WASHINGTON (UP) – The Navy and War Departments today received numerous inquiries from all over the country as to casualties in the Japanese attacks, particularly in the Hawaiian Islands area.
The Navy advised against sending of individual inquiries at this time. It said casualties would be announced and families notified as quickly as information is received.
1,600,000 men now serving in U.S. Army
WASHINGTON (UP) – The outbreak of hostilities in the Pacific finds the United States with an Army of 1,600,000 men as compared with only 200,000 at the outset of World War I.
The 1941 Army consists of Regulars, Selectees, National Guardsmen and Reserves. About one-third of the 1917 Army consisted of National Guardsmen.
The Army has more than 3,600 combat planes on hand, according to testimony before a Congressional committee November 18 by Gen. George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff.
In addition, the Air Corps program is being stepped up rapidly from 54 to 84 groups. This involves training about 30,000 pilots and 110,000 mechanics and technicians annually.
Military planes are believed rolling off the production lines at a rate of more than 2,000 a month, but many of these have been diverted to Britain, Russia and China.
House-approved legislation provides for an Army of more than two million. This can be expanded rapidly since draft machinery has long since been in motion, whereas, during World War I, the draft was put into operation after the conflict began.
Before the close of World War I, more than 2,800,000 were inducted under the draft out of a total of 24,234,021 registrants. The peak of the U.S. World War armed strength – the Army, Navy and Marine Corps – was 4,800,000.
‘Save our Republic’ slogan appears on Tribune now
CHICAGO, Illinois (UP) – The Chicago Tribune, outspoken foe of the Roosevelt administration and voice of isolationism, today replaced Stephen Decatur’s famous slogan “Our Country, Right or Wrong” on its masthead.
After breaking with President Roosevelt, the Tribune had replaced the words of Decatur with “Save our Republic.”
In a front-page editorial, the Tribune asserted that war had been forced upon America by “an insane clique of Japanese militarists.”
The editorial said:
America faces war through no volition of any American. Recriminations are useless and we doubt they will be indulged in. Certainly not by us… all of us from this day forth have but one task. That is to strike with all our might to protect and preserve the American freedom that we all hold dear.
Editorial: War!
It came, not by attack from Europe as so many feared, but in the Pacific, which most Americans believed impossible.
Japan has attacked us without cause. The United States was still pleading for peace, still offering Japan honorable friendship, when she struck without warning.
The bombing of Hawaii, the torpedoing of ships on this side of the Pacific, were not acts of irresponsible commanders or even the result of some sudden decision by the Tokyo government. The orders must have been issued, and confirmed by the Mikado, many days ago to permit the aircraft carriers and submarines to reach these battle stations so many thousands of miles away.
Thus, the treachery was complete. It was premeditated. It was carried out while the United States government, in patience and good faith, listened to long professions of friendship masking her plans for surprise attack.
So be it.
The Japanese found us slow to wrath. They will yet find us mighty in wrath. They found us unwilling to strike the first blow. They will yet find us striking the last blow.
They have played us for suckers. So, we have seemed to them – for did we not supply them with the steel, oil, and other war materials to fight us?
Yes, we paid that price for peace. And we lost.
But in the losing, we gained something which Japan lacks – something essential to give a peaceful and democratic people the will to fight and the will to win. That essential is clear proof to Americans that their nation is not the aggressor but the defender.
Japan has provided that proof. The attack on Hawaii united America in a common horror and in a common resolve – a unity as grim and complete as if Japan had struck individually at 130,000,000 Americans.
She has thereby eliminated our chief dangers – indifference and division. Whatever the initial military and naval gains from her betrayal, they are insignificant beside the defense spirit and untapped power which she has heedlessly provoked.
As this newspaper for many months has called for concentration on Pacific defense, for all-out preparedness, for an end of strikes as usual, business as usual, luxury as usual, so today we repeat those now-too-obvious necessities.
The losses suffered in the battle of Hawaii will not have been in vain if they turn Americans from fears of Atlantic invasion in some distant future to the Pacific reality ignored so long. At last, we may stop underestimating the Japanese. Hitler is attacking, indeed; but through the Japanese, as he has so long tried to do.
We must fight with everything we have. It will not be easy. But the greater our concentration and the greater our sacrifice, the sooner the victory.
America salutes the President, who fought so nobly for Pacific peace, and who now leads us in the just cause of self-defense. America salutes the armed forces, who have never lost a war.
Stokes: ‘Attack that couldn’t come’ stuns, shocks Washington
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer
WASHINGTON (UP) – Washington was waked rudely from its Sunday afternoon doze by a crisp, excited voice over the radio: “White House says Japs attack Pearl Harbor.”
It was identified as a press-association flash.
Here was something out of Jules Verne or Conan Doyle remembered from boyhood vaguely, those lurid and fanciful tales that tickled the youthful imagination pleasantly because even a boy knew they could never come true.
It was true.
The radio bubbled on. Swarms of Japanese planes over Hawaii, Hickam Airfield bombed, American soldiers killed, row on row of American airplanes damaged on the ground, an Army transport torpedoed in the mid-Pacific, rumors of battleships sunk – it was stunning, shocking the senses.
For there on the divan lay the Sunday rotogravure sections with pictures of Hawaii in the sunlight, and dancing waves, and white-coated orchestras and pretty girls.
Nightmare is reality
The radio talked on, repeating press-association flashes and bulletins, and the nightmare became a reality as you heard of President Roosevelt conferring with hastily assembled officials, of Secretary Hull telling off the Japanese in words that were strong enough but must have been revised considerably for publication, considering the Tennessee statesman’s capacity for cussing.
Newspaper correspondents who have been covering the Japanese story had been idling outside Secretary Hull’s office in the early afternoon, waiting for the conference with the Japanese ambassadors to break up. A photographer came up and asked a reporter if he had heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Don’t kid me, brother.”
“But it’s true. I just heard it over the radio in the janitor’s office.”
Thus came the news to the State Department.
Japs prove reticent
Out at the Japanese Embassy, they were burning papers, in plain view, so that photographers could see and take pictures. But once this ceremony was over, the Japs slammed their door. A telegraph messenger, in uniform, innocently rang the bell, and a figure looked out and slammed the door in his face.
A few moments later, assembled reporters saw a hand come from the door and stick up a message. They walked up to see it. It was in Japanese.
A Japanese newspaperman interpreted it. It said: “Anybody having business with the Embassy, use the side door.”
Wisecracks are few
As the news spread, reporters converged on the White House. The press room was jamful of newspaper and radio men. Broadcasting apparatus was soon attached, and the voices reading bulletins rose above the babel. There were few wisecracks.
Every so often the word came that Steve Early, the President’s Press Secretary, had an announcement, and the men and women tumbled out of the press room and into Steve Early’s office, where that ex-newspaperman – who had seen the other war in the Navy Department at the right hand of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt – now coolly gave out the latest bulletins.
Lights bloomed from every window at the White House and in the executive offices. Crowds gathered along the White House fence, peering in.
War was upon us.
There was no song
At night, the Cabinet appeared for the conference with the President in his upstairs study. One by one the limousines rolled up, and one by one the Cabinet members alighted and walked up the steps, grim-faced, through an aisle between two lines of newspapermen anxiously seeking a word, studying expressions.
They were followed by Congressional leaders.
It was like the nights, so many years ago it seems now, when Depression gripped the land, and banks were crashing, and some of these same men were in and out of the White House trying to get hold of a domestic crisis.
But then there was lightness, for the troubles that beset us were familiar home troubles, and newspaper correspondents stood on the porch and raised raucous voices in song, while waiting.
There was no song last night.
Interceptors are ready
SEATTLE, Washington – The 2nd Interceptor Command, covering states west of the Dakotas and north of California, late yesterday announced a state of alert for regular personnel.
The theater of war in Far East where United States battles Japan
This Jap aircraft carrier may be at bottom of the Pacific now
This is the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga which may have been the one which launched the planes that attacked Hawaii yesterday. A Jap carrier was reported sunk after the attack.
Japs ordered to stay here
None can leave country, Morgenthau orders
WASHINGTON (UP) – Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau last night issued instructions barring all Japanese nationals from leaving the country until the Treasury can be assured there has been no violation of the order “freezing” Japanese assets.
Simultaneously, he revoked all outstanding general and specific licenses authorizing withdrawal of “frozen” funds by Japanese, and other financial transactions in the United States by Japan and her nationals.
The original freezing order, issued by the President on July 25, placed in “temporary custody” approximately $130 million of Japanese assets.
The effect of last night’s action is to place an immediate and complete stoppage on all financial and business dealings, as well as trade transactions in which Japan or her nationals have any interests.
Two Japanese aliens seized in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (UP) – Two Japanese aliens, one a defense plant employee, were seized at railroad stations today as police and FBI agents opened an anti-sabotage drive in this important industrial area.
Detectives said the Motokichi Koda, 54, a non-citizen employed by a chemical firm, had been turned over to the FBI. The name of the other man was not disclosed.
Japanese were requested to remain in their homes as precautions were taken to protect vital industries and shipyards in this area which hold defense contracts totaling more than $2.5 billion.
Army, Navy and Marine recruiting offices reported an unprecedented rush of volunteers.
Missouri restricts Japs
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri – Gov. Forrest C. Donnell yesterday ordered “home custody” for all Japanese nationals in Missouri.
Jap leader arrested
SACRAMENTO, California – R. Sato, leader of the Japanese Colony here and branch manager of a Japanese vernacular daily paper, was arrested here last night by the FBI as an “enemy alien” and ordered held indefinitely.
Churchill warns that foe is powerful By Edward W. Beattie, United Press staff writer
LONDON, England (UP) – Great Britain today made formal declaration of war against Japan.
The announcement was made to an emergency session of parliament by Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The session convened at 3 p.m. (9 a.m. EST) and Mr. Churchill immediately announced Britain’s action, fulfilling his pledge of just a month ago that Britain would stand beside the United States if war came to the Pacific.
Mr. Churchill warned against any tendency to underestimate Japan’s military and naval strength. His speech to the House of Commons lacked the famous invective which he hurled against Italy when Premier Benito Mussolini brought his nation into the war at the darkest hour of the Allied cause.
Formally aligning Britain beside the United States, the Prime Minister emphasized that the war which has now spread over two hemispheres is an indivisible and interdependent conflict.
The session of Commons lasted only a half hour. It was a business-like, undramatic meeting.
Britain’s note to Japan announcing her declaration of war was couched in language stronger than that employed by Mr. Churchill in Commons.
It charged that “this wanton act of unprovoked aggression was committed in flagrant violation of international law.”
Mrs. Churchill sat in the distinguished strangers’ gallery of the House as her husband spoke. She wore a bandeau on which was printed the slogan: “Go… Go… Go…”
“It remains,” said Mr. Churchill, “for the two great democracies to face the task with whatever strength God may give them.”
Each time he mentioned China or Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, the House cheered.
Mr. Churchill disclosed that last night he had talked by trans-Atlantic radiotelephone with President Roosevelt.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands government-in-exile here announced that it considered that a state of war existed between the Netherlands and Japan.
Instructions were sent at once to Netherlands East Indies authorities on their course, and similar orders were sent to Netherlands authorities at Curacao and in the Netherlands West Indies and Dutch Guiana.
Japanese in the Netherlands East Indies were ordered interned.
2 Latin nations enter Jap war
Costa Rica and Nicaragua act immediately By the United Press
Two Latin American republics – Costa Rica and Nicaragua – declared war on Japan last night and it was indicated that several others would follow suit.
An emergency Cabinet meeting was called in Havana. Observers recalled that President Fulgencio Batista announced recently that Cuba would follow the United States in any declaration of war against Japan.
President Alfredo Baldomir, in a nationwide broadcast, called upon Uruguay to abandon neutrality. Uruguay has always been the chief advocate in South America of complete defense cooperation with the United States.
Foreign Minister Ezequiel Padilla of Mexico, after a conference with President Manuel Avila Camacho, angrily condemned Japan’s “aggression.” Informed sources said a Mexican declaration of war was “not impossible.”
Strategically-located Panama ordered the arrest of all Japanese nationals.
Emergency Cabinet meetings were held in Peru, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, and Foreign Minister Juan B. Rossett of Chile discussed the crisis with Acting President Jeronimo Mendez.
U.S. Ambassador Jefferson Caffery conferred with Brazilian Chancellor Oswaldo Aranha.
Acting President Ramon S. Castillo of traditionally-neutral Argentina said his country will “maintain absolute neutrality.”
The American Ambassador to Buenos Aires, Norman Armour, was told by French Minister Enrique Ruiz-Guinazu that Argentina will take no measures until the position of the United States is made clear.
Soviet policy in war secret
Russians refuse to reveal stand in Pacific By A. T. Steele
KUIBYSHEV, USSR (Dec. 6, delayed) – It is idle to speculate on what line of action the Soviet government will take in event Japan begins an American war. Russians are not saying nor is it at all certain that they have definitely made up their minds.
Of this much, however, we can be reasonably sure – that the Soviet government would prefer peace in the Pacific. Russia wishes to concentrate all her energies on the defeat of Hitler and she needs American and British supplies with which to accomplish that purpose. War between Japan and the United States would jeopardize and possibly reduce this all-important flow of war materials just when it is beginning to assume important proportions. Nor is it certain that war in the Pacific – even if Russia took no part – would enable the Russians substantially to lower their vigilance along their Pacific frontiers.
So far during this latest Japanese-American crisis, the Soviet government has taken no action which would give the Japanese or anybody else a clue as to its policy in event of a Japanese-American showdown. Its attitude toward the Pacific dispute has so far been one of meticulous detachment. However, the Japanese cannot fail to be taking note of the difficulties which their Axis brethren – the Nazis – are encountering in their Russian campaign.
Those Japanese who have always contended that ultimate German victory in the present World War is a foregone conclusion have been given food for very serious thought in the jarring Rostov reverse and in the slow pace of the German drive toward Moscow.
Monahan: Those masters of mayhem, the Three Stooges; discuss their art
By Kaspar Monahan
Curly Howard and Larry Fine were playing gin-rummy rather half-heartedly in their dressing room when I interrupted their game. Moe Howard, the other third of the Three Stooges, wasn’t there, so Curly and Larry began to denounce him.
“All he does,” said Curly, gingerly rubbing his clipped iron skull, “is stay awake nights thinking up new ways of hurting us. And him my brother, too.”
Larry said, “Look at this,” and I looked and saw a big lump on his left jaw right near the ear. He said his jaw was always swollen that way.
“And our poor noses,” they exclaimed in unison. “They’re always sore.”
Curly had a deep scar on one cheek, more of sadistic Moe’s work.
“But it’s even worse in picture,” Curly went on. “That’s when we really get battered. Each of us lost a tooth in one picture – even Moe, and it served him right. And we get ribs busted, too.”
Moe came in, glaring menacingly at his two victims, and they yelled insults at him, seeing as how I stood between them and him. Moe made that threatening gesture – two fingers pointing, and they cringed and subsided.
“These bums squawking to you about the way I smack ‘em around?” Moe yelled. “Hah – look at the way I suffer. Look at this mitt, would you?”
I looked and saw the knuckles were swollen.
Then Larry, the one with the wild mop of hair, pointed to a growing bald spot. For year after year Moe has been digging his fists into Larry’s hair pulling it out in tufts and sometimes it doesn’t grow back.
“But we’re not worried,” said Curly of the clipped sconce. “When all of Larry’s hair is gone, why I’ll let mine grow and he can take over my role and I’ll take his.”
“I get mine clipped once a week – with a No. 1 clipper. That gets it close to the skull.”
All three then discussed their respective hairdos. Moe shook his head and down tumbled his black locks, forming a circle close to his eyebrows and giving him the appearance of a zombie. He will shoot any barber whose shears slip and spoil that circular outline.
“Lots of money has been won or lost on whether I wear a toupee or not,” Moe said.
Larry said he always had arguments with barbers who insist on cutting his mop of curls.
Curly declared that he has been cutting his hair right down to the bone so long that if he lets it grow for more than a week, he can’t stand it.
Moe demonstrated just how he stabs at the eyes of his coworkers and yet doesn’t blind them.
“I been doing it for years and I haven’t put out an eye, yet,” he said proudly. It’s a delicate maneuver – Moe’s arm darts out, the two fingers striking Curly to Larry just under the eyebrows, the thumb colliding with the nose. That’s why their noses are always sore.
“And you can’t pull your punches,” he said. “Audiences would detect it at once.”
The more enthusiastic the audience, the more Larry and Curly suffer, for Moe then really goes to work on them.
They’ll yell “Give it to ‘em, Moe” – and Moe was never one to let an audience down.
“How long,” I asked, “can you fellows keep on with this business of maiming one another?”
“I don’t know,” replied Larry gloomily, “but if it can stick it out 10 years more, I’ll be surprised,” and he rubbed his sore jaw and sore nose.
Moe and Curly said they’d buy ranches some day and retire. Meanwhile the Three Stooges are making eight pictures a year. In the studios they really take punishment as each scene of mayhem must be “shot” four or five times. In a recent comedy Moe said he got hit with a 60-pound pie which knocked him silly.
Now he’s taking vitamin (ABDG) pills to keep up his strength.
His sturdy build and the public’s belief that he is immune to pain, often results in offstage tortures for poor Curly…
Once while strolling along the Atlantic City Boardwalk, drinking in the beauties of the ocean, Curly reeled from a heavy blow. An overgrown youngster, walking with his mamma, just up and cracked Curly with a cane – and the kid shrieked and mamma giggled.
“I’d a murdered him if he had been half an inch taller,” growled Curly.
On another occasion, a big, tall girl – a stranger – in a crowded elevator swung from the heels and cuffed Curly on the jaw. And she laughed and all present laughed – except Curly.
Came the call for the next show – and Moe, Curly and Larry appeared before the Stanley footlights on the stage and Moe began to slap them around and poke his fingers at their eyes. Five times they did it Saturday and other days they murder one another only four times. Wotta life!
Must pay well, though. For instance, Curly is paying an ex-wife $130 weekly alimony, and he isn’t missing any meals.
Opening tonight: Arsenic and Old Lace, with Erich von Stroheim, Effie Shannon and Laura Hope Crews, at the Nixon.
Comic air wife has real task
Portland Hoffa is Allen Stenog, partner By Si Steinhauser
Being the wife of a Jack Benny, a Fred Allen, a Fibber McGee, or a George Burns pays, but it also requires a ability to put up with crazy schedules and to keeping a household on even keel.
Mary Livingstone has little to do with Jack’s program plans. She sees the script only at first rehearsal time. Between broadcasts and rehearsals, therefore she can devote all of her time to their little adopted daughter, Joanie, whom she has built up from a sickly cross-eyed baby to a healthy, beautiful and lovable child. She draws a $1,000 weekly paycheck for her part on the program and Jack asks no questions. Her household clothing and jewelry expenses are all out of Jack’s wallet. In spite of that Mary is a fragile soul, who frequently faints from nervous exhaustion. This in spite of her laughing on the air.
Gracie Allen is a serious housewife who would leave the air at a moment’s notice and devote all of her time to their two adopted children if George would say the word but he’s smart enough to know that Gracie is the show.
Molly McGee (Mrs. Jim Jordan) is the modest housewife and mother she portrays on the air. Her husband is head man of Encino, California, and they live in an average home in a family neighborhood where neighbors are real folks. She maintains a lively interest in their two children and is her husband’s partner off the air as well as on. Together they shared the hard knocks of vaudeville. Together they are enjoying their good breaks, which they so richly deserve.
Being the merry wife of Fred Allen is something else, again. Tiny Portland Hoffa is a Mrs. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde, of necessity. From Monday to the following Sunday the life of the Allens (John F. Sullivans on their bank books) follows a methodical arrangement geared to split-second timing of a radio hour.
Monday, they conclude breakfast and walk to their first rehearsal. They have no car. After rehearsal Fred joins his staff in script-cutting and revisions while Portland does her marketing. The script her husband cuts was typed by her after he had written it in pencil without capital letters or punctuation.
Time of their evening meal depends entirely on how long Fred talks over the script with his associates. While the maid burns, the meal may do likewise, awaiting Fred’s late arrival. Portland’s sister Latone is always a Monday night dinner guest. The two women attend a movie while Fred continues work on his script. When the women return home, they bring armloads of newspapers and Fred cans them until around 3 in the morning for news and program ideas.
Tuesdays Fred goes to a gymnasium until 2 in the afternoon, while Portland goes shopping and visits her beauty parlor, in anticipation of the Wednesday broadcast. The Allens dine alone, attend a movie and try to retire early to be fit for the next day’s ordeal.
Wednesday, they get an early start and by noon are deep in rehearsal. Around 4, Portland returns to their modest apartment for a nap. Fred keeps on worrying and working and by 7 is all steamed up for the broadcast at 9. Script has been cut word by word to keep in running time.
There is no dinner on Wednesday. A bowl of soup and dish of ice cream in a Radio City café is their menu.
Comes the 9 o’clock broadcast, Fred’s business of signing autographs, a rush to a café for dinner which Portland orders while Fred reads the evening papers. If there is time left, Fred spins yarns for his associates and one inevitable guest is Harry Von Zell, Fred’s former announcer who comes over from the Eddie Cantor program to “get away from it all.” At midnight there is a repeat broadcast.
Thursdays the Allens sleep until noon, then answer fan mail, in person. Fred types these letters, again without capital letters or punctuation. Portland knits, just now for British war relief. They have dinner at Portland’s sister Latone’s home and after dinner Fred goes to work laying first plans for the following Wednesday’s broadcast.
Friday is Fred’s gymnasium day again. It is also Portland’s “day off” and Fred’s day for business conferences but they meet for dinner, always outside their home, then go to a theater or a boxing bout.
Saturday, Portland’s sister is again their dinner guest at their home. The day winds up with the two sisters at typewriters working on scripts which Fred pencils.
Sunday is no day of rest. It is a day of preparing scripts, with only time out for church. Portland prepares light meals, has the night off till 12, a midnight movie with Fred and home. Then begins the week’s schedule all over again without change.
Dick Stabile and his orchestra are broadcasting from Frank Dalley’s (he owns the famous Meadowbrook) Valley Dale in Columbus.
Tonight’s (KQV at 9) Radio Forum will launch a drive for salary adjustments for postal employees. James M. Mead, D-New York, and Rep. Robert Ramspeck, D-Georgia, will speak.
Lowell Thomas is scheduled for his regular 6:45 broadcast but he’ll also appear a half-hour earlier to present Santa Claus to the KDKA audience.
The Garrison-Montgomery lightweight fight is a 10;30 KQV listing.
Actor Sandy Strouse is Alan Reed’s stand-in for Shadow rehearsals on Wednesday while Reed appears on the stage in Hope for a Harvest.
The Institute of Radio Engineers meets at Mellon Institute tonight to hear R. T. Griffith, transmission engineer of the Bell Telephone Company, discuss “Wire Transmission of Radio Programs.” An informal dinner at the King Edward will precede the meeting.
Raymond Clapper speaks at Carnegie Music Hall tomorrow night on “What’s Ahead in America Affairs.” He will broadcast his 10:30 news discussion over KQV to the network.
Judith Anderson has been the only woman to star on Inner Sanctum.
Radio actresses Adelaide Klein of Meet Mr. Meek and Irene Winston of Joan Blaine’s valiant lady cast are rehearsing parts in Brooklyn, U.S.A., a stage play about “Murder, Inc.”
Are the girls going mean?
Franchot Tone will enact “Men in White” on KDKA’s 7:30 Cavalcade of America.
Gladys Swarthout and Felix Knight share vocal honors on tonight’s (KQV at 9:30) “For America We Sign” treasury hour.
Lewis W. Douglas, former director of the federal budget, will reply to Herbert Hoover’s “defeatist attitude” over WJAS tomorrow night at 10:15 when he discusses “An Answer to Herbert Hoover – We Can Lick Hitler.”
Joan Blaine has just been assigned the lead in Edna Ferber’s So Big to be broadcast, January 12, over WJAS.
KDKA will present recordings of what went on in the recruiting offices and civilian defense headquarters at 6:15 tonight.
At 10:30, the station will present Ross Loeffler, chairman of the Air Raid Precautions Committee and Capt. Ralph Flynn, chief air raid warden of Pennsylvania.
Red Cross extends aid
WASHINGTON – The American Red Cross today extended aid to civilian victims of the Japanese hostilities. Problems of first aid and evacuation of civilians were met by chapters in Manila and Honolulu.
SECRETARY OF STATE CONDEMNS TREACHERY IN SURPRISE JAP ASSAULT Calls earlier steps to keep ‘peace’ false
Severing of relations by Tokyo timed to follow opening of attack
WASHINGTON (UP) – Japan’s plans to break off diplomatic negotiations here at the very moment Japanese planes were attacking the United States were shown today in a reconstruction of the final events in America’s efforts to preserve peace.
It was doubtful if Japan’s diplomatic representatives here knew of the exact action which Japan’s armed forces would take, but when they received their instructions from Tokyo, they must have known some decisive step was at hand.
Secretary of State Cordell Hull, releasing the documents which played a part in the final collapse of the U.S.-Japanese negotiations, said, “It is now apparent to the whole world that Japan in its recent professions of a desire for peace has been infamously false and fraudulent.”
Asked appointment
The Japanese asked at 1 p.m. EST yesterday for an appointment with Mr. Hull. That was 25 minutes before the attack on Hawaii. When they arrived at the State Department, it was 2:05 p.m., 40 minutes after the bombing had begun.
The timing was dictated by Tokyo because the decoding and translating of the lengthy document presented to Mr. Hull in rejecting American proposals for a peaceful agreement required several hours and could not have been judged so neatly.
The document, branded by Mr. Hull as “crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions,” not only rejected the American statement of basic principles but accused the United States of conspiring for “extension of the war,” and charged that the United States, Great Britain and other powers were attempting to strengthen their position in the Far East at the expense of Japan.
The 70-year-old Mr. Hull, his peaceful efforts collapsing in the face of Japan’s refusal to negotiate further, told Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura in a burst of indignation:
I must say that in all my conversations with you during the last nine months, I never uttered one word of untruth. This is borne out absolutely by the record. In all my 50 years of public service, I have never seen a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortion – on a scale so huge that I never imagined until today that any government on this planet was capable of uttering them.
The State Department and White House made public during the day President Roosevelt’s unprecedented peace appeal sent Saturday to Emperor Hirohito, the text of the Hull memorandum to the Japanese on November 26, and the Japanese reply. The President’s message may never have been received by the Emperor.
Urged troop withdrawal
In it, Mr. Roosevelt urged the withdrawal of Japanese forces from Indochina and promised in return to attempt to obtain assurances that no other power would invade that French colony, now completely dominated by Japanese forces. The President said that a withdrawal of the Japanese from Indochina “would result in the assurance of peace throughout the whole of the South Pacific area.”
The Hull document of November 26 offered Japan a tentative agreement based on four basic American political principles and five basic economic principles. It went on to propose:
Conclusion of a multilateral non-aggression pact between the United States, Japan, Britain, China, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union and Thailand.
An agreement among the same powers for respect and protection for the territorial integrity of French Indochina.
Withdrawal of all military, naval, air and police forces of Japan from China and Indochina.
Neither the United States nor Japan to support any regime in China other than the national government located at Chungking.
Surrender of extraterritorial rights of Japan and the United States in China and efforts to obtain similar action by Britain and other powers.
Negotiations for a trade agreement between the United States and Japan, based upon reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment and binding raw silk on the American free list.
Removal of freezing restrictions on both sides.
Stabilization of the dollar-yen rate with equal allocation of funds by Japan and the United States.
Japanese withdrawal from the Axis.
Efforts to influence other governments to adoption of the basic American political and economic principles.
Those principles as outlined in the Hull document as basis to the American position were:
POLITICAL:
Inviolability of territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations.
Non-interference in internal affairs of other countries.
Equality of commercial opportunity and treatment.
Reliance upon peaceful processes for settlement of controversies.
ECONOMIC:
Non-discrimination in international commercial relations.
Abolition of excessive trade restrictions.
Non-discriminatory access by all nations to raw material supplies.
Protection of interests of consuming countries and populations.
Establishment of financial arrangements to help essential enterprises.
Japan replied that some of the items – those favoring Japan commercially and the one regarding abolition of extraterritoriality – were acceptable, but that Japan could not accept the proposal in its entirety.
The Japanese reply revealed some of the background on which the negotiations abruptly ended. However, since Hull denounced the document as filled with falsehoods, the accuracy of their interpretations was subject to question.
The Japanese note said that the Premier of Japan, Prince Konoye, last August offered to meet President Roosevelt for a discussion of problems, but that the American government insisted the meeting should take place after an agreement had been reached on fundamental questions.
The Japanese also referred to American offers to “introduce” peace moves between China and Japan and of withdrawal of those offers. They mentioned a compromise proposal presented by Japan as recently as November 20, one which made no essential concessions.
Japs to stay indoors
NEW YORK (Dec. 7) – Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, Civilian Defense Director, announced tonight he had ordered all Japanese nationals in New York City to “remain in their homes” until their status is established by the federal government.
H. O. Thompson: Fanatical Japs plan for march through all U.S.
Tokyo war theory is aimed at uniting all yellow peoples against whites; religion enlisted as ally to suicidal attack program By H. O. Thompson, United Press staff writer
H. O. Thompson of the United Press Washington staff returned a few months ago from Japan. In the following dispatch, he tells of the strategy planned by Japan in the event of war against the United States.
WASHINGTON (UP) – Japan’s war against the United States started in accordance with long-standing plans for fanatical attacks designed to knock out strategic American outposts quickly.
And it will be a racial war, aimed at uniting all yellow peoples against the whites – part of Japan’s movement to drive all Occidentals out of the Far East.
Japan has plenty of young zealots in uniform who would consider it an honor to die for their emperor in suicidal attacks on strongly held positions. They have an almost maniacal belief in the ability of what they call the spirit of Japan to meet and conquer overwhelming odds.
Discuss grandiose plans
Some of these men members of the Army and Navy were not reticent in talking of their grandiose plans with me in Tokyo.
Books have been written and published in Japan advocating various methods of prosecuting a war against the United States.
The central thesis was for lightning surprise attacks upon American outposts, even at the risk of complete annihilation of the attacking forces.
Hawaii, Manila and the Panama Canal were mentioned as the first points of contact for such tactics.
And along with armed attacks, Japan will undertake a tremendous effort through propaganda, terrorism and force to unite all Oriental peoples. The beginnings of that movement occurred years ago and have been going on steadily throughout the China war, which began in 1937.
Superiority preached
The usual method of operating it is through the Buddhist organization which preaches superiority of the Orientals. Priests of the militaristic Zen sect followed up the Armies in China with evangelistic methods designed to impose Japanese training on the Chinese and to also create a common front against the white races.
The Chinese have been told that the great powers of America and Britain are interested only in exploiting the resources of their rich country and should be driven from the Orient.
Toshio Shiratori, former Japanese Ambassador to Italy and an ardent Axis supporter, told me that during the war with China and during the period when Japan was buying heavily off oil and scrap iron from the United States, Japan was storing more than half of what she obtained.
He claimed that Japan after four years of warfare was much stronger than when the China hostilities began.
Quick victory is aim
That may have been true last year, but the months of economic blockading of Japan undoubtedly have weakened her to the point of desperation. A quick victory would be her only hope.
Japan was the originator of the undeclared war. Her fleets were steaming toward Russian positions in Manchuria in 1904 and actually attacked Port Arthur before a declaration of war was made.
The plans for Japanese conquest of the United States, considered highly fantastic by all but the Japanese, envision the capture of Hawaii and attacks from there upon our West Coast. Occupation of California, Oregon and Washington would come in another year, according to some plans which actually have appeared in print in Japan. Then those plans envisaged another digging-in process and eventual attacks upon Chicago, New York and the Eastern Seaboard.
U.S. censors military data
Order affects information valuable to enemy
WASHINGTON (UP) – The government today censored publication of military information in this country and all cable and radio messages originating in the United States and her outlying possessions.
The Army, Navy, Federal Communications Commission, Treasury and Post Office Departments suppressed information that might be of value to the enemy.
The Navy and FCC said the control over cable and radio communications is censorship. The Army called the limitation on publication of military information “restriction,” rather than “censorship.”
Espionage Act enforced
Secret Service agents were ordered to take press credentials from Japanese newspaper correspondents immediately.
The War Department enforced the 1917 Espionage Act which prohibits publication of secret military information.
Brig. Gen. Alexander Surles, head of Army Public Relations, further warned that “irresponsible” news reporting would not be tolerated.
FCC Chairman James Lawrence Fly and the Defense Communications Board prohibited amateur radio stations operating except under special government license.
Most pilots grounded
The Civil Aeronautics Authority grounded all except a few private airplane pilots and urged police to guard airports, aircraft and field facilities. CAA Administrator D. H. Connolly issued an order temporarily suspending all private pilots’ certificates except those on scheduled airlines, those engaged in ferrying planes, pilots at training schools, aircraft and defense plants.
The Treasury issued orders to customs collectors barring Japanese nationals from leaving the United States and canceled all outstanding licenses permitting withdrawals from the $130 million of “frozen” Japanese assets in the United States.
E. A. Mowrer: Hand of Hitler seen in Jap’s attack
By Edgar Ansel Mowrer
WASHINGTON – Japan’s all-out assault upon all its Pacific adversaries, culminating in the tremendous attack upon Pearl Harbor shows all the evil genius of Adolf Hitler and gives the Japanese the same sort of temporary advantage that Hitler achieved by his surprise attacks against Poland, Holland, Belgium and Soviet Russia.
Not that the Japanese need any coaching in this sort of treachery. It was precisely by these methods that Japan, in the Russo-Japanese war, obtained an initial advantage over the Russian fleet that the latter was never able to make good. All those who hazarded a guess at what Japanese strategy would be, have been flabbergasted by the fact that the Japanese struck practically everywhere at once and the hardest at their chief adversary.
British and American naval people with whom I spoke during my recent trip to the Far East imagined that the Japanese would probably fight a decisive war, keeping their shifts at home and concentrating on air attacks and commerce raiding.
One admiral told me that the Japanese were outfitting several passenger ships as aircraft carriers and as commerce raiders. The efficacy of both types of ships has been demonstrated, not for defensive but for offensive warfare.
British Hong Kong was obviously being equipped for offensive warfare against Japan when I was there. The Japanese have taken the offensive against it. American Guam, virtually undefended, thanks to congressional unwillingness to “provoke” Japan, was marked down for attack. At Wake and Midway Islands, the wok of fortifying was in progress and thousands of Americans were working. Against all these places and chiefly against Pearl Harbor itself, the Japanese have sprung with their full power and the intensity of a Jack Dempsey determined to knock out his adversary in the first round.
Fortunately for this country, we did not desert China and so go into the war with many valuable allies.
The American administration probably will receive from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek an offer of all possible cooperation. It must be remembered that although the Japanese hold Canton and some of the southern Chinese ports, their occupation south of the Yangtze is so sketchy that several airports are in the hands of the Chinese. American fliers from Manila might well find it advantageous to call and refuel at these fields on their way to and from Japan.
The Chinese Army is the only effective pool of abundant manpower on our side in the entire area. This Army lacks heavy equipment and air protection; it has shown a marvelous capacity for defense but has lacked striking power. The American military mission under Gen. John Magruder will now hardly limit its activity to “advising” the Chinese. With Gen. Magruder are numerous American specialists whose tasks from now on will be to see that the Chinese armies are made ready quickly for offensive warfare. The question of getting supplies to China is serious but not insoluble.
The first group of American volunteer aviators, who are reserve officers from the American Army and Navy, actually in service of the Chinese government will unquestionably go into action as soon as is feasible. Contrary to what had been published, they had not been in service over the Burma Road before the Japanese attack on the United States.
No direct rescue of the Americans in Shanghai and other parts of occupied China is longer feasible but with so many Japanese in this country, our government, it is felt, may be able to trade for their deliverance.
Heavy toll admitted in raids on Honolulu and bases in islands By Francis McCarthy, United Press staff writer
HONOLULU, Hawaii (UP) – U.S. and Japanese fleets were believed fighting in the mid-Pacific today after a Japanese aerial bombing attack on the Hawaiian Islands opened war between the two great Pacific powers.
The American fleet steamed out of the Pearl Harbor Naval Base shortly after Japanese planes, attacking without a declaration of war or any warning whatever, had bombed the great Pearl Harbor base, the city of Honolulu, and scattered Army and Navy bases on Oahu Island.
Naval gun flashes were seen from the coast, and the roar of the guns was heard soon after the fleet had steamed out to seek the Japanese aircraft carriers from which, it was believed, the planes had taken off and their escorting warships.
In Washington, the White House admitted 1,500 dead and 1,500 wounded, a battleship and destroyer sunk and many planes destroyed in Hawaii.
Many Japanese planes were reported shot down but not before they had wrought severe damage on objectives centered on Oahu Island.
It was estimated that there were between 50 and 150 planes in the attacking fleet, including four-motored bombers, dive bombers and torpedo carriers.
Blast at U.S. flier
They arrived over the islands at 7:55 a.m. (1:25 p.m. EST) yesterday, and machine-gunned an American civilian pilot who was taking a pre-breakfast flight as they made for their objectives.
Pearl Harbor was the principal target. Anti-aircraft guns there and at other military points went into action soon after the first bombs dropped. Residents of Honolulu, awakened by the roar of explosions, thought the Army and Navy were practicing until they saw smoke rising from the fires at Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field. Other fires broke out in nearby Ford Island.
Parachutists, apparently suicide detachments intended to commit acts of sabotage, were reported landed near harbor points, five miles from the center of Honolulu.
Army, Navy and Air Force couriers and radio broadcasts summoned all members of the fighting forces and all policemen and firemen to their posts.
Gov. Joseph B. Poindexter proclaimed a state of emergency and, in his first decree, ordered the public to remain calm and stay off the streets.
One bomb struck within 25 feet of the Honolulu Advertiser Building. Bombs were reported at various parts of the city. One bomb dropped on the world-famous Waikiki Beach, wounding one man seriously. Another struck near the Governor’s home.
Jap plane down in flames
One Japanese plane crashed in flames near the courthouse at Wahiawa, a few miles from the Army’s Schofield Barracks.
It was indicated that Army observers first identified the planes as Japanese by the Rising Sun insignia on the tips of their wings.
Reports soon arrived here of damage at Wheeler Field, Honolulu Municipal Airport and the new Air Force repair base at Kaneohe, as well as at Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field.
Residents watch attacks
As suddenly and as startlingly as the raid had come, it failed to terrorize civilians. Residents ran outdoors, many in night attire, and were soon grouped on hilltops watching the attacking planes and the bursts of bombs and of anti-aircraft shells.
Observers saw few planes over the city, but those near Pearl Harbor, 20 miles away, reported that about 50 Japanese planes were attacking in that vicinity. These observers could see ships off the coast, but could not identify them.
By noon, despite orders to civilians to keep out of the streets, men, women and children, many in pajamas, were on the sidewalks all over the city.
Policemen and special officers manned all road intersections.
Hidden behind hills
It was believed that the attacking planes came from plane carriers off Barber’s Point, to the northeast of Pearl Harbor.
The planes skimmed over the hills and were upon the naval base before they were detected. At least one plane was seen to launch a torpedo at warships in the harbor.
Air depot on alert
SACRAMENTO, California – The Army Air Force last night placed the Sacramento Air Depot at McClellan Field on a 24-hour wartime basis.
Men ordered back
FORT LEWIS, Washington – The IX Army Corps ordered all officers and men back to Fort Lewis immediately last night.
Harbor is closed
SAN PEDRO, California – All entrances to the San Pedro-Long Beach harbor area have been closed, the Coast Guard announced late yesterday. Coast Guard officers said that the entrances would remain closed pending further word from Washington.
Bomber base put on alert by Navy
SAN RAFAEL, California (UP) – Hamilton Field, big bomber and pursuit plane base, was placed on an “alert” today. Guards were doubled. All leaves were canceled. Visitors were barred.
Troops moved on West Coast
Harbors, arsenals and shipyards guarded
SAN FRANCISCO, California (UP) – All military and civilian defense organizations on the West Coast were organized today on a wartime basis.
The possibility that the West Coast, with its vital harbors, arsenals, shipbuilding yards and airplane manufacturing centers, might be the next target of the Japanese bombers was reflected in the speed with which defense plans were put into operations.
Troops shifted
Anti-aircraft units, here from Camp Haan in what had been planned as practice maneuvers, were shipped from various points in the San Francisco Bay Area to Vallejo and Benicia to guard the Mare Island Navy Yard and the Benicia Arsenal.
Navy censors moved into the offices of all radio and cable communications companies, checking all messages before transmissions to Honolulu or the Orient. Similar censorship was in effect at the other end of the circuits.
Rear Adm. J. W. Greenslade, commandant of the 12th Naval District, announced that all war plans of the district had been put into effect.
Army plans in effect
Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt, commander of the Fourth Army (which includes Alaska), announced that the Army war plan for the area was also in operation.
Mayor Angelo J. Rossi of San Francisco proclaimed a state of emergency for the San Francisco area and authorized the Civilian Defense Council to “take all proper steps to protect the lives and property of San Francisco citizens.”
The war crisis served to bring an abrupt halt to plans for a nationwide strike of welders. The United Welders, Cutters and Helpers canceled plans for a strike, announcing that it was the union’s answer “to the trouble in the Pacific.”
The former U.S. naval commander at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, who is familiar with the strategy in the Pacific, reconstructs the pattern of events involved in Japan’s attack.
The war in the Pacific has begun and first reports of the fighting show undeniable reverses for the United States in a conflict for which Japan has been preparing for a considerable period in which it carefully planned its strategy.
Japanese bombers attacked Hawaii yesterday in a surprise attack which plunged the United States into a Pacific war of unguessable magnitude. Reports of attacks on other bastions of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands followed news of the attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Japan has risked everything on an “all-out” war. To this observer, Japan’s action appears suicidal.
Japs cannot win
It may be a long, hard war, but the Japanese cannot win. The United States may suffer reverses at first, but the Navy will obtain a terrible revenge for the men and ships it loses. Our Pacific positions have been carefully planned and ably manned, and details for cooperation with Britain, the Netherlands East Indies, Australia and China have been agreed upon.
The Japanese probably followed what has long been understood to be their great master plan – simultaneous attacks on British, Dutch, American and probably Russian bases in the Pacific. They must clear their flanks if they are to be successful. That means an effort to occupy Vladivostok, Russia’s Siberian base which presumably might be placed at American disposal, Soviet Kamchatka to the North and possibly the American base on the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.
Alaska may be hit
An effort to attack the Alaskan mainland is possible. The Japanese commanders probably do not envisage occupation of our islands, but hope to do all the damage they can to hamper our war effort by crippling as many of our ships as possible and damaging shore establishments at the outset.
Cities on the West Coast of the United States may be subjected to a series of hit-and-run raids by planes from aircraft carriers, but they are unlikely to achieve much. It is certain that air patrols have already been established along the Pacific Coast to meet any Japanese effort.
Nazis may help
The enemy may be receiving German advice and assistance. We must be prepared for news that German planes, submarines and surface ships are in action against us in the Pacific in as great numbers as can be spared from Adolf Hitler’s other war efforts.
The attack on Hawaii probably came first because of the presence there of the United States fleet. If the Pearl Harbor base could be put out of commission, it would hamper the fleet and delay its departure for avenging attacks on the Orient.
News of major engagements can be expected momentarily. The United States Navy will not be satisfied until the entire Japanese raiding force has been sunk.
Frances Farmer turns down three plays, Hollywood no longer ‘pain in the neck’
Actress, who once flayed filmland, is now loudly singing its praises
HOLLYWOOD, California – Frances Farmer, who once said in no uncertain words that Hollywood was a pain in the neck to her, has changed her mind.
She has turned down three plays that she could have done on Broadway his winter to say in the movie town.
She has bought a home, furthermore, in Santa Monica, and her mother, Lillian Farmer, has arrived from Seattle to live with her.
“Can’t a girl change her mind?” asked Miss Farmer who has been given radiant blond curls by 20th Century-Fox for her role of an 18th-century beauty in Son of Fury, Darryl F. Zanuck’s costly epic.
I was young and inexperienced when I condemned Hollywood so blithely. I know better now. Hollywood is a paradise for young actors and actresses. There are heartaches here, but there are opportunities, too, that you can’t find any place.
No business takes the trouble and goes to the expense of helping newcomers as do the studios. The stage never surrendered the beginner with all the experts that Hollywood calls forth when a studio thinks some unknown shows promise.
The studios make poor pictures, it’s true, but they’re few in number compared to the many fine ones that they create. It’s surprising the gamble that many producers take in trying to make really great films.
I hope never to go back to Broadway, for good. I’d like to do another play there some time and above all, I want to get with a summer stock company in New England, perhaps next summer. But Hollywood’s my home and I’m not going to stray away from here for very long.
Miss Farmer, whose role in Golden Boy established her on the New York stage, was sought by the Theater Guild to play a similar character, but she turned the offer down to play opposite Tyrone Power in Son of Fury.
“It’s the best movie role I’ve ever had,” she said, “and I want to establish myself in Hollywood before I go back to New York for another play.”
Millett: Judge tough on husbands
Angered wife offered as office aide By Ruth Millett
Every man who has both a wife and a secretary should be interested in the divorce decision recently handed down by a Chicago judge. Interested – and alarmed.
For when the husband told the judge he couldn’t afford to pay his estranged wife $15 a week temporary alimony, the judge told him to fire his $30-a-week secretary and give the job to his wife, at $15 a week.
Think how tough it is going to be on husbands if judges over the country decide that this Chicago judge had a bright idea – and start handing down similar decisions.
If he advertised for the world’s worst secretary, a man probably couldn’t find a much poorer one than he would be taking on an estranged wife, forced to work out her alimony.
In the first place the average wife – like the one in the Chicago case – hasn’t had any secretarial experience. And no matter how expertly a woman handles the job of homemaking the experience doesn’t teach her anything about the business world.
And as bad as that handicap is, the fact is that a man needs to have his secretary think – or pretend to think – that he is a great guy. No estranged wife, who has undoubtedly already told her husband just what kind of a heel she thinks he is, would be able to qualify along that line.
Then, too, a secretary is naturally a meek creature, saying “Yes, Sir” to all the boss’ ideas, whether she thinks much of them or not – and being willing to take the blame for mistakes she knows are his. A wife, who for years has answered back, just couldn’t fall into that “Yes, Sir” pattern.
And a woman who has been used to the I-can-put-it-off-if-I-want-to atmosphere of the home might treat letters dictated at 5 o’clock in a too casual manner. A wife can always leave the dishes – but a good secretary always gets the letters out before locking her desk for the night.
So, think about it a while, men, before you tell a judge you can’t afford to pay your wife alimony. Maybe you’d rather hand it over willingly than have your wife work it out.
War talk, not baseball, fills Chicago as major leaguers gather for meetings
Frisch, Benswanger unable to foresee effect on sport By Lester Biederman, Press baseball writer
CHICAGO, Illinois – Baseball major league magnates, gathered here for the annual midwinter pow-wow which opens tomorrow, are talking war – not baseball.
The war with Japan shoved baseball off the stage. Early arrivals were talking only of the more serious situation, certainly very little about making trades.
The two gentlemen Pittsburgh baseball fans are most interested in – Frankie Frisch and Bill Benswanger – were much too shocked by the latest war developments to devote any enthusiasm to baseball.
Benswanger said:
Frankly, we don’t know what to do. Up to this point, our chief worry was the army draft. Now it’s war. I’m afraid this meeting may be a washout as far as trades are concerned. Everybody’s going to be afraid to deal. That’s only natural, too. Nobody wants to talk baseball with this war situation as serious as it is. We don’t even know if we’ll open the season.
Trade with Phils fades
Both Frisch and Benswanger came here from the minor league meetings in Jacksonville, Florida, looking for action but not very hopeful, though they’re ready. Of course, they picked up Pitcher Henry Gornicki unexpectedly from the Cards, purely after a hasty meeting called by Card officials. Other trades may develop in this manner.
Frisch admitted he talked to the Phils concerning Pitcher Ike Pearson but the season was stalemated.
“The Phils placed a higher valuation on Pearson than they did on Lee Handley,” Frisch declared, “and I placed a higher valuation on Handley than the Phils did on Parson. So there you are.”
Handley has close call
Incidentally, word from Handley is that his recent auto accident outside of Peoria was a miracle in that he wasn’t more badly hurt. He had borrowed a friend’s convertible coupe and was driving home at night when he struck a culvert. The car turned over twice and Handley was thrown through the canvas top of the car. He landed about 50 feet away and laid there fully two hours unconscious, when a passing truck driver picked him up and took him to a hospital.
The doctors had to sew up a wound on his forehead and he suffered body bruises. The medicos were amazed that no bones were broken. Had Handley been driving his own sedan, probably he would have fractured his skull when he hit the top of the car.
Frisch said as soon as word reached Jacksonville of Handley’s auto mishap, other managers immediately took his name off the trading list. The Bucs appear anxious to deal him off and may have something to announce before the week is up.
Vaughan set
Arky Vaughan’s status as a Pirate appears more secure than ever, with Frankie Gustine and Bill Cox hovering near the Army via draft and the latest Japanese development. Gustine said here today his local draft board sent him to a hospital for an examination and the report there was the same as from the local board’s physician, “a hernia.” He expects to be deferred. Word from Cox is that he, too, expects deferment because of dependents.
In the meantime, Frisch says he must wait for the final status on Gustine and Cox, but probably Arky will be back in a Pittsburgh uniform for the 11th year next April.
Another potential draftee is Rookie Catcher Vin Smith. He’s single and wasn’t expecting to be called until next October, but with the present crisis is apt to go before very long.
As one baseball man remarked today, “The married men are the big shots in baseball now, and even they aren’t too secure.”
Wartime
Jacobs’ boxing shows to benefit service By Jack Cuddy, United Press writer
NEW YORK (UP) – Mike Jacobs placed his boxing promotions on a wartime basis today and announced that he would stage a series of bouts for the benefits of service relief organizations.
His announcement coincided with the arrival of Buddy Baer from California to begin training for his second attempt to wrest the heavyweight crown from Joe Louis at Madison Square Garden, January 9. This bout had already been arranged as a benefit for the Navy Relief Fund, which will get all profits and Louis’ purse. Jacobs revealed that Welterweight Champion Freddie Cochrane would participate in two bouts to benefit the Navy Relief, which he said, “needs money badly now.” Cochrane, who is in the Navy, meets Young Kid McCoy of Detroit in a non-title 10-rounder at the Garden, January 2, and he will defend against the outstanding challenger on February 20.
