The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1941 AMERICA CHALLENGES GERMANY

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21525, 13 September 1941, Page 6

The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1941 AMERICA CHALLENGES GERMANY

America has taken its most momentous decision in this war. Announcing that the United States Navy would protect all shipping within the American sphere of interest in the Atlantic, President Roosevelt has challenged Germany to molest any ship, American or Allied, on pain of swift retribution. This means a decision to convoy ships wherever the United States’ interest in the freedom of the seas extends. And if the Nazis should attack any such convoy they will have to contend with the might of the United States Navy. Will Hitler dare to accept that challenge ? If he does he knows now, without a shadow of doubt, that shooting will begin. No one knows whether five recent attacks on American ships were in accordance with German policy. Attacks on British ships are, however, the deliberate policy of Hitler, and now they come under the same American prohibition. Mr Roosevelt arrived at his pronouncement after mature consideration extending over many months. His argument is backed by inescapable logic. American people have been forced to the conclusion that the time has arrived to protect themselves from a very real menace. As Mr Roosevelt put it, if you saw a rattlesnake poised to strike, would you wait until it struck before protecting yourself ? Americans have recognised in German submarines, surface raiders and aeroplanes the rattlesnake which is poised to strike the United States as well as the Allies—which indeed has already struck and drawn blood. Now the United States Navy is being sent to sea not only to watch and report as previously, but to strike back whenever the rattlesnake shows its fangs. Because Britain regards the Battle of the Atlantic as the most vital phase of the whole war, the decision of the United States must be regarded as a major event in the world-wide struggle. The safety of ships in the Atlantic means the assurance of food supplies and war materials for Britain. The intervention of the United States to protect shipping means that the prospects of assuring such safety have been greatly enhanced. It means, probably, that the effective Atlantic patrols have been doubled. Germany has suffered a reverse of incalculable proportions. What will her reaction be ? Will she accept the challenge and regard the United States as a belligerent ? Will she accept the added risks of retaliation and continue to “ sink on sight ? ” One point of uncertainty in America’s previous policy has been removed. Patrols so far have been confined to certain portions of the Atlantic where it was believed the peril to America was greatest. Now it seems that the United States, in accordance with long-standing tradition, regards the whole of the Atlantic as entitled to freedom from foreign domination. The protection of the United States Navy and Air Force will therefore be widely spread and the sphere of German operations will consequently be restricted. Convoying of British ships from the shores of the United States and Canada to British waters would be of enormous advantage to the Allies. America does not want war, Mr Roosevelt said, but it does not want peace so mych that it is prepared to pay for it by countenancing the unrestricted sinking of merchant shipping. The onus is upon Germany. If she wishes to evade America’s wrath she must refrain from interfering with ships in the Atlantic.