SUNDAY, AUGUST 4,1940 THE MICHIGAN OXIIY m PAGE THR!U Invasion Or Famine?.... THE WORLD THIS WEEK Conscription Or Enlistment? . T H E In Germany THE LONG AWAITED total inva- sion of Great Britain loomed< ominously last week; appeared immi- nent until fascist propaganda barom- eters Wednesday gave first indica- tions of a sudden reversal in Nazi1 tactics. For weeks, the German and ItalianI government - controlled press hadl gloated with child-like glee over theJ predicted ease with which Hitler's columns were to motor from Dover to London, from London to Edin- burgh. Not so Virginio Gayda, offi- cial press spokesman of Il Duce, predicted in an editorial in his Gior- nale d'Italia. Said Gayda: The de- feat of Great Britain must be a slow process in which the present tactics of bombing factories and ports and torpedoing ships must continue for some time. Armchair strategists shifted their cigars, made the following guesses in explanation: Hitler was wary of his arch-friend Stalin, looked apprehensively at the transfer of Bessarabia, and pre- ferred to keep his Reichswehr on the Continent. 2 Careful investigations had shown the invasion to be no week-end spree. Germany had insufficient aviation gasolines for the project. 4 The air-submarine blockade of British shipping was producing encouraging results. 5 The dramatic snatching of the French Fleet from eager Nazi hands left Hitler with insufficient support from the sea. ' Instead of a march across the Channel, Hitler launiched a staccato{ of telling air attacks on British com- munication lines, port facilities. Im- portant and devastating successes were reported in thetconcentrated Stuka dive-bombing of Dover. For variety, Herr Goering late last week sent over several contingents of high- flying lone bombers. In spite of the delay in invasion plans, however, Hitler's blitzkrieging Reichswehr continued massing men, guns and materials along the French channel coast. Guns of all calibers were ranged along a 75-mile front, assuring gunfire control of the en- tire channel width-a control vital to any invasion of the Island from the south. WAR1 said he will use force if Hungary and Bulgaria become unreasonable in their conference demands. It is probably more than coinci- dence that Russian troop movements were reported at the same time that little Rumania talked back. Some observers hinted that the Rumanian pendulum had swung Soviet-wards again. Travelers reported large numbers of Russian troops, tanks, planes and trucks concentrated in Bukovina and Bessarabia, territories recently acquired from Rumania. Train lines between Carol's domain and the land of Stalin have been standardized and Rumania lines link directly with Russia's main trunk line at Kiev. Similar reports flowed out of Buda- pest with stories of Hungary, sup- posedly a vassal state of the Reich, looking away from war-worn Ger- many and toward Russia. Hungary's grant of autonomy to the Carpatho- Ukraine was main source of these observations. Meanwhile Rumania continued to become a huge factory for the German war machine. Germany -took control Thursday of Rumania's most im- portant iron works, and by financial stock.juggling in oldnCzechoslovakia made herself boss of nearly the en- tire iron industry. As tension between Britain and Rumania grew (England protested at expropriation of British oil com- panies, barges, ships and tank cars) reports from Italy contradicted stories of Russo-German diplomatic rivalry' in the Balkans. Jap Boasts Seen As Morale Bolster WASHINGTON, Aug. 3. -(YP)- Japan's announcement that she will pursue a foreign policy designed to bring French Indo-China and the Netherlands Indies under her dom- ination is regarded by some veteran students here of the Far East as de- signed primarily to bolster morale at home. They do not dismiss the possibility that Japan might take advantage of Britain's preoccupation with the threat of a German invasion, and of American concern over defenses in the Atlantic, to put the policy into effect by early military action. Catastrophes Strike Ohio And Jersey TRAGEDY STRUCK swiftly in widely-separated parts of the na- tion last week, and left 50 dead and 200 injured in its trail. A Pennsylvania Railroad engine- man disobeyed his orders Wednesday night and 43 persons met flaming death in a telescoped railroad coach near Akron, Ohio. Thomas L. Mur- tough, engineman of the coach, dis- obeyed orders to switch to a siding and clear the way for a 73-car double header freight, which crashed head- on into the steel coach. Explosion of the fuel tanks in the coach im- mediately made it a death trap for all but two of the 45 occupants. The coach was bringing commuters and railroad employees to Akron from the little town of Hudson, 12 miles northeast of Akron. The lead loco- motive proceeding along