The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1941 United States And Wai

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21992, 18 June 1941, Page 4

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1941 United States And Wai

THE sinking of the American ship Robin Moor by a German submarine last week may prove to be an event of utmost importance in the war. It Was both an act of provocation and a challenge to the right of the United States to continue sending aid to Britain by sea. The sinking may have been the isolated action of one U-boat commander, or it may have been a deliberately planned act of piracy coinmitted with the full knowledge of what its consequences might be. What the explanation of the sinking is has yet to be told, but there is no doubt about the promptitude of United States reaction to the challenge, if challenge it was. There has bben a sudden, decisive hardening in the American attitude towards the Axis which has so far been demonstrated in two important ways. First, oh the older Of the President, all Axis assets in the United States have been frozen. Second, the Government has ordered the closing of all German consulates in United States territory. These, of course, are logical developments from the most recent declarations of President Roosevelt; they inay not even be related to the Robin Moor incident, but the sinking of the ship possibly provided a suitable opportunity for action which was soon to be taken in any case. The closing of the German- consulates in the United States is simply a measure of self-protection which had to be adopted in the interests of American security. In other countries the German consulates Were focal points for Nazi intrigue of all kinds; it Was in the consulates that the extremely effective '‘fifth columns” were organised. Notorious characters were to be found always in these supposed diplomatic centres. So bearing the experience of others in mind, the United States had no alternative to this removal of a chronic menace on American soil. What is more significant than these actions themselves is the comment which has accompanied them. Mr Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury, said: “If we act now to stamp out this tyranny we run the risk of losing our comfort and safety, perhaps our lives, before the job is done. If we do not act we run a far greater risk of losing our precious freedom and surrendering our intellectual and spiritual heritage. We must choose whether we would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.” Referring to the German threat to sink all ships carrying contraband to Britain, the Secretary of State, Mr Sumner Welles, declared that the United States had “never been impressed by what they regarded as bluster and threats.”