Jacobs will negotiate for furloughs for other prominent fighters – men like Marty Servo, Fred Apostoli and Al Nettlow.
Whether or not Joe Louis goes into the Army, Jacobs plans for him to make at least four title defenses through 1942 if he continues to hold the crown. Service reliefs will benefit from all.
Jacobs said he would gladly donate percentages of other bouts, already arranged, to service organizations, but it is uncertain if they would accept because the Navy Relief, for example, will not lend its name to a show in which promoters take a profit.
Such bouts, definitely or tentatively arranged, are:
Friday: Young Kid McCoy vs. Fritzie Zivic, welterweights, 10 rounds.
December 19: Lew Jenkins vs. Sammy Angott, 15 rounds to decide disputed lightweight championship.
Late January: Melio Bettina vs. Lem Franklin, heavyweight contenders, 15 rounds.
Early February: Lou Nova vs. Gus Lesnevich, heavyweight bout, 15 rounds.
February 13: Tony Zale vs. Billy Conn, light-heavyweight, non-title, 12 rounds.
Late February: Max Baer vs. Bob Pastor, heavyweights, 10 rounds.
Early March: Angott-Jenkins winner in lightweight title bout.
Prices break 1 to 3 points sugar issues hit new highs
Opinions of brokers on stock market
Hornblower & Weeks: Developments over the weekend probably came as less of a surprise to the Army and Navy than to the business world, but the markets have been adjusting themselves to the rapidly changing trend of affairs and must have gone far toward taking into account even our participation in hostilities.
EF Hutton & Co.: We would look for a lower market at first as a result of the Japanese declaration of war but would look for no serious decline in the long run. If the market goes appreciably lower today, there may be buying opportunities.
Shearson, Hammill & Co.: We expect an initial moderate decline in the market but look for a resumption of last week’s rally in the near future after the shock of the Japanese declaration of war has been absorbed.
J.S. Bache & Co.: Some initial nervousness will result from the Japanese declaration of war. We would do no selling of stocks but would be ready to make selected purchases if the initial reaction is toward lower levels.
NEW YORK (UP) – The stock market turned weak in the early afternoon trading today following President Roosevelt’s message asking for declaration of war against Japan.
Earlier in the day the list has rallied from initial declines of 1 to more than 3 points.
The afternoon reaction carried:
American Can down to 70½, off 5⅜;
Westinghouse Electric 74, ex-dividend, off 3;
Bethlehem 57, off 2;
Chrysler 51, off 2;
U.S. Rubber 22¾, off 3⅛;
Goodyear 15⅜, off 2;
A new low – American Telephone 143, off 3;
American Tobacco B 48½, off 2⅛;
American Airlines 52½, of 3⅜;
Standard Oil (New Jersey) 44½, off 2⅛;
Union Carbide 71½, off 2½.
Sugar shares were strong spots with gains ranging to more than 2 points and several at new highs for the year on outlook for higher sugar prices on war demand.
Patino Mines made a new high at 11⅛, up 1⅝. A few other issues were steady to firm, but the main list registered losses.
Commodities were strong in most instances on outlook for war markets.
Trading in Jap bonds suspended
NEW YORK (UP) – The New York Stock Exchange today suspended all dealings in Japanese bonds pending an “investigation of their status.”
The action was taken in the initiative of exchange officials themselves, but immediate contact was made with Washington in an effort to determine the status of Japanese obligations.
All categories of Japanese bonds, government, industrial, utility, etc., are listed on the Stock Exchange.
Banks halt quotations on Far Eastern rates
NEW YORK (UP) – New York City banks today halted quotations on Hong Kong and Shanghai dollars while other foreign currencies held steady in terms of the U.S. dollar.
The move in suspending quotations on the two Far Eastern rates was said to have been taken because no business could be done with the two cities.
Trading in Japanese, as well as other Axis and Axis-occupied countries, monetary units ceased some time ago when the Treasury Department “froze” all assets of those nations in this country.
The Cuban peso rose 1-16 cent to 99 15-16 cents and the Argentine “free” peso was up 10 points at 23 80 cents, but all other leading rates held steady. The “free” pound sterling was quoted at $4.04 and the Canadian dollar at 88½ cents, unchanged.
U.S. enters World War II with record public debt
WASHINGTON (UP) – The United States enters World War II with a record public debt of $55,212,550,304.21, after having spent $6,737,166,940.71 for defense in the last five months and five days. The nation also possesses a world-record gold reserve of $22,770,829,868.59.
The Treasury’s daily statement for the current fiscal year through December 5:
PAOLI, Pennsylvania (UP) – Former President Herbert Hoover took the stand today that the United States “must fight with everything we have.”
On a visit to the home of former Republican National Committee Chairman John D. M. Hamilton, Mr. Hoover said, “American soil has been treacherously attacked by Japan. It was forced upon us. We must fight with everything we have.”
Biddle: ‘We’re ready’
DETROIT, Michigan – Attorney General Francis Biddle said last night that the Justice Department has been expecting an outbreak in the Far East and “was never better prepared for emergency legislation and immediate control of subversive forces in this country.”
Evacuation is discussed
PHOENIX, Arizona – Preparations to handle possible evacuation of civilians from Los Angeles and other Pacific Coast cities were discussed yesterday at an Arizona Civilian Defense Coordinating Council meeting called by Gov. Sidney P. Osborn.
Rush to colors is on here; many volunteers too old
Recruiting offices crowded throughout night – scores phone they’re ready to fight
There wasn’t any rolling of the drums, there wasn’t any martial music blaring across the Golden Triangle today, but the rush to the colors was on.
The “Johnny” of 1941, grim and determined like the “Johnny” of 1917, was out to get his gun.
Into the smoke-darkened Old Post Office Building, in Smithfield Street, out of the factory and off the farm, the volunteers streamed to the offices of the Army, the Navy and the Marines.
Some were too old. They were turned down, temporarily.
But most were young and if their bodies were good and strong, they were accepted.
The Navy and Marine recruiting stations opened last night, as Pittsburgh was absorbing the first shock of the news that the Japanese have attacked.
12 volunteer by phone
Between 11:30 p.m. and 3 a.m. EST, 35 men applied for enlistment at the Marine headquarters, 12 of them by telephone.
The number grew with time. Some were told to come back later for physical examinations, others were rejected pending clarification from Washington on the status of older men.
But among those volunteering were:
A 45-year-old World War I veteran, married and the father of three, who said he was again ready to make the “sacrifice.”
A Jewish businessman, 50, who declared he was “ready to quit business and join up.”
An ex-Marine who appeared with his wife. She said she was willing to let him go.
Eleven youths offered their services to the Navy within a few hours after the Navy office opened. By midmorning, the Navy headquarters was crowded with 25-30 young men, filling out application blanks or being examined by physicians. As each man left the office, there was another ready to step in.
Four young men were in a “crap” game when they heard the news that Japan had declared war. They drove at once to the recruiting station and offered to “join up.”
Negro first to enroll
Robert W. Taylor, 20, a Negro, of 1101 Webster Ave., was the first to enroll. “I wouldn’t mind going tonight and get it over with.”
Another quartet was out rising, listening to the war broadcasts. Instead of driving home, they drove straight for the Navy headquarters.
Another volunteer, George McGregor, 22, of 132 E Locust Way, Homestead, an employee of the Mesta Machine Company, said, “I like my job, but this war is more important, I think.”
The Army recruiting station began receiving enlistments at 8 a.m.
100 apply to Army
In the first two hours, more than a hundred men had applied. Many of them were married. Many were over the age limit of 35.
These men were not being accepted. Clarification of their status is expected shortly from Washington, but in the meantime, the usual Army conditions of accepting single men between 18 and 35 were being observed.
The big push was on in full without much hullabaloo.
No tub-thumping, no shouting, no wisecracks – just an air of quiet, grim determination on the part of the youths and oldsters who were reporting to do their bit.
We’ll lick ‘em attitude
America has been attacked. We’ll fight. We’ll lick ‘em. That was the attitude.
Like George C. Gerhold, of 100 S 12th St., who makes $68 a month working on a WPA sewing project.
Mr. Gerhold was in World War I with the 28th Infantry Division. He fought in the Argonne and on the Meuse.
Ready to fight again
And this morning, reporting to 1st Sgt. William E. Wickert at the Marine Recruiting Office, he was ready to fight again.
Married? Yes. Any children? Yes, three, with two of them married.
How did he feel about enlisting?
He said:
Well, Japan has declared war and as an American, I would like to help give it back to them. The men in Hawaii and the Philippines are sacrificing their lives for us. I feel I should sacrifice something.
Above Marine age limit
But Mr. Gerhold was disappointed. He is 45, well above the Marine age limit. So, the sergeant told him to come back. He said, “Maybe later, we can take you.”
To Sgt. Wickert also came Louis Cardell of 222 Conniston Ave.
Mr. Cardell is a mounted traffic policeman. His beat is on Smithfield Street, near the Old Post Office Building. He is a veteran of the AEF. He has a son, Louis W., in the Marines, now serving on an aircraft carrier.
He wanted to get in the same branch of service.
The answer was “No.” He’s too old. But he may keep trying.
Another officer tries
Another policeman who tried to join up was Officer William Heagy, 1252 Juniata St. His son, William Jr., enlisted in the Navy last week and was sent to Newport.
Stanley J. Ivanisin, 18, of 3164 Brighton Rd., North Side, was sitting at home listening to the radio. He decided to enlist. He reported to Navy Recruiter E. L. Tisue. He was told he didn’t have a chance because of his eyes.
A man told the Marine recruiter that he had lung adhesions and had only “two or three years to live.”
“I haven’t got much more time,” he said. “So, I’d like to fight the Japs if you’ll take me.”
Loss of battleship first in U.S. history
By the United Press
The loss of a U.S. battleship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, officially announced as “capsized,” marked the first time in history that the U.S. Navy has suffered such a blow.
No dreadnought-class ship had been lost previously. The USS Maine, blown up in Havana Harbor on Feb. 15, 1898, was an “ironclad” of only 6,682 tons.
The largest warship lost during World War I was the cruiser USS San Diego (15,400 tons), sunk by a mine off Fire Island, New York, on July 10, 1918.
SCOTUS SETS ASIDE CONVICTION OF HARRY BRIDGES ON CHARGES OF CONTEMPT
SAN SALVADOR DECLARES WAR ON JAPAN
GERMAN RADIO: JAPANESE AIR RAIDERS BLEW UP NUMBER OF OIL TANKS AT PHILIPPINES NAVAL HQ, MANILA POPULATION FLEEING IN PANIC ANKARA RADIO TAKES ON PRO-AMERICAN TONE IN LATEST BROADCASTS
ONE LARGE SHIP, 2 DESTROYERS OFF GUAM, PENDING LANDING JAP RADIO, FORMOSA: JAPANESE WARSHIPS SURROUND GUAM, BIG BUILDINGS ON ISLAND ABLAZE
Statement to the America First Committee by Charles Lindbergh December 8, 1941, 4:30 p.m. EST
We have been stepping closer to war for many months. Now it has come and we must meet it as united Americans, regardless of our attitude in the past toward the policy our government has follows. Whether or not this policy has been wise, our country has been attacked by force and our own military position has already been neglected too long. We must now turn every effort to building the greatest and most efficient Army, Navy, and Air Force in the world. When American soldiers go to war, it must be with the best equipment that modern skill can design and that modern industry can build.
JOINT RESOLUTION
Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same.
Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America:
Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.
SAM RAYBURN Speaker of the House of Representatives
HENRY A. WALLACE Vice President of the United States and the President of the Senate
Approved — December 8, 1941, 4:10 p.m. EST FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
PRES. ROOSEVELT SIGNS DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST JAPAN
UNCONFIRMED REPORTS STATE AT LEAST 300 CASUALTIES IN PHILIPPINE ATTACKS. USS LANGLEY ALSO ATTACKED. 24 JAP RAIDERS STRUCK DAVAO DURING RAID
FLEET OF JAP WARPLANES ATTACK MANILA IN MOONLIGHT, AFTER CONTINUOUS BOMBING OF U.S. CAMPS, BASES & PORTS UNCONFIRMED REPORTS STATE 10,000 OF 25,000 JAPANESE IN DAVAO REGION ARMED, READY FOR ACTION
ARGENTINA TO CONTINUE REGARDING U.S. AS NON-BELLIGERENT
WHITE HOUSE SAYS 1500 WOUNDED, 1500 DEAD IN HAWAII WHITE HOUSE SAYS LEASE-LEND PROGRAM TO BE CONTINUED IN SPITE OF WAR
GUAM ATTACKED AGAIN BY AIRCRAFT AT 2200 LOCAL TIME
The Evening Star (December 8, 1941)
Attack by Japan ends U.S. friendship of 88 years
By Glenn Barr, Associated Press staff writer
The friendship of the United States and Japan, which ended yesterday in the flaming crash of bombs at Pearl Harbor, began just before our Civil War, flourished for half a century, suffered a generation of strains and vicissitudes before the final breakup began 10 years ago.
The fateful change of course Japan made in 1931 when she embarked frankly on a program of conquest led inevitably, it seems in retrospect, to the naval conflict now opened, with mastery of the Pacific, half a world at stake.
The first American-Japanese contacts came when the United States, newly spread across the continent, arrived at the shores of the Pacific and reached across to rouse Japan on the Eastern shores from two and a half centuries of seclusion.
Turned back into seclusion
The break came after Japan had delivered herself up to a leadership that turned her back into an intellectual, moral and spiritual seclusion as darkly medieval, as disdainful of modern, Western standards as that from which Cmdre. Matthew C. Perry aroused her.
Eighty-eight years ago, America introduced Japan to the family of nations. In the decades that followed, Americans encouraged, fostered, took an almost paternal pride in Japan’s spectacular rise to world power. In the main, two or three generations of Japanese responded with gratitude, admiration and efforts to emulate the American way of life.
But in Japan’s very advance were elements of discord. She became a great power and embarked on a vast imperial program which made even the wide Pacific Ocean too small to contain both Japanese ambitions and America’s conception of her own safety.
Plunged into Manchuria
Small frictions which arose some 36 years ago developed slowly until 1931 when Japan plunged into Manchuria and embarked on a program of expansion and conquest. Seen in retrospect, it seems clear now that that was the turning point in Japanese-American relations, that clash in far-away Mukden the night of September 18, 1931 – even the turning point of modern history. From there, Japan went on to the first successful defiance of the existing world order, showing the way to Mussolini and Hitler.
For 10 years, there have been only coldly polite relations between Washington and Tokyo. Formal diplomatic ties barely concealed growing hostility. The pace of the movement toward collision has steadily increased. In the past year, it has become an avalanche.
Japanese-American troubles have become one phase in civilization’s greatest crisis. Today, the two nations find themselves in opposing camps in the alignment of the two world orders which no less an authority than Adolf Hitler says cannot exist side by side.
Aligned with new order
Japan has aligned herself with Germany and Italy and proclaimed a new order for Europe, Africa and Asia. The United States has decided that her interests lie with the nations fighting to prevent establishment of that order, to which Japan’s contributions have been the conquest of Manchuria, the overrunning of Eastern China, the subjection of French Indochina, the declaration of her purpose to dominate all “Greater East Asia.”
So, the United States has taken her place alongside Britain, China, Russia, the Netherlands and the other governments, mostly in exile, which are fighting the Axis. Of these, China has been fighting Japan more than four years and Britain, Russia and the Netherlands all have built up formidable Far Eastern forces for the sole purpose of meeting the Japanese threat. To all of these, the United States has been giving aid for months or years, in steadily-increasing measure.
Here are the issues
What are the issues over which this country and the great empire of the Orient have come to a parting of the ways? The United States wants Japan to abandon her expansion program, which, at least in its southward extension toward the East Indies, endangers the safety of the Philippines and threatens the sources of materials vital to the defense and well-being of the United States and the routes by which they reach America. She wants Japan to withdraw her troops from Indochina and China, where American interests and citizens have suffered hurt for nearly a decade at Japanese hands. She wants Japan to give pledges and sureties against further aggression. She wants the markets of the East kept open.
From Japan’s point of view, the United States obstructs the fulfilment of what many Japanese consider their country’s rightful destiny, to be the dominant power of all the East, to control far-flung sources of the materials needed for her industries and dominate the hundreds of millions of Orientals who make up perhaps the greatest potential markets in the world. Control in East Asia, the Japanese say, is a matter of life and death to them, while to Americans, it can be only a matter of national prestige or minor economic interest.
Demanded end to strangulation
More specifically in the latter phases of this crisis, the Japanese have demanded an end to the economic strangulations and military encirclement which they say the United States and her associates have invoked against Japan, and non-interference with the settlement she hopes to impose on China.
Washington has held that the economic and military measures taken to curb Japan cannot be lifted until Japan mends her ways and has said there can be no compromise which would leave China at Japan’s mercy. And in the existing crisis, with the United States pledged to the defeat of the Hitler world order, Americans have held there could be no real accord with Japan as long as she remained a member of the Axis.
Thus, events moved to a point where a break could be avoided only if one party utterly changed its fundamental policies. Two opposed conceptions of what should constitute the basis of international relations, of the world order, were at stake.
Racial pride and prestige
Racial pride and national prestige are elements not to be ignored. They are as important as the cold facts of economy or strategy involved, perhaps more so. The Japanese are a proud people, jealous of their dignity, quick to resent racial slurs, holding to an ancient code which rated death in battle or by suicide preferable to dishonor.
Men experienced in Far Eastern matters say that a realization that they cannot win a war with the United States is not enough to keep the Japanese from going to war. It will not stop them to point out that this course would be national suicide. They, or at least the stiff-necked soldiers who seem to dominate their national courses, are quite capable of facing that.
The Japanese belief that their national prestige and pride of race have received affronts from America is indisputably a factor in this crisis. They resent bitterly our exclusion laws, which they say classes them with other races they consider their inferiors. Many Japanese contend that the whole course of history since World War I might have been different had the white nations admitted them as full equals.
Here is the road traveled
Here is the road Japan and America have traveled to their present collision:
In 1853, Japan, by her own choice, had been shut off from the world by two and a half centuries. Her seclusion was ended then by a flotilla of warships from the young and growing United States, which, having spanned the continent, was looking out from her new-won Pacific Coast for new markets in the Orient. U.S. Navy Cmdre. Matthew Perry reopened Japan to the world.
Japan’s first treaty with a modern Western power was concluded with U.S. Consul Townsend Harris in 1858. For half a century thereafter, American advisers, teachers and missionaries aided Japan’s heroic effort to come abreast of the Western world.
Japan subscribed in 1899 to the doctrine of the Open Door in China, enunciated by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay. A year later, Japanese and U.S. troops (along with British, German, Russian and others) fought side by side in the rescue of the legations of Peking, besieged by the Chinese Boxers. The great majority of Americans gave their sympathy to Japan when, in 1904, she challenged the Russian colossus. Japanese war loans were floated in the United States and in 1905, the intervention of President Theodore Roosevelt brought about an advantageous peace for Japan at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Migration brings friction
But the migration of tens of thousands of Japanese to America’s Pacific Coast brought on a period of friction, marked by anti-Japanese agitation and legislation in the Western states. In 1911, a gentlemen’s agreement, whereby Japan undertook to halt the tide of migration, provided a temporary remedy.
World War I brought new frictions, although at the end, the United States and Japan were associated together against the Central Powers. But Europe’s preoccupations encouraged Japanese efforts to tighten her control on China.
Her famous Twenty-One Demands of May 1915 brought sharp condemnation from Washington. In 1918, Japan and the United States (with Britain and France) sent expeditions into Siberia, but Japan went further than her allies approved and trouble arose.
One result of World War I was to embark the United States on a vast warship-building program. Japan sought to match it. A race followed which endangered the peace of the Pacific. The Harding administration summoned the naval powers to Washington and a truce was affected in 1922 in the treaties of Washington which restricted capital ship construction and pledged the powers to keep hands off China.
This was the highwater mark of Japan’s cooperation with the United States and with the Western powers’ efforts to establish collective security.
The Exclusion Act
But only two years later, the U.S. Congress passed, over the veto of President Coolidge and the protest of Secretary of State Hughes, a law barring the immigration of Japanese as aliens ineligible for citizenship. This ended the “gentlemen’s agreement.” The Japanese were bitterly resentful.
But this came midway in a decade of liberal government in Japan and, as late as 1930, the Japanese were still ready to cooperate in keeping the peace. They signed the new London Naval Treaty, although not without a bitter struggle at home. It was their last act of support for the post-Versailles peace structure.
The agitation in Japan against cooperation with the Western world took on the proportions of a revolution in which the army fired the first shot the night of Sept. 18, 1931, at Mukden.
End of Chinese rule in Manchuria
The military campaign that followed ended Chinese rule in Manchuria, but it also ended liberal civilian rule in Japan. It was a military-fascist rising against the existing order not only in Japan, but in the entire world. The U.S. government, especially Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson, was quick to grasp its significance. Other powers were not. American efforts to stem the tide then set in flow came to nothing more substantial than the Stimson Doctrine of non-recognition of Japan’s military gains.
Now, 10 years later, Japan, flushed with conquests extending nearly to the equator and the mid-Asian plateau, confronts a determined United States still standing on that doctrine of non-recognition. Events have thrown Japan into the arms of the Axis, ranged the United States with the other half of the world.
Japan went on to complete conquest of Manchuria, moved into North China, launched a real war against China proper in 1937 and overran nearly all her eastern provinces, joined the Axis, took advantage of Hitler’s triumphs to march into Indochina and reach out for the Dutch East Indies. In the course of all this, she harmed American citizens and their interests in hundreds of instances, most spectacular of which was the sinking of the gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze River above Nanking, December 13, 1937.
She allied herself with Germany and Italy in the Treaty of Berlin, September 27, 1940, especially aimed at the United States. She affirmed this tie by renewing her signature of the Anti-Comintern Pact at Berlin, November 25, 1941.
Denounced in 1939
The U.S. government, for its part, denounced on July 26, 1939, its Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with Japan. In the summer of 1941, when Japan was strengthening her grasp on French Indochina, Washington went a step further. President Roosevelt froze all Japanese credits in this country.
Britain and her dominions and the Dutch Indies followed suit. The result was almost an entire cessation of Japanese foreign trade. The flow of oil and scrap metal from the United States and oil from the Indies, which has fed her war machine, was shut off. Economically, she was isolated, with her Axis allies unable to help. The economic measures were supplemented by military moves of vast scope which in effect ringed Japan on all sides with hostile forces – in China, Russia, British Malaya, the Dutch Indies and the Philippines and Hawaii.
Russia’s entry into the war presented Tokyo with a new threat. While Hitler was plowing through the Russian armies, this looked more like an opportunity than a menace, but as winter closed down with Russia still unbeaten, the Japanese hopes which rode on Hitler’s banners faded.
Last efforts at peace fail
The economic pinch, the steadily growing power of the military forces gathering in the East, caused her to cry out against “strangulation.” A civilian government, headed by Prince Fumimaro Konoye, resigned in September, admitting its inability to cope with the vast forces loosed by the world cataclysm. Specifically, it was unable to improve relations with the United States. A military government, headed by Gen. Hideki Tojo, took over.
In what was advertised as a “final effort” to save the peace of the Pacific, the Tojo government sent one of its most accomplished diplomats, Saburo Kurusu, by plane to Washington. The negotiations were dragging on toward an apparent breakdown when, three weeks after Kurusu’s arrival in Washington, the Japanese Navy struck.
The last gesture of peace-seeking diplomacy had been turned by the military leadership into a smokescreen to mask their preparations to strike. Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor and Manila while Kurusu and Ambassador Nomura were going through the empty motions of negotiation with Secretary Hull.
Eighty-eight years of peaceful U.S.-Japanese relations were at an end.
U.S.-Japanese chronology
1853: Cmdre. Perry, USN, opens Japan to foreign intercourse.
1858: U.S. Consul Townsend Harris concluded Western world’s first treaty of amity and commerce with Japan.
1899: Japan subscribes to the American doctrine of the Open Door in China.
1900: U.S. and Japan cooperate (with other powers) in ending Boxer Uprising in China.
1904-05: Americans generally sympathize with Japan in her war against Russia: Japanese war loans floated in U.S.; President Roosevelt brings about the peace treaty of Portsmouth.
1905-11: Japanese immigration becomes a friction point; exclusion agitation arises on the Pacific Coast; Japan in “gentlemen’s agreement” undertakes to keep her people out of the United States.
1914: Japan enters war on Allied side; seizes Tsingtao in China and German Pacific islands.
1915: U.S. condemns Japan’s Twenty-One Demands on China.
1917-19: U.S. becomes associate of Japan in World War I; both powers send expeditions to Siberia, where friction arises.
1918-22: U.S. and Japan engage in great naval race.
1919: At Versailles Peace Conference, Japan wins over U.S. on Shantung issue; loses on racial equality.
1922: Naval race ended by treaties of Washington, in which powers also pledge hands off China.
1924: U.S. Congress passes Asiatic Exclusion Act; Japan deeply offended.
1930: Japan, adhering to London Naval Treaty, agrees to extend naval truce, but this proves her last major act of cooperation in keeping the peace.
1931-32: Japan invades Manchuria; U.S. proclaims non-recognition of fruits of conquest: this proves turning point of U.S.-Japanese relations, even of modern history.
1933: Japan quits League of Nations; turns back on Occident’s peacekeeping efforts.
1935: Japan denounces the Washington Naval Treaty. Naval race resumed with its termination at end of 1936.
1936: Japan forms her first Axis tie, the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany.
1937: Japan makes war on China; U.S. interests harmed; USS Panay sunk.
1939: European war begins, opens new fields for Japanese expansion; U.S. denounces commerce treaty with Japan.
1940: Hitler crushes France; Japan moves into French Indochina, proclaims her “Greater East Asia” program. Japan becomes ally of the Axis with the Treaty of Berlin, aimed at United States.
1941: U.S. extends Lend-Lease to China and Russia; Japan tightens grip on Indochina; U.S., with Britain and Netherlands, freezes Japanese credits, halts war exports to Japan; Japan feels pinch, cries out against economic strangulation and military encirclement, sends Saburo Kurusu to Washington in “final effort” to prevent a break.
TOKYO RADIO: GUAM, WAKE ISLANDS UNDER JAPANESE FLAG
THE CHILEAN GOVERNMENT ORDERS NAVAL MEASURES TONIGHT TO PROTECT COAST IN STRAITS OF MAGELLAN
REP. DINGLE DEMANDS COURT-MARTIAL PROCEEDINGS BE BROUGHT AGAINST ADM. HUSBAND E. KIMMEL, LT. GEN. WALTER C. SHORT, MAJ. GEN. H. H. ARNOLD, MAJ. GEN. GEORGE H. BRETT AND MAJ. GEN. FRED L. MARTIN FOR FAILURE TO BEAT OFF JAP ATTACK ON HAWAII
AP: ASSAM PROVINCE IN INDIA, BORDERING BURMA, REGARDED AS IN WAR ZONE
LOS ANGELES HARBOR: WOMEN, CHILDREN, AGED, INFIRMED EVACUATED FROM AREA SURROUNDING FORT MCARTHUR
BRITISH BOMBERS ATTACKING JAPANESE TRYING TO LAND IN NORTHERN MALAYA, HAVE SET FIRE TO TWO MERCHANT VESSELS CARRYING TROOPS
STARK POSSIBILITY U.S. FLEET MAY HAVE LOST TEMPORARILY MARGIN OF SUPERIORITY IN PACIFIC; DAMAGE FROM JAPANESE ON HAWAII APPEARS MORE SERIOUS THAN AT FIRST BELIEVED
UNCONFIRMED REPORTS SAY JAPANESE TROOPS HAVE LANDED IN THE PHILIPPINES ON LUBANG ISLAND, 60 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MANILA
JAP RADIO, FORMOSA: ISLAND OF GUAM TAKEN WITHOUT RESISTANCE JAPAN ATTACKS MANDATED ISLAND OF NAURU AND OCEAN ISLAND, ADMINISTRATIVE HQ FOR BRITAIN’S GILBERT AND ELLICE ISLAND COLONY
AT 7 A.M., 170 JAPANESE INTERNED IN PANAMA CANAL ZONE – 120 MEN, 21 WOMEN & 29 CHILDREN. ARRESTS CONTINUING
JAPANESE TROOPS REPORTED TO HAVE LANDED AT LUBANG WITH HELP OF “FISHERMEN,” FIFTH COLUMNISTS JAPANESE FIFTH COLUMNISTS ALSO REPORTED AT DAVAO. ONE REPORT HAD 3,000 ARMED JAPANESE FORCES ALREADY RESISTING THERE
THE CHRONICLE: AIR RAID WARDEN AT PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO TELEPHONED CHIEF OF POLICE AT 6:20 P.M. PST 50 UNIDENTIFIED PLANES SIGHTED FROM SOUTHWEST HEADED FOR CITY
RUSH OF NAVAL VOLUNTEERS IN NEW YORK DOUBLE NUMBER OF FIRST DAY OF WAR IN 1917
Latest news from the Far Eastern War Zone, Bert Silen (NBCB), 9:30 p.m. EST:
MEXICO, COLUMBIA BREAKS OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH JAPAN NAVAL CENSORSHIP FORMERLY PROHIBITED SENDING OF NEWS TO GERMANY, ITALY, FINLAND & JAPAN
DUTCH NEWS AGENCY: BRITISH FORCES BREAK UP JAPANESE LANDING PARTY IN NORTH BORNEO
CHILE ANNOUNCES U.S. HAS ACCEPTED SUGGESTION FOR A CONFERENCE OF FOREIGN MINISTERS OF 21 AMERICAN REPUBLICS
COMPLETE BLACKOUT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ORDERED ATTACK BY JAP FORCES ON PACIFIC NORTHWEST CONSIDERE4D EMINENT
CBS: UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL REPORTED OFF CALIFORNIA COAST WITH ABOUT 50 PLANES APPROACHING SAN FRANCISCO
ALL RADIO STATIONS IN SAN FRANCISCO SHUT OFF AIR ABRUPTLY AT 6:15 P.M. PST 25 MINUTES AFTER FIRST WARNING, NO PLANES APPEAR OVER SAN FRAN
CBS: POSSIBLY LARGEST AUDIENCE EVER TO HEAR RADIO BROADCAST LISTENED TO PRES. ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE TODAY – 60 MILLION BELIEVED TO HAVE TUNED IN
SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: UNIDENTIFIED PLANES APPROACHING CITY; STREETLIGHTS, PRESIDIO BLACKED OUT; RADIO STATIONS SILENCED
Die ersten harten Schläge sind gefallen – Japans Waffen antworten Roosevelt
Der Kriegshetzer muss bereits schwere Verluste bei den Hawaii-lnseln zugeben
Karte: Weltbild-Gliese
Seit Montagmorgen, 6 Uhr japanischer Zeit, befindet sich Japan im Kriegszustand mit England und den Vereinigten Staaten. Roosevelt hat erreicht, worauf seine Kriegshetze in den letzten Wochen in ständig gesteigertem Tempo hinzielte. Die ersten Meldungen über Zusammenstöße zwischen japanischen, englischen und US-Streitkräften zeigen aber, wie rückhaltlos und erfolgreich sich Japan für die Wahrung seiner nationalen Ehre und der Interessen seines Volkes einsetzt. Japanische Flugzeuge haben Manila, Singapur, Guam, ja sogar schon Hawaii bombardiert, japanische Streitkräfte greifen Hongkong an und haben die internationale Niederlassung in Schanghai besetzt und japanische Verbände sind auf der malaiischen Halbinsel gelandet worden. Japan geht mit der Gewissheit in den Krieg, durch Aufbietung aller Kräfte den Sieg über seine Feinde zu erringen, und hat dieser Zuversicht in einer Rundfunkansprache seines Ministerpräsidenten stolzen Ausdruck gegeben.
Hawaii und Singapur bombardiert
dnb. Tokio, 8. Dezember – Das kaiserliche Hauptquartier der Marine gab am Montagvormittag über die militärischen Operationen folgendes bekannt:
Die Flotten- und Luftstützpunkte auf Hawaii wurden mit großem Erfolg angegriffen. Die japanische Flotte versenkte in Schanghai ein englisches Kanonenboot und übernahm ein US-Kanonenboot auf dem Jangtse. Auch auf Singapur wurden mit großem Erfolg Luftangriffe durchgeführt. Weitere Luftangriffe richteten sich gegen Davao, die Wake-Insel und Guam.
Landung auf der Malaien-Halbinsel
Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachters“
rd. Stockholm, 8. Dezember – Die Feindseligkeiten zwischen Japan und den USA haben, wie bereits gemeldet, in der Nacht zum Montag eingesetzt. Japanische Blitzangriffe richteten sich gegen eine Reihe von US-amerikanischen und englischen Stützpunkten im Fernen Osten.
Am wichtigsten und folgenschwersten unter den ersten Kampfmaßnahmen war offensichtlich der japanische Luftangriff auf Pearl Harbour, den bedeutendsten US-Flottenstützpunkt auf Hawaii und die stärkste Seefestung der Vereinigten Staaten überhaupt. Wie der Sender Philadelphia mitteilt, gab Präsident Roosevelt im Weißen Haus Pressevertretern gegenüber bekannt, dass die US-Marine und Armee auf Hawaii schwere Verluste erlitten haben. Auch erhebliche Schäden und Verluste in der US-Kriegsflotte und Handelsschifffahrt werden von nordamerikanischer Seite bereits zugegeben.
Schlachtschiff Oklahoma getroffen
Das im Hafen liegende Schlachtschiff Oklahoma (29.000 Tonnen) wurde von einer Bombe getroffen und in Brand gesetzt. Auch Ölbehälter gerieten in Brand. Bei einem Angriff auf den Flugplatz Hickam wurden 350 Personen getötet. Nach US-Rundfunkberichten wurden alle Verbindungen zwischen den Land- und Flottenbasen unterbrochen. Bei den Angriffen traf eine Bombe auch den Palast des Gouverneurs der Hawaii-Inseln.
Über den japanischen Angriff selbst wurde bekannt, dass die japanischen Maschinen im Tiefflug Welle auf Welle angeflogen kamen. Darüber berichtete der Gouverneur der Hawaii-Inseln noch am Sonntagabend in einem Telefongespräch Roosevelt, dass bereits die zweite Welle japanischer Flugzeuge über den Inseln eingetroffen sei und großen Schaden angerichtet hätten.
Weiter besagen US-Meldungen, dass die US-Flotte von Pearl Harbour ausgelaufen sei, um den Kampf mit den japanischen Flugzeugträgern aufzunehmen, von denen aus dem Angriff vorgetragen worden sei. Behauptungen über eine große Seeschlacht vor Honolulu werden nicht bestätigt. Einwandfrei wird jedoch die Versenkung eines US-Transporters westlich von San Franzisko und SOS-Rufe von einem weiteren US-Handelsschiff aus der gleichen Gegend gemeldet. Das US-Marineministerium gibt bekannt, dass japanische U-Boote hier aktiv seien.
Eine überraschende Aktion
Eine zweite große Welle von Kampfhandlungen richtete sich gegen Singapur, Hongkong und Schanghai. Singapur wurde von japanischen Luftstreitkräften angegriffen. Hierbei wurden, wie die ersten Meldungen besagen, zwei englische Kreuzer versenkt.
Wie das Kaiserliche Hauptquartier dazu bekanntgibt, haben japanische Armee- und Marinestreitkräfte am Montag früh in engster Zusammenarbeit eine überraschende Landung an einem bestimmten Abschnitt der Malaien-Halbinsel durchgeführt. Wie weiter verlautet, nehmen diese militärischen Operationen einen günstigen Verlauf.
Englische Meldungen behaupten, dass durch die japanischen Bomben, von denen zwei das Zentrum von Singapur trafen, angeblich nur „leichte Schäden“ angerichtet worden sind. Englische Flugzeuge seien im Angriff gegen 10 japanische Truppentransporter und bereits gelandeten Truppen begriffen.
Auch die Engländer melden ferner Angriffe auf Hongkong. Nach Berichten, die von der Front in Südchina vorliegen, führten japanische Bomber bereits den zweiten Angriff auf Hongkong durch. Die Armeeabteilung des Kaiserlichen Hauptquartiers teilte ebenfalls mit, dass der Angriff gegen die britische Kronkolonie Hongkong begonnen hat.
Internationale Niederlassung in Schanghai besetzt
dnb. Schanghai, 8. Dezember – Seit 10 Uhr rückt japanisches Militär in die internationale Niederlassung ein. Die militärische Besatzung der Niederlassung, die nach außen hin abgesperrt ist, begann mit der Besetzung der englischen und amerikanischen Gebäude an der Wasserfront. Das städtische Wasserwerk, das Elektrizitätswerk, das Gaswerk, das Telegraphenamt, das Radio- und das Telefonamt wurden besetzt. Vor den englischen und amerikanischen Behörden sind japanische Posten aufgezogen. Sämtliche Banken sind geschlossen. Devisennotierungen finden nicht statt.
Die englischen und amerikanischen Rundfunkstationen haben ihren Dienst eingestellt und beschränken sich auf die Bekanntgabe der japanischen Proklamation. Die Antiachsenpropaganda ist von den Straßen und aus den Schaufenstern der englischen und amerikanischen Geschäftshäuser verschwunden. Japanische Tanks sind auf dem Rennplatz, dem Zentrum der internationalen Niederlassung, aufgefahren. Die Besetzung ging bisher ohne nennenswerte Zwischenfälle vor sich.
Kanonenboot Patroll versenkt
Das englische Kanonenboot Patroll (350 Tonnen), das die Übergabe an japanische Streitkräfte ablehnte, wurde von japanischen Kriegsschiffen versenkt. Das US-Kriegsschiff Wake wurde, englischen Meldungen zufolge, unberührt von den Japanern übernommen, die darauf die Geschütze dieses Schiffes gegen die englische Botschaft und die englische Konzession richteten. Englischen Meldungen zufolge wurden auch US-Stützpunkte auf Indochina angegriffen.
Der japanische Ministerpräsident an das Volk: ‚Ich bin fest vom Sieg überzeugt‘
Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachters”
vb. Tokio, 8. Dezember – „Ich bin fest von Japans Sieg überzeugt,“ so stellte Premierminister Tojo in einer Rundfunkrede an die japanische Nation fest. Amerika habe Japan gegenüber Forderungen gestellt, die völlig unannehmbar seien, wie beispielsweise die bedingungslose totale Rückziehung der Militärkräfte aus China, Anerkennung des Nanking-Regimes und die Annullierung des Dreierpaktes. Hätte Japan die Bedingungen angenommen, so wäre das Prestige und das Weiterbestehen des japanischen Empires gefährdet bzw. in Frage gestellt worden.
Ich weiß, dass das gesamte japanischer Volk sich für das große Ziel der Kaiserpolitik und des Staates bedingungslos einsetzt. Der Schlüssel zum Sieg liegt im Glauben an den Sieg.
Noch niemals habe Japan eine Niederlage in seiner langjährigen Geschichte erlitten. Wenn Japan bisher unglaubliche Geduld und Zurückhaltung ausübte, so sei dies einzig aus dem Wunsch der Erhaltung des Friedens und der Ersparung unsäglichen Leides für die Menschheit erfolgt.
Japans Gegner seien stolz auf den Besitz der riesigen Naturschätze und strebten die Beherrschung der Welt an. Zur Vernichtung dieses Feindes und zur Schaffung der Neuordnung Ostasiens müsse das japanische Volk mit einem langen Kriege rechnen. Vom Ausgang dieses Krieges hinge der Aufstieg oder der Niedergang des japanischen Empires und das Wohlergehen oder der Ruin von Gesamtostasien ab. Für hundert Millionen Japaner sei die Zeit gekommen, alles für die Sache des Vaterlandes zu opfern.
Formelle Kriegserklärung überreicht
Ein Vertreter des japanischen Auswärtigen Amtes überreichte am Montag den Botschaftern der USA und Englands sowie den Gesandten Kanadas und Australiens formelle Kriegserklärungen und ersuchte sie, ihre diplomatische und konsularische Tätigkeit umgehend einzustellen.
Gleichzeitig wurde den Angehörigen der betroffenen Missionen versichert, dass in Übereinstimmung mit dem Völkerrecht alle notwendigen Maßnahmen für ihr persönliches Wohlergehen getroffen würden. Dies gelte auch für alle übrigen Staatsangehörigen dieser Länder.
Dr. Koppen: Der erschlichene Krieg
Von Dr. Wilhelm Koppen
Judas Mister Franklin Roosevelt, hat den Erwartungen seiner Auftraggeber entsprochen. Er hat es nun doch fertiggebracht, ein Volk, das kriegsunlustig war, weil es mit seinen normalen fünf Sinnen keinen Kriegsgrund erwittern konnte, in den Kampf zu treiben.
Mit der Zudringlichkeit eines jüdischen Hausierers hat er den Amerikanern seinen Krieg mundgerecht zu machen gesucht. Unablässig hat er gewühlt und gebohrt, um die Amerikaner in eine Art Verfolgungswahn zu versetzen und ihnen im Bann dieser Hypnose den allmählichen Abbau aller Schutzwälle abgelistet, die den Kriegsbrand von den USA fernhalten sollten. Nun ist es soweit – der Verbrecher hat sein Ziel erreicht.
Wie bewegt sprach doch Roosevelt vom Frieden und seinen Segnungen, als er seine erste Präsidentschaft antrat. Wenn es auch bald feststand, dass der neue Mann im Weißen Haus, der schon 1917 zum Krieg getrieben hatte, nach wie vor ein abgesagter Feind der stark geführten jungen Völker war und sich besonders Deutschland gegenüber in der Rolle eines Judenprotektors gefiel, so wusste er doch zur Genüge, dass der Mann auf der Straße von Rachekriegen für die Juden nichts wissen wollte, schon gar nicht, als die Senatsuntersuchungen über den Eintritt der USA in den Weltkrieg zum Teil jene üblen Querverbindungen sichtbar machen, in deren Zeichen damals die Staatsführung und die kapitalistische Großwirtschaft über den Kopf des Volkes hinweg den Krieg entfesselt hatten. So kam unter dem Druck der öffentlichen Meinung das Neutralitätsgesetz zustande, das Roosevelt feierlich beschwor, um es umso schneller zu verraten.
Ehe Mister Roosevelt damit begann, dieses Gesetz gleich einer Artischocke zu entblättern, hetzte er andere Regierungen auf, erst einmal frischfröhlich in den Krieg hineinzustolpern, die USA würden schon folgen! Im Oktober 1937 verdonnerte er in seiner Quarantänerede die jungen Völker als pestbehaftete Rebellen gegen das Grundgesetz, dass alle Reichtümer der Welt den sogenannten „Angelsachsen,“ um nicht zu sagen den Juden gehörten und jedes Streben nach Lebensraum ein Verbrechen gegen die Menschheit sei. In diesem vermessenen Dünkel liegt der Ursprung aller Kriege der letzten 10 Jahre, die sich daher. zu einem unlöslichen Ganzen verschlingen. Der Hass und Neid des ewig Besitzen wollenden gegen den aufsteigenden und leistungsstärkeren Mitbewerber trieben die Churchill, Stalin und Roosevelt nebst ihren jüdischen Drahtziehern dazu, den Völkern, die sich unter das plutokratisch-bolschewistische Joch nicht beugen wollten, einfach jedes Lebensrecht abzusprechen, ihnen nicht einmal ein Ehrgefühl zuzubilligen, sondern sie einfach als Parias zu behandeln, die man mit Zuckerbrot und Peitsche zu fügsamen Sklaven dressieren müsse.
Die Atlantikerklärung der beiden Spießgesellen aus London und Washington atmete ganz und gar diesen abgelebten Hochmut, um allen Völkern vor Augen zu stellen, dass man im Zeichen von Pfund und Dollar durch den Krieg keineswegs etwas hinzugelernt, sondern sich in die alte Selbst Vergötzung noch enger eingesponnen hat. Roosevelt hatte es seit 1937 nicht unterlassen, alle Ereignisse in der weiten Welt mit seinen frommen Sprüchen zu begleiten, die oft den Stil von resoluten Bannflüchen annahmen. Doch blieb es nicht bei diesem Theaterdonner. Die Bullitt, Biddle und Donovan begleiteten diese rednerischen Scherbengerichte im letzten Schmierenton mit diplomatischen Ränken. Nach dem Tag von München hetzten sie in London, Paris und Warschau mit voller Kraft zum Krieg, unterstützten die britischen Einkreiser und taten so, als ob die USA berufen seien, das Schicksal Europas zu bestimmen.
Das alles ist längst geschichtsnotorisch und aktenkundig, genau wie die schrittweise Auflockerung des Neutralitätsgesetzes. Schon früher hatte sich Roosevelt durch einen seiner kleinen Advokatenkniffe die Möglichkeit verschafft, gewissermaßen in Ausführung des Gesetzes die Kriegführenden beliebig als bösen „Angreifer“ zu verdonnern. Mit diesem moralisierenden Gehabe hat er es tatsächlich Verstanden, seinen Freunden aus der Rüstungsindustrie trotz aller Waffenausfuhrverbote Lieferungen nach Westeuropa zu verschaffen. Sie mussten nur bar bezahlen und die Waren selbst verschiffen. Und dann ging Roosevelt immer weiter: Er „verpachtete“ und „verlieh“ Kriegsmaterial, als die Briten nicht mehr in Dollars zahlen konnten, er fing mit 7 Milliarden Englandhilfe an und verlangt heute schon 17 und dazu 68 Milliarden für eigene Rüstung. Er gab schließlich US-Schiffen die Fahrt in die Kriegszone frei, nachdem er sie hatte bewaffnen lassen und seine Kriegsschiffe schon längst auf der Islandroute streiften und deutschen U-Booten aufspürten.
Roosevelt brauchte Zwischenfälle, aber sie, sollten zu einem von ihm bestimmten Zeitpunkt eintreten. Inzwischen lag ihm die „westliche Hemisphäre“ am Herzen – bis nach Afrika und England hinüber und auf der anderen Seite unter Einschluss von Ostasien, das die Stabstrompeter des sauberen Meineids Präsidenten schon als leichte Beute und Protektorat der USA erklärten. In vierzehn Tagen würde man mit Japan fertig werden, so schwadronierten alle möglichen Schaumschläger und Washington und berechneten schon fein säuberlich, was Japan alles fehle, wenn es den Handschuh aufnähme. Sie hatten auch aus dem Krieg in Europa immer noch nicht gelernt, dass starke und ehrbewusste Völker sich vom Mangel nicht zwingen lassen, sondern ihn zu meistern wissen, und dass sie sich erkämpfen, was man ihnen vorenthalten will. Denn noch immer gilt das alte Wort: Der Krieg ernährt sich selbst.
In Europa hetzte der Brandstifter von Washington noch schnell Belgrad und Athen in Tod und Verderben. Sie sollten die Achse beschäftigen, bis Mitte Juli nach gemeinsamem Plan die Moskauer Dampfwalze anrollte. Als dann auch der Osten aufflammte, machten die famosen beiden Soldaten Christi großes Getöse auf dem Potomac und legten dort mit feierlicher Miene Leimruten für weitere Dumme aus. Aber der nächste waren die USA selbst!
In der Atlantikerklärung hatte man Japan nicht erwähnt. Aber obwohl das auch überflüssig war, da beide Seemächte ohnehin ganz offen alle Feinde Nippons unterstützen, seinen naturgegebenen Führungsanspruch in Ostasien nicht anerkannten und es mit Rohstoffsperren in die Enge treiben wollten, gab Churchill in seinem Bericht über das Treffen doch noch einen Kommentar mit der Grundnote, Japaner und Amerikaner sollten doch verhandeln. Das bedeutete: Roosevelt und Churchill brauchten noch Zeit. Die erwarteten Sowjetsiege waren ausgeblieben, das Rüstungsprogramm Roosevelts stand zumeist noch auf dem Papier. Man tat also, als ob man die schwebenden Streitfragen ehrlich erörtern, wo nicht gar lösen wollte.
Noch in seinem Schreiben an den Tenno hat Roosevelt diese verlogene Miene aufgesteckt. Er wagt es sogar, darin von einem „Dynamitfass“ zu schwatzen, auf dem das US-Volk nicht „auf die Dauer sitzen“ könne. Und doch war es Roosevelt, der dem Krieg auch hier so nachlief, dass er schon die Anwesenheit japanischer Truppen in Französisch-Indochina als Bedrohung der großen USA bejammert, die 6.000 Seemeilen von Ostasien entfernt sind. Nur sein Kriegswillen schuf Dynamitfässer, die nimmersatte Gier nach Rohstoffmonopolen, Zwangsmärkten, Stützpunkten und Profiten, der freche Anspruch, sich überall einzumischen, wo nur Waffen klirren – und sei es auf dem Mond!
Die Länder Ostasiens sind nicht dem Herrschaftsbereich Amerikas zugeordnet, sondern sie haben in Japan ihren natürlichen Kernpunkt und ihr politisches Zentrum. In diesem Großraum übernimmt Japan die Führung und Verantwortung und die Völker dieser Länder handeln nur nach dem eigenen Lebensgesetz, wenn sie mit Tokio aufs engste zusammenarbeiten. Roosevelt aber in seinem Dünkel, zum alten Imperialismus spielen lassen.
Roosevelt hat Japan einfach einen Selbstmord zugemutet. Es sollte unter die letzten zehn Jahre seiner Politik einen Strich machen, seine 105 Millionen Menschen also auf einen Raum beschränken, der nur einem Sechzehntel des Landbesitzes der USA mit ihren 130 Millionen entspricht – und das nur zu dem Zweck, damit sich England und Amerika, übersättigt an Land und Leuten, in Ostasien breitmachen konnten. Diese freche Zumutung macht ausgezeichnet sinnfällig, was hinter der Atlantikerklärung, der Erklärung der Glücksspieler in Downing Street und im Weißen Haus steckt. Wenn der Gesprächspartner nicht ohne jedes Gefühl für Ehre und jeder plumpen Erpressung zugänglich war, so musste dieser Angriff durch ihn zurückgewiesen werden. Darauf rechnete Lump Roosevelt – und er hat nun seinen Krieg und Amerika damit in der langen Reihe seiner Präsidenten einen Verbrecher, der es in ein nicht abzusehendes Abenteuer gestürzt hat. Wie dies geschah – sozusagen auf Filzpantoffeln, mit falschem Lächeln, großen Worten und noch größeren Wortbrüchen und mit gewaltigen Deklamationen von „Freiheiten,“ die es nicht gab, das ist ein Kapitel Demokratie für sich und auch ein Beweis dafür, dass in dieser angeblichen friedenssichernden Staatsform der kleinste verkniffenste Demagoge jederzeit Pulverfässer in die Luft gehen lassen kann, wenn er sich nur die Lunte besorgt. Und diese Lunte wird er solange finden, als Juda noch irgendwo das letzte Wort zu sagen hat.