the single track telescoped into about half the length of the coach. The state highway patrol broad- cast a general alarm for ambulances and vehicles were rushed from all neighboring cities to help remove the dead and dying. * * * Early Tuesday afternoon a series of tremendous blasts shook the area for miles around Camden, N.J., and the huge R. M. Hollingshead paint factory became a blazing inferno in which seven people perished. The $2,000,000 fire, largest in Camden's history, resulted in injuries to 205 persons, destroyed 79 dwellings and left 400 persons horeless. The conflagration reached its height late Tuesday afternoon with eight fire companies and 100 police- men from Philadelphia aiding in bringing it under control. Twenty-four hours after the fire had broken out, the ruins were still smouldering, and it was impossible to remove any bodies. At week's end, five known dead had been removed from the debris. Hopes had been given up for two more believed to be in the wreckage. A contribution of $2,000 from offi- cials of the company brought to $5,662 the fund of $15,000 asked by Mayor George E. Brunner for the relief of those made homeless by the fire. The World Last Night Diplomacy British arrests of two powerful Japanese businessmen in London drew strong protest from Japanese ambassador but Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax gives him little satis- faction, Japanese "flabbergasted"; Japanese ambassador at Washing- ton hands State Department his government's objection to U.S. embprgo on aviation gasoline; Ru- mania, Bulgaria and Hungary make ready for negotiations next week for settlement of Hungarian and Bulgarian territorial claims on Rumania, fears of Communism in Hungary complicate Balkan situation. The War Britain's air raiders tell of new forays against blitzkrieg spring- board; British. Prime Minister Churchill warns Britons not to be lulled by German rumors they - do not intend an invasion of Is- land Kingdom; German aviation general talks of simultaneous at- tack on Britain by Nazi air ar- mada, calls air raids thus far "mere pin pricks"; Germans re- port much British shipping sunk by air and naval arms, call Brit- ish report that Hamburg is in ruins "Churchill lie." Expansion Russia incorporates Lithuania as 14th republic. Bank Of France Now Controlled By Germans Polishing off the rough edges of independence in France's totalitar- ian make-up, Germany last week placed the Bank of France "virtually" under German control. This infor- mation was picked up from the Brit- ish Broadcasting Company in a broadcast heard in New York by the National Broadcasting Company. The British radio said the infor- mation had been broadcast by the German-controlled radio in Paris. The announcement as heard by NBC said the Bank pf France will be al- lowed to deal only in transactions as ordered by the German commis- sioner. Conscription Issue Divides Nation AsBill Faces Fight In Congress IN WASHINGTON last week sweat- ing legislators climbed Capitol Hill to tackle the hottest political issue of the summer--should America's man- power be conscripted for war during peace-time. With the presidential election only five months off, the conscription question is political dynamite. Presi- dent Roosevelt last week came out solidly for it, Wendell Willkie main- tains a Sphinx-like silence on the subject and all over the country last week youth groups, labor organiza- tions and church groups went on record against it. In Washington prominent Repub- licans-Senator Vandenberg of Mich- gan and Senator Taft of Ohio; prom- inent Democrats-Senator Wheeler of Montana and former Secretary of War Woodring led the fight against the Burke-Wadsworth Bill, which, in its early form called for registration of 42,000,000 men, of whom 1,500,000 would be drafted in the first year. The end of a stormy week in Wash- ington found conscription proceedings in the following state: 1 The Senate Military Affairs Com- mittee voted unanimously to re- port a much-emasculated Burke- Wadsworth Bill tomorrow. The bill now calls for registration of all men 21 to 31 years of age, and permits supplemental, voluntary one-year en- listments for all men between 18 and 35 years of age. Amendments to limit the number of men selected to 5000,000 this Autumn and the same number one year from now, to limit the number to be drafted to 400,000 and to forbid any draft unless Con- gress declared a state of war to exist were defeated decisively in the Com- mittee. 