BIG AMERICAN PLANS

Grey River Argus, 14 August 1944, Page 5

BIG AMERICAN PLANS

Roosevelt’s Outline I (Rec. 9.0) WASHINGTON, Aug. .13. President Roosevelt, broadcasting at Puget Sound navy yard, after visiting Hawaii, the Aleutians and Alaska, said he was glad of the opfortify Guam; nor did we fodtify for conferences with General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz; and, secondly, for a first hand view of certain bases which were of vital importance to the ending of the war and the prevention in future of any similar attack. Referring to his conferences in Hawaii with General Mac-Arthur, Admirals Nimitz, Leahy aim Halsey, and General Richardson, the President said: “We talked about Pacific problems and the best methods of conducting the Pacific campaign in future. The discussions developed a complete accord both in an understanding of the problem that confronts us, and in opinion as to the best methods for their solution. All of us must bear in mind the enormous size of the Pacific area, keening a mental map of the whole of 'it in mind. The Hawaiian Islands used to be considered an outpost. We were not allowed to fortify Guam; nor did be fortify Wake, Midway or Samoa. To-day the Hawaiian Islands no longer are mere outposts. They constitute a major base from which front line operations are being conducted. The Hawaiian Islands helped make possible the victories of Guadalcanal - , New Guinea, the Marshalls and the Marianas. The islands will make possible future operations in China, make possible the recapture of the independence of the Philippines, and make possible the carrying of war into the home islands of Japan itself and Tokio.” . Mr Roosevelt said he was going to set up a study of Alaska .and the Aleutians as a place to which manv veterans of this war could go to become pioneers. “From the point of view of national defence,” he said, “it is essential that our control of this North-west Pacific route shall be undisputed. Everybody in Siberia and China knows we have no ambition to acquire land on the Continent of Asia, as we as a people are utterly opposed to the aggression of sneak attacks. But we as a people are insistent that other nations must no h , under any circumstances, commit such attacks against the United States. Therefore it is essential that we shall be fully prepared to prevent them for all time to come. The word and honour of Japan cannot be trusted, but with an end of Japanese threats, there will be an excellent outlook for permanent peace in the'whole Pacific. It is therefore natural and proper for us to think of our economic .and commercial future. It is logical we should foresee a great interchange of commerce between our- shores and Siberia and China. In this commercial development Alaska and the Aleutians will become automatic stepping stones for our trade, both by water and cargo planes, and this means the automatic development of transportation to Alaska, via British Columbia, as far north as the Yukon. We understand, at last, the importance of the Hawaiian Islands.’ It is important that we shall have other bases, forward defence bases, nearer to Japan than they lie. The same thing is true in regard to the defence of all the American Republics from Mexico past the Panama Canal, and all the way down to Chile. There are hundreds of islands in the South Pacific which bear the same relation to South America and the Panama Canal as Hawaii bears to North America. There islands are the possessions of the British Empire and the French. They are important commercially, just as they are from a defence point of view, for they lead to New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch Indies, and the Philippines. With all of these places we shall- undoubtedly have a growing trade. We have no desire to ask for any possessions of the United Nations. But the United Nations who are working so well with us in the winning of the war, will, I am confident be glad to join with us in protection against aggression. The self interests of our Allies will be affected by fair and friendly collaboration with us. They, too, w.ll gain in national security. They will -gain economically. The destinies of the peoples of the whole Pacific will, for many years, be entwined with our destiny. There are stirring among hundreds of millions of them a desire for the right to work out their own destinies, and they show no evidence of seeking to over-run the earth, with one exception. That exception is, and has been for many years,- Japan. It is an unfortunate fact that years of proof must pass before we can trust Japan, and before we can classify Japan as a member of the society of those nations which seek permanent peace, and whose word we can take. In removing the future menace of Japan to us and our Continent we are holding out hope that other people in the Far East can be freed from the same threat. More than a million of our troops are overseas in the Pacific. The war is well in hand in this vast area. But I cannot tell you when the war will be over either in Europe or the Far East.”

Speaking informally, at a luncheon during his visit to the Aleutians, Mr Roosevelt declared that strong military bases must be maintained to the Aleutians to bar future generations of Japanese from attacking the United States. The President congratulated the troops for ousting the Japanese and converting the islands into a formidable defence ring. SECRET U.S. BASE NEW YORK, Aug. 13. Brigadier-General Robert Douglas, Commander of Ihe Seventh U.S. Air Force, disclosed that Baker Island, 2000 miles south-west of Honolulu, has been an important American air base for almost a year. An American task force moved to the island, which is within 700 miles of the Gilbert Islands, while the Gilberts were still dominated by the Japanese. Japanese planes attempted to pierce the defence screen. Thev were shot down. It is doubtful whether the Japanese ever knew Americans were on Baker Island, because they did not bomb the island, though they attacked installations further away. NEW BASES USED WASHINGTON, Aug. 12. Liberators attacked Iwo Jima, in the Volcano Islands on Thursday, dropping 47 tons of bombs on the airfield and adjacent installations, i Over 100 Corsairs and Dauntlesses attacked the Mille Atoll, dive-bomb-ing and strafing defence installat ons. Catalinas conducted harassing raids against other enemy positions in the Marshalls. Venturas bombed Nauru Islands. The Iwo Jima attack was the first full-scale, heavy strike from newlywon airfields in the Marianas, says an Assoe'ated Press Pearl Harbour correspondent. This starts a new stage in the Seventh U.S. Air Force’s

leap-frogging air neutralisation campaign across the Pacific.

US POST-WAR CONSCRIPTION . (Rec. 6.30) NEW YORK, Aug. 13. General Hershey told the Press, during a tour of Western States, that the American people would; have to brace themselves for the prospect of seeing men sent to selec-, tive service, many overseas, month after month, even after the war. This would be necessary to effect an orderly demobilisation, which shouldbe directed at relieving, first, those with ‘he longest service. Probably the selective service would have to continue drafting 10,000 men monthly, or a little less, almost indefinite-' ly. CANADA’S PART., OTTAWA, Aug. 11. “Canada is prepared to play a fullpart in any world security organisation established after the war,” saidthe Prime Minister (Mr. W. L. Mackenzie King) in the House of Commons. Replying to a plea that Canadian citizenship- should be recognised: without any labels as to racial origin, Mr Mackenzie King said that he favoured full recognition of Canadian nationality and citizenship. He hoped to see a Canadian flag and official recognition of the Canadian Nat-, ional Anthem after the war, but he.’, hoped that “God Save the King” would always be sung as the anthem: of the British Commonwealth. 1 . ; Discussing proposals for an Empire. Council and Secretariat, Mr. Mackenzie King said that there was no division of opinion on the value ot mantaining the British Commonwealth. There was no room for division of opinion on whether the Empire could bo made stronger ,by centralisation or whether decentralisation'would make it more permanent and enduring. In choosing between those courses the past record was important. Ihe. Commonwealth had grown, prospered, and remained united on the methods followed up to now. 'He: could not see why anyone wished to adopt a system which would preudTe such success. No finer cooperation could be found than the British Commonwealth during the war. It did not come about by a central agency directing affairs, but by the methods which had grown up over years for a full exchange of views between the Governments.