Die Wirkung in Washington und London – US-Bevölkerung wie gelähmt
Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachten“
dr. th. b. Stockholm. 8. Dezember – Die Meldungen aus London, Washington und Neuyork überstürzen sich. Das Sensationsbedürfnis der amerikanischen Presse und die kriegshetzerische Agitation Roosevelts und seiner Helfershelfer tragen mit dazu bei, das Bild der politischen Vorgänge zu verfälschen.
Die Nachricht von der tapferen Abwehr amerikanischer Frechheiten im Pazifik und im Fernen Osten schlugen in Washington, Neuyork und London wie eine Bombe ein. Die Neuyorker, so meldet Stockholms Tidningen aus London, machten gerade ihren Sonntagsspaziergang, als die ersten Nachrichten aus Hawaii und den Philippinen eintrafen. Noch glaubte man überheblich, dass die Japaner „blufften“ und sich Roosevelts Erpressungen doch beugen würden. Als dann weitere Meldungen eintrafen, war die Bevölkerung wie gelähmt. Die Kinos unterbrachen ihre Aufführungen und veröffentlichten die neuesten Kriegsnachrichten. Das schreckhafte Entsetzen über diese Folge der Rooseveltschen Kriegshetze ist sehr groß, zumal in Kreisen, die wohl auf den Krieg hingearbeitet hatten, aber der Auffassung waren, dass sich die japanischen Operationen höchstens gegen Thailand, Singapur und Niederländisch-Indien richten könnten.
Man befürchtet jetzt, dass Japan versuchen wird, den amerikanischen Flotteneinheiten im Pazifik möglichst großen Schaden zuzufügen, die Stützpunkte und Öllager westlich von Hawaii zu zerstören oder unbrauchbar zu machen und so den Aufmarsch der amerikanischen Flotte und damit ihre Vereinigung mit den britischen Seestreitkräften zu verhindern.
Ohne den Kongress zu befragen, ordnete Roosevelt die Mobilisierung der Flotte, Armee und Luftwaffe an. Um 23 Uhr amerikanischer Zeit trat das Kabinett zusammen. Namhafte Kriegstreiber des Kongresses hatten sich vorher in das Weiße Haus begeben.
Man nimmt an, dass Roosevelt in einer Botschaft an den Kongress die Billigung der Kriegserklärung an Japan fordern wird. Doch wurde am Samstag die Frage aufgeworfen, ob sich England dem Vorgehen der USA anschließen werde. Zu dieser Zeit lagen noch keine Meldungen über den 'Einmarsch japanischer Truppen in Thailand, über die Angriffe auf Singapur und auf Hongkong und über die Landung auf der Malaiischen Halbinsel vor.
Das britische Parlamenttrat am Montagnachmittag zusammen. Churchill, der am Sonntagabend lange mit dem amerikanischen Botschafter Winant konferierte, wollte eine Erklärung abgeben, die wahrscheinlich die englische Kriegserklärung enthalten sollte. Durch die Kriegserklärung Japans an England und die USA kommt den Beschlüssen in Washington und London nur noch formale Bedeutung zu.
In London ist man bisher mit allen Kommentaren sehr zurückhaltend. Es kann kein Zweifel darüber herrschen, dass England und die USA völlig überrascht wurden. Man hatte in London und Washington lange mit dem Feuer gespielt, ohne zu bedenken, dass der Brand, den dieses rätselhafte Spiel auslösen könnte, zuerst die englischen und amerikanischen Stützpunkte im Pazifik und im Fernen Osten ergreifen würde.
Dass Roosevelt in keiner Weise gewillt war, den berechtigten Wünschen des japanischen Volkes zu entsprechen, zeigt deutlich die Mitteilung seines Sekretärs Early, der die japanische Antwort auf die letzte Note des Staatssekretärs Hull als eine „infame Verfälschung und Verdrehung der Wahrheit“ bezeichnete.
Roosevelts Trabanten müssen mitmachen
Eigener Bericht des „VB.“
rd. Bern, 8. Dezember – In Niederländisch-Indien werden zur Zeit, wie die englischen und amerikanischen Agenturen melden, alle japanischen Staatsbürger verhaftet. Es handelt sich um Maßnahmen, die von den angelsächsischen Ratgebern in Batavia bereits seit einiger Zeit vorbereitet wurden.
Die Behörden von Niederländisch-Indien haben auf angelsächsische Anweisung hin Japan den Krieg erklärt.
Kanada hat nach einer Sitzung des Kabinetts Mackenzie King ebenfalls den Krieg an Japan erklärt. Auch in Kanada werden Verhaftungen der dort lebenden japanischen Staatsbürger durchgeführt, die besonders in dem westlichen kanadischen Bundesstaat Britisch-Kolumbien zahlreich sein sollen.
Die beiden mittelamerikanischen Republicken Nikaragua und Kostarika mussten unter dem Druck der Vereinigten Staaten gleichfalls den Krieg an Japan erklären.
Die amerikanische Diplomatie ist in dieser Richtung in weiteren mittelamerikanischen Staaten tätig. Neuyork stellt bereits weitere Kriegserklärungen Kubas und der Dominikanischen Republik an Japan in Aussicht.
Dass diese von den USA erzwungenen Maßnahmen keine praktische Bedeutung für die Kriegführung haben, liegt auf der Hand. Auf diese Weise haben die Vereinigten Staaten jedoch die Möglichkeit, die diesen Staaten angelegten Daumenschrauben noch enger zu ziehen.
U.S. State Department (December 9, 1941)
740.00114 European War 1939/1916: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the Soviet Union
Washington, December 9, 1941 — 10 p.m.
1271
Your 1977, November 26, 11 a.m.
Department is pleased to note that there appears in the final paragraph of your report ground to hope that means may eventually be found of obtaining the mutual application to Soviet prisoners of war in Germany and to German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union of a regime which not only would be substantially identical with that provided for by the Geneva Convention but would include the guarantee established in Article 86 of that Convention for the effective application of its terms, namely the periodical inspection of the camps by the representatives of the protecting powers. The Department would, in particular, be pleased to receive some idea of the revision of phraseology of Article 9 of the Convention which might be acceptable to the Soviet Government in order that this phraseology may be presented for consideration to the other interested belligerents.
The Department agrees with the point made in the Soviet note that the lack of obligation upon the German Government to apply to Soviet prisoners the provisions of the Geneva Convention does not absolve that Government of the obligation to apply those provisions to prisoners taken from the armed forces of belligerents which are parties to the Convention. The Department’s anxiety in this situation arises not from what may be the obligation of the German Government but from the fear that the non-application of a well-defined humanitarian regime to some prisoner would inevitably entail a deterioration in the treatment of others irrespective of any technical question of legal obligations.
While it is true, as pointed out in the third paragraph of the Soviet note that the more basic provisions of the Fourth Hague Convention regarding prisoners of war have been included in the Geneva Convention, the Department would like to point out that the Geneva Convention was drawn up precisely because the prisoner of war provisions of the Hague Convention were not sufficiently detailed and had been found in practice not to cover all the principles which should be followed if prisoners of war are to be given treatment satisfactory to both opposing sides in any conflict. The Department regards as of primary importance in the Geneva Convention Article 86 providing for the inspection of prisoner of war camps since it is only through such inspection by representatives of the protecting powers that the opposing belligerents can be satisfied that the prisoners taken from their forces are receiving suitable treatment. It has proven possible as a result of such inspection and informal negotiations based thereon to remove and even prevent misunderstandings concerning the terms and application of the Convention thereby reducing friction between belligerents which might otherwise have resulted in needless retaliation against those persons who are so unfortunate as to have become prisoners of war and are, therefore, unable to help themselves against retaliation.
Please communicate with the Soviet authorities in the sense of the foregoing paragraphs pointing out that, without the inspection of prisoner of war camps by the protecting power, there exists no means whereby the respective belligerents may receive satisfactory assurance that any specified regime for prisoners of war, whether of the Hague Convention or of the Geneva Convention or of some other agreement, is being carried out in good faith.
Opinion in well-informed Rome circles is divided on the crying question of the day whether Germany will declare war on the United States. Italy, it is assumed without question, will follow Germany’s lead whatever it be as a matter of course.
According to the cons, the Axis can assist Japan “with all political, economic and military means” as provided in Article III of the Tripartite Pact without declaring war. If it comes to war, they argue, Hitler for obvious reasons, notably of internal propaganda import, wants us to declare it. This, however, they add, does not preclude rupture of relations as a measure of political aid to Japan and a means of curtailing our information sources in Europe.
According to the pros, Germany will hold that our Pacific policy has constituted “attack” in the sense of the same article, that consequently Japan’s action is one of legitimate defense and that the only reply is world war.
The following six items tend to support this view:
Yesterday afternoon in course of conversation with Tittmann, Cardinal Secretary of State seemed surprised at a suggestion that the President in his message to Congress might recommend severance of relations with Axis. It seemed more likely to His Eminence that the initiative would come from Axis. He gave impression he expected something of the kind shortly.
Last night the Queen of Spain sent me word her son Don Juan had received information which persuaded him Germany would declare war on United States in very immediate future.
German press correspondents have been arguing strongly with their American colleagues that a break with United States is not intended, that Berlin had been taken unawares by and was displeased with Japan’s action and that, while the latter has a just cause, attack at this time was at best premature. Japanese correspondents say they do not expect an Axis declaration of war. Our correspondents gather the clear impression that all this is expressly designed “to pull the wool over their eyes.”
A German Embassy source is reliably reported to have said yesterday that Ribbentrop had promised Japan that if it would declare war on United States, Germany also would do so. It was explained that there are no longer any good reasons for “postponing” open war now that we are on a full war footing.
This morning Durbrow called at the Foreign Ministry for an exit visa for our diplomatic courier (see my 1917, December 8). The competent official, a close friend, was despondent. “Things look,” he said, “very, very bad.” Categorical orders having been received from the Ministry of the Interior to refuse all such visas to Americans, even if bearers of diplomatic passports, he could take no action except to enquire whether an exception could be made for our courier. The decision “was not a temporary measure.” His usual “au revoir” was “farewell.”
Yesterday’s confidential directives to the Italian press included: “Do not touch for the time being on the implications of the Tripartite Pact;” “Feature Japanese reply to Hull documenting responsibility of Rooseveltian warmongering;” and “Do not speak of the Americans being surprised.”
WADSWORTH
Youngstown Vindicator (December 9, 1941)
Lawrence: Hawaii attack is big lesson
Blow will arouse Navy, but Congress puzzles over unpreparedness By David Lawrence
WASHINGTON – While Japan caught the United States Navy napping at Hawaii, the lesson of that sudden attack will influence American defense policy for generations to come not only on the Pacific but on the Atlantic coast as well.
No longer will it be argued that nations do not send their air forces 3,000 miles to attack. Japan sent her airplanes farther than Germany would have to send them from the Azores or from African bases, and certainly if Nazi or Vichy-owned aircraft carrier someday duplicated the Japanese feat, attacks on American coast cities from the air are equally as feasible.
Just as the French depended on the Maginot Line and never thought much in terms of offensive war, so today the United States is paying the penalty of having believed too much in the isolationist doctrine of two oceans as a protection against invasion or attack.
Until less than a year ago, the designers of airplanes for the United States were told to think in defensive terms. Only within the last few months have the possibilities of offensive war in the form of mighty long-range bombers with large cruising speed, or numerous aircraft carriers capable of launching long-range bombing planes, been an integral part of American defense policy. And, of course, in time of emergency, the United States now does not have enough.
Congress is already giving voice to an undercurrent criticism against the Navy, little realizing that our air force for offense use against Japan is weaker than it should be largely because even as late as April 1940, Congress refused to bestir itself and vote large appropriations for airplane making.
But there is another phase to the criticism of those circumstances which today bring Americans face to face with their first major naval defeat in many decades of history. It is that somehow the civilian branch of the administration did not synchronize its advices and judgment too well with the naval branch of the government.
Danger was known
Inside the administration it was well known, for instance, that the militarists in Japan might at any moment commit an overt act. This has happened before in our relations with Japan as, for example when the Panay was bombed in Chinese waters – an act later repudiated by the Japanese civilian officials in contact with our ambassador.
It was known here that the memoranda being exchanged might prolong the recent negotiations and that the militarists have felt themselves in no sense responsible always for keeping the foreign office at Tokyo advised of its plans. It is a reasonable supposition that neither Ambassador Nomura nor Saburo Kurusu knew of the impending attack. It would be like the militarists to use the diplomatic branch of the government to cover up preparations for attack and to keep that fact secret from everybody in the whole foreign service of Japan.
But in Washington when the first note was sent on November 26, which was a flat rejection of the Japanese viewpoint, it was known that the militarists might break loose. Why wasn’t the Navy ordered to be at posts of duty 24 hours a day when such a critical stage was reached in our relations with such an uncertain government as the Japanese has shown itself to be?
Questions will be asked
Under the American congressional system there are not the opportunities for interrogating the responsible officials of the executive branch of the government as under the parliamentary system, but some day there will be a lot of asking of questions and a lot of explaining just the same.
For while the barrage of accusations concerning the treachery of the Japanese is fully justified, it is also going to be important to know why the American Navy was not on the alert and why it had no way of determining the approach of hostile airplanes. The stories of listening devices that tell of the approach of enemy planes have been widely published heretofore, but no explanation is forthcoming as to why the detection was not made in the case of the Japanese on Sunday.
It will also be interesting to learn why the United States sent its note of November 26 if its navy was as unprepared as recent events show it to have been.
Congress is militant
It is too early to know exactly what did happen. and later explanations may present the attack in a different light in behalf of the Navy. But the mood of Congress, it must be reported, is militant today and it is a safe assumption that this war will start out with a fat more offensive spirit than did the First World War.
Perhaps the defeat handed to the United States over the weekend will eliminate the boasting and overconfidence and make all concerned realize that it is poor policy to underestimate an enemy’s strength or fighting spirit and that it is wiser to prepare for the worst. Perhaps it will give our Navy the stimulus needed to carry on offensive war against the Japanese.
The attack on Hawaii may prove in the end to have been Japan’s greatest mistake in strategy, for it means early bombing of Japanese bases and cities – something which our air forces might have otherwise hesitated to begin.
The Pittsburgh Press (December 9, 1941)
FIERCE FIGHTING IN FAR EAST Raid scares sweep East Coast; U.S. bombing of Tokyo reported*
Formosa, Kobe also raided, Manila hints – Malaya battles rage By Joe Alex Morris, United Press war editor
BULLETINS
Nationwide confusion was caused today by reports that “enemy aircraft” were seen on the East Coast. Coincident with the report, the Army and Navy Departments ordered all airfields on the alert.
The Boston Safety Committee issued the plane report. A responsible military official at Boston said that the unidentified plane may have been one sent out to test the air-raid precaution system.
Brooklyn police ordered all schools evacuated, but later the “all-clear” signal was given and police were told to resume normal posts.
Reports circulated in New York that the scare was the result of an air-raid precaution test which may have been ordered by defense officials.
Two air-raid “alerts” were announced over WNYC, the radio station owned by New York City. Sirens were sounded in midtown, but traffic moved normally. The all-clear was sounded at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Lt. Gen. Delos Emmons, chief of the Army Air Force Combat Command, announced through the White House that while the Army had not confirmed the presence of any hostile aircraft off the Eastern Seaboard: “We’re taking no chances.”
Twenty Army interceptor planes swept over Hartford, Connecticut, this afternoon, heading toward Long Island Sound. They were followed by three pursuit ships.
About 280 planes took off on a reconnaissance flight from Mitchel Field, New York. Rifles, helmets and gas masks were issued to 7,500 men at the field.
The sounding of air-raid alarms in Nassau County on Long Island caused authorities to send schoolchildren home with instructions not to return until notified.
The entire day shift of 14,000 men at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Fore River Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts, was sent home at 1:10 p.m.
New London, Connecticut, schools, stores and theaters were ordered closed for the day.
NEW YORK – NBC said today that a Panama radio broadcast reported Japanese aircraft flying over the Panama coast this morning but that no bombs were dropped.
Today on the 6,000-mile battlefront in Pacific Ocean
Jap attacks in South Pacific
The Japanese were attacking in four sectors in the South Pacific today as indicated on the map above. A landing was attempted in North Borneo, additional Jap troops landed in the northern Malay States, others occupied Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, and Tokyo reported an attack launched on the Burma Road, China’s lifeline, through northern Thailand.
American armed forces struck back at the Japanese in the Pacific today inflicting “considerable” losses on Japanese raiding planes in the Philippines and unconfirmed reports circulated that Tokyo, Kobe and Formosa have been attacked by U.S. bombers.
The spreading Pacific hostilities raised squarely the question of quick aid for Japan by her Axis partners, Germany and Italy. Russian participation in the Anglo-American war against Japan was still undetermined.
Events:
PHILIPPINES: American defense forces inflict “considerable” losses on Japanese attacking planes; 25,000 Japanese nationals rounded up for detention; no official confirmation of reported Japanese land operations.
AXIS POWERS: Japanese spokesman at Tokyo says “of course” Japan expects Berlin and Rome to declare war on United States; Berlin prepares to announce stand tomorrow, possibly at Reichstag session; German embassy burns papers at Washington – usual prelude to severance of diplomatic relations or war.
TOKYO: German reports claim Japanese land in Philippines without losses; both air and naval bombardments of Midway Island, 1,300 miles west of Hawaii reported; unreliable Rome radio circulates rumors Japanese fleet is steaming toward Hawaii to engage U.S. Fleet.
HONG KONG: British garrison, largely Canadian-manned, beats off Japanese attacks with artillery fire; Japanese air attacks cause little damage.
RUSSIA: Japanese spokesman claims relations with Soviet unchanged; Rome radio says same thing; Kuibyshev reports no Russian official statement but indicates there may be developments.
Official confirmation of raids on Japanese industrial and naval centers was lacking, but the German radio said that Tokyo had ordered air raid precautions in the areas north and southwest of the capital.
A Tokyo broadcast said that there had been no enemy planes over Japan up to 8:20 p.m. ET Monday but a CBS correspondent at Manila relayed rumors that the Japanese capital and Kobe, which is the center of an important naval yard, had been bombed.
Japanese airplanes bombed the Manila area by moonlight and returned to the islands this morning after a series of attacks that caused considerable damage at Clark Field, near Manila, and smashed at scattered objectives throughout the Philippines including Davao, Iba, Baguio and Tagugarao. One American naval ensign was killed at Davao and one was killed and 12 wounded at the U.S. Army station at Nichols Field.
There were persistent reports of Japanese landings on the island of Lubang, which lies off the entrance to Manila Bay and is about 80 miles from the Philippine capital. Official sources, however, declined to confirm these reports and also withheld confirmation of Japanese claims that Guam and Wake Islands had been taken.
Severe land fighting was in progress on the Malaya Coast, however, as the Japanese sought to strike toward Britain’s great naval base at Singapore.
Japanese seizure of Thailand facilitated the drive against northwestern Malaya, but British dispatches said that the enemy landing parties which gained a foothold on the beaches near Kota Bharu Airport were being wiped out.
Northward, where Thailand joins Burma and Indochina, the Japanese were said by the Berlin radio to have opened an attack on the Burma Road supply route to China.
Japan was paying the greatest attention to the position of Germany and the Soviet Union toward the Far Eastern war, and indicated that immediate help was expected from the Axis powers.
The Japanese radio also issued an indirect warning to the Soviets to keep out of the conflict, asserting that Japanese-held Manchukuo is prepared to keep her northern frontiers intact.
Germany’s role in the Pacific conflict was still not clear, although the Axis spokesmen indicated that every assistance would be given Japan and a Montevideo newspaper reported that the 10,000-ton German pocket battleship Luetzow was already raiding off the South American coast.
Rumors circulated without official support that Germany might declare war against the United States, but Berlin sources described this as “improbable.”
These rumors – they still were plainly in the rumor category – would fit Axis blitzkrieg strategy of striking first and without warning.
They would also fit the sensational pattern of events on the Russian front where the Germans have suddenly announced that they have gone on the defensive for the winter.
A Nazi defensive stand in Russia this winter would enable Germany to turn its main war effort against Britain and the United States, presumably concentrating again against the British Isles, the north Atlantic and possibly throwing tremendous weight into an attack on British positions in the Middle East.
Rome, possible guided by wishful thinking, seemed to see a chance that the current technically non-belligerent relations between the Axis and the United States might continue indefinitely.
On the actual Pacific war front, there was action over a 6,000-mile front but no major new developments.
Other highlights:
HAWAII: Apparently quiet. No reports of renewed Japanese activity, no new word on operations of the U.S. battle fleet.
PHILIPPINES: Japanese inflict small casualties in moonlight air raids directed chiefly at Nichols Air Field and Ft. McKinley in Manila area; Japanese landing reported – but not confirmed – on Lubang Island 80 miles from Manila.
GUAM: U.S. Army communiqué admits sinking of 840-ton minesweeper USS Penguin and a handful of casualties in Japanese attack on Guam; no confirmation that Japanese now have Guam.
JAPANESE CLAIMS: Offensive started against Burma Road; 200 “enemy” shops seized in Pacific, including 10,509-ton liner President Harrison; Japanese troops enter Bangkok. Midway Island attacked, 1,300 miles west of Hawaii; claim destruction of 300 American planes at Hawaii and the Philippines.
SINGAPORE: More Japanese troops land on Malaya coast, but British forces are successfully resisting. London claims number of Japanese landings is so small operation is only “mop up.”
MELBOURNE: Australia and New Zealand formalize war against Japan. The Japanese bomb Nauru and Ocean Islands, southeast of Guam and Wake.
Behind the scene of this military action, there was diplomatic activity on an even broader front.
Russia is silent
Important diplomatic activity was underway at Kuibyshev, temporary Russian headquarters, Russia was officially silent on the Japanese attack but “important developments” were expected. A dispatch from the United Press correspondent, Henry Shapiro, said that Russia has long recognized the strategic potentialities of the Pacific war now underway.
France, it appeared, was swinging rapidly into a full-time position in the Axis orbit.
Reports to the United Press from European sources said that Adm. Jean Francois Darlan, Vichy Vice Premier, is en route to meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano and possibly Premier Benito Mussolini.
The meeting was expected to consider the question of French Tunisia and seemed to be designed to effect a Franco-Italian settlement as a prelude to full French participation in the Axis sphere.
Pope deplores war spread
This may indicate that French arrangements with Germany for joint use of French African bases are about to be completed, presumably spurred by the prospect of full American involvement in war with the whole Axis.
At Vatican City, Pope Pius XII deplored the spread of the war.
In Latin America, support for the United States was sweeping ahead. Panama declared war on Japan, the eighth Latin nation to do so. Uruguay was to consider a declaration later today. Argentina was taking a lead in a policy of hemispheric solidarity under which the United States, as the victim of an aggressor’s attack, will be considered a nonbelligerent.
There was heavy fighting reported in Libya. On the Russian front, the Germans, in line with their new policy, said nothing but local action is in progress. The Russians, however, claimed that the German 12th and 33rd Motorized Divisions and the 4th Panzer Division were hurled into retreat on the vital Stalinogorsk sector, south of Moscow.
WAR BULLETINS!
La Guardia, First Lady on coast
LOS ANGELES, California – New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and their aides arrived here by plane today for a conference with Californian officials on civilian defense.
Nazi raider reported off Argentina
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – The newspaper El País reported today that the German pocket battleship Luetzow was raiding off the Argentine coast. There was no confirmation from other sources. The Luetzow is a 10,000-ton, heavily-armored vessel and a sister ship of the scuttled Graf Spee.
Aleutian report unconfirmed
VICTORIA, British Columbia – A statement by Maj. Andrew McGavin of Victoria that “the Japanese had been reported off the Aleutian Islands” could not be confirmed from official or semi-official sources today. The major issued his statement last night.
Capitol dome darkened
WASHINGTON – Capitol Architect David Lynn today ordered the floodlights which illuminate the Capitol dome at night turned off until the war is over.
Four U.S. ships reported sunk
NEW YORK – The German radio reported today that four American merchant vessels were sunk in the Pacific by the Japanese and that the first American naval prisoners have been brought to Tokyo.
Jap aircraft carrier reported sunk
MANILA, Philippines – A totally unconfirmed rumor circulated today that a Japanese aircraft carrier had been sunk off Zambales, on the west coast of Luzon, north of Manila.
Mexico reported at war
NEW YORK – NBC today heard the Panama radio report that Mexico had declared war on Japan.
Anti-air units guard plants
BOSTON, Massachusetts – The Army sent four anti-aircraft regiments, totaling 6,000 men into vital defense production areas today. The 198th Coast Artillery Regiment from Fort Ontario, New York, and the 67th Coast Artillery unit from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will be stationed in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the 68th and 208th Anti-Aircraft Mobile Regiments from Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, will be stationed in the Boston area.
Capital defense plans made
WASHINGTON – The Navy today announced the creation of a Potomac River Naval Command, apparently designed to coordinate defense of the capital from attacks by sea as well as to protect naval establishments in the area.
White House ready for blackout
WASHINGTON – Preparations have been made to black out the White House when and if a general blackout is ordered for the District of Columbia.
Jap air-raid plans reported
LONDON, England – The German radio reported today that Japanese authorities have ordered air-raid precautions north and south of Tokyo.
Fleet concentration reported
NEW YORK – NBC today heard Radio Saigon report “considerable concentrations of Japanese fleet units in Indochina waters.” Weather was reported as “unfavorable.”
Calais raid kills 37, hurt 20
VICHY, France – Thirty-seven civilians were killed and 20 seriously wounded when British planes bombed Calais, in occupied France, yesterday, it was announced today.
East Indies mobilized
NEW YORK – The Dutch East Indies completed mobilization of the army and requisitioned a large part of the merchant marine today to war against Japan. It was announced that the Dutch colony’s cruisers, destroyers, submarines and other naval units would cooperate with the British Eastern Fleet.
South Africa to join war
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Constitutional formalities held up the Union of South Africa’s declaration of war against Japan, but authoritative quarters said a declaration was certain.
Jap attack reported halted
HONG KONG – A British communiqué tonight reported that Hong Kong’s artillery batteries opened up on Japanese attackers and “halted their advance.” It was presumed the Japanese are on the mainland opposite this island. One Japanese plane was reported crippled.
‘Nazi pattern’ will be topic of Roosevelt
Broadcast tonight to give details of Hitler’s part in Pacific War By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
Roosevelt to speak
The President speaks at 10 p.m. EST tonight. All Pittsburgh stations will broadcast the address.
President Roosevelt blots his signature on the joint congressional resolution declaring that a state of war exists between the United States and Japan after affixing his signature at 4:10 p.m. yesterday in the White House executive offices. The resolution was rushed to the President within four hours of his request for the declaration.
WASHINGTON (UP) – President Roosevelt’s address to the nation tonight will be devoted largely to a discussion of “the Nazi pattern” of the present war involving the United States, the White House said today.
Secretary Stephen Early said at a press conference that the Chief Executive would spend most of the day working on his address, which would deal more with “the Nazi pattern of this overall situation” than with specific details of war operations with Japan in the Pacific.
Follows accusation
Mr. Early’s comment followed the White House accusation yesterday that Germany had done everything possible to push Japan into the war against this country. Congressional leaders have signified instant willingness to acknowledge war with Germany and Italy as well if those two Axis partners join Japan.
Reports from Germany that the Nazi position would be clarified perhaps within the next 24 hours led administration officials here to prepare for any contingency.
A hint as to possible things to come was a report unconfirmed that the German Embassy had begun to burn secret papers, usually a forerunner to a break in diplomatic relations. The Embassy had “no comment” on the reports.
Asked for latest news of the war as received by the White House, Mr. Early said the President had checked his official dispatches with newspaper stories on the Battle of the Pacific and had found that the newspapers had most of the facts that the government has at this time.
About reports of air raids on San Francisco, Mr. Early said “you know as much about it as the President does.”
Asked about planes
“How was it, if the reports from San Francisco are true, the Japanese planes could get so near our west coast?” Mr. Early was asked.
“You can be sure that the Army and Navy on the President’s instructions are on the alert for defense,” he said, adding that this alert not only involved the Pacific Coast and San Francisco, but other areas.
“The picture is much bigger,” Mr. Early added.
Mr. Early had no additional information on the situation in Hawaii. Asked whether our losses in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor constituted “the worst naval disaster in our history,” he said he could not reply except to reiterate his statement of yesterday that “our losses were heavy and subsequent reports show the losses to be heavier than first reported.”
To give out rumors
“The President insists that rumors and reports be given you as received, then these rumors and reports will be sifted for the truth,” Mr. Early said. “We are in the sifting process now.”
Before starting in for a long session of speech writing, the President at 11 a.m. held a “checkup conference” with the Secretaries of War and Navy, the Vice President and members of the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board.
The President will speak for a full hour tonight, Mr. Early said.
Asked about Axis reports of American naval losses, Mr. Early reminded reporters that “these countries have been putting out these reports since the beginning of the war and up until a few days ago, they dealt principally with Great Britain.
“I think,” he added, “ you know them for what they are.”
To issue more news
Further news from Hawaii, which was hard hit by the Japanese attack, undoubtedly will be made available to be public shortly after it is received by the government, Mr. Early said.
It probably is no exaggeration to say that the U.S. Navy suffered its greatest loss of all its valiant history in the Pearl Harbor engagement. But that statement, which is being made by responsible and well-informed members of Congress, must be qualified by acknowledgment that our modern Navy previously has never suffered any major battle loss at all.
After 48 hours of war, it appeared that Japan and the Axis had won the headlines and the radio bulletins if nothing else. For the most part, the American public is reading and hearing of apparently successful, damaging and astonishing Japanese air attacks on our bases, on units of the fleet and on our shipping.
See attack in Atlantic
From foreign diplomatic sources here came a suggestion that the United States is also preparing against a surprise attack in the Atlantic similar to that which enabled Japan to swoop down on our fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and upon scores of planes grounded on adjacent fields. Yesterday’s report from Honolulu that all had been quiet there since Sunday’s surprise raid was offset by moonlight attacks on vital American air bases in the Philippines and reports that isolated island outposts had been captured.
An official German DNB News Service report, heard last night by the United Press listening station, hinted that Germany would act without notice against the United States and other nations which are at war with Japan.
Ready to fight Germany
House Speaker Sam Rayburn countered with the statement that Congress would be ready to acknowledge war in the same brisk fashion which yesterday enabled both houses to vote a war resolution 33 minutes after Mr. Roosevelt had requested it.
The President signed the historic document at 4:10 p.m. yesterday with firm hand while cameras recorded the event for posterity.
His signature formally plunged a united America into the holocaust of World War II.
The measure is known as Joint Resolution 116. It declares “a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and people of the United States.”
The Senate vote was unanimous, 82-0.
The House shouted approval, 388-1.
The lone dissenter on the fateful issue was Rep. Jeannette Rankin, R-Montana. Her “no” was voiced calmly, but her eyes were red from weeping.
There seemed to be disappointment in Congress from the top leadership down on our showing – so far as it is known to them and the public – in the first round of the war in the Pacific.
One ship capsizes
The White House announcement was that one old battleship had been hit and capsized in Pearl Harbor, that a destroyer was blown up and that other units were hit, although not necessarily put out of action. Meanwhile, German, Italian and Japanese broadcasts were claiming far greater damage.
As the nation plunged into the Pacific war, our relations with the other Axis powers steadily disintegrated. The White House opened fire on Berlin with a charge that Germany had sought to push Japan into the war in the hope of interrupting the flow of Lend-Lease supplies to Great Britain and to the Soviet Union. The statement said German claims that Lend-Lease aid would be hindered were further proof that Berlin’s propaganda was “continuously, completely and 100 percent inaccurate.” Lend-Lease aid will continue in full operation, the statement said with some emphasis.
Warns of less aid
But Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speaking from London, warned that our sudden emergency in the Pacific would tend somewhat to diminish the immediate flow of material, although his remarks in nowise supported German contentions.
There was no indication here how or where the Axis might strike at the United States in the Atlantic. But the mere possibility of such a move again raised speculation regarding Atlantic islands in neutral or semi-Axis hands such as Martinique in the West Indies (a possession of Vichy France), and the Canaries, Cape Verde Islands and Azores (possessions, respectively, of Spain and Portugal).
Some diplomats speculated that, with the United States engaged in the Pacific, Germany might dare to pool naval strength with the French – assuming Vichy would agree – for a sortie into the Atlantic.
Harbors plane carrier
Martinique is important not only because of its strategic location, but because it also harbors the French aircraft carrier Bearn, a cruiser and some auxiliary craft. On Martinique is the French gold hoard estimated at $200-$500 million.
Broadcast reports from Manila hinted yesterday that the Philippines were substantially cut off from supply lines for oil and other such vital materials not produced there. And in addition to the Japanese surface and air force which can attack or hamper American-Philippine supply lines, it is presumed that German ships are going into action.
There are about a dozen German commercial vessels in Japanese ports available either as armed raiders of supply ships or raiding vessels. These include the liner Scharnhorst which easily could be converted into a light cruiser-type raider. And Japan, presumably, would provide bases for any German-manned raiders which may be able to reach the Pacific. All of which adds up to a prospect of intense raiding activity in that area.
Dissenter in Congress calls vote premature
Rep. Rankin
WASHINGTON (UP) – Rep. Jeannette Rankin, R-Montana, the only member of Congress to vote against the declaration of war on Japan, believes that Congress acted prematurely.
Congress has had no definite confirmation that the Japanese really were responsible, she said.
Miss Rankin’s vote was also based on her “horror of war and killing.” The 61-year-old congresswoman, who voted against America’s entry into the last World War, locked her office door and declined to discuss the matter further with reporters.
A few minutes before the roll call began, Miss Rankin was on her feet seeking recognition. Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, ordered the roll call to proceed, however, and she had no opportunity to explain her position to members of the House.
Repeal of ban on AEF given committee OK
Removal of time limit also voted; age range of 18-44 hinted
WASHINGTON (UP) – Congress today speeded legislation to permit retention of all soldiers and sailors in service for the duration of the war and to eliminate geographical restrictions on use of selectees and National Guardsmen.
Within a few hours:
The House Military Affairs Committee approved a bill eliminating from the Selective Service Act provisions which confines use of selectees and Guardsmen to the Western Hemisphere or possessions of the United States. It would also permit retention of all Army men until six months after the war ends.
The House passed unanimously and sent to the White House a bill permitting the Navy to retain all enlisted men “for the duration.”
One source said the Army plans to ask Congress “today or tomorrow” to increase the draft age limits from the present 21-28 range to 18-44. This was not confirmed.
Chairman Andrew J. May, D-Kentucky, of the House Military Affairs Committee, said the Army had not yet requested any such age changes and that there had been no discussion of it within the committee.
In the Senate, Military Affairs Committee Chairman Robert R. Reynolds, D-North Carolina, introduced a bill to permit use of selectees outside the hemisphere similar to that approved by Mr. May’s committee. He asked its immediate consideration, but Senate Republican leader Charles L. McNary, R-Oregon, objected on the grounds such a course was not “proper legislation.” Unanimous consent was necessary for Mr. Reynolds’ proposal.
The Navy bill passed by the House was approved by the Senate yesterday. House Naval Affairs Committee Chairman Carl Vinson, D-Georgia, explained that present law permits release of about 213,000 Navy enlisted men at the expiration of their present enlistment period.
Mr. May said his committee’s vote on the selectees-Guardsmen bill was unanimous.
Suspends for duration
The measure provides that the provisions of the Selective Service Act and the National Guard Mobilization Act insofar as they restrict the territorial use of units or members of the land and naval forces of the United States, including selective trainees, are suspended during the existence of war in which the United States is engaged and “for six months thereafter.”
The second section of the bill provides that periods of appointment, enlistment, induction and service of all present or future members of the land and naval forces of the United States, including selectees, are extended for the duration of the war and for an extra six months afterwards.
Wants import authority
Mr. May said the Army had also requested measures to repeal existing statutes forbidding government confiscation of factory machinery of equipment when it is essential to the continued operation of the business. He said the Army also wants authority to make emergency purchases of war material abroad and to bring them into the country duty-free.
Mr. May said the committee would consider these latter recommendations tomorrow.
He said he expected the Army would shortly recall 175,000 men of more than 28 years who have served as selectees and are now members of the Organized Reserves and subject to service in time of war.
Recruiting offices swamped
Recruiting offices, meanwhile, were swamped with applicants. And this was thought to be one of the reasons why the Army does not ask any immediate revision of the Selective Service Act to make men of 18-35 inclusive subject to military service.
Brig. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, national Selective Service director, said in a speech at Boise, Idaho, last night that state induction quotas “will be doubled and tripled for January and succeeding months.” The scheduled quota for January, before Japan’s attack, was 99,000 men.
The Selective Service program, as it now stands, would have 892,000 selectees in the Army by January. Tentative induction plans, all made before the outbreak of the war with Japan, were expected to bring 500,000 new selectees into the Army by April 1942.
Would boost Army
If the Army decides to call back men who have been discharged because of age, dependents or essentiality to defense industries, it would bring the present Army of 1,600,000 men to around 2,200,000.
Army, Navy and Marine recruiting stations throughout the country were besieged by prospective members of the Armed Forces during the first day of war with Japan. They have been ordered to stay open as long as necessary each day.
Mr. May indicated he was hopeful that the Pacific War can be won without using land forces.
“If the British and American navies can handle the situation out there,” he said, “we may be able to starve them out without calling upon our armies.”
Naval enlistment extension approved
WASHINGTON (UP) – The House Naval Affairs Committee today approved a bill to extend Navy enlistments for the duration of the war and heard a Navy officer assert that enlistments have been so high the Navy is “hoping” it will not have to take selectees.
Cmdr. H. G. Hopwood, of the Bureau of Navigation, said a telephone check of main recruiting offices disclosed that they were “all flooded with volunteer enlistments.”
Navy asleep? House to ask
Tobey demands complete facts on situation
WASHINGTON (UP) – Sen. Charles W. Tobey, R-New Hampshire, said today it was “reported on the Senate floor that a large part of the Pacific Fleet has been wiped out” and demanded that the American people be informed of the true situation.
Mr. Tobey spoke on the Senate floor, questioning Chairman David I. Walsh, D-Massachusetts, of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, about current reports of damage to the fleet at Pearl Harbor. Mr. Walsh had obtained the floor to make a statement on the subject for the Senate’s information.
Cites statement
Mr. Tobey recalled that Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox had put out a statement 24 hours before the Japanese struck without warning against Hawaii, the gist of which he described as, “The Navy is ready.”
“The pride of the American people in their Navy and their confidence in some of their officials has been terribly shaken,” Mr. Tobey said. “The public is entitled to know the truth.”
Mr. Walsh had just come from a secret session of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee at which members discussed “the seriousness of what has already occurred in the Pacific” and predicted expansion of the naval program.
Quotes Stark
Mr. Walsh told the Senate that Adm. Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, had informed him that:
The Navy is not in a position to give us any additional information other than what President Roosevelt has already given Congress.
Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg, R-Michigan, suggested a “liaison” committee representing Congress be named to call on the President and obtain information throughout the emergency. He asserted that such a committee would “satisfy the sense of responsibility that every member feels” and serve as a channel for proper information.
The Senate discussion came as the House Naval Affairs Committee instituted an inquiry to determine whether “somebody was asleep” among the Navy High Command when Japanese planes launched their initially successful attack on Hawaii Sunday.
The committee decided to ask Secretary of the Navy Knox and Adm. Stark to appear at a secret session tomorrow after Rep. Beverly Vincent, D-Kentucky, in a public session, questioned the fitness of high naval officials and charged that “somebody was asleep” when the Hawaiian assault was launched.
Takes no sides
Chairman Carl Vinson, D-Georgia, refrained from taking sides in the committee discussion which followed Mr. Vincent’s accusations. But he disagreed at one point when Mr. Vincent criticized the aptitude of an admiral to perform his duties at the age of 64.
First bitter denunciation of the Sunday attack came from Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, who referred to the bombing of Oahu and Honolulu as a “debacle” and asked that a court-martial be instituted against the ranking naval officials in Hawaii and a number of Army Air Force generals.
Sen. Walsh said Adm. Stark suggested that Congress defer inquiry until after the President speaks on the radio tonight.
Mr. Tobey interrupted:
Does the Senator understand that the President is going to give the American people a frank, full and complete account of the damage done?
Mr. Walsh said he could not anticipate the speech.
Mr. Tobey commented:
It seems to me that the American people should be fully informed as to what was done.
I can understand reticence to discuss naval movements, but when it is reported on the floor of the Senate that a large part of the Pacific Fleet has been wiped out, the American people are entitled to know the truth.
Mr. Tobey did not say who made the report on the Senate floor. He referred to informal conversations that were going on among members.
Mr. Dingell, who is neither a member of the House Naval or Military Committees, named such officers as Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific; Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, commander of the Hawaiian Department; Maj. Gen. H. H. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces; Maj. Gen. George H. Brett, chief of the Air Corps, and Maj. Gen. Fred L. Martin, chief of the Hawaiian Air Force.
Mr. Dingell charged that the Army was caught “off guard” in the attack and said that if the foregoing officers were not to blame for the Hawaiian “catastrophe,” then “we’ll have to go higher up.”
During the Naval Committee hearing today, at which it was decided to call Mr. Knox and Adm. Stark, Vincent’s charge of physical unfitness among Navy officer personnel led to a committee decision to hear Rear Adm. Ross T. McIntire, Surgeon General of the Navy, on that question.
I DARE SAY — Reveille
By Florence Fisher Parry
Sunday the city was dead, the sun was high and bright. Peace, it was wonderful. Peace, it was everywhere.
The telephone began ringing, this person and that calling up to remind me of the “America First” meeting that was about to take place out at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial.
One said, “Better disguise yourself or you might be mobbed by those who know you are a Fight for Freedom-er.” Another said, “You won’t believe your eyes or ears. Those meetings are terrifying.”
I decided not to go. I’ve been in inflamed mobs, and they ARE terrifying. Just how terrifying this one was to be, no imagination could have pictured.
Just then, my brother came in and said, “There’s a funny rumor just came over the air that the Japs have bombed Hawaii.”
“Don’t be silly,” I said.
He insisted, “Well, that’s what I thought I heard,” he insisted. “Why don’t you call up The Press?”
“Oh, they’d think I was crazy.”
“Well, go ahead,” he insisted.
So, to humor him, I called.
Don’t ask me what was happening at The Press from then on. It would have had just about as much chance of getting another telephone call in there as to Honolulu itself.
If you want to see Americans spring to action, you ought to be in a newspaper office when war breaks loose in America. The Army, the Navy and the Marines have nothing on the City Desk.
About face
Funny about human beings. You live with yourself half a century, and you are a stranger to your own heart and mind.
How long we had been waiting for this deep down within us, who is to say. When the word came, every nerve seemed to spring into the most extraordinary coordination, everything clarified, simplified, resolved itself into the most elemental emotion.
They asked for it, then let them have it, that’s what it amounted to. As simple as all that.
Writers and psychologists will be casting about for a word with which to describe that sudden miracle of American alert, but they won’t find a word. As Stephen Vincent Benet has said, we will need new words for this. And we will. We will.
We see now that everything that went before hadn’t really got hold of us at all. We thought we knew how the British felt about their tight little island. We thought we knew how the French felt, the Belgians, the Russians, and the far Chinese. We hadn’t an inkling till Sunday.
All at once, America was the most electric, miraculous, magnificent, important, tremendous word in the world. All at once, what faced us was just a bagatelle. Sacrifice, separation, risk, death: What were these words which a moment ago we would have sworn held the meaning of life? Gone by the board, they were. The only word we had room for, the only meaning, was America, America.
US. We, the people.
And if WE don’t know ourselves, if WE are surprised, if our sudden concerted alert amazes us, what do you think it is doing to the Japanese, the Nazis, and those poor fish, the Italians? Why, the poor fools, it’s funny just to think of it.
They counted on our disunity, our little civil divisions, they put store by capital versus labor, they who had presumed to think that labor was their ally!
Now look at us. Know something? I would take my chances today on yesterday’s agitator. I would lay my bets on yesterday’s racketeer. Yes, gangsters. If he is going to be crooked, if he’s going to double-cross, if he’s going to kill and plunder, by Heaven, it’s going to be for us. For America. You wait and see.
Dream is reality
What IS this thing about? … This elastic, fluid, unpredictable, quick, ambidextrous, acrobatic multiplicity in us, that makes us Americans able to jerk out of anything, into a united intention?
Sunday night, we listened to a remarkable broadcast. It was called Between Americans. Orson Welles put it on. It was a short, inspired capsule of the American character. It was par for the moment; inspirationally timed. Well, at the very end of it, he was groping around, this Orson Welles, for some way to describe this America to you.
Know what he said?
He said this, “We are not a map of states united. We are a territory possessed by a people possessed by a dream.”
And now the dream is upon us. It is here. It is now. All these years it has been something ahead of us, a kind of glorified beacon. But until yesterday we hadn’t caught up with it. We were panting along behind it, just straining to catch up.
Well, we have caught up with it now. We are possessed by it. It is ours now.
The dream is here, to make true – now.
Casualty list
By the United Press
The War Department, issuing the first official casualty list of the U.S.-Japanese war, today listed the names of 37 American soldiers who were killed in Japanese air raids on Oahu.
Casualties in the bombardment of the Hawaiian base included:
Dead:
PENNSYLVANIA, WEST VIRGINIA AND OHIO:
NAME
AGE
UNIT
NEXT OF KIN
HOMETOWN
Pfc. Wilbur S. Carr
18
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Miamisburg, Ohio
Pfc. Eugene L. Chambers
22
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Mrs. Violet Chambers (mother)
Apollo, Pennsylvania
Staff Sgt. Frank J. DePolis
22
26th Bombardment Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group
Mrs. Laura G. DePolis
Renovo, Pennsylvania
Sgt. James H. Derthick
21
HQ Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group
Paul Derthick (father)
Ravenna, Ohio
Staff Sgt. Joseph E. Good
25
72nd Pursuit Squadron
Mrs. Ellen Good (mother)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1st Lt. Robert M. Richey
32
HQ Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group
Mrs. George K. Richey (mother)
Wellsburg, West Virginia
Sgt. Morris Stacey
24
78th Pursuit Squadron
James H. Stacey (father)
Fairmont, West Virginia
ELSEWHERE:
NAME
AGE
UNIT
HOMETOWN
Pvt. Robert G. Allen
21
45th Pursuit Squadron
Sims, Indiana
1st Sgt. Edward J. Burns
24
72nd Pursuit Squadron
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Cpl. Robert B. Buss
25
45th Pursuit Squadron
Wausau, Wisconsin
Pfc. Theodore F. Byrd Jr.
20
HQ Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group
Tampa, Florida
Cpl. Malachy J. Cashen
34
72nd Pursuit Squadron
Lamont, Iowa
Pvt. Dean W. Cebert
23
72nd Pursuit Squadron
Galesburg, Illinois
2nd Lt. Hans C. Christiansen
23
7th Interceptor Command, 44th Pursuit Squadron
Woodland, California
Pfc. William C. Creech
28
72nd Pursuit Squadron
Cumberland, Kentucky
Staff Sgt. James Everett
30
72nd Pursuit Squadron
James Springs, New Mexico
Pvt. John R. Fletcher
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Janesville, Wisconsin
1st Lt. John S. Greene
33
HQ Squadron, 18th Bombardment Wing
Colfax, Iowa
Staff Sgt. James E. Guthrie
22
72nd Pursuit Squadron
Nathalie, Virginia
Staff Sgt. Joseph C. Herbert
27
HQ Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group
Clear Spring, Maryland
Cpl. Vincent M. Horan
20
78th Pursuit Squadron
Stanford, Connecticut
Pfc. William H. Manley
25
HQ Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group
Atlanta, Georgia
2nd Lt. Robert H. Markley
21
26th Bombardment Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group
Nardin, Oklahoma
Cpl. John G. Mitchell
37
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Hoisington, Kansas
Pvt. Robert R. Niedzwiecki
22
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Grand Rapids, Michigan
2nd Lt. Jay E. Pietzsch
27
26th Bombardment Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group
Amarillo, Texas
Donald D. Plant (no rank shown)
22
46th Pursuit Squadron
Wausau, Wisconsin
Staff Sgt. John A. Price
26
72nd Pursuit Squadron
McComb, Mississippi
Anson E. Robbins (no rank shown)
29
25th Materiel Squadron
Boston, Massachusetts
Sgt. George R. Schmersahl
22
HQ Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group
Corona, Long Island, New York
Pfc. Robert L. Schott
25
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Elkhart, Indiana
Robert R. Shattuck (no rank shown)
21
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Blue River, Wisconsin
Sgt. Robert O. Sherman
22
HQ Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group
Middletown, New York
Staff Sgt. Andrew A. Walczynski
40
6th Pursuit Squadron
Duluth, Minnesota
Pvt. Lumus E. Walker
20
HQ Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group
Ziegler, Illinois
2nd Lt. George A. Whiteman
22
44th Pursuit Squadron
Sedalia, Missouri
The War Department said that the list was only a partial group of casualties.
Pittsburgh District death toll in Hawaii rises to 3
Pvt. Chambers
Sgt. Good
Members of the U.S. Army Air Forces in Hawaii, Pvt. Chambers of Apollo, and Sgt. Good of 1039 Woods Run Ave., North Side, were among those killed by the Jap bombing raid Sunday. Three District boys have been reported killed.
The Pittsburgh District death toll in the surprise bombing of Hawaii rose today to three men as the War Department announced additional soldier casualties.
The local casualties so far reported by the War Department are:
Staff Sgt. Joseph E. Good, 25, of 1039 Woods Run Ave., North Side.