2 The Senate Military Affairs Com- mittee reported. a bill, giving the President authority to call up the National Guard and Army Reserve Officers for active training duty, but the Senate deferred consideration of it until tomorrow. All members of the Congress, as all Americans, were not ready at week's end to be stampeded into conscrip- tion by Hitler-hysteria. Senator Van- denberg, announcing the start of a Hits Conscription Commerce of the United States stat- ed that the organization was whole- heartedly behind the draft bill. The Advisory Commission to the Council on National Defense declared: "The passage of a compulsory service bill in conformity with the principals now advocated by the War and Navy De- partments will prevent the disrup- tion of industry through the entry into military service of many who would be more needed in industrial production because of special skills." President Roosevelt, in answer to a press conference question declared: "I am in favor of a selective train ing bill and I consider it essential to adequate national defense." Sen- ator Wheeler challenged Willkie to outline his attitude toward conscrip- tion, while Senator Lundeen of Min- nesota issued a call for a third party convention to meet in Chicago to draw up a platform opposing "the interventionist policies" of the two major parties, charging that the Burke-Wadsworth Bill is bringing the United States to "the last crossroad before plunging into international war." Neither major party, he de- clared, can prevent the further de- velopment of war-like acts. On which side of the fence Wen- dell Willkie will dump the Republi- can Party remains to be seen. He faces a delicate task in his accept- ance speech slated for Aug. 17 at Elwood, Ind., when he will have to bid for the support of big business and at the same time appeal to a bloc of voters dissatisfied with the Ad- ministration's attitude toward com- pulsory military training. Senator Vandenberg nation-wide anti-conscription peti- tion drive, suggested a volunteer training program as substitute and predicted that under such a systeml 1,000,000 American youths would vol- unteer within three months, and a "great 150=year-old tradition inti- mately related to individual liberties" would be maintained. "When the American people are put on a conscript basis, what is left to separpte us from a complete totali- tarian war basis?" he asked. Opposition grew rapidly in Con- gress and in the nation to the selective service bill, although it had its staunch supporters. While peace or- ganizations, the Congress for Indus-, trial Organization, the Workers' Alli- ance, and student groups throughout the country went on record against conscription, the Junior Chamber of r. tish.Fae 'In$vascin' By 'Fa mine * Pawns In Cartel Hull's South American Game *0_ _t _ _ _ _C_ _ I ni Frv-ikril RITAIN last week continued to tighten her economic belt, pre- pared anti-blitzkriegng defense. At week's end, with no channel hurd- ling move from the enemy material- ized, the RAF, tired of waiting, launched a major drive of her own against Germany's vital industrial centers. The Reich's largest gateway, the port of Hamburg, was pictured in ruins by authoritative British sources. Also seriously damaged were Brem- en's ship-building and docking facili- ties. Further air attacks were felt by such important German industrial centers as Dusseldorf, Essen and Wesel in the Ruhr area. Proudest target of the RAF raiders was the sprawling, defensively vital Krupp munitions center at Essen. Also scanned by British bomb sights were supply depots, oil plants and air- dromes in Western Germany and Holland: bases vital to any invasion scheme. Active with the RAF was a large contingent of self-exiled French air- men under the command of Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who was last week condemned to death in absentia by a military tribunal meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, France. In contrast to Nazi claims of dam- age done by a fleet of 80 planes over the port of Dover, British authorities insist that the Luftwehr contingent was driven off with a minimum num- ber of effective hits. In 30 minutes of the fiercest aerial dog-fighting of the war, the Air Ministry announced, not a bomb was dropped on shore, and 17 Nazi raiders were shot down with the loss of but one British plane. Pounded by an incessant barrage of anti-aircraft guns and counter-attacked ' by a swarm of Spitfires and Hurricanes, the raiders were able to attain little accuracy in the attack. In The Balkans VER SINCE Germany adopted Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria have have been sharpening knives to slice territory away from richbut friendless Rumania. The squabble has gone on relentlessly if TRADE, life blood of nations, was aparamount topic at the Latin- American conference at Havana. It will be the main thing on the minds of many North and South American statesmen from here on out. The three - billion - dollar Latin- American trade problem has just about as many facets as a diamond, is just as hard. Some angles: 1 Latin - America has a primary economy and therefore must sell the produce of her farms, forests, and mines for the money to buy manufactured goods she does not produce. 