King Country Chronicle. Wednesday, May 11, 1938. WARNING TO DICTATORS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 4638, 11 May 1938, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Wednesday, May 11, 1938. WARNING TO DICTATORS.

A plain, straightforward warning was uttered by the United States Secretary of War, Mr. Woodling, in a statement last week. Specificially mentioning Germany, Italy and Japan, he told these countries that if the dictatorship States pushed the democratic nations too far war must inevitably result. Though what constitutes "being pushed too far" remains to be seen, this statement from such an authoritative source shows the greatly increased interest of the United States in affairs of the world as a whole. She realises that the Western Hemisphere can no longer be held to be truly isolated from the forbidding trend of events in Europe and in the Far East. The "twin blights" of Fascism and Communism, both of which trends are equally deplored by those in authority in U.S.A., have cast their shadow in South America, where there are very large German, Italian and Japanese populations in the Latin republics. Even in the United States itself these ideologies have found many adherents. In making his statement, which included some strong phrases, Mr. Woodling has challenged the "isolationists," who still have a substantial following. Mr. Woodling went much further than simply uttering an indignant protest against international lawlessness; he made it clear that in view of the menace of the dictatorships, and of the likelihood ol the international anarchy arising from their policies, America was in spirit united with the democracies of Western Europe, and might well be forced to take up arms if their territorial integrity or their institutions were threatened. Probably America will for many years yet claim the right to guide her actions by the circumstances which arise rather than by definite commitments entered into voluntarily, but it is becoming increasingly evident that she would be unable to remain neutral should any general conflict occur. Because of the threat of Japan, and the activities of the Fascists and Communists in southern republics, the Americas have been drawn from any refuge that has been vouchsafed to them by isolation in the past.