Pfc. Eugene L. Chambers, 22, of 600 Armstrong Ave., Apollo.
Pvt. George G. Leslie, 20, of 1823 Ridge Ave., Arnold.
News of Sgt. Good’s death came to his widowed mother, Mrs. Ellen Good, at her home last night in a telegram from the War Department – just a week after she had received a letter from him.
The letter said that it looked “like we will be here [in Hawaii] for a while” and ended with a hurried note, “I hear the blackout signal is going to sound soon so I must say aloha.”
The letter, written on Thanksgiving, indicated that blackout drills against possible air raids were being held in Hawaii.
Sgt. Good was a member of the 72nd Pursuit Squadron. He enlisted in June 1939. He was a 1935 graduate of Oliver High School and was previously a CCC enrollee and an employee of the Pittsburgh Screw & Bolt Company.
In Hawaii for year
Pvt. Chambers, who enlisted in September 1940, had been stationed in Hawaii with the Air Corps for a year. He was a graduate of Buffalo High School in New York. His mother is Mrs. Violet Chambers.
The report of Pvt. Leslie’s death was issued by the War Department yesterday. He was an Air Corps member and formerly worked at the New Kensington plant of Alcoa. He was a graduate of New Kensington High School.
Two West Virginia men were also reported killed in the bombing attack. They were Lt. Robert M. Richey, 26, of Wellsburg, and Sgt. Morris Stacey, 22, of Fairmont.
Called to duty year ago
Lt. Richey, who won his reserve commission after studying at the University of West Virginia, was called to active duty last year and made a purchasing agent for the Army Air Forces. His mother is a widow.
Sgt. Stacey, who would have been 23 on Christmas Day, was serving a second enlistment with the Air Corps. He signed up first in July 1936, then reenlisted for foreign service in July 1939. He is survived by his father James, four brothers and four sisters.
Worldwide lineup on issues of war
By the United Press
DECLARATIONS OF WAR:
Japan on the United States and Britain.
The United States and Britain on Japan.
Nicaragua, Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, San Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, Australia, New Zealand, Free France, Belgian government-in-exile on Japan.
Manchukuo on the United States.
SOON TO DECLARE:
South Africa and Cuba on Japan.
China on Japan, Germany and Italy.
POSSIBLE DECLARATIONS: Germany and Italy on the United States.
Germany’s position in war due to be cleared soon
By Joseph W. Grigg, United Press staff writer
BERLIN, Germany (UP) – Germany’s position in the Pacific War is expected to be clarified within the next 24 hours, but Nazi sources declined to say whether the clarification will take the form of a Reichstag declaration.
There was great diplomatic activity at the Wilhelmstrasse, but neither German officials nor the German press has given any clear indication of the actual status of German-American relations.
Rumors circulated in Europe today that Germany is preparing to declare war on the United States. Such a declaration presumably would be made by Adolf Hitler, speaking before the Reichstag.
An official statement of Germany’s position in the war, it was believed, will be made shortly, probably tomorrow.
Asked if the Reichstag will be convened, an authorized Nazi spokesman refused to reply.
Despite the lack of press guidance, many usually-reliable observers believed that the Nazi declaration will lay down Germany’s full solidarity and moral support of Japan.
These observers regarded it as most unlikely that Germany will declare war on the United States. Germany might announce a breach in diplomatic relations with America.
For two days, the press has conducted an almost unprecedented campaign of attacks on President Roosevelt.
The spokesman refused comment on the White House’s charge that Germany was responsible for the Japanese attack on the United States, merely saying “it is of no importance.”
Today’s Frankfurter Zeitung was openly jubilant of the fact that the U.S.-Japanese war means relief from pressure on the Axis partners.
War today – Japs’ plan: Scatter U.S. Navy
By Louis F. Keemle, United Press war analyst
Japan’s method of attack gives a clue, in two days of war, to the strategy which she hopes will prevail against the might of the United States.
That plan is to keep our naval and air forces scattered so that they cannot be concentrated against Japan proper, or anywhere in the Far East. The United States has naval and air superiority, but it is divided in the defense of two oceans, a vast continent and many island possessions or objects of defense.
Japan’s strength, on the contrary, is centered wholly in the Pacific Ocean. If the United States could mass the bulk of its naval strength, properly supported by the air arm, in the Western Pacific, the odds would be heavily in favor of an American victory in a mass engagement if fought outside of Japanese home waters.
Prevent concentration
The United States, provided only one capital ship was lost in the Pearl Harbor raid, has 16 battleships. To these would be added two and possibly three which the British have at Singapore. Japan has 11. In other categories, except for a slight inferiority in cruisers, the United States also excels Japan.
Japan thus acted swiftly to prevent an American concentration in the Far East. Her attack ranged over 6,000 miles of ocean. American bases from the Philippines to Hawaii have been attacked. Two thousand miles east is the Pacific Coast of the United States.
If it actually was Japanese planes which caused the alarm on the Pacific Coast last night, the intent is obvious. The main purpose is to keep American air and sea forces on guard there and away from possible battle areas to the west. Japanese submarines in those waters would have the same effect.
Broader moves likely
The above is the first conclusion to be drawn from the preliminary developments of the war. Assuming that Japan is working in collaboration with her Axis partners, an even broader pattern may presently emerge.
About the only thing lacking in an actual state of war between the United States and Germany is the declaration of it. Now rumors are current that Germany is about to take that ultimate step. It presumably would not be an idle gesture but a preliminary to some form of attack on the Atlantic side.
U.S. enters war with backlog of vital materials
Restriction of metal imports from far Pacific sources, however, would affect armament industries in 9 months; OPM sees no immediate shortage By Charles T. Lucey, Scripps-Howard staff writer
WASHINGTON (SHS) – The United States goes to war with what officials today called the greatest backlog of strategic materials – in its mines and stockpiles – of any nation in the world.
But our vast armament industries could begin to feel the pinch in nine months to a year if far-Pacific sources of vital metals were cut off or severely restricted.
Office of Price Management officials said there was no immediate concern over strategic materials. If shortages come, the most difficult ones to get around may be in chromite, tin and mica. But a pinch might come first in some supplies ordinarily not considered quite so vital – Manila fiber, palm oil or coconut oil, for example.
Stockpiles built
For more than a year, the Metals Reserve Company and the Rubber Reserve Company, financed by the RFC, have been building stockpiles. Commitments of more than $1 billion have been made for aluminum, antimony, chromite, copper, graphite, lead, manganese, mica, nickel, platinum, tin, tungsten and zinc. But in some of these, at least until recent weeks, deliveries were hardly more than well begun.
War with Japan is expected to speed production of domestic ores. And if foreign sources of supply are closed off for an extended period, strict limitation of some strategic materials to defense purposes is fairly certain.
The OPM rated tin probably the most important of Pacific imports, pointing out that the U.S. consumes 100,000 tons a year and – until a new Texas smelter is ready to refine Bolivian tin ore – is producing virtually none.
Rubber imported
The U.S. imports 98 percent of the 600,000 tons of crude rubber it uses each year, most of it from the Orient. Heavy rubber stockpiles have been built up, and officials pointed out two alternatives – the reclaiming of used rubber, and production of synthetic rubber.
The OPM said the country was now using about 30 percent reclaimed to 70 percent of crude rubber, and that use of reclaimed rubber could be doubled in a few months. Officials are more optimistic about rubber than about some of the metals.
The United States has had to look to the far Pacific for much of its manganese, tungsten and chromite, used for hardening steel of the type needed for armor plate and armor-piercing projectiles. Now it may be necessary to turn increasingly to Brazil, Cuba and South Africa, and to domestic expansion, for manganese. Molybdenum, plentiful here, may often be substituted for tungsten.
Simms: Japanese Premier helped compose plan for world domination
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor
WASHINGTON (SHS) – Gen. Hideki Tojo, the Japanese premier who set and sprang the war-trap against the United States, is not only one of the chief promoters of the notorious Black Dragon Society, but is said to be co-author of the famous Tanaka Plan for world domination.
To understand the otherwise-almost-incomprehensible war between Japan and the United States, one must know something about such things as the Black Dragons, the Ronin, and the document known as the Tanaka Memorial. These explain, as nothing else can in few words, what happened on Sunday.
On July 25, 1927, the then Japanese premier, Baron Tanaka Giichi, is said to have presented a memorial to the emperor outlining Japanese policy with regard to Manchuria. In so doing, he had to show why Manchuria was so important to Japan. Without Manchuria, he said, Japan could not go ahead with her world conquest.
Called clever forgery
The so-called Tanaka Memorial, according to the Japanese, was a clever forgery. The Chinese insisted it was genuine. Today, few observers in other nations doubt its authenticity. Far too much of it, they argue, has been proved true by events.
Some of the memorial’s highlights are:
To settle the difficulties in East Asia, Japan must adopt a policy of “blood and iron.”
To dominate the world, Japan must conquer China. To do that, she must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia – a program which should be completed in 10 years.
Japan made a mistake to sign the Nine-Power Pact. This had greatly hampered Japanese action in East Asia. The mistake would have to be rectified.
War with the United States and Russia was inevitable in the near future. This made it necessary to build certain railway lines in Manchuria and make other preparations.
Millions in “secret funds” were needed to send “retired” army officers into Manchuria, Mongolia and China to “prepare” the ground.
If Japan wanted to control China, we must first crush the United States just as in the past we had to fight the Russo-Japanese War.
The rest of the Asiatic and South Seas countries would then “fear us and surrender to us.” World domination would follow.
Keeps pot boiling
Premier Tojo served under the late Gen. Tanaka and is said to have been one of the baron’s favorite disciples. As such, I am informed, he helped frame the Memorial, the general terms of which he has devoted many years to carrying out.
Supply of food at Hawaii causes official concern
WASHINGTON (UP) – Gov. Joseph B. Poindexter told Delegate Samuel King by trans-Pacific telephone last night that since Sunday’s Japanese air attack, Hawaii has been calm.
Gov. Poindexter said 37 civilians were known dead and between 80 and 100 seriously injured. Most of the civilian casualties were among residents of Chinese and Japanese areas in Honolulu. The White House has announced that 1,500 persons – civilians and members of the armed forces – were killed and 1,500 wounded and missing on the island of Oahu.
Hawaii’s chief worry, Mr. Poindexter said, was the supply of food.
He asked Mr. King to seek immediate federal aid to build up a reserve. It was planned to close Hawaiian retail outlets today for an inventory of the food on hand.
WASHINGTON – The Army, Navy and civilian population calmly await any eventualities that may make Alaska a battleground, Gov. Ernest H. Gruening told the United Press by radio-telephone last night.
The Army and Navy have spent upwards of $125 million in the last 18 months setting up Alaskan defenses and preparing the territory for an active role in Pacific warfare. Mr. Gruening said the Army and Navy were ready for “anything and everything.”
FCC declares Army can stop broadcasts
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Federal Communications Commission said today that authority to order radio stations off the air as a safeguard against possible aerial attack rests with the Interceptor Command set up by the Army.
The FCC statement was in response to inquiries concerning confusion on the West Coast, where local authorities reportedly ordered radio stations off the air last night.
The mechanism for the Army to order stations to cease broadcasting, so that their beams could not be used as directional targets by enemy aircraft, was set up by the Defense Communications Board.
The Navy has ordered its naval radio stations to suspend broadcasts of weather information.
WASHINGTON (UP) – Secretary of State Cordell Hull today coupled a warning that the United States should be on guard against further attacks with a message that Americans need have no fear of the outcome of the war with Japan.
Mr. Hull’s warning that the nation should be on guard came in answer to a press conference question as to the possible nature of Germany’s probable move in support of Japan.
Mr. Hull spoke purely of the general situation, before rumors began spreading that unidentified planes had been sighted off the East Coast. State Department officials emphasized that he did not have any particular situation in mind.
Former envoy dies
FARMINGTON, Connecticut – John W. Riddle, 77, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Argentina, died last night.
Happy Chandler lives up to vow on enlistment
WASHINGTON (UP) – Sen. A. B. “Happy” Chandler made good on his promise yesterday that he immediately would offer his services to the Armed Forces upon voting for a declaration of war.
Sen. Chandler, a reserve captain, revealed that he had called both Marvin H. McIntyre, President Roosevelt’s secretary, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall offering himself for immediate military duty. “I haven’t had any reply yet,” he said.
In Senate debate on extension of Selective Service, Sen. Chandler pledged that he would join the Army and fight if he were even forced to vote for a declaration of war.
German Embassy staff denies departure rumor
WASHINGTON (UP) – Reports circulated last night that members of the German Embassy staff are burning documents and packing up in preparation to leave, but an Embassy spokesman branded the reports as “erroneous.”
The spokesman said:
You may say that we are making no preparations to move out of the Embassy. The report probably started because a truck was parked outside the Embassy this afternoon. The truck was unloading some trunks – probably for someone moving into living quarters in the Embassy building.
ROME, Italy (Dec. 8) – Italian officials and the U.S. Embassy emphatically denied rumors that “Italy and the United States are at war.” No such report has been transmitted from Rome by any American news agency, it was said.
Maritime Union pledges complete cooperation
WASHINGTON (UP) – The National Maritime Union today pledged its “full support and cooperation” in “the vital task of carrying supplies and war materials to the strategic points necessary for the defense of our nation and defeat of the fascist aggressors.”
The pledge was made in telegrams to President Roosevelt, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, and Adm. Emory S. Land, chairman of the U.S. Maritime Commission. The NMU also telegraphed its port agents that there must be “no interruption of one of the nation’s most vital services – the Merchant Marine.”
Clapper: War rumors
By Raymond Clapper
WASHINGTON – Now that we are at war, all of us are compelled to readjust ourselves.
Twenty-four hours ago, an air raid warden’s knock at your door might have been just an annoyance. Now it must be respected. Who am I or who are you to say it is silly, as most of us thought it was day before yesterday? We must now begin practice training in conducting ourselves as wartime citizens. We must give the benefit of the doubt to the government now.
Some changes must take place in the work of us in the newspaper business, just as some changes must take place in your attitude as a newspaper reader. What was legitimate reporting or speculation 24 hours ago may now be prohibited because it might be of value to the enemy which is seeking our defeat and destruction. The safety of the nation, and victory in the war, now must ride roughshod over some of the freedom we have enjoyed.
Give government benefit of doubt
For a while we must give the government the benefit of the doubt. We must give President Roosevelt and his military machine time to get going without distracting them by screeching from the sidelines.
Take these rumors in your stride for the moment. The government would like to tell us more about the damage suffered in the first Japanese attack. But it must not give away information that would help Japan. Washington is full of rumors. There are questions about the Army and Navy. Were they caught off guard, taking it easy on a Sunday morning? How could so many of our planes have been damaged on the ground if they had been alert to take the air at the first warning of danger or if they had been dispersed on the ground in the manner which I observed on RAF fields in England? Were our ships unduly congregated in harbor over the weekend instead of being out where they would have been less vulnerable targets.
Those are the questions being asked. Judgment must be reserved because we do not know the facts. We are in the midst of a battle. This is not the time to ask questions of people who are doing the fighting. The questions will be followed up in due course by committees of Congress. But for God’s sake, let’s stand behind our Army and Navy now, or at least keep out of the way so they can fight.
Congress voted war with only one against it. Miss Rankin has achieved her small footnote in history. It is duly noted and can be forgotten as a trivial meaningless incident. The country’s unity of will was achieved in one decisive hour, as this all but unanimous vote testifies by comparison with the last war vote, in 1917, when 50 votes were cast against war in the House and six in the Senate. Debate in 1917 was bitter. It raged from noon until 11 p.m. in the Senate and for 17 hours in the House. The nation was divided.
Congress will ask the questions
This time the issue was so clear that debate was unnecessary. Mr. Roosevelt needed to make no appeal. Brutal facts spoke for themselves. Words would have been superfluous. Recrimination between Americans for past views would have been pointless, because all now think alike. There was no spirit of elation, or of glorification of war, no intoxication of the spirit, but only sober, determined response to the evil necessity.
We must expect many wild word-of-mouth stories to circulate through the country without the slightest basis in fact. In the last war, the report spread everywhere that a high official was under arrest. It was finally dispelled only when he made a special public appearance so that newspapers and photographers could spread the fact and kill the utterly baseless rumor. All of us need now to be on guard against these phantoms. Where there is smoke you think there must be fire. But it may not be smoke. It may be only dust kicked up by some careless, irresponsible gossip, or some malicious tongue bent on doing damage to a person or to the nation.
You don’t pass on rumors about a friend. Then don’t do it about the most important friends you have now – your friends who are trying to win a victory for our country.
There will be plenty of checking and question-asking by committees of Congress as the war goes on. The rest of us can well keep out of the way while the Commander-in-Chief gets underway with the pursuit of this gangster of the Orient.
Editorial: The Smiths and the Joneses
One of these days Japan will realize what the bombs that fell on Hawaii on a quiet, sunny Sunday afternoon did for the Joneses and Smiths in America.
On that morning we were a people divided among ourselves. Not basically, of course, but life had become a little too complex for us to stay on an even keel. Our tempers had grown short. If we were Republicans, we wanted no truck with the Democrats. If we were Democrats, we were apt to be bitter about the Republicans. We didn’t like labor or John L. Lewis, or we lined up on labor’s side and tossed figurative brickbats throughout capital’s window.
Either we thought the White House was steering us straight into a shooting war or we castigated a spineless government that wouldn’t put up its fists in a world filled with brawling.
Roosevelt – Wheeler – the British-American Ambulance Fund – the Bund – Stalin and Communism – Lindbergh – crooked politics – we’re not going in and we can’t stay out – another five billion for defense – why should we pay those taxes for a war that isn’t ours? – convoys to England – convoys to Russia – strikes – why do they take my boys? – let’s stay here where we belong.
Then, in midafternoon of this fateful Sunday, Nippon’s bombers sang their song of death over Pearl Harbor.
The neighbors up the street came down. They are comparative strangers but we were glad to see them. we sat, all of us, listening to the radio. We joked about it a little, which is an American trait, but we were tight-lipped and we said little.
“We’ll beat them,” Neighbor Jones said, and we all nodded. Yes, we agreed, we’ll beat them.
Neighbor Jones’ wife shivered. “I have goose pimples all over me,” she said. We laughed at that, but not the way we would have laughed at one of Neighbor Jones’ latest stories. Neighbor Jones is a traveling man, and he comes home weekends with some sidesplitters.
So, we fell to talking about the Smith boy, who is with the artillery in Honolulu. We wondered if he had been one of the unlucky ones. We debated whether or not to phone the Smiths and decided against it.
Mr. Jones said he would give anything to be 20 years younger, and Mrs. Jones reminded him of his asthma, which made Mr. Jones very mad.
“We gotta win – simply gotta win,” he said, flickering his ashes on the carpet.
So, the Joneses, whom we never knew too well, stayed for supper, and Mrs. Jones put on an apron and helped in the kitchen. Then we all pitched in and washed the dishes. It was after midnight when the Joneses left, but they wouldn’t go until we had promised to go to their house some evening this week.
The thought came to us as we were shutting the front door and snapping out the porch light that there were millions of Joneses and Smiths all over the country who began to live together for the first time last Sunday. We recalled that we hadn’t bothered to inquire of Mr. Jones if he had voted for Roosevelt or Willkie. We are completely in the dark as to where they go to church or how they stand on the labor question. But now the Joneses ands the smiths are going in the same direction. What is good for them will be good for us. We have something in common that has to be seen through to the finish.
A handful of little brown men winging their way through the Pacific skies have put us all on the same track.
For that, they will be everlastingly sorry.
Japanese newspaper says: ‘Fight Japan’
LOS ANGELES, California (UP) – The English-language Japanese newspaper Doho said editorially today that “nothing could be more shameless, cowardly, unwarranted and unjustified” than Japan’s attack on the United States and urged American Japanese to “fight for the defeat of militaristic Japan.”
We must now fight for the complete defeat of militaristic Japan. To join in the defense of America, to fight against Japan now, is to fight not only for the defeat of the dictator clique of Japan, but also for the complete defeat of Hitlerite Germany.
West Coast blacked out by air alarm
Army reports Jap planes near San Francisco – Seattle riots By Leicester Wagner, United Press staff writer
BULLETIN
SAN FRANCISCO, California – All California radio stations were ordered off the air indefinitely today after recurrent air raid alarms.
The air raid alarm areas and the approximate route of the Jap planes reported menacing the Pacific Coast are shown on the map above.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (UP) – A night of blackouts and air raid alarms ordered by military authorities brought the war close to the West Coast today.
Woman is shot during blackout
SAN FRANCISCO, California (UP) – Mrs. Mariw Sayre, 27, of San Francisco, was shot and seriously wounded by a California Home Guard on patrol duty at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during last night’s blackout.
Her husband, Don Sayre, said he did not hear Pvt. A. Rownd’s challenge for him to stop his car. Pvt. Rownd said he was acting under instructions to stop all cars and order them to dim their headlights.
Army authorities asserted enemy planes were operating off California’s shores, and before dawn, two blackouts had been ordered for the San Francisco Bay Area while the Pacific Northwest and San Diego remained in darkness all night long.
Considerable confusion surrounded the alert signals which many persons assumed to be practice alarms and which even the police twice mistakenly announced were test warnings.
The first was ordered when planes were detected about 100 miles off San Francisco. Brig. Gen. William Ryan, commanding the 4th Interceptor Command, was convinced they were enemy aircraft.
The planes, he added, apparently came from an aircraft carrier and had lost their orientation when the radios went off the air.
Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt, commanding the Fourth Army and the Western Defense Command, said he had no doubt but that they came from a carrier.
“They could have been on reconnaissance duty,” Gen. DeWitt said. “They could have gathered information for later use.” He suggested the planes were not on a bombing mission.
Gen. DeWitt was critical of the success of the blackout, the first test given this city of 700,000 persons. He said neon lights were prominent during the entire blackout period.
Gen. Ryan said the Navy was attempting to “locate and give battle” to the invaders.
The second warning was presumably caused by U.S. Navy patrol bombers that failed to identify themselves.
Near Golden Gate entrance
“We’re in a hell of a spot here,” Gen. Ryan said, “and we just can’t take any chances.”
The initial “enemy” force was believed to number 60 planes, which ventured to the entrance to the Golden Gate. The planes were flying too high to be caught by searchlights. They soon disappeared to sea.
The report was relayed up and down the coast. Radio stations were ordered off the air lest their signals afford direction posts. Blackouts were imposed at Army posts, Navy bases, defense plants and numerous cities.
Rioting followed in Seattle, where crowds numbering almost 3,000 persons swarmed the streets and kicked in windows and broke electric signs of merchants who had failed to observe the blackout.
Close radio stations
Los Angeles radio stations, that had been restricted to broadcasting identification calls each half-hour, were ordered off the air completely “until further notice.”
A bright moon, to some extent, offset the blackout in California, but the Northwest was overcast and past experience in trial blackouts had given that area a chance to perfect its “alert” organizations.
In San Francisco, the city pulled the switches on street and bridge lights, including the big span across the Golden Gate, and Mayor Angelo Rossi’s staff hastily began a telephone campaign to get commercial signs and residential lights turned off. Ferry sirens screamed the air raid warning.
Have 65-minute alarm
For 65 minutes, the first alarm, originally broadcast by the police radio system, was in effect before the police announced an all-clear. At no time, police said, was there panic here. Motorists, stopped by police on street corners and ordered to dim their lights, drove to nearby hills to watch for the reported enemy raiders.
Police and volunteers went from door-to-door warning residents to pull their shades.
Portland, most of the Pacific Northwest, San Diego and all the province of British Columbia were blacked out. Los Angeles was not.
Orders befuddle police
The blackout and the air raid alarm were bogged in confusion. Conflicting orders and statements befuddled even the police. Twice they advised that the blackout and alarm had been terminated and was a practice alert, but both times Gen. Ryan insisted it be continued.
To answer reports that it was a test alarm, he finally issued this statement:
Planes were originally detected at a point about 100 miles offshore, approaching in the direction of San Francisco. There were two flights, comprising numerous planes.
The planes came to within 20 miles of the Golden Gate, at which point one flight headed toward Monterey, the second turned north.
The two flights joined near Point Reyes [about 30 miles north of San Francisco], passed low over Fort Barry [on a promontory] guarding the entrance to the Golden Gate. When they had reached a point opposite the offshore entrance to Monterey Bay, they turned west-southwest and disappeared at sea.
There were no Army, Navy or civilian planes in the air at the time.
Capt. W. K. Kilpatrick, Chief of Staff of the 12th Naval District, would not comment other than to announce emphatically, “This was not a drill.”
The War Department in Washington, hours after the alarm, said it had received no report of hostile planes off the West Coast and had “no means of verifying the report.”
Navy spots raiders
Gen. Ryan’s statement indicated that it was patrolling naval craft that first detected the approaching planes, rather than the aircraft warning service.
This was borne out in a statement issued by Mayor Rossi. He said he was first informed by the Navy intelligence officer at Treasure Island that unidentified airplanes were approaching.
He confirmed the report, he said, with high Army and Navy officials – the aircraft warning service of the 4th Interceptor Command, and the Chief of Staff of the 12th Naval District.
Civilians evacuated
Mayor Rossi said he ordered the blackout “at the urgent insistence” of Army and Navy officials, and that Gen. Ryan himself had given the order terminating the first blackout at 9 p.m. PST (midnight EST).
Throughout the West, normal civilian life was being displaced by wartime activities. Schools at Alameda were closed until the situation was stabilized. Civilians, by Army order, were evacuated from a 20-block area around Fort MacArthur which protects the vital Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor.
Civilians were also evacuated from the strategic Carquinez Strait, where the Sacramento River enters San Pablo Bay. Along this strip lie Mare Island Navy Yard, the Benicia Arsenal, scores of oil refineries and targets particularly vulnerable to attack.
Instrument operation of commercial aircraft was halted because radio direction beams were also ordered off the air.
Gen. MacArthur: Jap losses high in raids on Philippines
By Richard C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
BULLETIN
MANILA, Philippines – Japanese planes again attacked the Manila area tonight, but were met by heavy anti-aircraft fire from the American defense batteries.
MANILA, Philippines (UP) – U.S. defense forces were officially reported today to have inflicted “considerable” losses on Japanese air squadrons attacking the Philippines, but officials still withheld comment on reported enemy land operations on the islands of Lubang and Mindanao.
Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the American forces in the Far East, said the Japanese “sustained considerable aerial losses” in attacks on island objectives, including Nichols Field just south of Manila.
The attacks ranged from Luzon Island, on which Manila is situated, to Davao on Mindanao Island in the south. Clark Field near Manila was reported heavily damaged, while Iba and Tuguegarao were bombed.
Gen. MacArthur said losses by both sides was a military secret.
Reports circulated that Japanese troops had landed on Lubang Island. Officials declined comment on rumors that Japanese residents had attempted an uprising on Mindanao Island.
Reliable sources estimated that about 25,000 Japanese nationals had been rounded up in the Philippines in the last 24 hours.
The situation in Davao, one of the main centers of Japanese, was reported well in hand as a result of the arrest of about 18,000 Japanese.
The Davao hemp plantations operated by Japanese were taken over by the government. About 4,000 Japanese were arrested in the Manila area.
An announcement said that at least one Japanese plane had been shot down near Davao and that the pilot was shot and killed as he attempted to escape.
Japs bomb Manila, 200,000 flee city, foe lands on isle
Philippine air base, Fort McKinley and radio stations hit as flames rise from city; small enemy force 80 miles from town By Richard C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
MANILA, Philippines – Japanese struck at the Philippines by land and air today, and 200,000 residents of Manila went to the hills for safety.
Enemy planes bombed the Manila area by moonlight early today and flames leaped up on the southern side of the city after an air raid alarm. There were two earlier alarms, but no planes appeared.
Reliable sources said Japanese troops had landed on the small island of Lubang, only 80 miles from the city. Reports said Japanese had landed only a small force, and it was assumed preparations were being made by American forces to attack.
Navy ensign killed
An announcement said one person was killed and 12 wounded in the raid at Nichols Field, an Army air base near Manila. In addition, headquarters of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet said Ens. Robert George Tills had been killed by a Japanese air raid on Davao, in the island of Mindanao.
MBS Correspondent Royal Arch Gunnison reported from Manila that Ens. R. E. White, USN, was also killed in action at Guam. He also said three Marines – Cpl. Albert Legato, Cpl. Harry E. Anderson and Pfc. James W. Babb – were in a serious condition as a result of the attack on Davao. Mr. Gunnison said a Japanese aircraft carrier from which 200 planes had been operating had been sunk, but the Navy refused to confirm or deny the report.
The CBS correspondent in Manila said the city had not suffered heavily from the bombing, but that damage elsewhere in the Philippines had been heavy.
About 400,000 persons may be evacuated from Manila. President Manuel Quezon is directing their removal to safety.
The BBC, heard by CBS, reported that the Japanese also bombed two shortwave transmitting stations. BBC said that Japanese planes continued their attack for 10 minutes in face of heavy anti-aircraft fire.
NBC reported that two persons were wounded by a bomb which struck near Fort McKinley.
BBC reported that a Japanese man had been arrested in Manila as he was cutting telephone lines.
Admit Guam attacked
U.S. naval authorities confirmed that America’s mid-Pacific Guam Island had been attacked.
E. S. Turner, secretary of the American defense group, announced that Baguio, the summer capital (150 miles north of Manila), had been approved as an evacuation center for American women and children.
Baguio itself was one of the first targets of Japanese bombs in the attack on the Philippines.
There was a third quarter moon when Japanese planes bombed the Manila area. The city’s 800,000 people, including 4,000 American civilians, had been expecting a Jap attack. Streets were almost deserted and only the flicker of an occasional light filtered through chinks in blackout curtains.
Japs bomb prison camp
Japanese internees were concentrated in the old central prison and the new prison, under guard of soldiers and men of the Philippine Constabulary.
Several hundred Jap gardeners, arrested in the Baguio region, were held at Camp John Hay, one of the targets for the Jap aviators in their first attacks.
It was understood that Japanese Consul-General Katsumi Nihro here had been burning documents with members of his staff, unaware that the war had actually started shortly before troops closed the consulate-general.
Meanwhile, the Navy announced here that the minesweeper USS Penguin (840 tons) was sunk when attacked by the Japanese outside Guam Harbor.
The USS Penguin, built in 1918, had a complement of 52-90 men, depending on the work it was engaged in. It carried two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns.
The Navy said there were several casualties among the civilian population in the Japanese attack and that two employees of Pan American Airways were killed. They were Teddy F. Cruz and Lorenzo Pangilinan.
Three Marines among the casualties were reported in serious condition. They were Cpl. Albert Legato, Cpl. Harry Anderson and Pfc. James W. Babb.
The Navy said there was damage to buildings in Guam.
Raids’ timetable at Philippines
NEW YORK (UP) – Here is a timetable of Japanese attacks thus far against the Philippines as given by NBC reporters in Manila (all times PHT):
December 8:
6:30 a.m.: Thirteen Japanese bombers attack the U.S. air base at Davao in the southern Philippines, inflicting small damage.
1:30 p.m.: Davao is attacked for the second time. Reports say that the aircraft carrier USS Langley and a U.S. destroyer are damaged.
1:30 p.m.: Japanese bombers from Formosa attempt an attack on Clark Field, the biggest U.S. air base. Driven off from Clark Field, they drop bombs on Baguio, the summer capital of Philippines, and Camp John Hay, killing seven persons.
2:30 p.m. (approx.): Second attack on Clark Field commences, in which 300 casualties and the destruction of 25 U.S. bombers are reported.
December 9:
1 a.m. (approx.): The first Manila air raid alarm; the Japanese attack Corregidor, the fortress island defending Manila Bay. There is no serious damage inflicted.
3:09 a.m.: Second Manila air raid commences. The Japanese set fire to Nichols Field gasoline stores, hangars and supplies; bomb Fort McKinley and attempt to attack the RCA transmitter.
200 of foes’ ships taken, Tokyo claims
By the United Press
Japan asserted today that it had launched an offensive on China’s lifeline of supply, the Burma Road, through northern Thailand and that it had seized 200 enemy merchant ships, including the 10,509-ton U.S. liner President Harrison.
The report of the Burma Road attack came through the Berlin radio.
Berlin also quoted Tokyo that Japanese land forces had started an attack on Singapore.
Britain denied this report as completely unfounded.
Small ships seized
It was indicated that the merchant ships which Japan seized were nearly all small ones, probably most of them from China waters, as it was said that they totaled only 80,000 tons.
The fate of the President Harrison had been in doubt since Sunday when Japan attacked the United States.
The liner was believed to have been off the Yangtze River in the Shanghai area on its way to Ching Wang Tao in the north, to evacuate U.S. Marines isolated in Peking and Tientsin. These Marines have now been disarmed and made prisoner by the Japanese.
Destruction reported
Japan asserted that its fighting forces, in an unbroken series of successes in the Pacific war, had destroyed more than 300 U.S. planes in its assaults on the Philippines and Hawaii, and had bombed America’s Midway Island, 1,300 miles west of the Hawaiian Islands.
First news of the assertion that Singapore was now under direct attack came in an official German news agency dispatch from Tokyo, heard in London by the United Press listening post.
The dispatch said the Japanese Imperial Staff had announced that Japanese land troops were now attacking the Singapore area.
Britain denies report
Britain, in a broadcast heard by CBS, quoted Singapore as saying that the Japanese report of a landing at Singapore was completely untrue and that there were no Japanese troops in the southern Malay coast.
A dispatch of the official Italian news agency quoted Imperial Headquarters as saying that Japanese naval air units attacked Midway Island yesterday afternoon and successfully bombed airdromes and fuel depots without loss.
It was asserted that the American islands of Guam and Wake were now fully under Japanese control and that the Japanese flag flew over them.
Japanese claims
The official Japanese news agency, in a broadcast heard in New York by the United Press listening post, said that among 300 U.S. planes destroyed in the Philippines and Hawaii were 40 Flying Fortresses and 30 other long-range bombers.
It listed 200 planes destroyed in the Hawaiian attacks and 100 in the Philippine attacks, 40 at Iba Airfield and 60 at Clark Field.
A German news agency Tokyo dispatch quoted naval headquarters as saying that an “enemy airplane mother ship” had been sunk off Honolulu.
Up to that time, the Japanese had claimed the sinking of two U.S. battleships, and the damaging of two other battleships and four large cruisers in the Hawaiian attack, and the sinking of a U.S. warship, possibly the minesweeper USS Penguin, off Guam.
Japan also claimed the capture of several American merchantmen.
It admitted no damage to its own fleet.
Tokyo broadcast that a “severe blow” had been given to the U.S. Navy.
It said:
U.S. naval activity in the Pacific is completely frustrated. Years will be necessary to make good these losses of the first hours. Britain and the United States are bewildered by these Japanese attacks.
Japs enter Siam’s capital
An official German news agency dispatch reported that Japanese troops had entered Bangkok, capital of capitulated Thailand, last night.
British broadcasts quoted the Japanese embassy in Bangkok – Japan accorded Thailand ambassadorial status yesterday – as saying that British Imperial forces crossed the Thai border and the Japanese were meeting them “in order to assure the independence of Thailand.”
Radio Tokyo asserted that British troops had been driven back in southern Thailand after crossing the Malay border and that the British were being rounded up.
Radio Tokyo asserted that furious Japanese bombing attacks were being made in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Vichy gives Japs rights
The official Japanese news agency asserted that Adm. Jean Decoux, Vichy Governor-General of French Indochina, had agreed to a Japanese “request” for the dispatch of additional Jap troops to Indochina “to further strengthen French Indochina defenses.”
Adm. Decoux ordered blackouts in southern Indochina effective last night, it was added.
An official Italian news agency dispatch said that when Japanese troops took over the International Settlement in Shanghai, they did not molest the adjoining French concession, but added that two American radio stations had been seized in Shanghai.
A German dispatch from Hsinking, capital of Japan’s puppet state of Manchukuo, quoted the head of the Japanese Army press service there as saying that the Japanese Army of Manchukuo, “in the present holy war,” would do its duty and defend the northern border – the frontier facing Siberia.
The puppet emperor of Manchukuo sent a message to the Japanese Mikado which said:
We pray for Japan’s glorious victory in this holy war and we will collaborate as Japan’s allies in this war against the Americans and the British with the utmost determination.
Berlin quoted Tomokazu Hori, chief Japanese government spokesman, as expressing belief that Japanese relations with Russia would remain unchanged and that South American states would not declare war on Japan. He added that Japan refused to recognize the war declaration of Costa Rica.
Hori was quoted as saying that Japan would “do its utmost” to “secure the life” of enemy nationals, including private persons, as well as diplomatic staffs. He said that food would be provided for them and that Japan would “do its best” to make it possible for them to “satisfy their customary needs.”
Country plunges into war, but people remain people
Washington undergoes ‘dim-out,’ but lights blaze in many government buildings By Joseph L. Myler, United Press staff writer
WASHINGTON (UP) – War is a bomb bursting in a crowded barracks; it is also a red-eyed girl clinging to the arm of a boy in uniform.
War may be a shell plowing into armor plate – or a naval administrative officer begging his superiors for a chance at duty with the fleet.
It may be a coffee-saturated group of tired newspapermen getting to their feet when a radio plays the Star-Spangled Banner, and noting tears in each other’s eyes.
It may be a smile on the face of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, who smiles oftenest when the strain is greatest.
Guard against sabotage
The bombs are 5,000 miles from the capital so far, but these other manifestations of war are apparent everywhere here.
Lights blaze at night in a government office building which last week was deserted by 7 p.m. EST at the latest. The bombs are on the other side of the world, but sabotage may explode in the shadow of the Capitol any minute.
Those in charge of utilities, the national airport and essential district services are taking no chances. Special anti-sabotage patrols have been stationed at the airport. Augmented guards watch factories.
Buildings guarded
Soldiers guard the Munitions Building.
Platoons of soldiers, bayonets fixed, march outside the Army and Navy buildings. Streets on either side of the White House are barricaded, and around the building march soldiers in pairs, 50 yards apart. They carry full equipment, including gas masks.
Inside the White House grounds prowl extra police. Paired police officers stand at each gate. A Puerto Rican in a dress suit who tried to crash one of the gates with an “important message” for the President was arrested.
The bombs are 5,000 miles away, but authorities responsible for the capital’s safety are weighing the possibility that they may come closer. In the metropolitan area, 13,000 air raid wardens have been instructed to remain “on the alert.” They have been told to leave their radios tuned in for emergency orders.
Gas masks sought
The District Commissioners are asking $1,500,000 from the Budget Bureau for air-raid sirens, warden posts and gas masks.
For two nights, Washington’s streetlights have been dimmed and motorists have been asked to do the same with their headlights. Police have urged against “unnecessary use of the streets.”
One hundred and four American soldiers were killed by one bomb hit in Oahu. Here their commanders walk the streets, jam the stations en route to camp, and fill the cafés.
Army and Navy uniforms are commonplace. Since the order went out for servicemen – including all administrative officers – to appear henceforth in uniform, rather than in the accustomed mufti, runs on military clothing stores have forced at least two to hang “sold out” signs. And complete outfits cost $160.
Embassies guarded
Japan, in the words of the President, launched an “unprovoked and dastardly attack” against the United States. But there have been no popular demonstrations in the capital. Strong police guards have been stationed at the Japanese, German and Italian embassies. But there has been no apparent need for them.
The temper of Washingtonians makes violent outbursts improbable. They feel a cold anger that can wait for the “inevitable triumph” predicted by the President.
The war is far out in the Pacific, but in Washington, executives are sleeping on cots in the Munitions Building; 500 amateur radio operators have been ordered off the air by the FCC; the Red Cross has announced it has 10,000 trained volunteers ready for action in emergency; all the department buildings display freshly-inked signs “Show Your Passes.”
But people remain people, even in Washington. At 5-6 p.m., thousands still knock off for the day and go home with newspapers under their arms.
Despite the dimming of streetlights, the shopping district’s Christmas decorations are as brilliant as ever.
Theater of war, Hawaii to Russia
This is the arena where giants clash. This is the setting for history’s mightiest conflict, from the Russian front to the new Pacific front.
1917 war bill typist speeds 1941 measure
WASHINGTON (UP) – The man who typed out the declaration of war in 1917 rushed to the White House yesterday with the Congressional declaration of a state of war between the United States and Japan.
He is Garrett Whiteside, now clerk of the Senate Committee on Enrolled Bills. It was his duty to have the resolution printed and to have taken it to Speaker Sam Rayburn and Vice President Henry A. Wallace for signature. He then delivered the resolution to the White House.
Censorship rules invoked by U.S.
Regulations will be extended within next few days
WASHINGTON (UP) – Wartime censorship machinery accelerated its pace today as government agencies invoked certain press restrictions and imposed controls over shortwave radio, wireless telegraph and cable communications.
Officials said the machinery would be extended within the next few days and that steps would be taken to coordinate censorship activities of the various agencies.
So far, varying degrees of censorship are being exercised by the Army, Navy and the Office of Coordinator of Information, the agency headed by Col. William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan.
To extend censorship
Within the next few days, a high government official said, censorship will be applied to domestic radio broadcasters by an organization that will be headed by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. It was understood that Mr. Hoover will serve until a civilian can be appointed to the post.
FCC Chairman James L. Fly said the FCC has not been called upon to initiate any censorship over domestic broadcasting. He added, however, that military agencies, in cooperation with the FCC, were studying extension of restrictions on rebroadcasts of radiocasts originating from points outside the United States.
There were also suggestions in official quarters that censorship of the mail and domestic telegrams will go into effect shortly.
Espionage Act invoked
It was possible that such censorship was now operating informally, officials said.
The Navy invoked provisions of the 1917 Espionage Act governing conveyance, or publication of any information that might be of value to the enemy.
Announcement of this action was made by Rear Adm. A. J. Hepburn, chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Public Relations, who did not give specific examples of the kind of information barred from publication. Adm. Hepburn said the Army had taken similar action.
The Maritime Commission “requested” all agencies of public information to refrain from publication or announcement of information, direct or indirect, concerning the movement, position, cargoes or destination of any merchant vessels on any waters.
War in Pacific seen as blow to British plan
Sacrifices expected to be demanded of U.S. and England By William H. Stoneman
LONDON, England – Japan’s lightning entry into war has presented the Allies with a multitude of problems. Such extension of war was not desired by London.
From the very beginning, it was felt here that war in the Pacific was to be avoided because it would deprive the British of American war materials.
Now that war has come in the Pacific, it is realized that there will probably be heavy and immediate diversion of supplies to America’s own forces, but that in due time, American production will be so enormous that it will satisfy the needs of both countries.
The problem is to hold the fort until the United States does organize her full resources and it is realized that every last ounce of British and Russian energy must be devoted to this task.
It is assumed here that both Britain and the United States must be prepared to take some hard knocks and to make unprecedented sacrifices. A really complete mobilization of British manpower and womanpower will be absolutely vital and British production methods must improve, even though the United States has to send production experts here to do it.
Germany can be expected to intensify the battle of the Atlantic and to sink American ships. Bombing raids may also be intensified.
U.S. declares Nazis ‘pushed’ Japs into war
White House: Reich sought to torpedo Lend-Lease assistance
WASHINGTON (UP) – Germany today stood accused of having done all it could “to push Japan into the war.”
An official White House statement said it was “the German hope that if the United States and Japan could be pushed into war, such a conflict would put an end to the Lend-Lease program.”
The White House said the purpose of the statement was to show the inaccuracies of German broadcasts and announcements relative to the Lend-Lease program.
Text of statement
Obviously Germany did all it could to push Japan into the war. It was the German hope that if the United States and Japan could be pushed into war that such a conflict would put an end to the Lend-Lease program.
As usual, the wish was rather to the thought behind the broadcasts and announcements emanating from Germany with relation to the war and the Lend-Lease program. That such German broadcasts and announcements are continuously and completely 100 percent inaccurate is shown by the fact that the Lend-Lease program is and will continue in full operation.
See sudden attack
The release of the statement coincided with these developments pertaining to Germany:
High diplomatic quarters reported that Germany may be preparing to aid Japan by launching a sudden attack on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
The Secret Service took up press credentials of Kurt G. Sell, Washington correspondent of the official German DNB News Agency and the only German newsman stationed here. Sell will no longer be permitted to attend official White House, State Department and other federal press conferences in federal offices. He will still be able to file news dispatches to Berlin, but they will be subject to American censorship.
Credentials taken up
Credentials of Japanese correspondents here were taken up Sunday night. There are no Italian newsmen here. Thus, no newsmen of the Axis countries will be represented at press conferences henceforth.
The White House statement regarding Germany’s effort to push Japan into war recalled the official Tokyo reply to American terms for peace. Tokyo, in rejecting the terms, accused the United States of conspiring to achieve peaceful settlement of Pacific problems so it could close its backdoor and devote its energies to attacking Germany.
Casey: Japan fired first shot months ago in Alaskan blasts
Recent fire and previous explosions at U.S. base in Sitka cited as opening phase of war; territory feels isolated from America By Robert J. Casey
Robert J. Casey, who has just completed a survey of the strategical situation in Alaska, provides some startling and hitherto unpublished information about pre-belligerent developments in Alaska.
Alaska feels that it is isolated from the United States despite Canada’s defense skyway which is linked to American air bases as shown on the map above. The proposed U.S. defense highway, which Alaskans want quickly, is also indicated.
SITKA, Alaska – The war, any Alaskan will tell you, started not Sunday morning in the Hawaiian Islands, but Saturday night at Sitka. And the Alaskans will give you evidence that the first shot was really touched off a couple of months ago – and they’ll make out a convincing case.
A drill barge burned Saturday night. In the channel between the town and the naval base, it looked like a simple fire – one of those things you can expect around a busy construction camp.
Except that it constituted a menace to navigation, it didn’t seem to be worth much attention from anybody save the camp fire department. So, if you gave the matter any thought at all, you might have wondered at the tone of dispatches which told about it… Authorities feared terrific damage… The military base was thought to be in danger… and, significantly, the populace of Sitka had been warned to leave the town.
You wondered at it
You heard that over your radio and maybe you wondered – now why should a fire on a drill barge in a wide channel cause the evacuation of a town – particularly when the inhabitants, old and young and well and ill, had no place to run to, except the snow-filled crevices of the mountains that rise abruptly where the pavement ends?
Well, through the well-meant hush-hush that has done nothing to keep such people as our little brown brothers from knowing what has been going on in our defense program in Alaska, you finally get a hint of the reason. That fire wasn’t anything new to Sitka. It was the third of a series, all mysterious, all big enough to threaten the destruction of a large and important part of the establishment.
The first one was a little more than two months ago. News of it over the established channels to the United States has been significantly scarce.
Guard dynamite stores
Sitka Base, one violates no military secret in announcing, has been constructed by blowing the tops off a series of small rocky islands in the channel and linking them together. For this job, large quantities of dynamite were necessary. As is the custom on projects of this kind, the stick dynamite was stored in one shed. The detonating caps were stored in another. Both, theoretically, were under military guard.
One fine night, a sentry discovered smoke coming out of the cracks in the dynamite shed. He turned on an alarm. The soldiers and Marines responded and volunteer firemen from the town swarmed across on the ferry.
Everybody seems to have realized that there was danger of a blast that might blow Sitka out into the sea, but because of the separation of the explosive and the caps that might detonate it, the danger appeared to be remote. The dynamite, undisturbed, might be expected to burn out in a terrifically hot but harmless blaze.
End of island goes up
Then, for no reason that anybody has so far assigned, the caps went up… so did the dynamite. So did that end of the island.
Three men were reported to have been killed in the fire and blast… 22 to have been injured. Nobody volunteered to say officially that there had been sabotage. Nobody alive who might have been a competent witness as to whether or not it was an accident…
They got some plate glass up from Seattle to replace the panes knocked out in the town, diverted some of the construction crew from hard rock work to repairing the camp, built two more shacks and got another shipment of dynamite and caps. Within three weeks of the first explosion, there was another one.
Army captain killed
The fire started in the same place and pursued the same course. An Army captain due for retirement the following day led the detail that went to put out the blaze in the dynamite shed. His wife arrived from Seattle in Juneau just in time to meet his body. Two soldiers were also killed. The number of injured was never accurately reported, because by that time, official censorship was going well, but it was said to have approximated the list in the first affair.
You get the general impression that Sitka was not inclined to minimize the barge fire.
And now one of the things that every Alaskan wishes he didn’t know is that the western tip of the territory is only about 800 miles from Japan.
Describes isolation
You start to tell about the skyway that Canada built, in the interests of Pacific defense, from Edmonton to Whitehorse. You mention that U.S. bombers are already slipping into the north country over this weather-free route, that the threat of any invasion from nearby Asia is rapidly being countered. Then you notice that your audience is not particularly interested.
Of Alaska’s isolation from the United States, a mining engineer, with whom I rode on the plane to Sitka, said:
We are part of continental America but we are as isolated as if we were on an island somewhere west of Hawaii. Most of our supplies come in here from the outside and they all come by boat. War will stop the boats… and when the boats stop, we stop.
Few people realize the tremendous distances in Alaska. Nome, for instance, is just about due north of Honolulu. In the Russian days, there was a regular trade between Sitka and the Sandwich Islands and very little between Alaskan ports and California – in point of time Seward is as far from Juneau as Seattle.
Need road to U.S.
Inasmuch as 90 percent of our population lives on the coast a lot of people are worrying about bombing; but I don’t think we’ll be bombed.
But I do believe we can expect a lot of trouble from submarines. And damage they may do to steamship lines along this coast, they are certain to put a crimp in shipping and that means that they will put a crimp in Alaska. A skyway for bombers is fine, but what we need right now for civilian defense is just something that we’ve needed since this peninsula became U.S. territory, a road that will give us a physical link to the United States.
Thanks to the thick hush-hush with which these rocky coasts are enveloped, nobody knows what the Navy is doing for the protection of Alaska. So, you can look at a map of the shoreline from Ketchikan to Point Barrow and count the thousands of islands and bays and inlets with no official information about whether enemy submarines might find a hiding place in the lonely nooks or not. Lacking any word of comfort from the Navy, you’d say they could.
Meanwhile, there hasn’t been a plane out of Juneau bound for anywhere in the past seven days. Out in the gulf somewhere, three steamships are tied up in the lee of some rocky promontory that gives protection against an 85-mile gale. Just now, at least, Alaska seems to be a lot of long, cold miles away from anywhere else.