2 A fat slice of her profitable export business went to Europe-so large a slice that loss of the market would disorganize Latin-American economy. Hitler holds Europe and Britain is blockading it. 4 After the war, what? A prime obstacle to a united policy is the fact that all 21 nations 'com- pete with each other for markets. They are, so to speak, salesmen for for rival firms, and are mutually sus- picious of one another. Uses Own Products Complicating the situation more is the common knowledge that the United States, capable of supplying many of the manufactured goods South America' needs, cannot take all of South America's agricultural products. The U.S. also produces an over-supply. Conferees at Havana discussed a giant trade cartel, backed by $500,- 000,000 in U.S. funds, to pool and manage trade of the Americas. Delegates agreed they would do' their best to use U.S. credits to solve South American surplus exports prob- lems. And they agreed to develop hitherto neglected Latin-American products of a non-comptetive nature. Havana Convention The Convention of Havana will probably be greeted with approval by Congress when it is presented for ratification. Up to now, however, members of the Senate Foreign Rela- tions Committee have been guarded in their comments on it, since the Administration has not yet trans- PACIFIC O C E A N - j DO CAN d " j PUBLIC :HONDURAS AGU TRADE ' DSTA RICA ::::: PN.;--:.. 58.2% OF AA TOTAL TRADE ::M:ORtS 41.8% OF * ' ', . TOTAL TRADE E ECUA.- :::- " / AIS AND AXIS- :":r -T ERED COUNTRIES:: -ARA UA::: o. .. . . . M14% 3% 10:". -- -- - By KIRKE L. SIMPSON (Associated Pres$ Staff Writer) IF ITALIAN and German forecasters have the right of it, it is not inva- sion but starvation that the British public has most to fear. And nobody but British officialdom really knows how imminent the starvation peril is. Figures fantastically at variance with British official listing of cargo ships sunk recently have been pub- lished by Berlin. The fate of England may hang on which side is right. Experience and some previous cir- cumstances of this war teach distant obeservers to believe that the British ship loss accounting is the more re- liable. During the World War, the British did not conceal their cargo ship losses, even when they were within weeks of famine. In this war they have given out much more de- tailed statements than Berlin-spon- sored figures, frequently announcing the sinking'of both British naval and merchant craft before any German claim had been made. England is fighting alone now and the unshaken will of her people to carry on with the war at any cost is the prime essential to victory hopes. It can well be realized that those in authority in London are repeatedly faced by difficult questions as to what the effect on British public opinion might be of publication of bad news items on ship losses. England is still a democracy, for all the emergency war powers con- ferred on the Prime Minister. Par- liament could rescind them as quick- ly as it granted'them. For that reason if no other it is probable that Church- ill has decreed frankness and accur- acy in reports on ship casualties, re- stricted only by military exigencies. And, if that is Churchill policy- which Churchill's long record of never hesitating to tell the Birtish public bad news indicates-it is not the Bri- tish but the German public that is being misinformed as to progress of the pattle of Britain. Hitler and his aides need not reckon with German public opinion unless his whole totali- tarian house of cards comes down about his ears ir the end. In the meantime, offering his own people and the world highly inflated figures on British shipping losses could be deemed good home front propaganda strategy. United States Locks The Barn In Time America is looking to her South American housecleaning a lot more vigorously than slow-moving democ- racies usually do in such cases, events this week showed. Secretary Stimson, with a private case of fifth column jitters, sent out a, dragnet in the Panama Canal Zone and rounded up 81 "foreign AKGN I INA $762,405,000 51% 13% 24 El WITH BRITAIN WITH ALL OTHERS y I 0 BOLIVIA $126,350,000 8%3 23%. BRAZIL $566,407,000 35% 24% 32% 1t H3E DOMINICAN REPUBLIC $30,157,000 % %27% PANAMA $23,951,000 ' ,1 23 % PARAGUAY $14,946,000 12%1% 7 :; ECUADOR $21,550,000 49% 23%l24%M / 0 .}i ...... .... - -......... . .... ............... ...... ................. .....- ...... - tl:' ?cr~r: t: CHILE GUATEMALA PERU $223,041,000 $32,281,000 $120,433,000 i0%_35%_''20 21r~*34% 17.5% 335% COLOMBIA $205,421,000 HAITI $15,449,000 SALVADOR $20,500,000 . ' 19% 4/ 4 4% a O 6 70/-0 1 =80/0 I 22 14% 16% II _I