15. Sir Gerald Campbell, who has been High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in Canada since 1938, has been appointed British Minister in Washington. He will be second in command to Lord Halifax. Mr. Neville Butler, counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington, has been promoted to the rank of Minister. The “Daily Telegraph” says a British diplomatic mission abroad, for the first time, headed by an ambassador, includes two Ministers—an indication of the importance Britain attaches to the conduct of her relations with America.

NAVAL EXPENDITURE. WASHINGTON, January 16. The House Naval Committee approved the 1,209 million dollars emergency authorisation for more ships, shipyards, gun armour factories, and for protecting the warships against air attacks. I ATLANTIC FLEET. LONDON, January 15. Colonel Knox, Secretary to the Navy, announced that the U.S. Atlantic fleet and army will jointly be manoeuvring in the Caribbean Sea, beginning on January 21. * CHINESE MISSION (Recd. January 17, 9.30 a.m.) SAN FRANCISCO, January 16. General Teh Hsieh Shen, commander of the Chinese Northern Army, arrived en route to the Embassy at Washington. He is believed to be on a mission for the Chinese Government.