War halts strike at munitions plant
RAVENNA, Ohio (UP) – R. R. Walker, spokesman for four striking unions at the $57 million government shell-loading plant here, said last night that the strike had been called off “in view of the dastardly attack on United States possessions in the Pacific,” and that the men will return to their jobs tomorrow morning.
Army officers at the plant had said that although 1,500 men were ordered to strike, only 200 actually walked out.
Regional NLRB Director Hugh E. Sperry requested the striking workers to return to their jobs in the interests of national defense and assured the unions that the returning workers would be reinstated “without prejudice or discrimination,” Mr. Walker said.
Negotiations between the unions and the Atlas Powder Company, operator of the plant, will be resumed shortly, he said.
The four unions had struck for a signed contract embodying a union shop clause.
Boulder Dam guarded
LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The huge Boulder Dam power plant was closed to visitors today and military police were on guard.
Lindbergh asks for war unity
Flier says attack forces retaliation
CHICAGO, Illinois (UP) – Charles A. Lindbergh, leading isolationist spokesman, said late yesterday that now that war has come, “we must meet it as united Americans” regardless of any past attitude toward government policy.
The famed flier, one of the principal speakers for the America First Committee, released his statement through the national committee headquarters here. He was at West Tisbury, Massachusetts, where he had declined to see newspapermen since hostilities began Sunday.
Mr. Lindbergh said:
We have been stepping closer to war for many months. Now it has come and we must meet it as united Americans, regardless of our attitude in the past toward the policy our government had followed.
Whether or not that policy has been wise, our country has been attacked by force of arms, and by force of arms we must retaliate. Our own defenses and our own military position have already been neglected too long.
We must now turn every effort to building the greatest and most efficient Army, Navy and Air Force in the world. When American soldiers go to war, it must be with the best equipment that modern skill can design and the modern industry can build.
The America First Committee had earlier issued a statement pledging its support of the war effort.
Editorial: We, the people
After the shock, the horror. After the horror, the anger. After the anger, the resolve. After the resolve, the exaltation of being part of a vast unity, surging forward in righteous defense of our beloved democracy. So, most of us have been whirled through these harrowing hours of destiny, to the heights of a great patriotism.
And after the exaltation, now what? The emotional reaction? The wincing and whining under initial losses? The doubts and suspicions caused by enemy claims of success? The impatience for spectacular feats? The demand for quick victory? The cry for scapegoats when the going is hard? The hysteria of a people who can’t take it?
That must not be the aftermath of the first fine frenzy of our dedication to America in peril. It will not be, if we have the faith and the concept of our fathers. They did not ask military miracles. Their devotion did not ebb and flow with changing tides of battle, or shrivel before every evil wind. In adversity, they were steadfast.
America needs more from us than our fortune, our service, the risk of life and the lives of our sons. America needs more than sacrifice. It needs what may often be more difficult to give – our patience, our quiet and unebbing confidence.
Our morale will not be measured by loyalty oaths, or by brittle boasts.
This is not only a war of mechanized forces. It is also a war of nerves. If rumors are not to menace us, we must be calm. Poise is as important as production.
The sudden shift from the peacetime practice of kibitzing to the wartime privilege of pulling a silent oar is not easy. But the luxury of incessant criticism is war’s first fatality. That is inevitable. In the months to come, we must follow the leader.
That does not mean my leader right or wrong. It does mean an essential faith in his courage, in his wisdom, in his honor. It does mean a willingness to defer judgment in the face of half-truths and incomplete facts, when it is not safe for him to justify, nor expedient for him to explain.
Democracy is not adjourned. But democracy in crisis must function with more sober responsibility, with more restraint in criticism. Opposition can be loyal; its service can be higher than fly-specking past mistakes or deploring departures from perfection.
The most encouraging thing that had happened in this newly-unified nation in the last 48 hours is evidence that opposition leaders are aware of the higher responsibility to which this crisis has called them.
Our confidence cannot stop short with our Commander, or with those chosen to share his duties. It must encompass our fellow Americans. This nation can be no stronger in war than its citizens.
Let us assume that our neighbors are as loyal as we are, that no heresy hunts shall divide us and no persecutions poison our communities. Let us forget that some labor leaders slowed production in unfair strikes, and that some industrialists held up defense contracts while they drove hard bargains with the government.
America needs the cooperation now of all individuals, of all classes, of all factions. Let the past bury its mistakes, which have been many – from high and low. Let every man be judged a patriot until he proves otherwise. Not many will be found wanting.
America has the resources to win. We have the machines and the manpower. We have the just cause. And in that might and in that right, we have such national unity as never before in our history.
It only remains for us – the people – to provide a morale that will not falter, that will sustain our President and our armed forces and our production services through the long darkness, leading us at last to victory.
CANDIDLY SPEAKING — Women have begun to see war firsthand
By Maxine Garrison
The British Institute of Public Opinion, affiliate of the American Institute, set out to learn the British public’s views on compelling women to engage actively in war.
Their findings were interesting, to say the least.
A majority (55 percent) favors making it compulsory for women to join the women’s auxiliary forces. More than a fourth of those questioned (26 percent) believed that women should be allowed to join the actual fighting forces.
And what might strike misogynists as strangest of all is that while only 22 percent of the men favored making women soldiers, 28 percent of the women were sold on the idea.
Yet it was just 87 years ago (a short enough time in the span of history) that Florence Nightingale had to beat down all sorts of prejudice and superstitions to be allowed to take women nurses to the battlefields of the Crimean War.
In those dear chivalric days, war was considered strictly masculine business. Women were allowed to lose their husbands and brothers and sweethearts, but they were forbidden to soil their dainty hands by meddling with war.
No distinctions made
Time and circumstances have had their usual way with that pretty notion. Today’s bombs, shrapnel and long-range guns make no distinction between soldier and civilian. Like the quality of mercy, they fall alike on the just and the unjust.
Today, women couldn’t actually get away from war if they tried. War comes to them.
And they have done noble work, in England especially. Assigned to such constructive work as war offers, they have cleared up after air raids, taken over men’s jobs in factories and fields, taken care of the combatants in service as well as in the hospital.
Their day for actual participation draws ever nearer.
It might not be such a bad idea at that.
Women have always said that if they had their way, there would be no war. Their sincerity is undoubted. But they’ve never really had a chance one way or the other to decide.
Words are cheap
Some have said this declaration is easy enough. Words are cheap. Women can talk about abolishing war even while getting a vicarious thrill from the uniforms, the parade, the tales of bravery. Since they don’t actually expose themselves to death and killing, their critics continue, they can talk all they want to, but tacitly encourage war for the thrill it gives them at a safe distance.
Perhaps if women were actually to participate in an action, they might develop a truly effective hate for war. Maybe they’d get so mad they’d see to it that more was done to end war than mere effective talk and explosive treaties.
One thing is already sure. There hasn’t been much glamor about this war from the very beginning, and certainly no one has any falsely glamorous notions about the American-Japanese War. Parades have been forgotten; heroism taken for granted. There has been a grim acceptance of what has to be even here, where actual war is but two days old.
Women have begun to see war firsthand. Every member of a nation at war has.
Hoover urges unity to defeat Japan
NEW YORK (UP) – Former President Herbert Hoover issued a statement last night calling for unity of the American people to defeat “this invasion by Japan.”
He said:
American soil has been treacherously attacked by Japan. Our decision is clear. It is forced upon us. We must fight with everything we have. I have opposed the foreign policies of our government. I have believed alternative policies would have been better. But whatever our differences of view may be as to the causes which have led to this situation, those are matters to be threshed out by history.
Today, there is just one job before the American people. We must defeat this invasion by Japan and we must fight it in any place that will defeat it.
Upon this job, we must have and will have unity in America. We must have and will have full support for the President of the United States in this war to defend America. We will have victory.
Preparations made for repatriating nationals of 2 countries By John A. Reichmann, United Press staff writer
WASHINGTON (UP) – Special American guards at the Japanese embassy today are guarding against possible attempts at hara-kiri by Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura or members of his staff.
Local police have been stationed inside the embassy, it was learned, and gave special instructions to frustrate, if possible, any suicide attempts.
Hara-kiri, in which the victim disembowels himself, is a 500-year-old Japanese custom that originated with the feeling that suicide is preferable to disgrace, or “losing face.”
May need Emperor’s okay
Well-informed sources said there had been fear that Nomura, extremely disheartened by failure of his efforts to avoid a Japanese-American war, might seek the Japanese gentleman’s way out.
However, some authorities on hara-kiri hold that a Japanese must return to Japanese soil to commit hara-kiri and that that form of self-destruction cannot be employed by high officials without special permission of the Emperor. The embassy might be considered Japanese territory, but communication with the Emperor would be difficult from this distance.
Hara-kiri is no longer fashionable in Japan, but the army and higher-caste Japanese are said to cling to it. They do not call it hara-kiri; they say “seppuku.”
Arranging transfers
Meanwhile, arrangements are being made to transfer American and Japanese nationals back to their respective homelands.
The first move will be to arrange for a neutral power to represent the United States in Tokyo. Argentina has been mentioned as a possibility.
There are 142 representatives of the U.S. State Department in Japan or in parts of occupied China. There are some 200 Caucasian-American civilians in Japan and several thousand in China.
Japs take over in Shanghai
The State Department said there have been no reports of mistreatment by the Japanese thus far. Consul Edwin F. Stanton in Shanghai reported that all members of the staff were well and safe, but that the consulate had been closed and sealed with the Japanese apparently taking over the International Settlement.
The members of the Japanese embassy staff here were virtual prisoners at their spacious establishment on Massachusetts Avenue. They were having trouble with their food because of grocers’ demands for cash and the freezing of their bank funds.
If the embassy officials are short of cash, some method of getting food to them will be worked out because the State Department is anxious to observe all the conventions of international law. The United States will insist on reciprocal good treatment of American diplomats in Tokyo.
Gloomy at banquet
A few hours after news of the first Japanese attack reached here, the embassy played host at a large banquet for 40 persons. But a waitress later told one of the guards that an attitude of gloom prevailed during the entire evening.
A shipment of 45 large maps of Japan reached the embassy from the New York Japan Institute today. FBI agents halted them at the Embassy entrance, conferred with the State Department for 45 minutes, and announced they could not be delivered.
Gridiron Club banquet called off by Jap war
WASHINGTON (UP) – Harold Brayman, president of the Gridiron Club, announced today that the semi-annual banquet at which President Roosevelt and Wendell L. Willkie were to have been off-the-record speakers, has been cancelled because of the U.S.-Japanese war.
The dinner was scheduled for Saturday.
British await news of Siam surrender
LONDON, England (UP) – Great Britain is awaiting further information on “the exact circumstances of Thailand,” a Foreign Office statement said today.
The statement was made in denial of Japanese allegations that Japan attacked Thailand only after British troops had entered that territory.
“At no place had any British troops crossed the frontier when the Japanese invaded Thailand,” it said.
It quoted reports that Thailand had agreed to the passage of Japanese troops and then made the disclosure that Britain was considering its course.
‘Peaceful aliens’ aided
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Francis Biddle appealed to all state governors today “to prevent molestation of all peaceful and law-abiding aliens” since the Justice Department is taking into custody all Axis nationals who have been listed as “dangerous to the peace and security” of the United States.
Guam, reported attacked, called ‘paradise’ by officer
Recent letters give little hint of imminent attack By Henry Ward
Guam, an island described as “paradise” by S. Arthur Newman in letters to Pittsburgh friends, has been turned into anything but paradise by Japanese bombers, according to reports coming out of the Pacific.
Mr. Newman, formerly an official of the Gulf Oil Corporation here and a prominent sportsman pilot, has been stationed in Guam since September as manager of the island’s Navy Yard. Lt. Cmdr. Newman, a member of the Naval Reserve, was ordered into service last March.
The fate of the former Pittsburgher is unknown today, but, according to reports, he is in the “thick of things.”
Describes life on island
In two recent letters, he describes life on the island, but gives no hint of imminent war.
He wrote his friend, Dr. David Hemphill of Dormont, in October:
While I am over here, I am far away from the German-English situation, but don’t let them start a war with Japan. If they do, just strike my name off your list of active friends because I’ll be either fed to the fish or be eating rice and fish heads (without the fish) in Japan.
It is rumored that there are 30,000 little brown brothers in the next island north of here and in plain sight ready to take the responsibility of ruling this island paradise off our hands. The Marines are good, but I do not think that it is an even match to ask the above figure of Marines with two zeros removed from the starboard side to defend us. Do you know what I mean? I’m having a hard time expressing myself when I know a censor is going over this with a knife.
‘It’s nip and tuck’
His only reference to any imminent danger of attack was included in a letter written on Thanksgiving Day and received by Dr. Hemphill a few days ago.
The letter states:
Out here it is nip and tuck whether we will be ready in time to defense ourselves when the blow-off comes, and we urgently need material for our work.
Guam today, according to some war dispatches, is a far cry from the peaceful “paradise” that Lt. Cmdr. Newman described recently.
He wrote:
My itinerary for last Saturday afternoon was as follows. Played nine holes of golf on one of the prettiest golf courses you can imagine. It is on a bluff overlooking Agana with a beautiful view of the ocean and a coconut palm-fringed beach. Then rode horseback.
Got back in time to play two innings with the officers’ team. Played a set of tennis and took a dip in the bay. Fished a few minutes while waiting for supper. Went to the Governor’s house for formal dinner and then on to dance at the Officers’ Club. Took another moonlight dip after the dance and called it a day.
The Governor of Guam is Lt. Cmdr. George McMillen of Youngstown, Ohio.
A native of Texas, Lt. Cmdr. Newman has lived in Pittsburgh 10 years, working for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company before joining Gulf. Until being ordered to duty in March, he lived at 61 Woodhaven Dr., Mt. Lebanon.
Radio Tokyo: Hawaii ‘helpless’
SAN FRANCISCO, California (UP) – A Japanese broadcast heard by a United Press listening post here today said the “suddenness and large scale” of the Japanese attack on Hawaii Sunday left its American defenders “helpless.”
Radio Tokyo said:
The U.S. Army was now surprised. According to information from Havana, the United States is very weak in fighting planes, despite its claims.
The Japanese announcer said that although several small Latin American countries had “succumbed to pressure” and joined the United States against Japan, it was significant that the larger countries were “impressed by Japanese victories and will preserve their independence.”
Pegler: Roosevelt at war
By Westbrook Pegler
NEW YORK – No American has more angrily detested and suspected most of the internal operations of the New Deal, but no American more admires now the tenacious bravery of President Roosevelt in his war policy than this author of many criticisms of the Roosevelt administration.
Long before the war began with the sneak-punch invasion of Catholic Poland, the President had made his own decision that Adolf Hitler was determined to set the German nation loose, armed beyond the poor, dumb power of Britain’s military men or the best of ours to imagine, in a campaign to enslave Europe and conquer the United States. Having made up his mind on the basis of plain evidence, Mr. Roosevelt determined that this country must fight for its life against Hitler and Japan and set about creating a war psychology in the American people so that we would not be caught entirely unprepared spiritually or entirely unarmed.
In the earlier phases of his preparations, he fought almost alone and it may be remembered that his dramatic Chicago speech about a quarantine for aggressors was savagely denounced as a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the pressing embarrassment of a domestic error and even to put us into war for some purpose of his own. Because Hitler had identified Jewishness with Communism and had devised a program of hideous persecution of this tiny minority of the German people, many Americans accused the President of scheming to sacrifice American boys and our whole American way of life to rescue and avenge the European Jews.
Berlin raised cry of warmonger
As the war developed, Mr. Roosevelt was accused of surrendering his own country to the British for Britain’s own sake and the cry of warmonger, raised from Berlin, where this war was made, was taken up by many of the President’s own people at home. More lately, this unfortunate suggestion that religious freedom was enjoyed in Russia, intended undoubtedly to allay old hatreds of the Communists in our own midst and suspicion of Joseph Stalin for practical military results, was pounced upon and torn to tatters.
But all the way from the hour when he first realized that war with Hitler was inevitable down to the moment when Hitler’s ally in the Pacific suddenly bombed a sleeping American city, Mr. Roosevelt stood by his conviction, often under conditions which would have made a weaker man give ground and look for excuses.
The American people didn’t want to believe that Hitler was their enemy and many prominent men with a talent for ridicule and propaganda played up the proposition that we could stay out of it and trust Hitler and the Japanese. A hundred reminders that the choice could not be ours but must be Hitler’s, that if war came, the German nation again would be the cause of all American suffering and sacrifice, were instantly scoffed down with sneers at the British and dark insinuations about the international Jew.
The one man who is responsible for the vast improvement of the military fitness of the United States, achieved from a standing start after the invasion of the Low Countries, never for an instant faltered in his determination to get the American nation in shape to meet the inevitable.
Right and doggedly brave all along
One newspaper of enormous circulation and, presumably, of great influence, which had gone along with him in every socialistic or totalitarian proposal on the home front, suddenly turned on him on the issue of war. But Wheeler and Ham Fish fought him down to the very hour of the attack on Honolulu, although Wheeler had been content to ignore the rise of the unioneers and the depredations of the Brownshirts on the domestic scene.
All his opponents, including the tragic Charles Lindbergh and, of course, the evil Nazis of the anti-American Bund, who themselves employed every wicked scheme which they attributed to the Jew, insisted that with 3,000 miles of water to the east and a wider ocean to the west, no enemy could reach American soil, even granting as they wouldn’t, that any enemy would be rash enough to try.
Through it all, Mr. Roosevelt fought on toward a vindication which came in the dawn of a Sunday in the Pacific and it must be said that he was embarrassed as much by some of his supporters as he was obstructed and reviled by his opponents, for he had among the noisiest of his following some of the most disgusting professional clamorists that ever used the flag for purposes of apparel.
But he was right all along and doggedly brave in times when he fought almost alone to make the people recognize their enemy and prepare to fight and the final proof of his wise courage was given by the enemy himself Sunday morning.
Fireside Chat 19 by President Roosevelt On the war with Japan December 9, 1941, 10:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast audio:
My fellow Americans:
The sudden criminal attacks perpetrated by the Japanese in the Pacific provide the climax of a decade of international immorality.
Powerful and resourceful gangsters have banded together to make war upon the whole human race. Their challenge has now been flung at the United States of America. The Japanese have treacherously violated the long-standing peace between us. Many American soldiers and sailors have been killed by enemy action. American ships have been sunk, American airplanes have been destroyed.
The Congress and the people of the United States have accepted that challenge.
Together with other free peoples, we are now fighting to maintain our right to live among our world neighbors in freedom, in common decency, without fear of assault.
I have prepared the full record of our past relations with Japan, and it will be submitted to the Congress. It begins with the visit of Cdre. Perry to Japan eighty-eight years ago. It ends with the visit of two Japanese emissaries to the Secretary of State last Sunday, an hour after Japanese forces had loosed their bombs and machine guns against our flag, our forces, and our citizens.
I can say with utmost confidence that no Americans, today or a thousand years hence, need feel anything but pride in our patience and our efforts through all the years toward achieving a peace in the Pacific which would be fair and honorable to every nation, large or small. And no honest person, today or a thousand years hence, will be able to suppress a sense of indignation and horror at the treachery committed by the military dictators of Japan, under the very shadow of the flag of peace borne by their special envoys in our midst.
The course that Japan has followed for the past ten years in Asia has paralleled the course of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe and Africa. Today, it has become far more than a parallel. It is collaboration – actual collaboration so well calculated that all the continents of the world, and all the oceans, are now considered by the Axis strategists as one gigantic battlefield.
In 1931, Japan invaded Manchukuo – without warning.
In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia – without warning.
In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria – without warning.
In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia – without warning.
Later in ‘39, Hitler invaded Poland – without warning.
In 1940, Hitler invaded Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg – without warning.
In 1940, Italy attacked France and later Greece – without warning.
And this year, in 1941, the Axis powers attacked Yugoslavia and Greece and they dominated the Balkans – without warning.
In 1941, also, Hitler invaded Russia – without warning.
And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand – and the United States – without warning.
It is all of one pattern.
We are now in this war. We are all in it – all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories – the changing fortunes of war.
So far, the news has all been bad. We have suffered a serious setback in Hawaii. Our forces in the Philippines, which include the brave people of that Commonwealth, are taking punishment, but are defending themselves vigorously. The reports from Guam and Wake and Midway Islands are still confused, but we must be prepared for the announcement that all these three outposts have been seized.
The casualty lists of these first few days will undoubtedly be large. I deeply feel the anxiety of all families of the men in our Armed Forces and the relatives of people in cities which have been bombed. I can only give them my solemn promise that they will get news just as quickly as possible.
This government will put its trust in the stamina of the American people, and will give the facts to the public just as soon as two conditions have been fulfilled: First, that the information has been definitely and officially confirmed; and, second, that the release of the information at the time it is received will not prove valuable to the enemy directly or indirectly.
Most earnestly I urge my countrymen to reject all rumors. These ugly little hints of complete disaster fly thick and fast in wartime. They have to be examined and appraised.
As an example, I can tell you frankly that until further surveys are made, I have not sufficient information to state the exact damage which has been done to our naval vessels at Pearl Harbor. Admittedly the damage is serious. But no one can say how serious, until we know how much of this damage can be repaired and how quickly the necessary repairs can be made.
I cite as another example a statement made on Sunday night that a Japanese carrier had been located and sunk off the Canal Zone. And when you hear statements that are attributed to what they call “an authoritative source,” you can be reasonably sure from now on that under these war circumstances, the “authoritative source” is not any person in authority.
Many rumors and reports which we now hear originate, of course, with enemy sources. For instance, today the Japanese are claiming that as a result of their one action against Hawaii, they have gained naval supremacy in the Pacific. This is an old trick of propaganda which has been used innumerable times by the Nazis. The purposes of such fantastic claims are, of course, to spread fear and confusion among us, and to goad us into revealing military information which our enemies are desperately anxious to obtain.
Our government will not be caught in this obvious trap and neither will the people of the United States.
It must be remembered by each and every one of us that our free and rapid communication these days must be greatly restricted in wartime. It is not possible to receive full and speedy and accurate reports from distant areas of combat. This is particularly true where naval operations are concerned. For in these days of the marvels of radio, it is often impossible for the commanders of various units to report their activities by radio at all, for the very simple reason that this information would become available to the enemy and would disclose their position and their plan of defense or attack.
Of necessity there will be delays in officially confirming or denying reports of operations, but we will not hide facts from the country if we know the facts and if the enemy will not be aided by their disclosure.
To all newspapers and radio stations – all those who reach the eyes and ears of the American people – I say this, you have a most grave responsibility to the nation now and for the duration of this war.
If you feel that your government is not disclosing enough of the truth, you have every right to say so. But in the absence of all the facts, as revealed by official sources, you have no right in the ethics of patriotism to deal out unconfirmed reports in such a way as to make people believe they are gospel truth.
Every citizen, in every walk of life, shares this same responsibility. The lives of our soldiers and sailors – the whole future of this nation – depend upon the manner in which each and every one of us fulfils his obligation to our country.
Now, a word about the recent past and the future. A year and a half has elapsed since the fall of France, when the whole world first realized the mechanized might which the Axis nations had been building for so many years. America has used that year and a half to great advantage. Knowing that the attack might reach us in all too short a time, we immediately began greatly to increase our industrial strength and our capacity to meet the demands of modern warfare.
Precious months were gained by sending vast quantities of our war material to the nations of the world still able to resist Axis aggression. Our policy rested on the fundamental truth that the defense of any country resisting Hitler or Japan was in the long run the defense of our own country. That policy has been justified. It has given us time, invaluable time, to build our American assembly lines of production.
Assembly lines are now in operation. Others are being rushed to completion. A steady stream of tanks and planes, of guns and ships and shells and equipment – that is what these eighteen months have given us.
But it is all only a beginning of what still has to be done. We must be set to face a long war against crafty and powerful bandits. The attack at Pearl Harbor can be repeated at any one of many points – points in both oceans and along both our coastlines and against all the rest of the hemisphere.
It will not only be a long war; it will be a hard war. That is the basis on which we now lay all our plans. That is the yardstick by which we measure what we shall need and demand: money, materials, doubled and quadrupled production – ever-increasing. The production must be not only for our own Army and Navy and Air Forces. It must reinforce the other armies and navies and air forces fighting the Nazis and the warlords of Japan throughout the Americas and throughout the world.
I have been working today on the subject of production. Your government has decided on two broad policies.
The first is to speed up all existing production by working on a seven-day-week basis in every war industry, including the production of essential raw materials.
The second policy, now being put into form, is to rush additions to the capacity of production by building more new plants, by adding to old plants, and by using the many smaller plants for war needs.
Over the hard road of the past months, we have at times met obstacles and difficulties, divisions and disputes, indifference and callousness. That is now all past and, I am sure, forgotten.
The fact is that the country now has an organization in Washington built around men and women who are recognized experts in their own fields. I think the country knows that the people who are actually responsible in each and every one of these many fields are pulling together with a teamwork that has never before been excelled.
On the road ahead, there lies hard work – grueling work – day and night, every hour and every minute.
I was about to add that ahead there lies sacrifice for all of us.
But it is not correct to use that word. The United States does not consider it a sacrifice to do all one can, to give one’s best to our nation, when the nation is fighting for its existence and its future life.
It is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the Army or the Navy of the United States. Rather is it a privilege.
It is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage-earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainman or the doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for which he is best fitted. Rather is it a privilege.
It is not a sacrifice to do without many things to which we are accustomed if the national defense calls for doing without it.
A review this morning leads me to the conclusion that at present we shall not have to curtail the normal use of articles of food. There is enough food today for all of us and enough left over to send to those who are fighting on the same side with us.
But there will be a clear and definite shortage of metals for many kinds of civilian use, for the very good reason that in our increased program, we shall need for war purposes more than half of that portion of the principal metals which during the past year have gone into articles for civilian use. Yes, we shall have to give up many things entirely.
And I am sure that the people in every part of the nation are prepared in their individual living to win this war. I am sure they will cheerfully help to pay a large part of its financial cost while it goes on. I am sure they will cheerfully give up those material things they are asked to give up.
And I am sure that they will retain all those great spiritual things without which we cannot win through.
I repeat that the United States can accept no result save victory, final, complete. Not only must the shame of Japanese treachery be wiped out, but the sources of international brutality, wherever they exist, must be absolutely and finally broken.
In my message to the Congress yesterday, I said that we will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
In order to achieve that certainty, we must begin the great task that is before us by abandoning once and for all the illusion that we can ever again isolate ourselves from the rest of humanity.
In these past few years – and, most violently, in the past few days – we have learned a terrible lesson.
It is our obligation to our dead – it is our sacred obligation to their children and to our children – that we must never forget what we have learned.
And what we have learned is this:
There is no such thing as security for any nation – or any individual – in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism.
There is no such thing as impregnable defense against powerful aggressors who sneak up in the dark and strike without warning.
We have learned that our ocean-girt hemisphere is not immune from severe attack – that we cannot measure our safety in terms of miles on any map anymore.
We may acknowledge that our enemies have performed a brilliant feat of deception, perfectly timed and executed with great skill. It was a thoroughly dishonorable deed, but we must face the fact that modern warfare as conducted in the Nazi manner is a dirty business. We don’t like it – we didn’t want to get in it – but we are in it, and we’re going to fight it with everything we’ve got.
I do not think any American has any doubt of our ability to administer proper punishment to the perpetrators of these crimes.
Your government knows that for weeks Germany has been telling Japan that if Japan did not attack the United States, Japan would not share in dividing the spoils with Germany when peace came. She was promised by Germany that if she came in, she would receive the complete and perpetual control of the whole of the Pacific area – and that means not only the Far East, but also all of the islands in the Pacific, and also a stranglehold on the west coast of North and Central and South America.
We know also that Germany and Japan are conducting their military and naval operations in accordance with a joint plan. That plan considers all peoples and nations which are not helping the Axis powers as common enemies of each and every one of the Axis powers.
That is their simple and obvious grand strategy. And that is why the American people must realize that it can be matched only with similar grand strategy. We must realize for example that Japanese successes against the United States in the Pacific are helpful to German operations in Libya. That any German success against the Caucasus is inevitably an assistance to Japan in her operations against the Dutch East Indies. That a German attack against Algiers or Morocco opens the way to a German attack against South America and the canal.
On the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the Germans in, let us say, Serbia or Norway, helps us. That a successful Russian offensive against the Germans helps us, and that British successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.
Remember always that Germany and Italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the United States at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with Britain and Russia. And Germany puts all the other republics of the Americas into the same category of enemies. The people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.
The true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. When we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. We Americans are not destroyers – we are builders.
We are now in the midst of a war, not for conquest, not for vengeance, but for a world in which this nation, and all that this nation represents, will be safe for our children. We expect to eliminate the danger from Japan, but it would serve us ill if we accomplished that and found that the rest of the world was dominated by Hitler and Mussolini.
So we are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows.
And in the difficult hours of this day – through dark days that may be yet to come – we will know that the vast majority of the members of the human race are on our side. Many of them are fighting with us. All of them are praying for us. But, in representing our cause, we represent theirs as well. Our hope and their hope for liberty under God.
Systematische Operationen gegen die US-Stützpunkte im Pazifik – Japanischer Landangriff auf Singapur
Über 200 nordamerikanische Handelsschiffe von den Japanern beschlagnahmt – Gegen die britische Zwingburg
vb. Wien, 9. Dezember – Japans Verteidigung gegen die Bedrohung durch die Vereinigten Staaten und England verrät in allen militärischen und politischen Maßnahmen ungeheuren Nachdruck. Japan kann schon nach dem ersten Tag der Feindseligkeiten auf nachhaltige Erfolge hinweisen.
Während die Nordamerikaner die schweren Verluste auf Hawaii zugeben müssen, wo die beiden Schlachtschiffe West Virginia und Oklahoma versenkt wurden, erwächst den Engländern in ihrer jahrzehntelang mit den modernsten Mitteln ausgebauten fernöstlichen Zwingburg Singapur eine tödliche Gefahr. Wie das Kaiserliche Hauptquartier der japanischen Armee am Dienstagmorgen bekanntgab, greifen japanische Truppen bereits das Gebiet von Singapur an, während Verbände der japanischen Luftwaffe, die am Morgen des ersten Kriegstages in Ostasien schon erfolgreiche Bombenflüge gegen Singapur geführt hatte, weiterhin Angriffsflüge gegen britische Luftstützpunkte im Malaiengebiet unternehmen, wobei eine erhebliche Anzahl britischer Flugzeuge vernichtet wurde.
dnb. Tokio, 9. Dezember (Ostasiendienst) – Das Kaiserliche Hauptquartier der japanischen Armee gab Dienstagmorgen bekannt, dass japanische Truppen das Gebiet von Singapur angreifen, während Verbände der japanischen Luftwaffe Angriffsflüge gegen britische Luftstützpunkte im Malaiengebiet unternehmen. Dabei wurde eine Anzahl britischer Flugzeuge vernichtet.
Im Verlauf des gestrigen Tages wurden 200 feindliche Handelsschiffe mit insgesamt 80.000 BRT, darunter der Dampfer President Harrison mit 10.500 BRT, beschlagnahmt. Weiter wird gemeldet, dass neue Luftangriffe auf Hongkong erfolgten wobei ein britischer Zerstörer schwer beschädigt wurde. Bei den gestrigen Luftangriffen auf die Insel Wake, die zwischen den Inseln Guam und Midway liegt, wurden Öltanks und Flugzeugschuppen in Brand gesetzt und neun feindliche Maschinen abgeschossen.
Das Hauptquartier der Landesverteidigung gab am Dienstagmorgen bekannt, dass sich bisher keine feindlichen Flugzeuge über japanischem Gebiet gezeigt haben.
Zu der Beschlagnahme feindlicher Handelsschiffe im Whampoo-Fluss gibt das Oberkommando der japanischen Flotte in den chinesischen Gewässern, wie Domei berichtet ergänzend die Aufbringung folgender Schiffe neben dem bereits gemeldeten amerikanischen 10.500-Tonnen-Passagierdampfer President Harrison bekannt:
Der britische Dampfer Margaret Moller (2.700 BRT)
Der panamaische Dampfer Ilse (3.360 BRT)
Der britische Dampfer Tschekiang (2.170 BRT), die längs der chinesischen Küste aufgebracht wurden.
1.000 Japaner interniert
DNB meldet aus Schanghai, dass nach Meldungen aus Singapur die dortigen britischen Behörden ungefähr 1.000 japanische Einwohner festgenommen und interniert haben.
rd. Stockholm, 9. Dezember – Über die ersten Angriffe auf Singapur am Montag wird bekannt, dass dabei zweihundert Personen getötet oder verletzt worden sind. Die englische Luftwaffe steht in heftigem Kampf gegen japanische Landabteilungen in Nord-Malakka.
Die Kämpfe um den Flugplatz Kota Vahru gehen weiter. Die Lage wird englischerseits als „verworren“ bezeichnet. Es ist den Engländern offensichtlich nicht gelungen die Japaner zurückzudrängen.
Von Hongkong liegen neue Nachrichten über Landangriffe vor. Die englische Luftabwehr musste mehrfach in Aktion treten. Nach einer amerikanischen Darstellung ist Hongkong vollständig blockiert und die strategische Lage infolge des Mangels an Flugplätzen sehr ungünstig. Die Japaner haben die Entfernung aller neutralen Schiffe gefordert.
Manila meldete am Dienstagmorgen einen neuen heftigen japanischen Luftangriff, der sich besonders gegen den Flugplatz Nichols und zwei Rundfunkstationen gerichtet habe. Von den ersten Angriffen am Montag werden 110 Opfer gemeldet.
Truppenlandungen auf den Philippinen
tc. Schanghai, 9. Dezember – Japanische Truppen sind auf der Philippineninsel Lubang gelandet, wie aus Manila verlautet. Lubang ist eine kleine Insel mit etwa 5.000 Einwohnern, rund 100 Kilometer südwestlich von Manila.
Die Landung soll von japanischen Fallschirmtruppen ausgeführt worden sein.
West Virginia und Oklahoma
Der Ostasiendienst des DNB meldet aus Tokio, dass die Morgenausgaben der Zeitungen im Fettdruck die Berichte über den großen Sieg der japanischen Luftwaffe am Eröffnungstage des Krieges im Pazifik bringen. Aus nichtamtlicher Quelle wird berichtet, dass es sich bei den beiden nordamerikanischen Schlachtschiffen, die, wie bereits gemeldet, versenkt wurden, um die 29.000 Tonnen große Oklahoma und die 31.800 Tonnen große West Virginia handelt.
Militärische Beobachter deuten auf die Wichtigkeit der ersten japanischen Erfolge hin und bemerken, dass nach zuverlässigen Berichten die in den Gewässern von Hawaii stationierten US-Schiffe vor dem Angriff der Japaner ungefähr 60 Prozent der Gesamtstärke der US-Marine betrugen. Diese ersten Verluste haben die nordamerikanische Marine in den hawaiischen Gewässern auf zwei Schlachtschiffe und einen Flugzeugträger sowie sechs Kreuzer der 10.000-Tonnen-Klasse vermindert. Selbst wenn die übrigen US-Flotte zu den Streitkräften bei Hawaii stoßen sollte – was angesichts der Lage im Atlantik eine Unmöglichkeit wäre – so würde die Gesamtstärke der US-Marine im Pazifik sich auf elf Schlachtschiffe, 14 Kreuzer der A-Klasse und sechs Flugzeugträger belaufen. Diese Streitmacht könne als äußerst unzureichend angesehen werden, wenn man von ihr eine erfolgreiche Begegnung mit der japanischen Flotte verlangen würde.
Schwere Verluste auf Guam
Die Insel Guam, die von den Vereinigten Staaten mit gewaltigem Kostenaufwand zu einem militärischen Stützpunkt ersten Ranges ausgebaut wird, ist nach amerikanischen und englischen Funkberichten anhaltenden japanischen Luftangriffen ausgesetzt. Die Verluste der amerikanischen Besatzung seien „schwer.“
Dr. Koppen: Die Angreifer
Von Dr. W. Koppen
Wir wissen aus dem Munde des japanischen Ministerpräsidenten Tojo, welche Demütigung die USA Japan zudachten: Rückzug aus China und Mandschukuo Verleugnung des Dreimächtepaktes, also auch der Führungsaufgabe Nippons in Ostasien, Preisgabe Indochinas – kurzum den Selbstmord einer Nation von 105 Millionen! Und die Gegenleistung? Darüber sollte erst verhandelt werden, wenn Japan zuvor seine Bereitschaft erklärt hätte, in der Enge seines Inselreiches zu verkümmern und den ihm zugeordneten Raum Briten und Amerikanern zur beliebigen Verfügung zu überlassen. Wahrscheinlich wollte man sich dann gnädigste bereitfinden, den Japanern Rohstoffe zu Wucherpreisen zu verkaufen und ihnen belanglose Freundlichkeiten zu sagen.
Die kalte Unverschämtheit, die aus dieser unglaublichen Zumutung spricht, erklärt sich aus der Überheblichkeit Roosevelts und Churchills, die stets so taten, als ob sie nur eine unbegreifliche Gutherzigkeit daran hindere, Japan zu vernichten. Auf dem Papier englischgeschriebener Judenblätter wurde Japans Flotte Tag für Tag so nebenbei abgefischt, vernichteten US-Fernbomber in Bausch und Bogen die japanische Industrie und erstickte die Rohstoffblockade die Wirtschaft Nippons unfehlbar zu einem nahen Zeitpunkt. New York Times krähte am 17. Oktober:
Wir sind die stärkste Wirtschafts- und Finanzmacht der Welt und können daher in unserem Bestreben, Japans Märkte zu zerstören und eine absolute Sperre über seinen Handel zu verhängen, noch viel weiter gehen.
Die dem Außenminister Hull nahestehende Washington Post verkündete am 6. Juli, „Der Pazifik muss ein amerikanisches Meer werden.“
In der Zeitschrift Seapower wurde vorausgesagt, „Sollte die Flotte der USA die Offensive ergreifen, dann würde das letzte Stündlein für Japan schlagen,“ und der Londoner Daily Express meinte am 20. Oktober, „dass in drei Wochen alles vorbei wäre.“
Der bekannte Hetzsenator Pepper prahlte schon am 6. Mai, man werde „die japanische Flotte im eigenen Hinterhof einschließen. Nur wenige Piloten in wenigen erstklassigen amerikanischen Bombenflugzeugen würden genügen, um Tokio in einen Trümmerhaufen zu verwandeln.“
Diese Stimmen, wenige nur von unzähligen, mögen genügen, um die Haltung Roosevelt-Amerikas zu bezeichnen. Es spricht aus ihnen ein infernalischer Hass gegen die führende Macht Ostasiens. Geradezu mit Schaum vor dem Munde tobten die Hysteriker um Roosevelt gegen den selbstverständlichen Anspruch einer großen Nation auf Lebensrecht und Lebensraum, während sie selbst für die USA, die ihre Möglichkeiten im eigenen dünnbesiedelten Land nicht im Entferntesten erschöpft haben, die Weltherrschaft forderten.
Es ist bezeichnend, dass angesichts dieser ganz klaren Lage Roosevelt die Dreistigkeit besaß, seine Rede vor dem Kongress mit der Phrase zu beginnen, das Datum des Kriegsausbruchs werde „in die Geschichte der Niedertracht eingehen.“
Der Mann, der gar kein Hehl daraus machte, dass die USA bei nächster Gelegenheit über Japan herfallen würden, der seine Presse offen verkünden ließ die Verhandlungen mit Kurusu dienten nur dem Zweck, Zeit zu gewinnen, um Bomber zu den pazifischen Stützpunkten zu bringen, bringt es mit eiserner Stirn fertig, jetzt die USA als armes, überfallenes Opfer hinzustellen, weil Japan es mit starker Hand unternimmt, das Einkreisungsnetz zu zerreißen, das mittels der Aufhetzung seiner Nachbarn und des nordamerikanischen Stützpunktesystems sein Leben ersticken sollte.
Das ist genau die salbadernde Tugendpredigt, die Roosevelt stets zum Besten zu geben pflegte, wenn seine Minen in Europa hochgingen törichte Völker als seine Opfer fielen und seine Herausforderungen an die Achsenmächte zu entsprechenden Zwischenfällen führten. Dieses leere bekneiferte Pfannkuchengesicht rötete sich in erheuchelter Entrüstung, Wenn stärkere Gegenspieler seine erbärmlichen Ränke zunichtemachten, aber gleichzeitig verübte der Meineidspräsident an den iberoamerikanischen Staaten die schwersten Erpressungen und suchte Japan mit allen Mitteln des berüchtigten Atlantikrezepts zu ersticken. Es ist nur selbstverständlich, dass sein Spießgeselle von der Potomac Winston Churchill in die gleiche Kerbe hieb und dem Unterhaus die bittere Pille durch moralische Deklamationen zu versüßter suchte.
In dieser Rede, wird allen Ernstes von „Anstrengungen der US-Regierung, eine friedliche Lösung herbeizuführen,“ geschwindelt und dann resigniert bemerkt es bleibe jetzt, „für die beiden großen Demokratien nur übrig, ihre Aufgabe mit der größten Kraft, die ihnen Gott geben mag, zu beginnen.“
Churchill gibt unumwunden zu, dass England alle Gegner Japans planmäßig unterstützt habe, und wenn es unter dem Eindruck des Zusammenbruchs Frankreichs im Sommer 1940 einmal die Burmastraße gesperrt habe, so habe es später, der Unterstützung durch die USA sicher, sich umso nachdrücklicher zu Tschiangkaischek bekannt.
Im letzten Augenblick wollte es auch Thailand der endlosen Kette der Völker einreihen, die an England starben. Am Sonntag richtete Herr Churchill nämlich an den Premierminister in Bangkok eine Botschaft in der befohlen wurde: „Wir werden jeden Angriff auf Sie als einen Angriff gegen uns selbst betrachten.“ Und natürlich fehlte darin auch nicht das übliche Garantieversprechen. Thailand hat besser gewählt und sich dieser Zumutung versagt.
„Ich bin überzeugt, dass wir uns gut halten werden,“ so ließ sich Churchill vernehmen. Das klingt immerhin schon anders als die großmäuligen Ankündigungen von gestern, man werde Japan im Handumdrehen auslöschen. Alles übrige wird die Zukunft entscheiden; aber dass die „Angelsachsen“ in der Vergangenheit Wind gesät haben, der nun als Sturm über sie kommt, bleibt für den Sinn dieses Krieges festzuhalten gegenüber der eilfertig gebrauten Schuldlüge der beiden Gangster in London und Washington die wieder einmal mit dem Schlagwort „Aggression“ hausieren gehen. Wer der Angreifer ist, den Keim zu diesem Krieg gelegt hat und ihn mit allen Sinnen Wollte steht vor der Geschichte bereits längst fest.
England hat Japan im Jahre 1904 auf Russland gehetzt, um das Zarenreich zu schwächen und für die Einkreisungsfront gegen Deutschland reif zu machen. Als Russland geschlagen war, trat Onkel Theodor Roosevelt in Erscheinung und vermittelte unter wirtschaftlichen Erpressungen den Frieden von Portsmouth, der Japans Siegespreis empfindlich beschnitt. Als im Weltkrieg England und Nordamerika durch den Kampf in Europa gebunden waren, nutzte Japan diese Lage dahin aus seiner Stellung in Ostasien zu festigen. Aber kaum war in Frankreich der letzte Schuss gefallen als die großen Seemächte Japan wieder in den Arm fielen. Sie haben dann 1922 auf der Washingtoner Flottenkonferenz gemeinsam Front gegen Nippon gemacht, England unter Aufkündigung des Bündnisvertrages von 1902 und Japan die Preisgabe seiner Gleichstellung zur See und seiner Führungsaufgabe in Ostasien abgepresst.
1931 begann mit der Sicherung der Mandschurei Japans erneuter Aufstieg. In der Folge setzte sich Schritt für Schritt die Neuordnung Ostasiens unter Japans Führung durch in jeder Phase von England und Nordamerika wütend bekämpft und mit wirtschaftlichen Druckmanövern begleitet die sich in diesem Krieg bis zur kalten Blockade steigerten. Auch Niederländisch-Indien wurde untersagt Japan mit lebenswichtigen Rohstoffen zu beliefern.
Man versuchte, die Sowjetunion gegen Japan auszuspielen, half Tschungking und machte Miene zur Besetzung von Indochina und Thailand, was indessen durch Japan entschlossenes Vorgehen verhindert wurde. Eine Flut von Drohungen unterstrich die Absicht das Inselreich einzuschüchtern und auf den Rang eines wirtschaftlich für alle Zeit abhängigen und seines Gesichts beraubten Staates zweiten Ranges herabzudrücken.
Japan ist entschlossen, diesem Spiel ein für allemal ein Ende zu setzen und Leben und Ehre gegen die vernichtungswütigen Feinde zu verteidigen, die sich nach allen Seiten hin als Weltdiktatoren aufspielen und damit nur den jungen Völkern der Erde ihre Schicksalsgemeinschaft im Kampf gegen England und Nordamerika nachdrücklich vor Augen gestellt haben. Im Dreimächtepakt wurde das neue Lebensprinzip einer gewandelten und geläuterten Welt festgestellt: stark geführte und wirtschaftlich gesicherte Großräume mit reichem Eigenleben der Völker, die in ihnen zusammenarbeiten.
Es ist der tiefste Sinn dieses Krieges, dass diese zukunftweisende Schau einer naturgemäßen Ordnung sich gegen die Verfechter jenes rein materialistischen Imperialismus durchsetzt, der die ganze Welt Verschlingen unter das Joch des Geldes zwingen und entehren möchte und der nun auch den pazifischen Raum zum Kriegsschauplatz gemacht hat.
Churchill ergeht sich in vorsichtigen Andeutungen – ‚Der US-Nachschub wird ausbleiben‘
Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachters“
dr. th. b. Stockholm, 9. Dezember – Die Stimmung in London ist, wie sich denken lässt durch den Kriegseintritt Japans nicht besser geworden. Das englische Volk ist sich sehr wohl bewusst, was für England die Einbeziehung des Fernen Ostens in den Krieg bedeutet und nach ihren ersten recht unbekümmerten Äußerungen warnt die Londoner Presse jetzt sehr energisch vor übertriebenem Optimismus.
Niemand in London so fasst der Vertreter der Dagens Nyheter in der britischen Hauptstadt seine Eindrücke zusammen gebe sich der Illusion hin, dass der Kampf gegen Japan für die britisch-amerikanischen Streitkräfte ein Tanz auf Rosen sein werde. Zwar habe England den Tag kaum erwarten können, an dem die USA offen in den Krieg eintreten würden doch habe man nicht gewünscht, dass gleichzeitig Japan als neuer Gegner auf den Plan trete. Man erwartet – nach der angegebenen schwedischen Quelle – in England eine Steigerung der amerikanischen Rüstungsproduktion, die erst im Zeichen des offenen Krieges auf volle Touren gebracht werden könne. In gutunterrichteten Kreisen Londons sähe man jedoch ein, dass Amerika nunmehr einen großen Teil des Kriegsmaterials, das bisher nach England gegangen sei, für sich benötigen Werde Gleichzeitig sei natürlich auch das auf dem Papier so großzügig geplante Unterstützungsprogramm für die Sowjets hinfällig geworden.
Eine ‚harte Schlacht‘
Selbst Churchill hielt es für zweckmäßig, in einer Rundfunkansprache an das englische Volk diese Punkte vor sichtig anzudeuten. Mehr denn je, so erklärte er müsse das englische Volk sich um Steigerung seiner eigenen Rüstungskraft bemühen, besonders die Fabrikation von Flugzeugen müsse in Schwung gebracht werden. Diese seien infolge der jetzigen Kriegsausdehnung notwendiger denn je. Es werde sicher eine harte Schlacht für England und seinen Verbünden werden.
Auch der Londoner Rundfunk bemerkte in einer allgemeinen Betrachtung zur Kriegslage der japanische Angriff werde „zumindest für einige Monate“ eine erhöhte Belastung der amerikanischen Flottenverbände mit sich bringen und „die Offenhaltung der Seewege“ erschweren.
Bei der Neigung der Engländer zur Schreibtischstrategie fehlt es nicht an Leuten, die sich den Kopf über die strategischen Pläne Japans zerbrechen. Man glaubt in London annehmen zu können, dass die Japaner einen raschen Durchbruch nach Niederländisch-Indien vorhaben, um sich die für ihre Kriegsindustrie wichtigen Rohstoffgebiete zu sichern.
Die Verantwortlichen
Englischer Oberbefehlshaber in Singapur ist der nunmehr 62-jährige Luftmarschall Sir Robert Brooke-Popham. Seine Ernennung auf diesen wichtigen Platz erregte seiner Zeit nicht geringe Überraschung, da herkömmlicherweise ein Admiral auf dem wichtigen Posten in Singapur stand.
Befehlshaber der britischen Fernostflotte ist der Vizeadmiral Sir Thomas Phillips, der früher einen hohen Posten in der Admiralität bekleidete. Ob die Anwesenheit Duff Coopers, der als politischer Beauftragter Churchills im Fernen Osten herumgeistert einen Gewinn für England darstellt, dürften die Briten selbst nach ihren Erfahrungen mit diesem ebenso eitlen wie unbedeutendem Manne bezweifeln.
Jedenfalls ist man sich in England über die Schwierigkeit klar die unendlich langen Verbindungslinien im Pazifik, im Indischen Ozean und in der Südsee gegen die japanische Flotte zu sichern und offenzuhalten. Man unterschätzt nicht die ausgedehnten Möglichkeiten, die sich hier japanischen Handelsstörern darbieten, und vermutet, dass die japanische Marine Schiffstypen entwickelt hat die besonders auf diese Aufgabe zugeschnitten sind.
US-Kongress beschließt den Krieg
tc. Washington, 9. Dezember – Das Repräsentantenhaus und der Senat stimmten am Montag über eine gemeinsame Resolution ab, in der in aller Form der Kriegszustand der USA mit Japan erklärt wird. Sowohl das Repräsentantenhaus als auch der Senat haben die Resolution angenommen.
Im Senat war das Abstimmungsergebnis 80-0. Da der Senat 96 Mitglieder hat und fast alle anwesend waren, ist dem Abstimmungsergebnis zu entnehmen, dass sich ein Teil der Senatoren der Abstimmung enthalten hat.
San Franzisko hatte Alarm
Eigener Bericht des „VB.“
rd. Stockholm, 9. Dezember – San Franzisko hatte in der Nacht zum Dienstag den ersten Luftalarm. Er wurde nach einiger Zeit abgeblasen, und die Behörden erklärten, es habe sich nur um einen „Probealarm“ gehandelt. Die Bevölkerung hörte aber die eigenen Abwehrstaffeln starten, und es waren zahlreiche Gerüchte über die Annäherung einer großen Zahl unbekannter Flugzeuge verbreitet.
In Washington wurde ärgerlich erklärt, es lägen keine Anzeichen für irgendwelche geplanten Angriffe gegen die Westküste vor. Viele Städte und Häfen in den USA wurden jedoch bereits in der Nacht zum Dienstag erstmalig verdunkelt, vor allem in Kalifornien, darunter Long Beach und auch San Franzisko.
LaGuardia erließ in Neuyork eine neue Warnung. Entfernung bedeute keinen Schutz. Die Atlantik-Küste sei genauso in Gefahr wie Honolulu. Und jede Familie müsse einen Luftschutzwart ernennen.
Kurusu kann nicht abreisen
Im ganzen US-Gebiet werden massenhaft Japaner verhaftet. Dem japanischen Sonderbeauftragten Kurusu wurde die Abreise im Flugzeug verweigert unter der Angabe, dass keine japanischen Staatsangehörigen damit transportiert werden dürften.
Finanzminister Morgenthau hat die Schließung aller japanischen Banken und Unternehmungen sowie völlige Ausfuhrsperre nach allen japanischen oder durch Japan kontrollierten Gebieten angeordnet.
Die Vereinigten Staaten haben durch Mobilmachung aller Reservisten 1,6 Millionen Mann unter die Fahnen gerufen.
Tokio garantiert Thailands Unabhängigkeit – Japaner in Bangkok einmarschiert
dnb. Tokio, 9. Dezember (Ostasiendienst) – Wie die Agentur Domei aus Bangkok meldet, sind die in Thailand vorrückenden japanischen Truppen am 8. Dezember, kurz nach 21 Uhr, in Bangkok einmarschiert. Der Einmarsch, der bereits am Montagnachmittag begann, erfolgte, nachdem es zwischen Japan und Thailand über das Durchmarschrecht der japanischen Truppen durch Thailand zu einer Einigung gekommen war.
London behauptet zwar noch immer, in Unkenntnis über die Abmachung zwischen Tokio und Bangkok zu sein, es kann aber nichts an der Tatsache ändern, dass der von England erhoffte und von Churchill ausdrücklich geforderte Kampf Thailands gegen Japan ausgeblieben ist.
Japanische Truppen haben, wie die japanische Botschaft aus Bangkok bekanntgibt, englische Streitkräfte zurückgeschlagen, die versuchten, von Burma her nach Thailand einzufallen. Der japanische Einmarsch geht ohne Aufenthalt weiter. Die Operationen zum Schutze Thailands erstreckten sich bisher auf eine Landung längs der Ostküste der Malaiischen Halbinsel, wo einer Meldung aus Bangkok zufolge japanische Einheiten in unmittelbarer Nähe der Straits Settlements in Patani, Songkla und Prachuabkirkan gelandet sind‚ ferner auf den Einmarsch in Mittelthailand von Siemrap aus und schließlich auf einen Vorstoß nach Nordthailand, wo einer Meldung aus Manila zufolge starke japanische Einheiten die Grenze westwärts in Richtung auf die Burmastraße überschritten haben.
Japan hat – so meldet der Nachrichtendienst des Senders Saigon – Thailand offiziell aufgefordert, sich an der Errichtung der Neuordnung Ostasiens zu beteiligen und hat Thailands Unabhängigkeit garantiert.
Mandschukuo im Kriegszustand
dnb. Schanghai, 9. Dezember – Der japanische General Hata und Geschäftsträger Hidaka übermittelten am Montag dem Staatspräsidenten Wangtschingwei die japanische Entscheidung über den Kriegszustand mit den USA und England.
Wangtschingwei berief daraufhin eine Sondersitzung des politischen Zentralrates ein in der er über die neue Lage berichtete. Er gab den Japanern die Versicherung engster Zusammenarbeit und selbst unter den schwierigsten Umständen entsprechend den Vertragsverpflichtungen Hilfe in jeder Form zu leisten. Das nördliche und das südliche Ostasien werden sich vereinigen, um die englisch-nordamerikanischen Mächte aus dem Fernen Osten zu vertreiben, erklärte Ministerpräsident Tschang Tsching Hui der Presse. Der Kaiser hat eine Verordnung erlassen, durch die der Kriegszustand mit Nordamerika und Großbritannien proklamiert wurde.
So schloss der Ministerpräsident, „Wir schwören hiermit zusammen mit Japan in diesem heiligen Krieg mit Leib und Seele, mit Material und Taten zu kämpfen.“
U.S. War Department (December 10, 1941)
Communiqué No. 1
Information received last night from the Commanding General, Far East Command, reveals the defeat of a hostile attack against the west coast of Luzon between San Fernando and Vigan.
Our first bombing attacks on six transports at Vigan resulted in direct hits on three hostile ships and damage to the remaining three, one ship capsizing and sinking immediately.
The Navy air force participated in the attack in close cooperation with the Army. No operations have as yet materialized in the southern islands.
Communiqué No. 2
PHILIPPINE THEATER – Reports from the Far East Command indicate a definite attempt of the enemy to invade the island of Luzon. Initial Japanese attacks against the west coast of Luzon north of San Fernando were repulsed with apparently heavy enemy losses. Actual landings were effected along the northern coast of Luzon. The Japanese attacks are in considerable strength and are supported by heavy naval forces. Military and naval installations on Luzon have been subject to intermittent Japanese air attacks throughout the day, that on the naval base at Cavite being particularly heavy.
HAWAII – No action has been reported in this area since the initial attack on December 7.
WEST COAST – The Commanding General, IX Corps Area, reports that the Washington State Police last night found and extinguished a series of fires neat Port Angeles, Washington. These fires were in the form of arrows pointed toward Seattle. Search is being made for fifth columnists.
GENERAL – Steps to augment the defenses of both the East and West Coasts commenced Sunday night when the War Department placed plans in effect which have materially strengthened the forces already stationed in those areas. The railroads aided greatly in the movement of troops and material, operating through trains to destinations on emergency schedules. In addition to the ground troops moved, the Air Force has completed a redistribution of air units which has placed it in a position to meet any threat on both the East and West Coasts.
U.S. Navy Department (December 10, 1941)
Communiqué No. 1
The Navy Department announces that instructions have been issued that the remains of naval personnel, including Coast Guard and Marine Corps, lost in action be interred temporarily in the localities in which they lost their lives. This procedure is necessitated by the difficulties of ocean transport in war. They will be buried with full military honors.
U.S. State Department (December 10, 1941)
740.0011 Pacific War/946: Telegram
The Ambassador in Uruguay to the Secretary of State
Montevideo, December 10, 1941
[Received December 10 — 10:30 a.m.]
530
Last evening Uruguayan Senate voted to send brief telegram informing United States Senate that invoking principles of international justice and humanity Uruguayan Senate condemns aggression of which United States has been the object.
Herrerista Senators were in majority and message as approved was that proposed by them after more strongly worded Colorado text had been defeated.
DAWSON
740.0011 Pacific War/1086
Memorandum by the Adviser on Political Relations
Washington, December 10, 1941
Reference: MR. WELLES’ MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION WITH DR. T. V. SOONG DECEMBER 9.
Mr. Welles called me in last evening and, in my presence, telephoned to Dr. Soong.
My understanding of what Mr. Welles said to Dr. Soong was that he, Mr. Welles, had spoken with the President; that the President did not take at face value the views expressed by the Russian Military Attaché in Chungking to Chiang Kai-shek, as recorded; and that the President felt that the Chinese Government should go ahead with a declaration of war (upon the Axis powers).
STANLEY K. HORNBECK
The Pittsburgh Press (December 10, 1941)
PLANES SINK 2 BRITISH BATTLESHIPS Nipponese fliers destroy HMS Repulse, Prince of Wales
Invaders get Philippine foothold after Americans repulse one invasion attempt By Joe Alex Morris, United Press war editor
The first American war communiqué today disclosed defeat of one Japanese attempt to invade the Philippines, but official reports from Manila told of fierce fighting to break an enemy foothold on the northern tip of Luzon Island.
Japanese attacks on the Philippines were carried out under a hail of American aerial bombs but succeeded in landing enemy forces in the Aparri sector after six transports had been sunk or damaged in an unsuccessful thrust on the west coast of Luzon between Vigan and San Fernando.
Fighting against the first invader to land by sea on American soil since 1812 continued, Manila dispatches said, while four waves of Japanese airplanes struck repeatedly at U.S. military targets behind the coastal front in a blitzkrieg-type campaign to disrupt rear bases and supply lines.*
The Philippines war front was but one intense theater of action in what the British described as a “black day” in the Far East.
Britain acknowledged the sinking of the two big dreadnaughts HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse off the east coast of Malaya, where Japanese reinforcements appeared to have gained control of Kota Bharu airdrome (near the Thai border) and were attempting to land further south on the Malayan coast, only 200 miles north of Singapore.
British dispatches said that land and air defense forces, including Dutch Army planes rushed from Batavia, were holding the Japanese on all sectors after reorganizing their lines south of Kota Bharu.
The Japanese also were attacking Hongkong on a land front, where their first main assault was officially reported repulsed. Fighting still was in progress.
The struggle for the island of Luzon, on which Manila is located, in the Philippines was carried on by what appeared to be large enemy forces with strong aerial support.
Four flights of Japanese planes, one of which contained about 57 craft, hammered again at the main defense positions on the island in an attempt to knock out American rear-line bases. At least three planes were shot down.
There were increasing indications that Germany and Italy were preparing to march with the Japanese. London heard new reports that Adolf Hitler would declare war on the United States shortly at a meeting of the Reichstag in Berlin.
SINGAPORE: London acknowledged that the 35,000-ton battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the 32,000-ton battlecruiser HMS Repulse had been sunk, apparently by Japanese air attacks off the east coast of Malaya where the Japanese battled to make a second landing only 200 miles north of the Singapore naval base. Fighting continued on the coast of Northeast Malaya near Kota Bharu airdrome. German dispatches, which appeared to be deliberately distorted, said Tokyo also claimed the “almost certain” sinking of the British battleship HMS King George V. Late dispatches from Singapore hinted that the Japanese had taken Kota Bharu, but said Imperial forces reorganized south of that point and that lines were unbroken elsewhere.
TOKYO: An official news agency broadcast quoted the government spokesman as acknowledging the loss of two transports and damage to two others. The loss of 13 Army planes was also admitted, but the spokesman claimed that Japan had “smashed the main force” of the U.S. fleet.
MELBOURNE: Japanese again bombed the island of Nauru, northeast of Australia.
BERLIN: German sources claimed that “the greatest naval battle in history” was in progress in the Pacific Ocean.
Destruction of the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse, following closely upon the heavy damage to the U.S. Pacific Fleet inflicted at Pearl Harbor appeared to have forced Anglo-American naval power onto the defensive in the Western Pacific at least for the time being.
HMS Prince of Wales, newest dreadnaught in the Royal Navy, and HMS Repulse, an old but battle-proud warship, had only arrived at Britain’s eastern sea bastion of Singapore within the last 10 days.
London admitted that their loss was the heaviest single blow of the war, a naval blow only equaled by that suffered by the American Navy at Pearl Harbor. American capital losses at Pearl Harbor thus far have been officially placed by Washington at one “old” battleship but unofficial indications are strong that other American dreadnaughts suffered damage which put them out of action for varying periods.
For the moment, the loss of the Wales and Repulse was chalked up as another victory of air over sea power. The Japanese attributed the sinkings to attacks by their bombing planes. London admitted that it had no details on the action beyond those supplied by Tokyo.
The accuracy of the Tokyo communiqués is yet to be tested. A possibility, at least, exists that Germany has sent her powerful battleship, Tirpitz, sister ship of the ill-fated Bismarck, into the Far East to reinforce the Japanese battle fleet.
Bismarck was rated as only a 35,000-ton battleship but her performance in a running battle with virtually the entire British Atlantic sea forces led British observers to believe that she actually was a much more formidable opponent, possibly weighing up to 50,000 tons.
Bismarck sank Hood
Bismarck sank the great 42,000-ton HMS Hood and scored hits on HMS Prince of Wales before herself going down under a coordinated attack of naval rifles, bombs and torpedoes. Her sister ship Tirpitz is probably capable of giving an equally imposing account. Rumors that Tirpitz has been sent to the Pacific have been general for several weeks.
The Japanese attack on the Philippines rapidly was developing into a full-scale assault.
Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, chief of U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East, reported that Japanese transports appeared off the coast of the main island of Luzon along a 150-mile stretch of the north and northwest coasts.
Six transports attacked
The Japanese were in unknown strength. One group of about six transports was heavily attacked by American bombers. One transport was sunk and at least two others hit as they moved into the coast for a landing. The landing operations were in progress from Aparri on the north coast – scene of several Japanese air attacks – to Vigan on the northwest coast.
Simultaneously Japanese planes roared over the Manila area in a series of heavy attacks.
The first Japanese bombing flight comprised 31 planes. They attacked Cavite, the U.S. naval base near Manila. The second wave included 26 planes. Hardly had they vanished when a third wave appeared.
Center on airfields
As previously, the Japanese centered their bombing on such objectives as Nichols Airfield, adjacent to Manila. Gen. McArthur said strong Japanese bombing attacks have been made on Clark Field, the big Army air station near Baguio.
Gen. MacArthur would not comment on rumors of US. air attacks on such objectives as Tokyo, Kobe and Formosa, the island northwest of the Philippines on which many of the Japanese air squadrons presumably are based.
The Japanese Imperial Command claimed that, in addition to landings in the Philippines, land troops were sent ashore at dawn today on the island of Guam. The Japanese also claimed the sinking of a U.S. submarine off northern New Guinea and of a 15,000-ton Army transport off Manila.
The Japanese also circulated a rumor that they ‘may” have sunk the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise off Hawaii. They denied the loss of any Japanese naval vessel.
Reinforcements at Singapore
Air reinforcements were rushed to Singapore from the Dutch East Indies and the Chinese Army was said to have started a powerful offensive toward Canton, obviously with a view to relieving pressure on the British at Hongkong. The British garrison at Hongkong was engaged more and more heavily by Japanese
The Axis stand in the Pacific was expected to be made clear before the day is over.
American correspondents in Berlin were barred from an official press conference today and ordered to “return to your apartment.” The Germans said they took the action because of the arrest of German correspondents in the United States. The action seemed to indicate that the state of semi-war between the United States and Germany soon would turn into outright hostilities.
Radio Rome said President Roosevelt’s address last night would cause the Axis tripartite pact to function, in other words that Germany and Italy will make a formal war declaration against the United States.
British take key point
On the other two war fronts, the British and the Russians scored important successes.
The British captured El Adem in Libya. This was the chief Nazi forward base of operations in eastern Libya. Its capture would seem to presage a general retirement of German Gen. Erwin Rommel back to the Derna line. It also was thought by the British to lift the siege of Tobruk – provided it can be held. El Adem was the western hinge of the siege lines around Tobruk.
The Russians recaptured Tikhvin, key point on the Leningrad-Vologda Railroad. The success confirmed indications that along most of the front the initiative is passing to the Russians with the German announcement that they have ceased offensive operations for the winter.
U.S.-JAP BATTLE ON LUZON Planes score hits on three invading ships
Nipponese troops gain foothold on north coast, Manila reports
Where Japanese invasion was thwarted
Today’s “hot spots” in the Philippines are shown above. While invading troops were reported to have landed on a 150-mile front on the north coast of Luzon, an invasion attempt on the west coast south of Vigan was repulsed by the U.S. Army.
WASHINGTON (UP) – War Department Communiqué No. 1 of the U.S.-Japanese war announced today that U.S. Army and Navy forces had repulsed a Japanese landing attempt on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. This is the main island on which Manila is situated.
The communiqué was the first to be issued by the War Department and was based on a report last night from Lt. Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur, chief of the U.S. Army Far East Command.
News dispatches directly from Manila today related, however, that new Japanese landings were in progress on a 150-mile stretch of the northwest and northern coasts of Luzon.
The communiqué announced that Army and Navy bombers had scored direct hits on three Japanese ships and that three other ships were also damaged. One ship capsized and sank immediately, the communiqué said.
Southern group safe
The communiqué stated that, thus far, there had been no Japanese attacks on the southern groups of islands of the archipelago.
The text of the communiqué:
Information received last night from the Commanding General, Far East Command, reveals the defeat of a hostile attack against the west coast of Luzon between San Fernando and Vigan.
Our first bombing attacks on six transports at Vigan resulted in direct hits on three hostile ships and damage to the remaining three, one ship capsizing and sinking immediately.
The Navy air force participated in the attack in close cooperation with the Army. No operations have as yet materialized in the southern islands.
The communiqué did not reveal the size of the Japanese forces that attempted the landing.
The scene of the fighting is not far from the Japanese island of Formosa. It is likely that the forces may have embarked from there, although no hint was given in the communiqués.
Japanese claims offset
The fact that the communiqué said there were no operations reported in the southern Philippine Islands was taken as an offset to the Japanese claims that operations are underway at Davao.
The communiqué was issued directly by the War Department to waiting newspapermen in the Army offices, instead of being released through the White House, which has handled war news previously.
White House Secretary Stephen T. Early said that henceforth the War and Navy Departments would handle most of the news about their operations.
Beware of dame rumor – News vs. reports
If The Pittsburgh Press errs in reporting the U.S.-Japanese war, we hope it will be on the side of conservatism.
Inevitably, there will be many rumors and reports. Some may be true; the majority will undoubtedly prove to be untrue.
Difficulties of censorship, communications and verification make it very hard to check up on rumors and reports.
Often The Press will print an unverified story, but in such cases, we will try to explain that it is not verified. This will not mean it is untrue, but simply that the truth has not been established.
Unconfirmed rumors or reports should not be accepted as fact. They may be true (for which reason it is necessary to print them), but in many cases, they may prove to be untrue.
We will try not to emphasize or use large headlines on stories which have not been definitely established or officially announced.
The Press printed the story of the San Francisco blackout and “alerts” with an explanation that there was considerable doubt about what caused the alarms.
When stories came yesterday afternoon that enemy planes were reported to be approaching New York and the East Coast, we used a bulletin stating that there was such a report but DID NOT change our headlines because it was so doubtful. Later, the New York alarm proved to be a mistake.
The task of covering a war on such a vast scale, with much of the world closed by censorship and colored by propaganda, is so great that errors are inevitable. However, we will strive to be accurate and conservative, and to err on the side of understatement rather than overstatement.
Japs strike again on northern coast
By Frank Hewlett, United Press staff writer
MANILA, Philippines (UP) – A Japanese expeditionary force today fought through a rain of American bombs to consolidate a foothold on the coast of Luzon Island for an invasion of the Philippines.
American bombers rained high explosives on Japanese landing transports, sinking or damaging at least three. The Japanese Air Force countered by sending flight after flight of silver-colored bombers high over Manila to attack key U.S. air and naval bases around the capital.
Tokyo claimed Japanese forces also landed on Guam this morning. The Japanese landings in Guam and Luzon were the first invasion of American soil by sea since the British landings in the War of 1812.
Japanese landing operations were being attempted along a 150-mile stretch of Luzon’s northwest and north coasts. Japanese forces were ashore at Aparri on the north coast.
By mid-day, Manila had passed through four air attacks, centering, as have all previous attacks, on Army, Navy, and Air Force objectives.
A United Press correspondent counted at least 57 Japanese planes apparently passing over Manila at altitudes of from 12,000 10 15,000 feet.
Two Japanese bombers and one Japanese fighter plane were reported brought down.
Perfect formation
The Japanese planes flew over Manila in perfect formation, their silver wings blending with the sky. The city proper escaped damage but what were described as “a few costly blows” were scored by the Japanese attackers on American military objectives.
U.S. anti-aircraft guns hammered away at the attackers but this correspondent, watching the raids from the eight-story Wilson Building in the heart of the city, saw no bombers fall. The planes were flying at about 15,000 feet and it appeared that the anti-aircraft fire was falling short.
Airfield hit again
The Japanese again bombed Nichols Airfield, the Army base on the outskirts of Manila. Flames and heavy black smoke were seen in the vicinity of the air base. Another fire was seen a few miles east of the Navy’s powerful Cavite base. One fire started in the Cavite area but burned only a few minutes.
One Japanese plane and possibly more was downed at Pasay on Manila’s southern outskirts and another in Tondo, a poor section of the city. A Japanese fighter was brought down over Quezon City, reportedly by a Filipino fighter pilot.
Evacuation ordered
American officials said that because of attacks on the Nichols Field area, it had been decided to evacuate the Paranaque district, adjoining the air base. About 10,000 persons live in Paranaque.
The Japanese have succeeded in landing a number of men, at Aparri on the north coast and possibly at other points in the area, it was announced, and are seeking to land men at Vigan on the northwest coast.
Official statement
Army spokesman Maj. LeGrande A. Diller made the announcement in a statement which he asked correspondents to transmit without elaboration or interpretation. It said:
The enemy is in heavy force off the north coast of Luzon from Vigan to Aparri.
Large Japanese naval elements are escorting transports with Japanese air support at Vigan.
At about 7:30 a.m. [6:30 p.m. Tuesday EST], six transports were engaged in landing operations.
At that time, our bombing attack on these ships created grave damage. Three transports were directly hit, one immediately capsizing. Bombs were observed hitting close to the other three.
At Aparri and perhaps other contiguous points, landings were effected, but the exact strengths are unknown.
‘Japanese’ bounced from stores here
Pittsburgh’s stores swept anything with a “Made in Japan” label off their counters today in an all-out toss-out of the objectionable Japs.
G. P. DeFrehn, president of the Chair Store Council, said most of the downtown stores have already bounced their Jap trinkets and said his own SS Kresge store worked until last midnight to clean out everything from the Far East – novelties, chinaware, toys, and favors.
Among the other stores making sure that Santa will not have anything objectionable in his Christmas pack were C. C. Murphy, McCrory’s, and W. T. Grant.
Jap goods are at a minimum anyway, some of the store managers said, because of the moral boycott of the last two years. Mr. DeFrehn added that American toys are a lot better and less expensive, too.
WAR BULLETINS!
Nazis report sinking of HMS King George V
BERLIN, Germany – The official news agency said in a Tokyo dispatch today that it was “almost certain” that Britain’s new 35,000-ton battleship HMS King George V had been sunk.
The official German agency report was received with considerable skepticism because the battleship is the same type as HMS Prince of Wales, which London acknowledged had been sunk off Malaya. It was suggested that the German dispatch had confused the two vessels, perhaps deliberately. There had been no indication that HMS King George was in the Far East. Official sources in London refused to comment.
U.S. supply lines cut, Japs say
SAN FRANCISCO, California – A Japanese government broadcast heard by a United Press listening post here today claimed that the Japanese blitzkrieg attack in the Pacific had cut U.S. supply routes to Asia and said, “Japan is now prepared to concentrate on her co-prosperity sphere in East Asia.”
Japs held near Singapore
SINGAPORE – An official communiqué today reported that British forces have reformed their lines south of the strategic airdrome of Kota Bharu, 375 miles north of Singapore, and elsewhere are holding off the Japanese firmly.
Liner arrives safely from Hawaii
SAN FRANCISCO, California – The Matson liner SS Lurline, which was less than 1,000 miles out of Honolulu when the Japanese attacked Oahu Sunday, arrived here today after a nerve-wracking zigzag dash at full speed. Its 500 passengers, most of them Navy wives and children, showed relief at arriving safely.
Canadian corvette sunk
OTTAWA, Canada – The Canadian corvette HMCS Windflower has been sunk as the result of a collision while on convoy duty, it was officially announced today.
Japan claims 300 U.S. planes destroyed
MANILA, Philippines – The Japanese Domei News Agency broadcast from Tokyo today that it was understood Japanese naval forces attacking American air bases in various parts of the Pacific had destroyed more than 300 American planes, including 40 Boeing Flying Fortresses and 30 other long-range bombers.
Navy goes on seven-day week
WASHINGTON – Under Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal today ordered the Navy Department on a seven-day week.
Roosevelt meets War Cabinet
WASHINGTON – President Roosevelt today conferred with his War Cabinet: Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Under Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Harold R. Stark. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox is out of town.
Many lives lost on two battleships
NEW YORK – Alfred Duff-Cooper, British coordinator in the Far East, broadcast from Singapore today that there was considerable loss of lives in the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, the CBS listening post reported.
Smuts sees Japs’ downfall
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – South African Premier J. C. Smuts predicted in an address last night that 1942 would see Japan’s downfall. “I know the stuff of which Americans are made,” he said.
Darlan confers with Count Ciano
VICHY, France – A communiqué said today that Vice Premier Adm. Jean Darlan had conferred with Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano at Turin, Italy. The announcement said Darlan left Vichy Monday night for the Turin conference.
Exchange of U.S.-Jap nationals likely
LOS ANGELES, California – The United States, through mediation of a neutral European country, has proposed to Japan the exchange of nationals in each country, Radio Tokyo said today in a broadcast heard by NBC.
Japs say Russia will stay out
LOS ANGELES, California – The Tokyo radio said today in a broadcast heard by NBC that Vice Foreign Commissar S. A. Lozovsky of Russia had issued a statement saying there would be “no change in relations” between Russia and Japan as the result of the declaration of war between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
King confident, Malaya told
SINGAPORE – Gov. Sir Shenton Thomas of British Malaya received a message of confidence from King George today, declaring that “fearless determination to crush this onslaught” will eventually be justified.
Batavia has air alarm
BATAVIA, Dutch East Indies – The official Aneta (Dutch) News Agency reported an air alarm here from 9:30 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. (9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. EST). There was no immediate report whether enemy planes were sighted.
Berlin reports greatest naval battle
LONDON, England – Radio Berlin, quoting a German official spokesman, said today that the greatest naval battle in history was now in progress in the Pacific. “It’s too early yet to say that Britain and the United States have been forced on the defensive,” the Berlin radio quoted a German spokesman, “but the danger of encirclement of the Japanese islands has been eliminated and the pressure on Japan has slackened.”
Romania asked for more men
NEW YORK – Private advices received by the United States today said Germany recently asked Romania to send 500,000 men to the Eastern Front after the Russian victory at Rostov.
Isle near Australia bombed
MELBOURNE, Australia – A Japanese plane today bombed the island of Nauru, northeast of Australia, for the third successive day.
Japs gain at Hong Kong
LONDON, England – The Exchange Telegraph Agency reported from Hong Kong today that Japanese troops had penetrated some of the forward defenses of the British Crown colony. Hong Kong reports said that a heavy Japanese attack had been halted momentarily, but that fighting was continuing.
FBI arrests 86 aliens
BOSTON, Massachusetts – FBI agents have arrested 84 German and Italian aliens in New England because their presence is considered a “menace to the United States,” and seized two of three Japanese students at Harvard College, it was announced today.
Japs shell Hong Kong docks
CHUNGKING, China – Usually-reliable sources reported today that the Japanese had shelled the dock areas of Hong Kong.
Defense guards fire at Canadian planes
FORT WORTH, Texas (UP) – The commanding officer of three Canadian patrol bombers en route from Ontario to Vancouver via the Atlantic Seaboard said today that his formation of Vickers bombers “was fired on.”
He did not reveal where the firing occurred or when. But he telegraphed the San Pedro Air Base in California of his movement “in case civilian spotters might get jittery.”
Capt. C. C. Thomas indicated the shots were fired by civilian defense guards from the ground and said that bullets hit the planes. He refused more specific information, however, and would not let reporters inspect the planes. The flight was resumed this morning.
The Vickers bombers are twin-engined, unarmed ships with a 1,500-mile range. They are relatively slow.
Capt. Thomas was concerned lest the “foreign marking” of the Royal Canadian Air Force spread confusion.
The bombers left Ontario Monday, arriving on the Lake Worth Seaplane Base via Pensacola, Florida.
Raid wardens named – San Francisco has new alarm
Jap planes positively over city, general says
SAN FRANCISCO, California (UP) – The 4th Interceptor Command flashed a “red” warning – meaning unidentified planes almost overhead – early today and the Central Coast district from San Francisco to Sacramento was blacked out.
The blackout was lifted after an hour and five minutes.
The blackout in San Francisco was total, except for a few small lights, contrasted with Monday’s careless response to air raid alarms which Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt, commander of the Fourth Army, had denounced as “criminal apathy.”
Rooftop observers reported that they had seen a flash, possibly a flare from a plane, toward San Rafael, 20 miles north of San Francisco.
The Interceptor Command immediately spread its warning, covering “all of California north of Bakersfield,” or two-thirds of the state. In the area are the Mare Island Navy Yard, the McClellan Field Air Depot, important air bases and big defense industries.
Radio stations were silenced.
Spurred by Gen. DeWitt’s tongue-lashing, San Francisco was organizing an effective air raid precautionary system.
Addressing a Civil Defense Council meeting last night, Gen. DeWitt minced no words. He said San Francisco had been guilty of “criminal apathy” in the indifference with which it responded to two air raid alarms Monday night.
Japanese planes were over the city, he asserted, and it might have been a good thing if they had dropped some bombs to “awaken this city.” In San Francisco, he said, there were “more damned fools… than I have ever seen.”
“If I can’t knock these facts into your heads with words,” he said, “I will have to turn you over to the police and let them knock them into you with clubs.”
Monday night’s blackout in Seattle was excellent, he said, and Army authorities were having no trouble in Oregon and Washington. His displeasure was centered on San Francisco’s response.
Raid wardens named
The city took his rebuke to heart. Police Chief Charles Dullea ordered division commanders to name a responsible citizen temporary air raid warden for each of the city’s 2,500 blocks. These wardens will each choose two assistants. The plan provided for the closing of schools and the dispositions of invalids to places of safety.
Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York, Director of Civilian Defense, and his associate in that agency, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, arrived by plane today to assist local authorities in working out plans.
The business district joined in observing precautions last night. Military and naval bases and many communities were blacked out. Some blackouts were complete, some partial.
Business district dark
In contrast to the vivid neon lighting that blazed through Monday night’s two alarms here, the business district had no lights burning except streetlights which could have been turned out, in case of an alarm, by throwing a central switch.
Rear Adm. John Wills Greenslade, commanding the 12th Naval District, and Maj. Gen. Jacob E. Fickel, commander of the Fourth Air Force, endorsed Gen. DeWitt’s remarks, declaring Monday night’s alarms were fully warranted.
Adm. Greenslade said:
By the grace of God, we were saved from a terrible catastrophe. If bombs had fallen, damage would have been worse than anything I can imagine. When the time comes, be ready.
‘Death, destruction likely’
“Credible reports,” Gen. Fickel said, had placed enemy aircraft not only off San Francisco, but off Monterey and Los Angeles.
Gen. DeWitt said that “death and destruction are likely to come to this city at any moment,” and that the Army could not promise to prevent aerial bombardments until reinforcements, which are en route, arrive. The city, he said, is so filled with military objectives, that “it is all a military objective.”
He continued:
The people of San Francisco do not seem to appreciate that we are at war in every sense. I have come here because we want action, and we want action now.
Unless definite and stern action is taken to correct last night’s deficiencies, a great deal of destruction will come.
‘They were Japanese planes’
Those planes were over our community. They were over our community for a definite period. They were enemy planes. I mean Japanese planes. They were tracked out to sea.
We will never have a practice alert. We will never call an alert unless we believe an attack is imminent.
He said persons had phoned him asking:
“Why weren’t bombs dropped if those planes are Japanese? Why didn’t you shoot?”
Gen. DeWitt said:
I say it’s none of their damn business. San Francisco woke up this morning without a single death from bombs. Isn’t that enough?
British Columbia was ordered by the Canadian Western Air Command to continue nightly blackouts “until this imminent danger passes.” Oregon and Western Washington were blacked out and radio stations were off the air.
San Pedro blackout a success
Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, was blacked out for 50 minutes shortly before midnight on a report that airplanes had been heard overhead. The Interceptor Command in San Francisco said it had not issued any alarm and believed the blackout was directed by local authorities.
Authorities said the blackout of the vital Long Beach-Wilmington-San Pedro area south of Los Angeles, home base of the Battle Fleet and surrounded by oil fields, was “highly successful.”
The Puget Sound Navy Yard announced it would hold anti-aircraft firing practice each morning.
Planes hunt Jap carriers
Interceptor planes and patrol bombers scanned the coastline day and night. They swept an ocean strip 600 miles wide from Canada to Mexico yesterday, seeking enemy aircraft carriers.
Civilian employees and families of officers stationed at McClellan Field were sent last night to Sacramento as a precautionary measure.
Juneau, Alaska, announced it would be blacked out nightly.
Seattle householders were asked to conserve gas for cooking and heating because all-night blackouts had affected the supply.
Tax leaders plan parley
Congressmen meet with Morgenthau Friday
WASHINGTON (UP) – Congressional tax leaders agreed today to confer on war taxes with Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. on Friday.
Chairman Robert L. Doughton, D-North Carolina, of the House Ways and Means Committee and Sen. Walter F. George, D-Georgia, head of the Senate Finance Committee, will lunch with Mr. Morgenthau at the Treasury to consider the administration’s tax program.
Mr. Morgenthau has said that the war made it more imperative that taxes be increased. The House Ways and Means Committee, last month, postponed consideration of Mr. Morgenthau’s request to increase taxes $5 billion.
Mr. Morgenthau now believes that the outbreak of war between the United States and Japan would make it easier to speed congressional passage of a bill for higher taxes. The administration desires that tax increases become effective by January 1, if possible.
Treasury fiscal experts have not disclosed the amounts or details of the new taxes which they will ask Congress to enact.
Danish training ship offers services to U.S.
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Danish Legation announced today that the captain, the officers, and the cadets of the Danish training ship Danmark have placed themselves and their ship at the disposal of the U.S. government “to serve in any capacity” this government desires.
The ship has been in this country since Germany overran Denmark.
The legation said Capt. Knud L. Hansen of the Danmark has informed Danish Minister Henrik de Kauffmann that he and his colleagues desired to aid “in our joint fight for victory and liberty.”
De Kauffmann is acting, in effect, as a one-man Danish government as far as relations with the United States are concerned. He has disavowed the Copenhagen government on several occasions on the grounds it is under German control.
Thailand’s funds frozen
WASHINGTON – The Treasury announced last night that President Roosevelt has ordered Thai funds in the United States frozen.
American shakeup due as result of Hawaiian defeat By Leland Stowe
CHUNGKING, China – Further details of the toll taken by Japanese bombers in Hawaii have convinced military observers of various nationalities here that such important American losses must, at least partially, be attributable to carelessness or negligence in the American High Command at Oahu.
It is the considered opinion that America must face an uphill battle for some time, that it is likely to require two or three months for a safe line of communications to be restored from Hawaii and that ABCD pressure on Japan may not become truly powerful within six months.
It is believed the American people must be braced for a stiff struggle before its forces will be able to wage war against the Japanese with something like maximum efficiency.
Slow start unavoidable
The slow uphill start is believed to have been unavoidable for the United States because of unpreparedness and lack of materials which seriously handicap the American forces at the outset, because of the failure of Congress to authorize the fortification of Wake and Guam Islands years ago and finally because the best-fitted commanders can only be found through trial and error.
The seemingly unwarranted degree of success of Japan’s blitz attack on Hawaii is regarded by experts as fortunately a sharp warning to the American government and people. It still seems inexplicable here how the Japanese were able to bomb the Army’s big airfields at Oahu, losing but a few planes and apparently without large numbers of American fighters getting into the air promptly.
This is especially true since U.S. representatives in Chungking were warned by Washington of the seriousness of the situation as early as last Friday when a coded message stated that relations with Japan might be ruptured over the weekend. Sunday evening – at least one hour before the Japanese blitz in Hawaii – an officer of the U.S. gunboat Tutuila warned your correspondent, “It’s going to happen tonight.”
They knew it
He and another officer were both convinced that Japan would discard its mask before I could use my Hong Kong plane reservation on Tuesday. Their attitude was obviously based on advices from Washington received aboard the Tutuila. If the Tutuila staff was so clearly warned, it is difficult to understand how the commanders of the American forces at Hawaii were less posted.
In any case, the opinion of professional observers here can be best summarized as “whatever was done in Hawaii, it certainly was not enough.” Behind this is the conviction of many that the American fighters on Wheeler and Bennett Fields evidently were not prepared for immediate action and that many facts contributing to the Jap blitz’s success remain to be cleared up.
It is true that probable reverses may be expected before American defense forces can be whipped into an efficient machine. The American public, however, must face the fact that peacetime armies always suffer from political promotions.
Actually, some of the best-informed persons say that the American Army at present is overloaded with “political generals.” It is even charged that the percentage among about 1,000 of our generals today may range as high as three out of five who have been promoted more for political than professional reasons.
Shakeup necessary
Under the circumstances, it is to be expected that the upper commands of the American forces must undergo a shaking-down and elimination process in the first months of the war. This is bound to be a costly procedure but those who know the fighting qualities of the great majority of America’s middle-rank officers have complete confidence that the reshuffles must eventually bring the ablest men to the top all along the line.
Meanwhile, America’s lifeline to the Philippines must be reconquered. It will take time because the Japanese must be cleaned out from the whole series of their mandated islands in the Pacific while American naval and air forces must be greatly increased. The fact that Uncle Sam got a stiff uppercut to the jaw in the first round may be the best thing that could have happened.
Three more from district reported killed in Hawaii
Altoona, Monaca, and Uniontown Air Corps members are Jap victims
Lt. Louis G. Moslener
Lt. Robert Richey
Among the soldiers killed in the Jap bombing raid on Hawaii who have been reported thus far as casualties by the War Department are Lt. Moslener of Monaca, and Lt. Richey of Wellsburg, West Virginia. Both were members of the U.S. Army Air Corps.
MONACA, Pennsylvania – Second Lt. Louis G. Moslener Jr. left California for “the big trip” last Thursday night. Three days later, he was “killed in action.”
A former Carnegie Tech engineering student. Lt. Moslener, 23, of 356 12th Street, Monaca, was a navigation officer for the U.S. Army Air Corps and had been commissioned last April.
His father, Louis G. Moslener Sr., a civil engineer, said here today, “He was home on leave in October and he left for the West Coast on October 29.”
After a brief stay at Sacramento, California, Lt. Moslener wrote his parents last Thursday from San Francisco.
‘Don’t worry about me’
He said:
I came down here from Sacramento last night and I’m leaving here tomorrow for the big trip. Don’t worry about me, I’ll write again when we get there.
Apparently because of Army regulations, the letter did not specify his destination, but indicated that he was anticipating action by concluding, “I don’t think I’ll get to sleep any.”
Last night, the Mosleners received word from the War Department that their son had been “killed in action” on December 7, presumably during the Jap bombing raid on Hawaii. A personal telegram of regret and sympathy also came from Gen. George Marshall, the Chief of Staff.
‘Something to be proud of’
“His interest was all with the Air Corps,” the elder Mr. Moslener said. “So, if he died facing the enemy, that’s something to be proud of.”
Lt. Moslener’s death was the third reported today by the War Department in Western Pennsylvania.
One of the others was Brooks J. Brubaker Jr., 20, of Altoona, a ground mechanic with the Army Air Corps, also killed in Hawaii. This was Blair County’s first casualty of the new war. Pvt. Brubaker is survived by his parents and three brothers.
The third was Staff Sgt. Elwood Gummerson of Uniontown, whose mother, Mrs. Florence Gummerson, was notified of his death.
Stationed at Hickam Field
Sgt. Gummerson was serving his fourth term in the Air Corps and was stationed at Hickam Field, Hawaii. Besides his widowed mother, he is survived by two sisters and a brother.
The deaths brought to six the total number of victims thus far announced in Western Pennsylvania.
Others previously announced as victims of the surprise bombing raid last Sunday were Pvt. George Leslie of Arnold, Staff Sgt. Joseph E. Good of 1039 Woods Run Ave., North Side, and Pvt. Eugene L. Chambers of Apollo.
Ohio soldier ‘casualty’ discovered alive and well
WASHINGTON (UP) – The War Department announced today that Pvt. Wilbur S. Carr of Miamisburg, Ohio, who was reported dead yesterday in the casualty list of victims of Japanese bombings in Hawaii, is alive and well.
The Department was also advised that Sgt. James H. Derthick of Ravenna, Ohio, previously reported killed in Hawaii, is alive but wounded.
This brings the total of deaths released by the Department down from 37 to 35.
Senate delays AEF measure
Technicality holds up immediate action
WASHINGTON (UP) – Sen. Hiram W. Johnson, R-California, today blocked immediate consideration of a bill authorizing use of National Guard troops and selectees outside the Western Hemisphere.
The legislation, however, will be eligible for consideration under a motion later today.
Mr. Johnson interposed his objection after a parliamentary tangle developed that under Senate rules, unanimous consent would be required to consider the bill before the Senate’s “unfinished business” – a tristate river compact – was taken care of. The aged Californian had not participated in the debate.
Kinks taken out of bill
The bill was called up by Chairman Robert R. Reynolds, D-North Carolina, of the Senate Military Affairs Committee. Mr. Reynolds presented a substitute which he described as “taking the kinks” out of the bill proposed by the War Department, although its effect on the territorial use of troops was the same.
Noting that the original language, permitting unrestricted use of troops during the present war with Japan “or any future war,” had been changed to provide for lifting of restrictions “in any war in which the United States is engaged,” Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg, R-Michigan, asked Mr. Reynolds if he would object to the inclusion of the word “declared” before “war.”
Mr. Reynolds replied that he would object.
Mr. Reynolds said:
War might momentarily be launched against us before we could formally declare it. The Chief Executive might be hampered in the use of troops.
House ready to act
At this point, Senate Republican leader Charles L. McNary made the point of order that the “morning business” of the Senate was not concluded, and in the parliamentary tangle which followed, Mr. Johnson interposed his objection.
The House, meanwhile, was prepared to pass a similar bill.
The action will come amidst indications by members of the House and Senate Military Affairs Committees that an American expeditionary force of millions of men will be needed to crush Japan and to defeat Germany if formal hostilities with that nation begin.
A reliable source told the United Press that the War Department was drafting legislation that would permit drafting of men from 18 to 44. The present age limits are 21-28.
Chairman Andrew J. May, D-Kentucky, of the House Military Affairs Committee, said he had no knowledge of the report and that the question has not been discussed by his committee. He added, however, that a draft army ranging from 21 to 44 years was “not impossible.”
Tin Pan Alley in action
NEW YORK – Tin Pan Alley got into the war today. Four new songs are: “They Asked for It,” “The Sun Will Soon Be Setting for the Land of the Rising Sun,” “You’re a Sap, Mr. Jap,” and “The Japs Haven’t a Chinaman’s Chance.”
Latin lineup against Japs joined by Cuba
Nine republics to south have now declared war on Nippon By the United Press
Cuba early today joined the lineup of Latin American nations arrayed alongside the United States in the war against Japan, bringing to nine the number of these republics which have declared themselves at war with the Nipponese Empire.
President Manuel Avila Camacho of Mexico did not ask for a war declaration Tuesday night as had been expected but pledged the assistance of the Mexican Army and Navy to the United States. Mexico has already severed diplomatic relations with Japan, as has Colombia.
Radio Tokyo, in a broadcast heard by the NBC listening post in Los Angeles, said today the Japanese government had received from Mexico a “declaration of war” signed by President Avila Camacho.
The Latin American nations which have declared war against Japan are Cuba, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua.
Other developments:
The Chilean Foreign Minister announced that, in the interests of hemispheric defense, Chile and Argentina have agreed to fortify the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America in the vicinity of Cape Horn.
The Uruguayan Senate cabled the U.S. Senate condemning Japanese aggression and it was noteworthy that the motion to send the message was supported by the Herrera bloc which has been active in opposing the granting of Uruguayan bases to the United States.
The Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has under consideration a proposal introduced at the request of the government whereby Uruguay would break off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers. A report on it is expected today or tomorrow.
In Lima, the Peruvian Chamber of Deputies approved a motion expressing complete solidarity with the United States.
President Medina of Venezuela, in a broadcast yesterday on the anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho, reaffirmed his country’s determination to fulfill all obligations fully and condemned the Japanese attack on the United States.
“In Venezuela and from Venezuela, neither the United States nor any other American nation will be attacked in any form,” he said.
An Argentine Foreign Office source predicted that a break in relations with Japan by all American nations would result from an impending conference of Latin American foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro.
Panama police rounded up German and Italian nationals while members of the German legation burned documents in the legation yard.
The Army command at San Juan ordered a test blackout for all of Puerto Rico from 9 p.m. AST yesterday until dawn today.
The Argentine Cabinet declared the United States a non-belligerent in the war against Japan, thus making Argentine ports and airfields available to U.S. craft without a limit on their stay. Former President Agustin P. Justo urged full Argentine support of the U.S., including war.
Chile called for 1,200 naval volunteers with men to be conscripted if the quota is not soon filled.
The Peruvian government froze Japanese funds and securities.
The Bolivian Minister of the Interior said that Axis agents and saboteurs were already active in the country, which is a source of many vital minerals for the U.S.
President Getulio Vargas of Brazil placed all non-American business transactions under government control.
New York City has third raid alert in 24 hours
Looking for invaders
This morning, air-raid sirens started blowing in this city. Office workers, having just arrived at their place of employment in midtown, scampered to the window and peered skyward, looking for enemy planes. The alarm was short-lived, however, the all-clear being announced within a few moments. Directly in the background can be seen the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building. (OWI/ACME)
NEW YORK (UP) – The third air raid alert in less than 24 hours was sounded today in the New York metropolitan area.
The third alarm, starting on the tip of Long Island, spread to communities living in the direction of the city. The sirens shrieked in New York City at 8:49 a.m. EST as millions of persons were en route to work. At 9:01 a.m., the “all-clear” was sounded.
The alarms apparently started from “phony” tips that caused two alarms yesterday. Capt. Lynn Farnol, Public Relations Officer at Mitchel Field, said no reports of approaching “unidentified aircraft” had been received there and no alert signals were sounded.
Capt. Farnol later explained that aircraft had been spotted – subsequently identified as Navy patrol planes – and that a private “blue” signal to air-raid wardens had mistakenly been made public.
Two air raid alarms were sounded at Riverhead, near the tip of Long Island. The first lasted from 5:53 a.m. until 6:27 a.m. The second lasted 16 minutes, starting at 7:06 a.m.
As the sirens sounded in Riverhead and Suffolk County, the alarm spread to adjoining Nassau County, thence to Brooklyn and Queens County and finally Manhattan.
The alarms were apparently spread by civilian air raid wardens and the police teletype system.
As the alarm spread from county to county, it caught thousands of children en route to school and more thousands of men and women on high-speed highways and commuter trains heading for New York. In some areas, children en route to school were met by air raid wardens and told to return to their homes.
In Manhattan, the alarm started at 8:23 a.m. when the police radio broadcast “Signal 50” warning of the approach of enemy aircraft. At 8:42 a.m., another broadcast indicated the danger had increased, while at 8:49 a.m., the signal sounded putting the actual alarm into effect.
The sirens failed to stir the apathy of thousands of persons pouring out of subway exits en route to their jobs. In Times Square, men and women looked at the sky, but kept walking unhurriedly.
Military and civilian officials said that yesterday’s two alerts along the East Coast were valuable tests of nerves and defense but were not pleased by the public apathy and the fact that thousands of shipbuilders left their job.
The day shift of 14,000 men at the Bethlehem Steel Company’s Quincy, Massachusetts, plant were told to go home. Work was halted briefly at Bethlehem’s Hoboken, New Jersey, yard, and was reported to have been stopped at two other Bethlehem yards in New York, but company officials denied it.
Gordon: Nazi envoy won’t admit departure despite house-moving activity
By Evelyn Peyton Gordon, Scripps-Howard staff writer
WASHINGTON – Inside the German embassy, whose doors have been closed to the public and press, I talked yesterday with Dr. Hans Thomsen, German Minister and Chargé d’Affaires.
“Burning documents and archives is antiquated,” Dr. Thomsen said when I asked about reports that the embassy was putting the torch to its files. “But,” with a twinkle in his blue eyes, “we have a machine, very modern, which shreds paper so-o-o fine. Like a washing machine.”
“Have you come to say goodbye?” he asked. “Perhaps because of the reported declaration of war by Germany? I believe the report is premature.”
I said I had come only to say “hello,” and then asked if he was burning documents.
I hadn’t entered the old embassy – a relic of the days of Imperial Germany – since 1936.
Yesterday, I drove to the chancery side of the embassy building. The door was opened by a burly, gray-haired attendant in a mussed and tieless shirt.
“You can’t stay here,” he barked as I parked my car.
“I don’t want to stay, I want to see Dr. Thomsen,” I barked back.
The gray head was withdrawn but reappeared at once. “What is the name? Dr. Thomson isn’t here but wait a moment.” The voice had softened. Five minutes of waiting. Another head at the door. “Your name, please?” Five more minutes; still another head. “Will you step inside, please?”
Young men in shirt sleeves were hurrying upstairs. They were carrying books, old newspapers, pamphlets, more books – all tied in neat bundles.
I was shown into a room furnished with a bare table, several chairs, and a picture of Hitler. A young attaché smiled, bowed, and asked my business.
“I want to see Dr. Thomsen,” I said.
“Dr. Thomsen does not give interviews from the embassy. He is very busy.”
Then young Ernst Ostermann von Roth, the local debs’ delight until a year or so ago, came in – well-groomed and suave.
“Dr. Thomsen? He’s so busy, but I’m sure he hasn’t been told it is you. Just a moment.”
A few minutes later, Ostermann returned to whisper: “He says he always has time to talk with a beautiful lady! Come this way.”
“What a pity,” said Dr. Thomsen sadly, “that on a beautiful day like this, peoples should be tearing each other to pieces.” We chatted of little things and of the Japanese war. Dr. Thomsen smiled most of the time – a sad smile. He committed himself on no subject, gave no opinions, no information.
“I won’t take more of your time,” I said as I rose. “Thank you for seeing me – and goodbye.”
His eyes misted, and he spoke in a husky voice. “I hope this won’t be the last time we meet,” he said. “But good luck and thank you.”
“Goodbye,” I said again, “or perhaps au revoir.”
“Or maybe Auf Wiedersehen,” smiled Hans Thomsen.
I walked out into the sunshine with the faint smell of burning paper still lingering.
House passes retroactive war pensions
Would apply to Nicaraguan, Panay and Atlantic patrol victims
WASHINGTON (UP) – The House has passed a bill permitting retroactive payment of full wartime pensions to men injured while engaged in armed conflict or on hazardous duty even when the nation was not actually at war.
The bill provides that wartime pensions be paid to men injured – or, if they are killed, to their dependents – who fall in these three categories:
Those engaged in hazardous service under conditions simulating warfare, such as maneuvers.
Those in direct, armed conflict – as in the Nicaraguan campaigns, the Panay incident, or on Atlantic patrol.
Those actually engaged in war – as with Japan.
The present rate of compensation to veterans injured while not on actual war duty is approximately 75 percent of the full wartime rate. The present rate for dependents varies below that figure.
For example, the widow – under 50 years – of a serviceman killed while not on actual war duty, would get $22 a month under the present rate. Under the new bill, she would get $38.
The dependent parent of a serviceman killed while not on actual war duty under the present rate would get $15 a month. Under the proposed bill, the dependent would get $45.
Busy defense heads ‘stood up’ by Senate committee
By Daniel M. Kidney, Scripps-Howard staff writer
WASHINGTON – Defense officials are busy men. But on the day after war was declared, they cooled their heels in a congressional anteroom.
They were summoned there to testify before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee which is handling the $8 billion defense deficiency bill. Some of them wasted a full day. Others spent only an hour or so in waiting. But all were told to return today.
Meanwhile, the Senate subcommittee heard various other witnesses. Included was Rep. B. Carroll Reece, R-Tennessee, who argued for the Holston and Watauga TVA dams which are wanted by the subcommittee chairman, Sen. Kenneth D. McKellar, D-Tennessee.
Opposes dam
Sen. McKellar is bitterly opposed to the Douglas Dam, which is backed by President Roosevelt and by OPM and TVA officials as the best source of quick defense power.
So, he let William L. Batt, head of the OPM Materials Division, and J. A. Krug, OPM power chief, who came to argue for Douglas Dam, stay in the outer chamber from 10 a.m. EST until noon, and from 2 p.m. until nearly 5 p.m. when they were dismissed with the others.
Passage predicted
The others who were “stood up” included Director General William S. Knudsen of OPM; Wayne Coy, of the Office for Emergency Management; Charles P. Taft, assistant health and welfare director in the Office of Federal Security Administrator McNutt; Robert Horton, director of OEM’s Information Division, and Brig. Gen. L. D. Gasser of the Office of Civilian Defense. Other high Army and Navy officers were also on hand.
Sen. McKellar had predicted that the bill would be speeded up and passed by the Senate this week. But yesterday’s jam was excused by a committee clerk with the remark that “they hadn’t sent up their estimates anyway.”
This was denied at OPM, but the only comment on the matter of the wasted time was: “We are used to it when ordered to appear before congressional committees.”
Jap firms ‘blacklisted’
WASHINGTON – The State Department announced last night that 470 Japanese firms and individuals in the American republics have been “blacklisted.”
Dome of Capitol dark for first time since 1918
WASHINGTON (UP) – The dome of the Capitol was blacked out last night for the first time since 1918, but other parts of the city were lighted almost as brilliantly as ever.
A full-scale blackout was originally ordered, but District of Columbia commissioners changed their minds when they learned that the rumors of an enemy attack on the East Coast were unfounded.
Mexicans to move troops through U.S.
WASHINGTON (UP) – The State Department announced yesterday it has authorized passage of a “considerable body” of Mexican troops through the United States on their way to reinforce the defense of the Mexican state of Baja California.
The troops will transit from Nogales, Arizona, to Tijuana, Baja California, by way of San Diego.
The movement is expected to commence today.
The announcement said:
This decision of the Mexican authorities affords a striking instance of cooperation in hemispheric defense by the nations in this hemisphere in the cause of liberty and democracy and against the forces of a treacherous aggressor.
The government of the United States welcomes this opportunity of facilitating the journey of the troops of a sister republic in extending to them every courtesy and assistance.
Pegler: On Ray Clapper
By Westbrook Pegler
NEW YORK – This living human document may bring me up on a charge of third-degree log-rolling because it is fixing to be a tribute to my friend and colleague, Ray Clapper, whose editorial canned goods are distributed by the same firm that peddles mine.
If so, however, no judge would give me worse than a dollar fine, suspended during good behavior, for I have had so little experience in praiseful writing that it probably won’t be very complimentary after all. It might even make an enemy of him as happened when I thought I eulogized Knute Rockne and he threatened to resign his job as coach of Notre Dame because the rewards of public life weren’t sufficient compensation for such abuse.
I am probably the only journalist in the trade whose praises are scanned with care by a libel expert and I will admit that for many years at the big national political conventions I was eaten by a secret envy of the Hearst crowd of seals who devoted themselves so generously to mutual adulation in print that you had to buy the opposition paper to find out who got nominated.
Clapper realized Japanese menace
Well, anyway, as I look back over the last few years, I realize that Clapper was the only cosmic commentator in the trade who really felt the gravity of the Japanese menace to our country. Much of his work on that theme was necessarily pretty dull going, and I will admit, to my share, that I sometimes threw him away with the inward remark that, oh, hell, Ray was on tin, rubber, Borneo and the Dutch East Indies again and the importance of Singapore to us and the vulnerability of the Philippines.
Week after week he hammered on the subject of the Japanese enmity toward the United States and the utter ruthlessness of the monkeys of Nippon and the Hitlerism cynicism of their statesmen. Lo me, and to most other Americans who were interested in menaces, Hitler was the one to watch and hate and the Japanese were just a synthetic danger invented long ago by Mr. Hearst who has never got credit for patriotic or otherwise selfless motives in anything he did and therefore was accused of impairing our peaceful relations with an admirable nation for circulation purposes.
I assure Ray was getting his material from the State Department, and possibly from the President, because he plainly sensed the fact that the Nazis were almost monopolizing our attention to the East while the Japanese were preparing to strike us on the opposite side of our continent.
He is not a noisy writer, being little given to rhetorical nip-ups and never known to break out in an attack of the cutes, which may be a pity because the very solemnity of his warnings militated against results. But, anyhow, the fact that practically all of us were looking the other way and yelling rude monosyllables at Hitler is certainly no fault of his, because he was right on the target all the time and I am afraid his information was altogether too sound on the subject of our stockpiles of raw materials necessary for war which are obtainable in quantity only in the areas which Japan has now blocked off.
Events brought U.S. to fast boil
I believe, too, that Ray occasionally tried to give us a wink to forego criticism of the government for permitting gasoline, oil and old iron to go sliding out of our ports bound for Japan, because we, in turn, were stocking up on stuff that Japan might deprive us of at any moment.
In the matter of hatred of or war psychology against Japan and Japanese, only a comparative few Americans, living on the West Coast, had any preparation at all. The rest of the American people start cold, although, of course, the events of last Sunday and of the hours since have brought the country to a fast boil. Clapper didn’t stoke the fires of hate, though, but kept kicking us gently under the table and muttering, “Don’t look now, but I think that little squinty guy behind us is carrying a knife.”
Other newspaper writers may have touched up the subject occasionally and I have no doubt that among my many-unread books on the power politics and enmities of the Orient, there are some which prophesied this attack on the USA, but Clapper made a campaign of his warnings and the fault was ours that so very few Americans caught the message of this press-coop Paul Revere. Old Mr. Hearst deserves some credit, too, but he also rates some blame for discrediting his own alarms by his fakery and insincerity in so many other matters.
Well, this, for me, is hysterical hero-worship, but you know how very restrained I am in such things and I won’t be surprised if next time I meet Clapper, he lets out a yell that he won’t take such lip off anybody and whangs me with a crock.
Britain’s Far Eastern Fleet obliterated, Tokyo claims
U.S. sub and transport sunk, Japs say, admitting loss of 38 airplanes By the United Press
Japanese Imperial Headquarters, announcing that Japanese airplanes had sunk the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse, asserted today that the British Far Eastern Fleet had been obliterated.
The British Admiralty admitted the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.
The Mikado, in a special message of felicitation to Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, congratulated him on the outstanding results of the “great naval war in the Pacific against Great Britain and the United States.”
Claim U.S. sub sunk
It was asserted that a U.S. submarine had been sunk east of the Philippines.
Japanese Imperial Headquarters asserted that in a dawn attack today, Japanese troops had landed on Luzon, principal island of the Philippines, and that operations were proceeding rapidly. Manila, officially admitting Jap landings in northern Luzon, said a landing attempt on the west coast was repulsed.
Tokyo quoted Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, U.S. commander-in-chief in the Far East, as admitting in a broadcast from Manila that the Japanese had succeeded in effecting landings at certain points north of Manila despite resistance of the Philippine forces.
Report U.S. transport sunk
An official German news agency’s Shanghai dispatch said Japanese planes attacked Manila at 12:45 p.m. today (11:45 p.m. Tuesday EST) and dropped bombs on harbor works near Santiago, where ships were gathered in the harbor.
Tokyo’s High Command said Japanese planes heavily attacked Nichols Field at Manila, destroying hangars, barracks and runways, and that submarines had sunk a 15,000-ton American transport in Manila Bay. Southwards of Hong Kong, it was added, a British armed merchantman was captured.
The Tokyo Foreign Office said Switzerland had agreed to represent American interests in Japan.
Japs admit 38 planes lost
Imperial Headquarters said the Japanese Navy had lost 38 planes since the outbreak of the war and admitted loss of two transports and damage to two others.
The Japanese Army admitted loss of 13 planes.
Asserting that no enemy planes had yet appeared over Japan, Tokyo warned that bombings must be expected, the BBC reported in a broadcast heard by CBS.
Tokyo said the announcement of the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse caused wild excitement all over Japan as it was flashed over all radio networks.
Tokyo hails news
At Tokyo street intersections, pedestrians scrambled for extra editions of newspapers, it was said, and jammed in front of newspapers to read electric signboards announcing the news.
Tokyo officials denied reports that a Japanese aircraft carrier had been sunk off Hawaii and they suggested that perhaps the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (19,900 tons) had been seen sinking after having suffered hits by Japanese bombs. No formal claim to destruction of USS Enterprise was made and Imperial Headquarters did not indicate where Japanese transports had been lost and damaged.
Japanese Army headquarters in Bangkok were reported to have assured nationals of India, Malaya, Burma, China and other Asiatic countries that they had nothing to fear from Japanese troops in Thailand unless they attempted to leave the country, in which case they would be treated as enemies.
It was asserted that the American submarine was sunk Monday off northern New Guinea, south of the Philippines, after it had left Manila apparently on its way to Japanese waters.
Land in Philippines, Japs say
One dispatch regarding the American submarine sinking claim said it was destroyed off the Japanese-mandated Palau Islands, in the Carolina group east of the Philippines and north of New Guinea.
Japanese Imperial Headquarters, announcing the Philippines invasion attempt, said that after a dawn landing, “rapid operations continue.”
Japan also said that its troops had landed in Guam, one of the three U.S. Pacific outpost islands which it had attacked.
Radio Rome reported that two American merchantmen, carrying material to the Far East, had been sunk after attempting to turn back to the U.S. West Coast.
Roosevelt, Churchill to meet?
Radio Rome also said it had “learned” that President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill planned to meet soon to discuss the present situation. Another Rome dispatch reported that the President had sought the meeting.
Berlin’s radio reported that six of eight U.S. battleships at Hawaii had been put out of action – USS Oklahoma and USS West Virginia sunk and four others damaged.
Claims 25 U.S. planes
Radio Tokyo, announcing the Japanese attempt to invade the Philippines, quoted a joint communiqué by the army and navy sections of Imperial Headquarters, thus disclosing the combined army and navy operation.
Tokyo also asserted that 25 American planes had been shot down and 75 destroyed aground in an attack on the Army’s largest Philippine airfield, apparently Clark Field.
Japanese reports indicated that of the three American mid-Pacific islands, both Guam and Wake had now been occupied by Japanese troops and said that Midway, the third, was under heavy fire by warships.
Captured Marines arrive
The Japanese denied reports that Tokyo and Formosa, the Japanese island off the China coast, had been bombed, and said not a single plane had been seen over Jap territory.
It was added that precautionary “light control” was being effected in key Japanese cities, but no complete blackouts had been ordered.
Berlin reported that U.S. Marines, captured by the Japanese in northern China, had arrived in Tokyo as prisoners.
Radio Rome quoted Tokyo as appealing by radio to South American nations to remain neutral, that “they have no interest whatsoever in the Far Eastern conflict.”
Claim Hong Kong isolated
Japanese broadcasts continued to assert that Japanese troops were marching southward toward Singapore from Thailand and said that Hong Kong was now completely isolated.
Shanghai reporters said Japanese planes had started a heavy attack against Chinese troop concentrations in southern China.
Japanese dispatches reported that a new agreement had been signed between Japan and Vichy authorities of French Indochina, providing for detailed “joint defense” of Indochina.
Army demands end of Morgantown strike
WASHINGTON (UP) – Army officers today told leaders of a jurisdictional labor dispute involving welders that all work must be resumed at once on the War Department’s $40 million Morgantown, West Virginia, ordnance plant.
The Army Labor Relations Office made the statement in arranging a conference for this afternoon between representatives of the United Brotherhood of Welders, Cutters and Helpers (I) and the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters (AFL).
Heber Brown, attorney for the welders, said 120 members of the union are being prevented by AFL pickets from returning to their jobs at the Morgantown plant. The welders were formerly members of AFL unions.
Mr. Brown said:
Army officers told us that they intend to see that the Morgantown plant gets built as rapidly as possible, no matter how. They arranged for us to confer with George Masterson, president of the Steamfitters.
Lloyd Payne, secretary of the Welders, this week called on locals claiming to represent 125,000 welders to be prepared for a “sudden and determined strike” throughout the country if the Morgantown dispute is not adjusted.
Mr. Brown said the “situation on the West Coast,” where the dispute originated, “looks pretty good.” He said the strike orders will probably be canceled if an agreement can be reached at the Morgantown plant.
‘Jukebox’ curb ordered
WASHINGTON – Priorities Director Donald M. Nelson today ordered sharp cuts in production of “jukebox,” and weighing, amusement and gaming machines, to conserve defense materials.
Wheeler confident U.S. will win war
CHICAGO, Illinois (UP) – Sen. Burton K. Wheeler, D-Montana, former isolationist leader, expressed confidence today that the United States would eventually win the war, but said “it won’t be any pink tea affair because we’ve given so much of our stuff away.”
Sen. Wheeler said in an interview:
I don’t think we can lick Japan in 30 or 60 days, first because it will be difficult to get at the Japanese and secondly because of the war materials we’ve given away.
Sen. Wheeler reiterated his previous statement that he was opposed to going to war, but “that we must see it through now that we are in it.”
House group ready to start probe of Navy
Committee will ask if ‘someone was asleep’ during Jap assault
WASHINGTON (UP) – The House Naval Affairs Committee prepared to start an inquiry today to determine whether “somebody was asleep” during the Japanese assault on Hawaii Sunday.
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Harold R. Stark were asked to testify at a secret session today, but Knox is away and Adm. Stark said he would have to delay his own testimony for a day or so.
The committee, however, will hear Dr. Ross T. McIntire, Navy Surgeon General. He will be questioned regarding charges that some ranking naval officers are physically unfit for the rigors of their duties.
Truth demanded
Congress yesterday reverberated with demands that the people be told the truth about the situation in the Pacific.
The most insistent demand came from Sen. Charles H. Tobey, R-New Hampshire, who said a colleague told him on the Senate floor that “a large part of the Pacific Fleet has been wiped out.”
His views were echoed by Sen. Walter F. George, D-Georgia, who called for “full and complete” information insofar as naval operations permit.
‘Entitled to know’
“That is the only way for any free people to conduct a war,” he said. “The people are entitled to know what is going on.”
White House Secretary Stephen T. Early said he could not reply to a question whether the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor – America’s most formidable naval fortress – constituted “the worst naval disaster in our history.”
All he could do, Mr. Early said, was reiterate his statement of Monday: “Our losses were heavy and subsequent reports show the losses to be heavier than first reported.”
President Roosevelt made a similar statement in his address to the nation last night.
Senators seek way to present facts on war
Democrats and Republicans agree that candid picture should be presented, no matter how serious; congressional liaison group proposed
WASHINGTON (UP) – Senators were encouraged today by President Roosevelt’s pledge to “give the facts” about war operations, but had various suggestions on methods of keeping the public better informed.
Both Democratic and Republican senators urged that a candid picture of the war scene be presented, no matter how serious.
Sen. Arthur Vandenberg, R-Michigan, asked appointment of a congressional liaison group to act as a “connecting link” between President Roosevelt and Congress and to supply factual information on military and naval operations.
Sen. Robert A. Taft, R-Ohio, suggested that system of daily communiqués be instituted by the War and Navy Departments.
Mr. Vandenberg believed that appointment of a liaison group would make unlikely a recurrence of the wave of rumors which swept Congress yesterday. Mr. Vandenberg, describing the congressional mood as “seething,” said 98 percent of the membership was “damned near exploding with wrath and indignation” at the Japanese successes.
He suggested that the liaison committee might, in some respects, parallel the position of British Cabinet officers who give authoritative answers to questions raised in the Houses of Commons and Lords.
Mr. Taft’s communiqué plan of news dissemination was aimed to remove that function from complete Executive Office control.
Knox ‘out of town’
He said:
A regular method of issuing factual, daily communiqués on the progress of the war should be adopted, coming from the Army and Navy. The Executive Office shouldn’t be the means of giving the people either good or bad news.
Demands for information, either confirming or denying the many rumors that swept the capital, crystallized today in a House Naval Affairs Committee inquiry into the naval situation in the Pacific. The committee originally planned to question Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Adm. Harold R. Stark. Mr. Knox, however, was reported “out of town,” while Adm. Stark’s appearance was described as “out of the question” for the present.
Committee to study question
Questioning of Navy Department officials may center around a charge brought by Rep. Beverly Vincent, D-Kentucky, that some high officers at Oahu and Honolulu were physically unfit for active duty.
The House Military Affairs Committee today will consider to what extent, in its own opinion, it should receive information on operations of the Armed Forces.
Chairman Robert R. Reynolds, D-North Carolina, of the Senate Military Affairs Committee, said Mr. Vandenberg’s proposal was worthy of close consideration. All information not detrimental to the success of combat operations should be made public “to array the wild rumors,” Mr. Reynolds said.
Sen. Styles Bridges, R-New Hampshire, asked that the administration “be frank with the American people even as to losses incurred, so long as the information does not reveal weaknesses to the enemy which could be taken advantage of.”
Sen. Scott Lucas, D-Illinois, urged that some proposal of the nature suggested by Mr. Vandenberg be given consideration.
Roosevelt gives pledge of total war against Axis
U.S. will win war and peace, President says, at the same time warning that both coasts are in immediate danger of raids By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
‘Reject all rumors’
WASHINGTON (UP) – The Commander-in-Chief to all Americans:
Most earnestly I urge my countrymen to reject all rumors. These ugly little hints of complete disaster fly thick and fast in wartime. They have to be examined and appraised… Many rumors and reports which we now hear originate with enemy sources… The purposes of such fantastic claims are, of course, to spread fear and confusion among us, and to goad us into revealing military information which our enemies are desperately anxious to obtain.
WASHINGTON (UP) – President Roosevelt’s analysis of the pattern of world conflict placed the United States today in a state of informal war with Germany and Italy.
Although formally engaged in war against only Japan, the President promised to fight the Axis “with everything we’ve got.”
Foreign dispatches hinted that a German declaration of war against the United States was forthcoming. Mr. Roosevelt warned of the real and immediate danger of a sneak punch – like that which rocked Pearl Harbor – on both our coasts, Atlantic or Pacific.
Other advices here suggested that Adolf Hitler might prefer for the time being to avoid actual war with the United States.
But in a war report to the nation that made previous fireside chats seem of small consequence in comparison, Mr. Roosevelt last night blunted no words in saying that we are in a fight for our collective lives – and that we will win the war, and the peace to follow.
The President’s warning that “Germany and Italy… consider themselves at war with the United States at this moment” brought from congressmen the comment that it was a “realistic recognition” of the facts.
Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, sounded the tenor of general congressional comment with: “Of course, we all think that Germany and Italy are going to follow the Japanese as brothers in this Axis agreement.”
Mr. Rayburn has said that Congress would declare war on Germany and Italy as quickly as it did against Japan if those two countries decide to attack the United States.
Of what has happened in the Pacific, Mr. Roosevelt said, “So far the news is all bad. Casualty lists will be large.’
Acknowledging a “serious setback in Hawaii” and that the country must be prepared to hear that Midway, Wake and Guam Islands have been captured, he declared there was no impregnable defense against blows without warning and urged the public, the press, and the radio to wait for the facts.
The President continued:
Most earnestly I urge my fellow countrymen to reject all rumors. These ugly little hints of complete disaster fly thick and fast in wartime.
Aimed at spreading fear
He said the enemy spread many a rumor to create fear and confusion among the public and to goad the government to denials and admissions of information eagerly sought in Axis capitals.
Mr. Roosevelt said he did not yet know the “exact damage” at Pearl Harbor but that “admittedly the damage is serious.” He dismissed as “fantastic” claims that Japan had gained naval control of the Pacific.
Mr. Roosevelt denounced Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese warlords. He left no doubt that the war – the all-out, total world war – is on, with Great Britain and her Dominions, the Soviet Union, the United States and associated powers on one side, and the Axis on the other – all of the Axis.
‘Resourceful gangsters’
Mr. Roosevelt said:
Remember always that Germany and Italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the United States at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with Britain and Russia. And Germany puts all the other republics of the Americas into the category of enemies.
Powerful and resourceful gangsters have banded together to make war upon the whole human race. Their challenge has now been flung at the United States.
We must be set to face a long war. The attack on Pearl Harbor can be repeated at any one of many points in both oceans and along both our coastlines against all the rest of the hemisphere.
‘Not immune from attack’
…our ocean-girt hemisphere is not immune from severe attack…
Your government knows that for weeks Germany has been telling Japan that if Japan did not attack the United States, Japan would not share in dividing the spoils with Germany when peace came. She was promised by Germany that if she came in, she would receive the complete and perpetual control of the whole of the Pacific area – and that means not only the Far East, not only all of the islands in the Pacific, but also a stranglehold on the west coast of North, Central, and South America.
We also know that Germany and Japan are conducting their military and naval operations in accordance with a joint plan. That plan considers all peoples and nations which are not helping the Axis powers as common enemies of each and every one of the Axis powers.
That is their simple and obvious grand strategy.
‘Final and complete victory’
So, Mr. Roosevelt said he had accepted the challenge and that we would accept no result except victory, final and complete. We are in the war, he explained, not for conquest or for vengeance, but for a world in which our children will be safe. He said we expected to eliminate the danger from Japan, but that Hitler and Mussolini must go too.
He compared the actions of Japan in Asia and of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe and Africa for ten years past and said:
It is all of one pattern.
Without warning – without warning – without warning.
10-year history cited
Again and again, Mr. Roosevelt repeated that phrase as he cited surprise attacks by the Axis powers on peaceful nations – Manchukuo, Ethiopia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and finally, last weekend, Malaya, Thailand, and the United States. His quick recapitulation covered 10 explosive years, 1931-41.
Mr. Roosevelt said of the Japanese attack in the Pacific:
We may acknowledge that our enemies have performed a brilliant feat of deception, perfectly timed and executed with great skill. It was a thoroughly dishonorable deed, but we must face the fact that modern warfare as conducted in the Nazi manner is a dirty business. We don’t like it – we didn’t want to get in it – but we are in it, and we’re going to fight it with everything we’ve got.
‘We’re in it all the way’
We are now in this war. We are all in it – all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories – the changing fortunes of war.
He promised to give the facts to the public as fast as they became available, provided first that a complete check be made on their accuracy and, second, that release of the information would not prove valuable to the enemy.
‘A trick of propaganda’
Many rumors and reports which we now hear originate with enemy sources. For instance, today the Japanese are claiming that as a result of their one action against Hawaii, they have gained naval supremacy in the Pacific. This is an old trick of propaganda which has been used innumerable times by the Nazis. The purposes of such fantastic claims are, of course, to spread fear and confusion among us, and to goad us into revealing military information which our enemies are desperately anxious to obtain.
Explaining that we will continue to supply other armies, navies and air forces fighting the Axis, Mr. Roosevelt said he had adopted two broad production principles:
A seven-day workweek in war industry and in the production of essential raw materials.
Expansion of production capacity by building new plants, expanding old plants, and using many small plants.
Enough food ‘at present’
He promised that the road to victory in the war and the peace to follow was one of hard, grueling, day-and-night work. But he found comfort in confidence that the nation was united at last, that “the obstacles and difficulties, divisions and disputes, indifference and callousness are now all past and, I am sure, forgotten.”
There is enough food “at present,” he assured the nation, to provide amply here and to leave much left over for export to less-favored partners in the anti-Axis drive.
No sacrifice would be felt or resented, Mr. Roosevelt was sure, by men privileged to serve in the Army, by citizens burdened with mounting taxes, or by those who must forego extra profits or curtail their manner of living. But he warned that there was a bitter shortage of metal and that half of the vital metals used for civilian consumption this year would have to be diverted to the war effort from now on.
Terrible lesson learned
But it was guns-and-butter for us in contrast to the guns-before-butter that Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and militaristic Japan have had to endure.
In ten years of observing and patiently and peacefully opposing aggression, Mr. Roosevelt said he had learned a terrible lesson, the worst part of it, perhaps, in the past three days since war flamed in the Pacific. He promised that we shall not forget that there can be no security in a gangster-ruled world, that there is no impregnable defense against blows without warning, that our own hemisphere, our own coastal cities and towns are now in jeopardy and, finally, “that modern warfare as conducted in the Nazi manner is a dirty business.”
Congressional comment backs President’s speech
WASHINGTON (UP) – Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, said today that President Roosevelt’s statement last night that Germany and Italy consider themselves at war with the United States was “a very frank, lucid statement.”
Mr. Rayburn said:
Of course, we all think that Germany and Italy are going to follow the Japanese as brothers in this Axis agreement. The President in his address took the American people into his confidence and let them know that we have a big and hard job before us.
Sen. Styles Bridges, R-New Hampshire, said the speech was a “clear analysis” of the situation, carrying a warning that the nation “must be prepared for any emergency in the Atlantic.” Mr. Bridges said he would not be surprised by a German declaration of war against the United States.
Senate Democratic leader Alben W. Barkley, D-Kentucky, said the speech was “a very frank and able presentation.” Chairman Tom Connally, D-Texas, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called the address “brave and vigorous, voicing the determination of the nation and all our people to prosecute the war with every ounce of our strength.”
Other comments:
Sen. Claude Pepper, D-Florida: “The President assured the country that we are going to not only win the war, but the peace.”
Sen. Walter F. George, D-Georgia: “The President has spoken for the country. He must have had strong reasons for all of the statements he made.”
Sen. Lister Hill, D-Alabama: “Mr. Roosevelt gave the nation every bit of information he would have been entitled to give.”
House Republican leader Joseph W. Martin, R-Massachusetts:
The President’s call for all-out effort for complete production from the vast American production machine is particularly deserving of a cordial, cooperative response.
Rep. Hamilton Fish, R-New York, agreeing that Germany and Italy consider themselves at war with the United States, said, “What I am interested in is whether we’re going to have a war resolution against them.”
Chairman Sol Bloom, D-New York, of the House Foreign Relations Committee: “There can be no shadow of a doubt as to what the nation’s response will be to the speech.”
French impressed by U.S. war unity
By Paul Ghali
VICHY, France – President Roosevelt’s broadcast to the American people Tuesday night was only heard here at 5 a.m. today (10 p.m. Tuesday EST), which means that few reactions are as yet available in Vichy. The full text of his speech is known only to a few officials whose lips are diplomatically sealed.
The President has, however, impressed his few French listeners with the fact that the war against the Axis is an “American national war” and that he had complete national unity behind him.
Vichy circles have undoubtedly been struck by the Japanese successes in the first few days of the war which give definite proof that the attacks were well-prepared. This feeling was emphasized by the reports that the British battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse had been sunk.
President Roosevelt’s decision to round up German and Italian nationals in the United States will, it is believed here, have quick repercussions among the Americans still in occupied France. According to a U.S. Embassy source, these Americans number approximately 700. Whether the Germans will apply an eye-for-an-eye policy, or whether only the most prominent Americans will be interned remains to be seen.
What will happen when Germany sides with Japan is in the laps of the gods. Japanese correspondents in Vichy are insistent that this eventuality may crop up in the next 24 hours and that a common German-Italian declaration is in the air, although nobody knows whether it will be a formal declaration of war or only declarations of sympathy for Japan.
Rome expects Axis to act in unity
NEW YORK (UP) – The Rome radio, commenting on President Roosevelt’s speech last night, said today that it was “of such a manner that the functioning of the Three-Power Pact may be expected,” according to NBC’s listening post.
The Three-Power Pact is the Berlin-Rome military alliance under which Germany and Italy are pledged to go to the aid of Japan in the event she was “attacked” in the Pacific. The Rome broadcast was a further forecast of German and Italian declarations of war against the United States.
Federal agents take 2,303 Axis aliens into custody
Biddle: Majority to be placed in concentration camps supervised by Army
WASHINGTON (UP) – Attorney General Francis Biddle announced today that 2,303 Axis nationals have been taken into custody by the federal government. He said the majority would soon be placed in concentration camps supervised by the Army.
At the same time, Mr. Biddle disclosed that naturalization applications of German and Italian immigrants filed during the past two years would be held up for the duration of the war.
He told a press conference that the Axis nationals seized had been rounded up during a three-hour period in the Hawaiian Islands by military intelligence agents, and within two hours in the continental United States by the FBI.
Mr. Biddle said those in custody included 1,291 Japanese, 865 Germans and 146 Italians.
Only a fraction
The aliens seized represent only a small fraction of the 1.1 million Axis nationals living in United States territory.
Mr. Biddle said hearings would be held on the cases of some aliens whose seizures as “dangerous” persons may be reconsidered. The hearings will be conducted informally by a board of review similar to those set up to hear the cases of conscientious objectors under the Selective Service Act.
The hearings, he said, will start shortly and the Justice Department hopes to be able to use, in many instances, the personnel of various conscientious objectors’ review boards.
Grave responsibility
The boards, according to Mr. Biddle, will report their findings to him, and the final decisions as to the disposition of the cases will be left to him. He described as “very grave” the responsibility falling upon all concerned in those cases.
Mr. Biddle reiterated that all Japanese, Italian and German aliens not now in custody would be regarded as “peaceful and law-abiding” so long as they obeyed the regulations promulgated under a presidential proclamation issued yesterday.
Mr. Biddle said that several of the aliens now in federal custody undoubtedly would be granted their freedom, while others would be given “permanent paroles as a study of the English system showed this to be the best manner of handling them.”
The parolees will be under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department’s Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Local organizations
The review boards, he said, will be organized locally and will consist “of eminent citizens not in the government.”
The Attorney General said that the concentration camps so far planned are located at the forts in Montana, North Dakota and New Mexico, where Axis seamen had previously been sent. He said that everything possible “would be done to treat those seized fairly, as we have many of our own citizens in their countries.”
He also announced the selection of Leo T. Crowley, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as head of a new division of the Justice Department which will deal with patents and other property of Axis nationals. He said this division would have functions comparable to the Alien Property Custodian during World War I.
Mr. Crowley, whose appointment was approved by President Roosevelt, will also serve as Mr. Biddle’s alternate on the Economic Defense Board.
Hits ‘rough handling’
Mr. Biddle repeated that apprehension and detention of Axis nationals was a “job to be handled by the FBI alone” and he criticized the “rough handling of Japanese” reported in Seattle. He added, “They were very foolish to do it.”
He said there was “absolutely no evidence of fifth-column activity or sabotage, but we have already posted extra guards in all vital plants. We are taking no chances.”
According to regulations promulgated under the President’s proclamations, “enemy aliens” – Japanese, Italians and Germans – are forbidden from affiliating with any organization, group or assembly designated by Mr. Biddle.
Travel restricted
Their travel is restricted, and they are subject to seizure if they are found in areas designated as forbidden zones by the Justice or War Departments.
Mr. Biddle asked state and local authorities to prevent molestation or persecution of Japanese, German and Italian nationals. Special steps may be taken to protect the thousands of German Jewish refugees.
It was expected that an early step in enforcement of the regulations would be the purging of foreign-dominated organizations, such as the German-American Bund, of their alien membership.
Firearms barred
No “enemy” alien can possess firearms or other material of war, shortwave receivers and transmitters and other signal devices, cameras, codes and ciphers, papers, documents, books, photographs, sketches or maps of military and naval establishments.
Airplane flights by Japanese, German and Italian nationals are prohibited, except where authority is given by the Attorney General or War Department. They are barred from highways, waterways, railways, subways, public utility plants, buildings and other places not generally accessible or used by the general public.
Germany clamps down on U.S. correspondents
BERLIN, Germany (UP) – American correspondents on Berlin were barred from the official press conference today and were instructed to proceed to their homes.
The “request” was made by Minister Paul Schmidt of the Foreign Office Press Department “in view of the fact that, contrary to all international law, German press correspondents in the United States have been arrested.”
U.S. Steel Corporation director resigns to enter Navy
NEW YORK (UP) – Junius S. Morgan, recently called up for active duty as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, has resigned as a director of U.S. Steel Corporation, and as an alternative member of its finance committee, it was announced today.
Mr. Morgan had previously been granted an indefinite leave of absence from his executive post with the investment banking firm of Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
Youngstown Vindicator (December 10, 1941)
Kurusu’s hand tipped in hotel
Becomes furious at seeing red, white, and blue on pajamas By Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Armed Forces might have had a valuable tip regarding Special Envoy Saburo Kurusu’s actual “peace” intentions if they had interviewed employees of the fashionable Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu.
Kurusu made a one-night stopover in Honolulu during his Clipper flight from Tokyo to Washington, and the first thing he did after being shown to his suite was to pick up the telephone and ask for “Room Service.”
“Please have several pairs of pajamas from one of the shops downstairs sent to my room at once,” he ordered.
A few minutes later, a bellhop brought up six pairs of pajamas of assorted hues. Kurusu examined them briefly, chose a bright-colored silk pair. The bellhop took the others away, but had hardly stepped out of the elevator when the desk clerk hailed him.
“Go right back up to Mr. Kurusu’s room,” the clerk directed. “Something’s happened. He sounded very excited.”
The bellboy rushed back to find the eminent Japanese visitor boiling mad. Holding up the pajamas, he pointed to a red-white-and-blue insignia woven on the pocket. Flinging the pajamas at the bellhop, he commanded: “Take them back! Take them back at once and tell that store I’ve decided I don’t want any of their merchandise.”
Who was asleep?
Alibis cannot very well explain away how both Army and Navy intelligence had their guard down so carelessly when Japanese planes swooped down out of the early morning sky at Hawaii Sunday.
Their only explanation so far is that the Pacific is a very wide ocean. However, U.S. naval intelligence at least is supposed to keep a careful eye on when Japanese warships leave port and notify U.S. naval stations in the Pacific to watch out for them.
In 1932, for instance, during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Japanese fleet left mysteriously, and for several weeks the U.S. fleet was on the alert trying to figure out its destination.
In recent years, however, both intelligence services have been under the command of drawing-room experts. Gen. Sherman Miles, in charge of military intelligence, is a charming gentleman who has surrounded himself with wealthy young blue-bloods. Only members of the best families can qualify for military intelligence, and how much they know about the life around a Japanese waterfront is questionable.
Similarly, naval intelligence has been in charge of two delightful gentlemen, Capt. Alan Kirk and now Capt. Ted Wilkinson. Both have their names listed in the Social Register, the blue-blood list of Washington’s selected socialites. Wilkinson has a large mansion across the Potomac in Virginia, and there he entertains in the very best manner, but when it came to docking the USS Mississippi in New York, it took him six and a half hours.
Captains Kirk and Wilkinson are great assets at dinner parties, and apparently want all their young men to be likewise, for no man can get into naval intelligence unless both grandfathers and grandmothers were born in the USA. Not even Wendell Willkie could qualify.
Obviously, it is the man who can speak a few languages, is not afraid to get his hands dirty in close contact with life, and who is not too particular regarding the percentage of blue blood in his veins, who should be able to bring in shipping information.
Mrs. Roosevelt and Japanese
Mrs. Roosevelt is one of the most even-tempered, good-natured persons in the world. But no one in Washington was more irate than she when the news first broke that Japan had sprung a Hitler double-cross on Hawaii during the middle of her husband’s appeal to Emperor Hirohito.
On the fateful Sunday of the bombardment, Mrs. Roosevelt came into the White House while the President was talking to the Japanese ambassador. She said nothing at the time, but her lips tightened into a firm straight line – sure sign that the First Lady’s dander is up.
Afterward, she told friends:
Imagine the nerve of that man sitting with my husband in the White House when Japanese bombs were falling on our boys! And when I came in, he got up and actually bowed and was full of smiles!
No-appeaser Ickes
The one member of the Cabinet who had a consistently 100 percent, though sometimes unpopular, batting record regarding Japan was the toe-stepping, hit-em-harder Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes.
No one outside the Cabinet ever knew just how many tough fights Ickes had with Secretary of State Hull over appeasing Japan. For a time, it got so that Hull would not speak to him.
Ickes argued way back in 1937, when Japan first invaded China, that the United States should cooperate with Britain in shutting off Japan’s oil and the raw materials of war. And he kept plugging this theme and getting into the hair of the State Department with unremitting zeal ever since.
He brought the matter up again in 1938 when the Japanese sank the gunboat USS Panay, obviously a test by the warlords to see whether the United States would take it lying down.
Then, in 1940, Ickes joined with Morgenthau, Stimson, and Knox in trying to persuade the President to embargo all oil, gasoline and scrap iron. Once again Secretary Hull opposed, and persuaded the President to delay the oil embargo until almost a year later, by which time Japan had built up a year’s reserve of oil – which she has today.
ON THE RECORD — ‘Of the United States’
By Dorothy Thompson
So, it had come. There was nothing unexpected about it. The apprehension that one had had, waking and sleeping, for two years now; more than apprehension, the certainty; something that being certain, one had faced and come to terms within one’s mind – even with an irritation, sometimes a fury, that everybody else didn’t see how certain it was.
“We shall be attacked. We shall be caught, like all the others, by surprise and ill-prepared… just like all the others…” Furious with the talk and the debate and the acting as though the danger were not here, coming closer… coming closer all the time.
Well, now it was here.
It had happened the day before and now the President was going to speak.
There was even something of an anti-climax about it… and something idiotic. No variation. Just like Holland – and we were the great United States. Just like Russia thousands of miles away. Oh – and we were brothers. Who cares for ideologies among men attacked in their homes. The same pattern, now become even a bit tedious. The negotiations; the smiling diplomats.
Suddenly a cold, exaggerated fury at Kurusu’s smile, that bland secretive smile that I had seen on all the photographs.
A friend, sitting next to me at the radio, said, “Well, at least, you are not shocked.”
“No,” I said, “I am not shocked.”
Yes, but I was. Odd that one never gets over being shocked. Over and over again the same pattern and always the surprise… the silly, booby surprise. And I felt it too. “Not to us. they can’t do that to us.” Even when I’d known all the time that they could, and they would. Known it in the bones, where one knows things best. But still the surprise.
The joint session
So it was here. And now the President was walking into Congress, and the calm radio voice was describing his entrance… the applause… The President addressing the joint session…
The President.
My President. Sen. Pepper’s President. Sen. Vandenburg’s President. Hamilton Fish’s President. Our President.
“The President of the United States.”
“Of the United States.”
America!
Why did one cry like any booby just at those words: “Of the United States.”
Now it had come and it was going to be godawful. Not the way some of the radio commentators had said and the editorials. Not the “silly little Japs” and “we’d wipe up the oceans with them.” “Infamy!” Yes, infamy. But so well planned, so well calculated, so efficient, so almost admirable the infamies… one after another… the great success story. Not easy. Hard. Terribly hard… Death… death and wounds; heartbreaks and suffering; all the grueling, wearing, tiring, haggard anxieties, the irritating privations… all the unbearable little things too… what Rebecca West called “the minor horrors of war.”
Life was beautiful
Life had been so beautiful once… when was that…? Oh, so long ago. But now…! Now it would be… unbearable.
What is unbearable?
That’s the final test of who wins. Not the first success… The endurance.
The President spoke out strong the way you do when there is a lump in your throat to overcome. He hated it. Some had said he wanted it – because he saw it. Now the tremble in his voice, so wonderfully controlled. The President.
Not too many words. That was good. There have been so many words already. Now it is deeds. “No matter how long it may take us…” That was good. It won’t be over tomorrow, or tomorrow.
“We will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.”
Yes, God help us. “God bless us every one, said Tiny Tim.” Says Great America.
Crazy and silly things
America! Think of everything one loves… Such crazy silly things! Flash back to the time we ran away to the Indian reservation near Gowanda. The Sixth Reader. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address: “For still the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.”
“I love thy rocks and rills” …the creek by the house where I nearly drowned… at 10… “thy woods and templed hills.” …going to a college conference at Lake George… oh, how long ago… and the white farm in Vermont. Home.
“It was all the little books that had gone to school with me” …who wrote that? Edna Millay… way back… and she wrote those funny articles called “I like Americans.” Funny why she liked them. because they didn’t wear suspenders and didn’t “put a dead man in the top of the bed.”
The first times
Doughnuts and coffee, hot dog stands, terrapin and steamed clams… the first time you saw New York… the first time you saw San Francisco… the church at Old Bennington… Monticello… Amos and Andy…
America!
All the things one hated, too. That passion to change what one hates. Yes, fight for that, too! For our own damned right to change things in our own damned way.
Listen how they were applauding; how they were cheering! Not that deadly monotonous roar: Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
Another rhythm. America’s! He stood there: the President. And some of them had hated him; and many of them had fought him; and all of us had elected them; Gene Talmadge and Carer Glass; Sen. Wheeler and Sen. Austin; Sen. La Follette and Sol Bloom, Ham Fish and George Aiken… All the states… the North, the South, the Middle West, the Southwest, the Far West… So near the Far East… The United… States… of… America.
‘So help us God’
Our side. Our team. Our fight. Our Victory.
Their voices commingled in the great cry of the Free!
“So help us God.”
“Protect us by Thy might,
“Great God our King!”
That’s telling ‘em who our King is!
“Americanos! Conquerors! For thee… for thee, oh democracy!
“For thee I am singing these songs.” – Walt Whitman
Lawrence: Hits President in arms delay
Raps New Deal for coddling labor, hurting business By David Lawrence
WASHINGTON – It has not yet been fully borne in on the Roosevelt administration that a war is on and that the United States Navy has already suffered a severe defeat.
The President is still planning “conferences” with labor and management instead of issuing orders for action. Congress, instead of being alert to its responsibility, is still awaiting word from the executive branch of the government before it determines how to discharge its duties.
A case in point is the way the President is handling labor legislation. He is already lukewarm about restricting strikes although everybody here knows that millions of man-hours have been lost because of strikes. The idea now voiced by the President is to try voluntary cooperation once more. It has been tried and it has failed.
No union discipline
The sad truth which the country has not been told by the administration is that neither the AFL nor the CIO can maintain discipline over their locals and that they have conceded they have only a sort of moral influence over their constituent locals. With the lease-lend program in effect and upwards of 100 lives lost on the USS Reuben James, the coal strike and the insurrection in the commercial coal mines took place. Yet the administration is talking about giving “voluntary cooperation” a further trial.
The United States faces a serious debacle in its defense program. The country is in for some unpleasant news when it learns how the whole program has been delayed through strikes, red tape, inefficiency, and the politics of class warfare. “America is unprepared for a two-ocean war,” is the word of rejoicing which the Berlin radio is broadcasting. And the reason, of course, is that the President has failed to organize the production of the nation on a basis that will make up for the deficiencies in our Army, Navy and Air Force.
When Bernard M. Baruch came back from Europe in the autumn of 1938 after the Munich Conference, he tried to warn the President of the needs of the Army and Navy and Air Force. He said Chamberlain capitulated because England was unprepared. Whatever the mistakes and delays prior to the outbreak of war in September 1939, there certainly is scant excuse for the dawdling way the defense program has been handled since that date.
Country wakes up
It has taken the serious defeat in the Pacific to wake up the country to the truth about the way things have been going. In a democracy it is often through political evasion that the truth is concealed. But the facts about production are easy to obtain. The whole industrial mechanism has not been functioning properly. Management has been suspicious of the efforts of the New Dealers to put over their government ownership schemes and labor has been given no word of denunciation from the government until recently for ignoring the requests of the administration to stop strikes.
In the midst of this class friction and with an international war in the offing, the President resorted to a scheme to put over the compulsory unionization of the coal mines which does not look well in the record. John J. Lewis ignored the President’s requests twice and yet today he has been rewarded by a presidential appointee, who has granted him all he asks for. It paid Mr. Lewis handsomely to strike.
The leaders of labor say they are behind the government and the defense program. They have said this dozens of times in the last two years but the strikes and interruptions happen just the same. The President, it was believed, would not temporize with the situation any longer. But he is doing so again.
Longer hours
Word that longer hours must be worked and that a seven-day week will be requested has come at last from the President. William S. Knudsen, coordinator of the OPM, begged for this in a public speech just a year ago, but his advice was ignored.
As one looks back over the record of failures in administering the defense program, one wonders what will happen when the public gets the true facts about how the administration preferred to put its own political reforms above preparedness and allowed interruptions of a serious nature to delay the production of weapons for defense.
America is unprepared today because the administration has preferred to talk of “social gains” and squelch legislation that would have helped production. It has coddled pressure groups even since May 1940. As for the production mechanism of the country, it has been impaired by government harassment of any kind.
Business hampered
The Department of Justice is still trying to put in jail dozens of key executives because of anti-trust law technicalities. The workweek has been shortened in the name of “liberalism” but waste has followed and costs have been forced upwards by the time-and-a-half basis so that longer work shifts cannot be economically operated. Businessmen have been blamed by New Dealers who have sniped away without presidential reprimand. The most important material in making an airplane – aluminum – happens to be made by a large company against which a New Deal clique has done everything for the last year to demoralize operations and break down its efficiency.
Some day what has happened in the last two years will be seen in true perspective and the American people will find out that in a war in which production and mechanization count so much, the leaders of industry have been browbeaten, threatened, and forced to one side while a group of reformers, with no experience in organization or industry, have sat at the key posts in the cabinet and in the executive agencies.
And there is no sign as yet of change, no sign of true coalition government, no sign of action and collaboration, but instead the same talk of coddling pressure groups and putting politics and “social gains” above the nation’s safety.
Eliot: Asserts U.S. should hide Hawaii facts
Says Japs would also like to know extent of damage By Maj. George Fielding Eliot
This is perhaps the gravest hour in our national history. It is an hour for calm and resolute thinking. Above all, it is an hour for the suspension of judgment as to the course of events and the responsibility for seeming misfortune until information upon which judgment can properly be based is available.
The cry for news, news, news is understandable. The anxiety which lies behind that cry in inevitable. Yet every citizen ought to realize it is his duty, perhaps his most important duty at the moment, to keep calm, to curb his natural desire to know what is happening, to await the moment when he may be safely told.
Pressures of whatever kind brought to bear at this time to force either the revealing of information or the apportionment of praise or blame can do nothing but give advantage to the enemy. Remember that the enemy, too, wants information. He wants desperately to know what we are thinking and doing and planning. The least hint may be of service to him, of grave disservice to the United States.
Atlantic drained fleet
Specifically, I have in mind the present naval situation in the Pacific as affected by the Japanese attack on the American fleet and base at Pearl Harbor and the other operations which have taken place or are taking place. At the beginning, the American Pacific Fleet faced certain difficulties, due to withdrawal of some of its ships to meet the new responsibilities we had undertaken in the Atlantic. It was necessary to meet these responsibilities, once they had been assumed.
The amount of force required for that purpose was a matter for judgment of the President and his naval advisers. It may be said that, if the force transferred to the Atlantic included any of our modern battleships, the responsibility assumed by whoever made the final decision to divide the battle force was a very grave one, and one whose results must eventually be tried at the bar of public judgment.
Margin was not great
It is the personal opinion of the writer, and always has been, that, whatever disposition be made of the lighter craft to meet changing conditions and needs, the main striking power of the fleet, the battle force, ought never, under any conditions, to be divided as long as there exists a potential enemy in either ocean possessing a strong battle line.
Margin of superiority possessed by our original Pacific Fleet over the total force of the Japanese Navy was not great, though probably sufficient for victory; almost certainly so, taking into account our great superiority in naval aviation. How much that margin had been whittled down by transfers to the Atlantic is uncertain, but certainly it had been reduced.
Japs want to know, too
Now the question is, how much further has our fighting strength in the Pacific been cut by the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor; how many ships have been lost, and how many put out of action for a greater or less period of time by severe damage? We do not know, and we ought not – at this time – to ask. The Japanese would like to know that too; they can hardly be sure of what they have done, or left undone. The whole course of their future operations, and ours, depends on accurate information, and the side with the best information has a tremendous advantage.
Playing for time
The Japanese are playing desperately for time. They have probably gained some time by their attack on Pearl Harbor. Their great anxiety is to establish themselves securely in the Far East before superior naval forces can appear there. To do this they must take Singapore and Manila before a superior American fleet (or a superior Anglo-American-Dutch fleet) can be assembled in Far Eastern waters.
They cannot detach the whole of their battle force to meet us, because they must keep a certain number of battleships in the South China Sea to cover landing operations in Malaya; otherwise these will be at the mercy of the two or more British battleships now at Singapore.
Had to take first blow
They have their worries; they are making a desperate bid for quick victory before their resources are exhausted. Remember all this, and remember that if that bid for victory is to be defeated, we must make the most effective possible use of every man and ship and plane we possess. The least hampering of our national effort now, the least leakage of information, may be fatal.
If there is blame to be apportioned for what may have happened at Pearl Harbor, then the time for that is later, when all the facts can be told.
Our defensive policy necessarily causes us to be the recipient and not the deliverer of the first blows. We ought to have attacked Japan without warning, from the strictly military point of view; from the political point of view this was impossible, and the political results might well have proven more damaging than the physical blows we have sustained in consequence.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 8965
Extension of Trust Periods on Indian Lands Expiring During Calendar Year 1942
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 10, 1941
By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 5 of the Act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat. 388, 389), by the Act of June 21, 1906 (34 Stat. 325, 326), and by the Act of March 2, 1917 (39 Stat. 969, 976), it is ordered that the periods of trust applying to Indian lands, whether of a tribal or individual status, which, unless extended, will expire during the calendar year 1942, be, and they are hereby, extended for a further period of twenty-five years from the date on which any such trust would otherwise expire.
This order is not intended to apply to any case in which the Congress has specifically reserved to itself authority to extend the period of trust on tribal or individual Indian lands.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, December 10, 1941
U.S. State Department (December 10, 1941)
740.0011 P. W./900: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom to the Secretary of State
London, December 10, 1941 — 1 p.m.
[Received December 10 — 12:11 p.m.]
5974
Personal for the Secretary and the President.
The Prime Minister, as you will have seen in the press, announced to the Parliament at 11 o’clock this morning the loss of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. I was with him last night and saw him immediately following the announcement and have been constantly with him over the last few days. It seemed best to me that certain information should go from him direct to you rather than through the Embassy. I hope you and the Secretary approve. He feels that information from the Pacific calls for reconsideration of planning as you already know. Discouragements seem only to give him new courage and add to his determination.
Your speech to the Congress was carried on the BBC. It gave people great confidence here. I listened to your talk to the Nation last night. There was serious interference but it was repeated this morning, again at noon on the NBC. People here assume that we are in the total war together. News from the Middle East and Russia is good.
WINANT
740.0011 Pacific War/815: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China
Washington, December 10, 1941 — 6 p.m.
293
Your 481, December 8, 6 p.m.
Please inform Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek as from the President that the President deeply appreciates the attitude of the Generalissimo and of the Chinese Government as expressed by General Chiang to you on December 8. State also that the suggestions made by General Chiang at that time are receiving prompt attention and careful study.
HULL
740.0011 Pacific War/891: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan
Washington, December 10, 1941
824
Department received today your telegrams 1906 and 1910 of December 8, together with your undated telegram which contained Foreign Office note in regard to existence of state of war between the United States and Japan.
We hope that all goes well with you and your staff and other Americans in Japan. Department has notified families of Embassy staff that you are all safe and well.
German Führer Hitler’s announcement to the Reichstag December 11, 1941, 3:00 p.m. CET
Broadcast audio:
Abgeordnete!
Männer des Deutschen Reichstages!
Ein Jahr weltgeschichtlicher Ereignisse geht zur Neige, ein Jahr größter Entscheidungen steht vor uns. In dieser ernsten Zeit spreche ich zu Ihnen. Abgeordnete des Reichstages, als den Vertretern der deutschen Nation. Allein darüber hinaus soll das ganze deutsche Volk von diesem Rückblick Kenntnis nehmen und von den Entscheidungen, die uns Gegenwart und Zukunft aufzwingen.
Nach der abermaligen Ablehnung meines Friedensangebotes im Jahre 1940 durch den derzeitigen britischen Ministerpräsidenten und die ihn tragende oder beherrschende Clique war es im Herbst klar, daß dieser Krieg gegen alle Gründe der Vernunft und der Notwendigkeit mit den Waffen bis zum Ende durchgekämpft werden muß. Sie kennen mich, meine alten Parteigenossen, daß ich stets ein Feind halber oder schwächlicher Entschlüsse war.
Wenn die Vorsehung es so gewollt hat, daß dem deutschen Volk dieser Kampf nicht erspart werden kann, dann will ich ihr dafür dankbar sein, daß sie mich mit der Führung eines historischen Ringens betraute, das für die nächsten 500 oder 1.000 Jahre nicht nur unsere deutsche Geschichte, sondern die Geschichte Europas, ja der ganzen Welt, entscheidend gestalten wird.
Das deutsche Volk und seine Soldaten arbeiten und kämpfen heute nicht nur für sich und ihre Zeit, sondern für kommende, ja fernste Generationen. Eine geschichtliche Revision einmaligen Ausmaßes wurde uns vom Schöpfer aufgetragen, die zu vollziehen wir nunmehr verpflichtet sind.
Der schon kurz nach der Beendigung des Kampfes in Norwegen mögliche Waffenstillstand im Westen zwang die deutsche Führung zu allererst, die gewonnenen, politisch, strategisch und wirtschaftlich wichtigen Gebiete vor allem militärisch zu sichern.
So haben die damals eroberten Länder seitdem ihr Widerstandsvermögen verändert. Von Kirkenes bis zur spanischen Grenze erstreckt sich ein Gürtel von Stützpunkten und Befestigungen größten Ausmaßes.
Zahllose Flugplätze wurden gebaut oder im hohen Norden zum Teil aus dem Urgestein des Granits gesprengt. Marinebasen erhielten Schutzbauten für U-Boote in einem Ausmaß und in einer Stärke, daß sie sowohl von See als auch von der Luft aus praktisch unverletzbar sind. Der Verteidigung selbst dienen mehr als eineinhalbtausend neue Batterien, deren Stellungen erkundet, geplant und ausgebaut werden mußten. Ein Netz von Straßen und Eisenbahnen wurde angelegt, so daß heute die Verbindung zwischen der spanischen Grenze und Petsamo unabhängig vom Meere sichergestellt ist. Pioniere und Baubataillone der Marine, des Heeres und der Luftwaffe in Verbindung mit der Organisation Todt haben hier Anlagen geschaffen, die dem Westwall in nichts nachstehen. An ihrer Verstärkung wird unentwegt weitergearbeitet.
Es ist mein unbeirrbarer Entschluß, diese europäische Front für jeden Feind unangreifbar zu machen.
Diese auch über den letzten Winter hin fortgesetzte Arbeit defensiver Art fand ihre Ergänzung durch eine offensive Kriegführung, wie sie, durch die jahreszeitlichen Verhältnisse bedingt, möglich war. Deutsche Überwasser- und Unterwasser-Seestreitkräfte führten ihren stetigen Vernichtungskrieg gegen die britische und die ihr dienstbare Kriegs- und Handelsmarine weiter. Die deutsche Luftwaffe unterstützte durch Aufklärung und Angriff die Schädigung der feindlichen Tonnage und brachte in zahllosen Vergeltungsflügen dem Engländer eine bessere Vorstellung über den „reizenden Krieg“ bei, dessen Urheber mit in erster Linie sein heutiger Premierminister ist.
In diesem Kampf wurde in der Mitte des vergangenen Jahres Deutschland vor allem durch seinen italienischen Bundesgenossen unterstützt. Viele Monate lastete das Gewicht eines großen Teils der britischen Macht auf den Schultern des mit uns verbündeten italienischen Staates. Nur infolge der enormen Überlegenheit an schweren Panzern gelang es den Engländern, in Nordafrika vorübergehend eine Krise herbeizuführen.
Schon am 24. März des vergangenen Jahres aber begann eine kleine Gemeinschaft deutsch-italienischer Verbände unter der Führung Rommels zum Gegenangriff anzutreten.
Am 2. April fiel Agedabia. Am 4. wurde Bengasi erreicht. Am 8. zogen unsere gemeinsamen Verbände in Derna ein, am 11. wurde Tobruk eingeschlossen und am 12. April Bardia besetzt.
Das deutsche Afrikakorps hat umso Hervorragenderes geleistet. als den Deutschen rein klimatisch dieser Kriegsschauplatz vollkommen fremd und ungewohnt war. So wie einst in Spanien sind nunmehr in Nordafrika Deutsche und Italiener dem gleichen Feinde stets gemeinsam gegenübergetreten.
Während durch diese kühnen Maßnahmen die nordafrikanische Front unserer beiden verbündeten Länder mit dem Blut deutscher und italienischer Soldaten wie der gesichert wurde, zog sich über Europa bereits der unheildrohende Schatten einer entsetzlichen Gefahr zusammen.
Der bittersten Not gehorchend habe ich mich im Herbst 1939 entschlossen, wenigstens den Versuch zu machen, durch das Ausschalten der akuten deutsch-russischen Spannung die Voraussetzung für einen allgemeinen Frieden zu schaffen. Dies war psychologisch schwer infolge der Gesamteinstellung des deutschen Volkes und vor allem der Partei gegenüber dem Bolschewismus, sachlich genommen aber leicht, da Deutschland in all den Gebieten, die England als von uns bedroht erklärte und mit Beistandspakten überfiel, tatsächlich immer nur wirtschaftliche Interessen gesehen und vertreten hatte. Denn ich darf Sie erinnern, Abgeordnete, Männer des Deutschen Reichstages, daß England im Ganzen Früh- und Hochsommer des Jahres 1939 wieder zahlreichen Staaten und Ländern seinen Beistand anbot mit der Behauptung, Deutschland besäße die Absicht, bei ihnen einzufallen und sie ihrer Freiheit zu berauben.
Das Deutsche Reich und seine Regierung konnten mit bestem Gewissen daher versichern, daß es sich dabei nur um Unterstellungen handelte, die der Wahrheit in keiner Weise entsprachen.
Es kam dazu noch die nüchterne militärische Erkenntnis, daß im Falle eines Krieges, der durch die britische Diplomatie dem deutschen Volke aufgezwungen werden sollte, der Kampf nach zwei Fronten ohnehin nur mit sehr schweren Opfern durchführbar schien. Nachdem außerdem die baltischen Staaten, Rumänien usw. der Annahme der britischen Beistandspakte zugeneigt waren und damit zu erkennen gaben, daß sie ebenfalls an eine solche Bedrohung glaubten, war es für die deutsche Reichsregierung nicht nur ein Recht, sondern auch eine Pflicht, ihrerseits die Grenzen der deutschen Interessen zu bestimmen.
Die betroffenen Länder mußten allerdings – auch zum Leidwesen des Deutschen Reiches selbst – in kurzer Zeit erkennen, daß der einzige Faktor, der der stärkste Garant gegenüber dem drohenden Osten sein konnte, nur Deutschland war.
So wie sie durch ihre eigene Politik die Verbindungen zum Deutschen Reich durchschnitten hatten und stattdessen sich dem Beistand der Macht anvertrauten, die in ihrem sprichwörtlichen Egoismus seit Jahrhunderten nie Beistand gab, sondern stets nur Hilfe forderte, waren sie verloren.
Dennoch erregte das Schicksal dieser Länder das stärkste Mitempfinden des deutschen Volkes. Der Winterkampf der Finnen zwang uns ein Gefühl, gemischt aus Bitternis und Bewunderung, auf. Bewunderung, weil wir selbst als Soldatenvolk für Heldentum und Aufopferung ein empfängliches Herz besitzen, Bitternis, weil wir mit dem Blick auf den drohenden Feind im Westen und die Gefahr im Osten militärisch zu helfen nicht in der Lage waren.
Sowie es klar wurde, daß Sowjetrußland aus der Abgrenzung der politischen deutschen Einflußsphären das Recht ableitete, die außerhalb lebenden Nationen praktisch auszurotten, war das weitere Verhältnis nur noch ein zweckbestimmtes, dem Vernunft und Gefühle feindlich gegenüberstanden.
Von Monat zu Monat mehr wurde schon im Jahre 1940 die Erkenntnis gewonnen, daß die Pläne der Männer des Kreml bewußt auf die Beherrschung und damit Vernichtung ganz Europas hinzielten.
Ich habe der Nation schon ein Bild des Aufmarsches der russischen militärischen Machtmittel im Osten gegeben, zu einer Zeit, in der Deutschland nur wenige Divisionen in den an Rußland angrenzenden Provinzen besaß. Nur ein Blinder konnte es übersehen, daß sich hier ein Aufmarsch von weltgeschichtlich einmaligen Dimensionen vollzog. Und zwar nicht, um etwas zu verteidigen, was nicht bedroht war, sondern nur, um etwas anzugreifen, was zur Verteidigung nicht mehr fähig zu sein schien.
Wenn die blitzartige Beendigung des Feldzuges im Westen den Moskauer Machthabern auch die Möglichkeit nahm, mit einer sofortigen Erschöpfung des Deutschen Reiches rechnen zu können, so beseitigte dies keineswegs ihre Absichten, sondern verschob nur den Zeitpunkt des Angriffes. Im Sommer 1941 glaubte man, den günstigen Moment des Losschlagens zu sehen. Nun sollte ein neuer Mongolensturm über Europa hinwegbrausen.
Für die gleiche Zeit aber versprach Mister Churchill auch die Wende des englischen Kampfes gegen Deutschland. Er versucht heute in feiger Weise abzuleugnen, daß er in den Geheimsitzungen des Jahres 1940 im englischen Unterhaus als wesentlichsten Faktor für die erfolgreiche Fortführung und Beendigung dieses Krieges auf den sowjetischen Kriegseintritt hinwies, der spätestens im Jahre 1941 kommen sollte und der England dann in die Lage versetzen würde, auch seinerseits zum Angriff überzugehen.
Im Frühling dieses Jahres verfolgten wir deshalb in gewissenhafter Pflicht den Aufmarsch einer Weltmacht, die an Menschen und Materialüberunerschöpfliche Reserven zu verfügen schien. Schwere Wolken begannen sich über Europa zusammenzuziehen.
Denn, meine Abgeordneten, was ist Europa? Es gibt keine geographische Definition unseres Kontinents, sondern nur eine volkliche und kulturelle. Nicht der Ural ist die Grenze dieses Kontinents, sondern jene Linie, die das Lebensbild des Westens von dem des Ostens trennt.
Es gab eine Zeit, da war Europa jenes griechische Eiland, in das nordische Stämme vorgedrungen waren, um von dort aus zum erstenmal ein Licht anzuzünden, das Seitdem langsam aber stetig die Welt der Menschen zu erhellen begann. Und als diese Griechen den Einbruch der persischen Eroberer abwehrten, da verteidigten sie nicht ihre engere Heimat, die Griechenland war, sondern jenen Begriff, der heute Europa heißt.
Und dann wanderte Europa von Hellas nach Rom.
Mit dem griechischen Geist und der griechischen Kultur verband sich römisches Denken und römische Staatskunst. Ein Weltreich wurde geschaffen, das auch heute noch in seiner Bedeutung und fortzeugenden Kraft nicht erreicht, geschweige denn übertroffen ist. Als aber die römischen Legionen gegenüber dem afrikanischen Ansturm Karthagos in drei schweren Kriegen Italien verteidigten und endlich den Sieg erfochten, war es wieder nicht Rom, für das sie kämpften, sondern dass die griechisch-römische Welt umfassende Europa.
Der nächste Einbruch gegen diesen Heimatboden der neuen menschlichen Kultur erfolgte aus den Weiten des Ostens. Ein furchtbarer Strom kulturloser Horden ergoß sich aus Innerasien bis tief in das Herz des heutigen europäischen Kontinents, brennend, sengend und mordend als wahre Geißel des Herrn.
In der Schlacht auf den Katalaunischen Feldern traten zum erstenmal in einem Schicksalskampf von unabsehbarer Bedeutung Römer und Germanen gemeinsam für eine Kultur ein, die, von den Griechen ausgehend, über die Römer hinweg nunmehr auch die Germanen in ihren Bann gezogen hatte.
Europa war gewachsen. Aus Hellas und Rom entstand das Abendland und seine Verteidigung war nunmehr für viele Jahrhunderte nicht nur die Aufgabe der Römer, sondern vor allem auch die Aufgabe der Germanen. In eben dem Maße aber, in dem das Abendland, beleuchtet von griechischer Kultur, erfüllt vom Eindruck der gewaltigen Überlieferungen des römischen Reiches, durch die germanische Kolonisation seine Räume erweiterte, dehnte sich räumlich jener Begriff, den wir Europa nennen.
Ganz gleich, ob nun deutsche Kaiser an der Unstrut oder auf dem Lechfeld die Einbrüche aus dem Osten abwehrten, oder Afrika in langen Kämpfen aus Spanien zurückgedrängt wurde, es war immer ein Kampf des werdenden Europas gegenüber einer ihm im tiefsten Wesen fremden Welt. Wenn einst Rom seine unvergänglichen Verdienste an der Schöpfung und Verteidigung dieses Kontinents zukamen, dann übernahmen nunmehr auch Germanen die Verteidigung und den Schutz einer Völkerfamilie, die unter sich in der politischen Gestaltung und Zielsetzung noch so differenziert und auseinanderweichend sein mochte:
Im Gesamtbild aber doch eine blutmäßig und kulturell teils gleiche, teils sich ergänzende Einheit darstellt.
Und von diesem Europa aus ging nicht nur eine Besiedlung anderer Erdteile vor sich, sondern eine geistige und kulturelle Befruchtung, deren sich nur jener bewußt wird, der gewillt ist, die Wahrheit zu suchen, statt sie zu verleugnen.
Es hat deshalb auch nicht England den Kontinent kultiviert, sondern Splitter germanischen Volkstums unseres Kontinents sind als Angelsachsen und Normannen auf diese Inselgezogen und haben ihr eine Entwicklung ermöglicht, die sicher einmalig ist. Und ebenso hat nicht Amerika Europa entdeckt, sondern umgekehrt. Und all das, was Amerika nicht aus Europa bezogen hat, mag wohl einer verjudeten Mischrasse als bewunderungswürdig erscheinen, Europa aber sieht darin nur ein Zeichen des Verfalls in Kunst und kultureller Lebenshaltung, das Erbe jüdischen oder vernegerten Bluteinschlags.
Meine Abgeordneten! Männer des Deutschen Reichstages!
Ich muß diese Ausführungen machen, denn der Kampf, der sich in den ersten Monaten dieses Jahres allmählich als unausbleiblich abzuzeichnen begann und zu dessen Führung dieses Mal in erster Linie das Deutsche Reich berufen ist, geht ebenfalls über die Interessen unseres eigenen Volkes und Landes weit hinaus. Denn so wie einst die Griechen gegenüber den Persern nicht Griechenland und die Römer gegenüber den Karthagern nicht Rom, Römer und Germanen gegenüber den Hunnen nicht das Abendland, deutsche Kaiser gegenüber Mongolen nicht Deutschland, spanische Helden gegenüber Afrika nicht Spanien, sondern Europa verteidigt haben, so kämpft Deutschland auch heute nicht für sich selbst, sondern für unseren gesamten Kontinent.
Und es ist ein glückliches Zeichen, daß diese Erkenntnis im Unterbewußtsein der meisten europäischen Völker heute so tief ist, daß sie, sei es durch offene Stellungnahme, sei es durch den Zustrom von Freiwilligen, an diesem Kampfe teilnehmen.
Als die deutschen und italienischen Armeen am 6. April dieses Jahres zum Angriff gegen Jugoslawien und Griechenland antraten, war dies die Einleitung des großen Kampfes, in dem wir uns zurzeit noch befinden.
Denn die Revolte. die in Belgrad zum Sturz des ehemaligen Prinzregenten und seiner Regierung führte, war bestimmend für den weiteren Verlauf der Geschehnisse in diesem Raum Europas. Wenn auch England an diesem Putsch maßgebendst beteiligt war, so spielte doch die Hauptrolle Sowjetrußland.
Was ich Herrn Molotow anläßlich seines Besuches in Berlin verweigert hatte, glaubte Stalin nunmehr auf dem Umweg einer revolutionären Bewegung auch gegen unseren Willen erreichen zu können. Ohne Rücksicht auf die abgeschlossenen Vertrage weiteten sich die Absichten der bolschewistischen Machthaber. Der Freundschaftspakt mit dem neuen revolutionären Regime erhellte blitzartig die Nähe der drohenden Gefahr.
Was vor der deutschen Wehrmacht in diesem Feldzuge geleistet wurde, fand im Deutschen Reichstag am 4. Mai 1941 seine Würdigung.
Was auszusprechen mir damals aber leider versagt bleiben mußte, war die Erkenntnis, daß wir mit rasender Schnelligkeit der Auseinandersetzung mit einem Staat entgegengingen, der im Augenblick des Balkanfeldzuges nur deshalb noch nicht eingriff, weil sein Aufmarsch noch nicht vollendet und die Benützung der Flughäfen vor allem infolge der um diese Jahreszeit erst einsetzenden Schneeschmelze und damit der Grundlosmachung der Rollfelder unmöglich war.
Meine Abgeordneten! Reichstages!
So wie mir im Jahre 1940 durch Mitteilungen aus dem englischen Unterhaus und durch Beobachtung der russischen Truppenverschiebungen an unseren Grenzen die Möglichkeit der Entstehung einer Gefahr im Osten des Reiches bewußt wurde, erteilte ich sofort die Anweisung zur Aufstellung zahlreicher neuer Panzer-, motorisierter und Infanteriedivisionen. Die Voraussetzungen dafür waren sowohl personell als auch materiell reichlich vorhanden. Wie ich Ihnen, meine Abgeordneten, und überhaupt dem ganzen deutschen Volke nur eine Versicherung geben kann:
Wenn man auch in den Demokratien von Rüstung – wie leicht begreiflich – sehr viel redet, dann wird aber trotzdem im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland dafür immer noch mehr gearbeitet. Es war in der Vergangenheit so und es ist dies auch heute nicht anders. Jedes Jahr wird uns mit vermehrten und vor allem auch besseren Waffen dort finden, wo die Entscheidungen fallen.
Trotz aller Einsicht in die Notwendigkeit, unter keinen Umständen dem Gegner die Möglichkeit zu bieten, den ersten Stoß in unser Herz tun zu können, war der Entschluß in diesem Fall doch ein sehr schwerer. Wenn die. Artikelschreiber unserer demokratischen Zeitungen heute erklären, daß ich bei genauerer Kenntnis der Stärke des bolschewistischen Gegners es mir überlegt haben würde, zum Angriff zu schreiten, so verkennen sie ebenso sehr die Lage wie meine Person.
Ich habe keinen Krieg gesucht, sondern habe im Gegenteil alles getan, um ihn zu vermeiden. Ich würde aber pflichtvergessen und gewissenlos handeln, wenn ich es trotz der Kenntnis der Unvermeidbarkeit eines Waffenganges versäumen würde, die daraus einzig möglichen Konsequenzen zu ziehen.
Weil ich Sowjetrußland für die tödlichste Gefahr nicht nur des Deutschen Reiches, sondern für ganz Europa hielt, habe ich mich entschlossen, wenn möglich noch wenige Tage vor Ausbruch dieser Auseinandersetzung selbst das Zeichen zum Angriff zu geben.
Für die Tatsache der Absicht aber des russischen Angriffes liegt heute ein wahrhaft erdrückendes und authentisches Material vor. Ebenso sind wir uns im Klaren über den Zeitpunkt, an dem dieser Angriff stattfinden sollte. Angesichts der uns vielleicht im ganzen Umfang aber wirklich erst heute bewußt gewordenen Größe der Gefahr kann ich dem Herrgott nur danken, daß er mich zur richtigen Stunde erleuchtet hat und mir die Kraft schenkte, das zu tun, was getan werden mußte.
Dem verdanken nicht nur Millionen deutscher Soldaten ihr Leben, sondern ganz Europa sein Dasein. Denn das darf ich heute aussprechen: Wenn sich diese Welle von über 20.000 Panzern, Hunderten an Divisionen, Zehntausenden an Geschützen, begleitet von mehr als 10.000 Flugzeugen, unversehens über das Reich hin in Bewegung gesetzt haben würde, wäre Europa verloren gewesen!
Das Schicksal hat eine Reihe von Völkern bestimmt, durch den Einsatz ihres Blutes diesem Stoß zuvorzukommen, beziehungsweise ihn aufzufangen.
Hätte sich Finnland nicht sofort entschlossen, zum zweiten Male die Waffen zu ergreifen, dann würde die gemächliche Bürgerlichkeit der anderen nordischen Staaten schnell ihr Ende gefunden haben.
Wäre das Deutsche Reich nicht mit seinen Soldaten und Waffen vor diesen Gegner getreten, würde ein Strom über Europa gebrandet sein, der die lächerliche britische Idee der Aufrechterhaltung des europäischen Gleichgewichts in ihrer ganzen Geistlosigkeit und stupiden Tradition einmal für immer erledigt hätte.
Würden nicht Slowaken, Ungarn und Rumänen den Schutz dieser europäischen Welt mit übernommen haben. dann wären die bolschewistischen Horden wie der Hunnenschwarm eines Attila über die Donauländer gebraust. und an den Gefilden des Ionischen Meeres würden heute Tataren und Mongolen die Revision des Vertrages von Montreux erzwingen.
Hätten nicht Italien, Spanien, Kroatien ihre Divisionen gesendet, dann würde nicht eine Abwehr einer europäischen Front entstanden sein, die als Proklamation des Begriffs des neuen Europas ihre werbende Kraft auch auf alle anderen Völker ausstrahlen ließ. Aus diesem ahnungsvollen Erkennen heraus sind von Nord- und Westeuropa die Freiwilligen gekommen: Norweger, Dänen, Holländer, Flamen, Belgier usw., ja selbst Franzosen, die dem Kampf der verbündeten Mächte der Achse im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes den Charakter eines europäischen Kreuzzuges geben.
Es ist noch nicht die Zeit, über die Planung und Führung dieses Feldzuges zu sprechen. Allein ich glaube schon jetzt, in diesem gewaltigsten Kampfe aller Zeiten, bei dem sich durch die Größe des Raumes und die Vielzahl der Ereignisse nur zu leicht die einzelnen Eindrücke verwischen, in wenigen Sätzen auf das Erreichte hinweisen zu dürfen.
Am 22. Juni begann im grauenden Morgen der Angriff. Mit unwiderstehlicher Kühnheit wurden jene Grenzbefestigungen durchstoßen, die bestimmt waren, den russischen Aufmarsch gegen uns vor jeder Überraschung zu sichern.
Schon am 23. Juni war Grodno gefallen.
Am 24. Juni waren nach der Einnahme von Brest-Litowsk die Zitadelle niedergekämpft und ebenso Wilna und Kowno genommen.
Am 26. Juni fiel Dünaburg.
Am 10. Juli wurden die ersten beiden großen Umfassungsschlachten bei Bialystok und Minsk abgeschlossen. 324.000 Gefangene, 3.332 Panzer und 1.809 Geschütze fielen in unsere Hand.
Schon am 13. Juli erfolgte an fast allen entscheidenden Stellen der Durchbruch durch die Stalin-Linie.
Am 16. fiel nach schweren Kämpfen Smolensk, während am 19. Juli deutsche und rumänische Verbände den Übergang über den Dnjestr erzwangen.
Am 6. August wurde in vielen Kesseln die Schlacht von Smolensk beendet. Wieder marschierten in deutsche Gefangenschaft 310.000 Sowjetsoldaten, während 3.205 Panzer und 3.120 Geschütze teils als vernichtet, teils als Beute gezählt werden konnten.
Schon drei Tage später vollendete sich das Schicksal einer weiteren russischen Heeresgruppe.
Am 9. August wurden in der Schlacht von Uman wieder 103.000 Sowjetrussen gefangen, 317 Panzer, 1.100 Geschütze zerstört oder erbeutet.
Am 17. August fiel Nikolajew, am 21. wurde Cherson genommen. Am selben Tag fand die Schlacht bei Gomel ihren Abschluß mit 84.000 Gefangenen und 144 Panzern und 848 Geschützen, die abermals teils erbeutet, teils vernichtet worden waren.
Am 21. August wurden die russischen Stellungen zwischen dem Ilmen- und Peipussee durchbrochen, während am 26. August der Brückenkopf um Dnjepropetrowsk in unsere Hände kam.
Schön am 28. des gleichen Monats zogen deutsche Truppen nach schweren Kämpfen in Reval und Baltisch Port ein, während am 30. Viipuri durch die Firmen genommen wurde.
Mit der am 8. September erfolgten Eroberung von Schlüsselburg wurde Leningrad endgültig auch nach dem Süden hin abgeschlossen.
Am 16. September gelang es, die Brückenköpfe über den Dnjepr zu bilden, und schön am 18. September fiel Poltawa in die Hand unserer Soldaten.
Am 19. September erstürmten deutsche Verbände die Zitadelle von Kiew und am 22. wurde die Eroberung von Ösel durch die Einnahme der Hauptstadt gekrönt. Nunmehr aber erst reiften die größten Operationen zu den erwarteten Erfolgen heran.
Am 27. September war die Schlacht bei Kiew abgeschlossen. 665.000 Gefangene setzten sich in endlosen Kolonnen nach Westen in Bewegung. 884 Panzer, 3.178 Geschütze aber blieben in den Kesseln als Beute liegen.
Schon am 2. Oktober begann die Durchbruchsschlacht nunmehr in der Mitte der Ostfront, während am 11. Oktober die Schlacht am Asowschen Meer ihren erfolgreichen Abschluß fand.
Wieder wurden 107.000 Gefangene, 212 Panzer und 672 Geschütze gezählt.
Am 16. Oktober erfolgte nach hartem Kampf der Einzug der deutschen und rumänischen Verbände in Odessa.
Am 18. Oktober war die am 2. Oktober begonnene Durchbruchsschlacht in der Mitte der Ostfront mit einem neuen, weltgeschichtlich einmaligen Erfolg beendet.
663.000 Gefangene waren das eine Ergebnis, 1.242 Panzer, 5.452 Geschütze, teils vernichtet und teils erbeutet, das andere.
Am 21. Oktober wurde die Eroberung von Dagö abgeschlossen.
Am 24. Oktober das Industriezentrum Charkow genommen.
Am 28. Oktober in schwersten Kämpfen der Zugang zur Krim endgültig erzwungen und schon am 2. November die Hauptstadt Simferopol erstürmt.
Am 16. November war die Krim durchstoßen bis Kertsch.
Am 1. Dezember aber betrug die Gesamtzahl der gefangenen Sowjetrussen 3,806.865.
Die Zahl der vernichteten oder erbeuteten Panzer betrug 21.391, die der Geschütze 32.541 und die der Flugzeuge 17.322.
Im gleichen Zeitraum wurden 2.191 britische Flugzeuge abgeschossen. – Durch die Kriegsmarine 4,170.611 Bruttoregisterformen. durch die Luftwaffe 2,346.180 Bruttoregistertonnen versenkt, also zusammen: 6,516.791 Bruttoregistertonnen vernichtet.
Meine Abgeordneten! Mein deutsches Volk!
Dies sind nüchterne Tatsachen und vielleicht trockene Zahlen. Mögen sie aber nie der Geschichte und vor allem dem Bewußtsein und der Erinnerung unseres eigenen deutschen Volkes entschwinden! Denn hinter diesen Zahlen verbergen sich die Leistungen, Opfer und Entbehrungen, stehen der Heldenmut und die Todesbereitschaft von Millionen der besten Männer unseres eigenen Volkes und der mit uns verbündeten Staaten.
Alles das mußte erkämpft werden mit dem Einsatz der Gesundheit und des Lebens und unter Anstrengungen, von denen die Heimat wohl kaum eine Ahnung hat.
In endlose Fernen marschierend, gequält von Hitze und Durst, oft fast bis zur Verzweiflung gehemmt durch den Schlamm grundloser Wege, vom Weißen bis zum Schwarzen Meer den Unbilden eines Klimas ausgesetzt, das von der Glut der Juli- und Augusttage sich senkt bis zu den Winterstürmen des November und Dezember, gepeinigt von Insekten, leidend unter Schmutz und Ungeziefer, frierend in Schnee und Eis, haben sie gekämpft, die Deutschen und die Firmen, die Italiener, Slowaken, Ungarn und Rumänen, die Kroaten, die Freiwilligen aus den nordischen und westeuropäischen Ländern, alles in allem: die Soldaten der Ostfront!
Ich will an diesem Tag keine einzelnen Waffen nennen, will keine Führung rühmen, sie haben alle ihr Höchstes gegeben. Und doch verpflichten Einsicht und Gerechtigkeit, eines immer wieder festzustellen:
Von all unseren deutschen Soldaten trägt so wie einst auch heute die schwerste Last des Kampfes unsere einzig dastehende Infanterie.
Vom 22. Juni bis 1. Dezember hat das deutsche Heer in diesem Heldenkampf verloren: 158.773 Tote, 563.082 Verwundete und 31.191 Vermißte.
Die Luftwaffe 3.231 Tote, 8.453 Verwundete und 2.028 Vermißte.
Die Kriegsmarine 310 Tote, 232 Verwundete und. 115 Vermißte.
Mithin die deutsche Wehrmacht zusammen: 162.314 Tote, 571.767 Verwundete und 33.334 Vermißte.
Also an Toten und Verwundeten etwas mehr als das Doppelte der Sommeschlacht des Weltkrieges, an Vermißten etwas weniger als die Hälfte der damaligen Zahl, alles aber Väter Volkes!
Und nun lassen Sie mich demgegenüber zu jener anderen Welt Stellung nehmen, die ihren Repräsentanten in dem Mann hat, der, während die Völker und ihre Soldaten in Schnee und Eis kämpfen, in taktvoller Weise vom Kaminfeuer aus zu plaudern pflegt, und damit also vor allem von jenem Mann. der der Hauptschuldige an diesem Kriege ist.
Als sich im Jahre 1939 die Lage der Nationalitäten im damaligen polnischen Staat als immer unerträglicher erwies, versuchte ich zunächst auf dem Wege eines billigen Ausgleichs die untragbar gewordenen Zustände zu beseitigen. Es schien eine gewisse Zeit so, als ob die polnische Regierung selber ernstlich erwogen hätte, einer vernünftigen Lösung zuzustimmen. Ich darf hier noch einfügen, daß bei all diesen Vorschlägen von deutscher Seite nichts gefordert wurde, was nicht schon früher deutsches Eigentum gewesen war, ja daß wir im Gegenteil auf sehr viel Verzicht leisteten, was vor dem Weltkrieg Deutschland gehörte.
Sie erinnern sich noch der dramatischen Entwicklung dieser Zeit, der sich fortgesetzt erhöhenden Opfer der deutschen Volksgruppe. Sie sind, meine Abgeordneten. am besten in der Lage, die Schwere dieser Blutopfer zu ermessen, wenn Sie sie in Vergleich setzen zu den Opfern des jetzigen Krieges.
Denn der bisherige Feldzug im Osten hat die gesamte deutsche Wehrmacht rund 160.000 Tote gekostet. allein im tiefsten Frieden sind damals in wenigen Monaten in Polen über 62.000 Volksdeutsche zum Teil unter den grausamsten Martern getötet worden.
Daß das Deutsche Reich ein Recht besaß, solche Zustände an seiner Grenze zu beanstanden und auf ihre Beseitigung zu drängen, überhaupt auch auf seine Sicherheit bedacht zu sein, dürfte wohl kaum bestritten werden in einer Zeit, in der andere Länder Elemente ihrer Sicherheit sogar in fremden Kontinenten suchen. Die Probleme, die korrigiert werden sollten, waren territorial genommen unbedeutend. Im Wesentlichen handelte es sich um Danzig und um die Verbindung der abgerissenen Provinz Ostpreußen mit dem übrigen Reich. Schwerer wogen die grausamen Verfolgungen, denen die Deutschen gerade in Polen ausgesetzt waren.
Ein nicht minder schweres Schicksal hatten dort übrigens auch die anderen Minoritäten zu erdulden.
Als sich nun in den Augusttagen die Haltung Polens dank der als Blankovollmacht ausgestellten Garantie Englands immer mehr versteifte, sah sich die deutsche Reichsregierung, und zwar zum letztenmal, veranlaßt, einen Vorschlag zu unterbreiten, auf Grund dessen sie bereit war, in Verhandlungen mit Polen einzutreten und von dem sie dem damaligen englischen Botschafter wörtlich Kenntnis gab.
Ich darf diese Vorschläge am heutigen Tage der Vergessenheit entreißen und sie Ihnen wieder in Erinnerung bringen.
Die Lage zwischen dem Deutschen Reich und Polen ist zurzeit so, daß jeder weitere Zwischenfall zu einer Entladung der beiderseits in Stellung gegangenen militärischen Streitkräfte führen kann. Jede friedliche Lösung muß so beschaffen sein, daß sich nicht bei nächster Gelegenheit die diesen Zustand ursächlich bedingenden Ereignisse wiederholen können und dadurch nicht nur der Osten Europas, sondern auch andere Gebiete in die gleiche Spannung versetzt werden.
Die Ursachen dieser Entwicklung liegen:
in der unmöglichen Grenzziehung, wie sie durch das Versailler Diktat vorgenommen wurde,
in der unmöglichen Behandlung der Minderheit in den abgetrennten Gebieten.
Aus diesen Erwägungen ergeben sich folgende praktische Vorschläge:
Die Freie Stadt Danzig kehrt auf Grund ihres rein deutschen Charakters sowie des einmütigen Willens ihrer Bevölkerung sofort in das Deutsche Reich zurück.
Das Gebiet des sogenannten Korridors, das von der Ostsee bis zu der Linie Marienwerder – Graudenz, Kulm – Bromberg (diese Städte einschließlich) und dann etwa westlich nach Schönlanke reicht, wird über seine Zugehörigkeit zu Deutschland oder zu Polen selbst entscheiden.
Zu diesem Zweck wird dieses Gebiet eine Abstimmung vornehmen. Abstimmungsberechtigt sind alle Deutschen, die am 1. Jänner 1918 in diesem Gebiete wohnhaft waren oder bis zu diesem Tage dort geboren wurden, und desgleichen alle an diesem Tage in diesem Gebiet wohnhaft gewesenen oder bis zu diesem Tage dort geborenen Polen, Kaschuben usw. Die aus diesem Gebiet vertriebenen Deutschen kehren zur Erfüllung ihrer Abstimmung zurück.
Zur Sicherung einer objektiven Abstimmung sowie zur Gewährleistung der dafür notwendigen umfangreichen Vorarbeiten wird dieses erwähnte Gebiet ähnlich dem Saargebiet einer sofort zu bildenden Internationalen Kommission unterstellt, die von den vier Großmächten Italien. Sowjetunion, Frankreich, England gebildet wird. Diese Kommission übt alle Hoheitsrechte in diesem Gebiet aus. Zu dem Zweck ist dieses Gebiet in einer zu vereinbarenden kürzesten Frist von den polnischen Militärs, der polnischen Polizei und den polnischen Behörden zu räumen.
Von diesem Gebiet bleibt ausgenommen der polnische Hafen Gdingen, der grundsätzlich polnisches Hoheitsgebiet ist, insoweit er sich territorial auf die polnische Siedlung beschränkt.
Die näheren Grenzen dieser polnischen Hafenstadt wären zwischen Deutschland und Polen festzulegen und nötigenfalls durch ein internationales Schiedsgericht festzusetzen.
Um die notwendige Zeit für die erforderlichen umfangreichen Arbeiten zur Durchführung einer gerechten Abstimmung sicherzustellen, wird diese Abstimmung nicht vor Ablauf von zwölf Monaten stattfinden.
Um während dieser Zeit Deutschland seine Verbindung mit Ostpreußen und Polen seine Verbindung mit dem Meere unbeschränkt zu garantieren, werden Straßen und Eisenbahnen festgelegt, die einen freien Transitverkehr ermöglichen. Hiebei dürfen nur jene Abgaben erhoben werden, die für die Erhaltung der Verkehrswege, beziehungsweise für die Durchführung der Transporte erforderlich sind.
Über die Zugehörigkeit des Gebietes entscheidet die einfache Mehrheit der abgegebenen Stimmen.
Um nach erfolgter Abstimmung – ganz gleich, wie diese ausgehen möge – die Sicherheit des freien Verkehrs Deutschlands mit seiner Provinz Danzig-Ostpreußen und Polen seine Verbindung mit dem Meere zu garantieren, wird, falls das Abstimmungsgebiet an Polen fällt, Deutschland eine exterritoriale Verkehrszone, etwa in Richtung von Bütow-Danzig, beziehungsweise Dirschau gegeben, zur Anlage einer Reichsautobahn sowie einer viergleisigen Eisenbahnlinie. Der Bau der Straße und der Eisenbahn wird so durchgeführt, daß die polnischen Kommunikationswege dadurch nicht berührt, das heißt entweder über oder unterfahren werden. Die reite dieser Zone wird auf einen Kilometer festgesetzt, und ist deutsches Hoheitsgebiet.
Fällt die Abstimmung zugunsten Deutschlands aus, erhält Polen zum freien und uneingeschränkten Verkehr nach seinem Hafen Gdingen die gleichen Rechte einer ebenso exterritorialen Straßen- beziehungsweise Bahnverbindung, wie sie Deutschland zustehen würden.
Im Falle des Zurückfallens des Korridors an das Deutsche Reich erklärt sich dieses bereit, einen Bevölkerungsaustausch mit Polen in dem Ausmaß vorzunehmen, als der Korridor hierfür geeignet ist.
Die etwa von Polen gewünschten Sonderrechte im Hafen von Danzig würden paritätisch ausgehandelt werden, mit gleichen Rechten Deutschlands im Hafen von Gdingen.
Um in diesem Gebiet jedes Gefühl einer Bedrohung auf beiden Seiten zu beseitigen, würden Danzig und Gdingen den Charakter reiner Handelsstädte erhalten, das heißt ohne militärische Anlagen und militärische Befestigungen.
Die Halbinsel Hela, die entsprechend der Abstimmung entweder zu Polen oder zu Deutschland käme, würde in jedem Fall ebenfalls zu demilitarisieren sein.
Die damalige polnische Regierung hat es abgelehnt, auf diese Vorschläge auch nur zu reagieren. Es erhebt sich dabei aber doch die Frage: Wie konnte es ein so unbedeutender Staat wagen, solche Vorschläge einfach zu negieren und darüber hinaus nicht nur zu weiteren Grausamkeiten gegenüber den Deutschen, die diesem Lande die ganze Kultur geschenkt hatten, zu greifen, sondern sogar noch die allgemeine Mobilmachung anzuordnen?
Der Einblick in die Dokumente des Auswärtigen Amtes in Warschau hat uns allen später die überraschende Aufklärung gegeben:
Ein Mann war es der mit teuflischer Gewissenlosigkeit seinen gesamten Einfluß zur Anwendung brachte, um Polen in seinem Widerstand zu bestärken und jede Möglichkeit einer Verständigung auszuschalten.
Die Berichte, die der damalige polnische Gesandte in Washington, Graf Potocki, seiner Regierung in Warschau schickte, sind Dokumente, aus denen mit erschreckender Deutlichkeit hervorgeht, wie sehr ein einziger Mann und die ihn treibenden Kräfte mit der Verantwortung für den zweiten Weltkrieg belastet sind.
Es erhebt sich zunächst die Frage, aus welchen Gründen konnte dieser Mann in eine so fanatische Feindschaft gegenüber einem Land verfallen, das bisher in seiner ganzen Geschichte weder Amerika noch ihm selbst irgendein Leid zugefügt hatte.
Soweit es sich um die Stellung Deutschlands zu Amerika handelt, ist folgendes zu sagen:
Deutschland ist vielleicht die einzige Großmacht, die weder auf dem nord- noch südamerikanischen Kontinent jemals eine Kolonie besessen oder sich sonst politisch betätigt hat, es sei denn durch die Auswanderung vieler Millionen Deutscher und deren Mitarbeit, aus der der amerikanische Kontinent, insonderheit die Vereinigten Staaten nur Nutzen gezogen haben.
Das Deutsche Reich hat in der ganzen Geschichte der Entstehung und des Bestehens der Vereinigten Staaten niemals eine politisch ablehnende oder gar feindliche Haltung eingenommen, wohl aber mit dem Blut vieler seiner Söhne mitgeholfen, die USA zu verteidigen.
Das Deutsche Reich hat sich an keinem Krieg gegen die Vereinigten Staaten selbst beteiligt, wohl aber wurde es von den Vereinigten Staaten im Jahre 1917 mit Krieg überzogen, und zwar aus Gründen, die durch einen Ausschuß restlos aufgeklärt worden sind, den der jetzige Präsident Roosevelt zur Prüfung dieser Frage selbst eingesetzt hatte.
Gerade dieser Untersuchungsausschuß zur Klärung der Gründe des amerikanischen Kriegseintritts hat einwandfrei festgestellt, daß diese für den amerikanischen Kriegseintritt 1917 ausschließlich auf dem Gebiet der kapitalistischen Interessen einiger kleiner Gruppen lagen, daß Deutschland selbst jedenfalls keinerlei Absicht hatte, mit Amerika in einen Konflikt zu geraten.
Auch sonst gibt es zwischen dem amerikanischen und dem deutschen Volk keine Gegensätze, seien sie territorialer oder politischer Art, die irgendwie die Interessen oder gar die Existenz der Vereinigten Staaten berühren könnten.
Die Verschiedenheit der Staatsformen war immer gegeben. Sie kann aber überhaupt nicht als ein Grund für Feindseligkeiten im Völkerleben herangezogen werden, solange sich nicht eine Staatsform bemüht, außerhalb des ihr natürlich gegebenen Bereiches in andere einzugreifen.
Amerika ist eine von einem Präsidenten mit großer autoritärer Vollmacht geleitete Republik. Deutschland war einst eine von einer bedingten Autorität geführte Monarchie, später eine autoritätslose Demokratie, heute eine von starker Autorität geführte Republik. Zwischen beiden Staaten liegt ein Ozean. Die Divergenzen zwischen dem kapitalistischen Amerika und dem bolschewistischen Rußland müßten, Wenn überhaupt diese Begriffe etwas Wahres in sich hätten, wesentlich größer sein als zwischen dem von einem Präsidenten geführten Amerika und dem von einem, Führer geleiteten Deutschland.
Es ist nun aber eine Tatsache, daß die beiden historischen Konflikte zwischen Deutschland und den Vereinigten Staaten, wenn auch von der gleichen Kraft inspiriert, doch ausschließlich durch zwei Männer der USA angefacht worden sind, nämlich durch den Präsidenten Wilson und durch Franklin Roosevelt.
Das Urteil über Wilson hat die Geschichte selbst gesprochen. Sein Name bleibt verbunden mit einem der gemeinsten Wortbrüche aller Zeiten. Die Folgen seines Wortbruches waren eine Zerrüttung des Lebens der Völker nicht nur bei den sogenannten Besiegten, sondern auch bei den Siegern selbst. Das durch seinen Wortbruch allein ermöglichte Diktat von Versailles hat Staaten zerrissen, Kulturen zerstört und die Wirtschaft aller ruiniert.
Wir wissen heute, daß hinter Wilson eine Gesellschaft interessierter Finanziers stand, die sich dieses paralytischen Professors bedienten, um Amerika in den Krieg zu führen, von dem sie sich erhöhte Geschäfte erhofften.
Daß das deutsche Volk diesem Mann einst geglaubt hatte, mußte es mit dem Zusammenbruch seiner politischen und wirtschaftlichen Existenz bezahlen.
Welches ist nun der Grund, daß nach so bitteren Erfahrungen sich wieder ein Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten findet, der erneut seine einzige Aufgabe darin sieht, Kriege entstehen zu lassen und vor allem die Feindschaft gegen Deutschland bis zum Kriegsausbruch zu steigern?
Der Nationalsozialismus kam in Deutschland im selben Jahre zur Macht, in dem Roosevelt zum Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten gewählt wurde. Es ist nun wichtig, die Momente zu prüfen, die als Ursache der heutigen Entwicklung angesehen werden müssen.
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Ich verstehe nur zu wohl, daß zwischen der Lebensauffassung und -einstellung des Präsidenten Roosevelt und meiner eigenen ein Weltweiter Abstand ist.
Roosevelt stammt aus einer steinreichen Familie, gehörte von vornherein zu jener Klasse von Menschen, denen Geburt und Herkunft in den Demokratien den Weg des Lebens ebnen und damit den Aufstieg sichern.
Ich selbst war nur das Kind einer kleinen und armen Familie und mußte mir unter unsäglichen Mühen durch Arbeit und Fleiß meinen Weg erkämpfen.
Als der Weltkrieg kam, hatte Roosevelt in einer unter dem Schatten Wilsons befindlichen Stellung den Krieg aus der Sphäre des Verdienenden miterlebt. Er kennt daher nur die angenehmen Folgen der Auseinandersetzung von Völkern und Staaten. die sich für den ergeben. der dort Geschäfte macht, wo andere verbluten.
In dieser gleichen Zeit war mein eigenes Leben wieder auf der ganz anderen Seite gelegen. Ich gehörte nicht zu denen, die Geschichte oder gar Geschäfte machten, sondern nur zu denen, die Befehle ausführten.
Als gewöhnlicher Soldat habe ich mich bemüht, in diesen vier Jahren vor dem Feinde meine Pflicht zu erfüllen und kehrte aus dem Kriege natürlich gerade so arm zurück wie ich im Herbst 1914 in ihn gezogen war. Ich habe also mein Schicksal mit dem von Millionen geteilt, Herr Franklin Roosevelt das seine mit dem der sogenannten oberen Zehntausend. Während Herr Roosevelt nach dem Kriege schon seine Fähigkeiten in Finanzspekulationen erprobte, um aus der Inflation, das heißt dem Elend der anderen persönlichen Nutzen zu ziehen, lag ich noch, ebenfalls wie viele andere Hunderttausend, im Lazarett.
Und als Herr Roosevelt die Laufbahn des normalen geschäftlich erfahrenen, wirtschaftlich fundierten, herkunftsmäßig protegierten Politikers beschritt, kämpfte ich als namenloser Unbekannter für die Wiedererhebung eines Volkes, dem das schwerste Unrecht in seiner ganzen Geschichte angetan worden war.
Zwei Lebenswege! Als Franklin Roosevelt an die Spitze der Vereinigten Staaten trat, war er der Kandidat einer durch und durch kapitalistischen Partei, die sich seiner bediente. Und als ich Kanzler des Deutschen Reiches wurde war ich der Führer einer Volksbewegung, die ich selbst geschaffen hatte.
Die Kräfte, die Herrn Roosevelt trugen, waren die Kräfte, die ich auf Grund des Schicksals meines Volkes und meiner heiligsten inneren Überzeugung bekämpfte. Der „Gehirntrust,“ dessen sich der neue amerikanische Präsident bediente, bestand aus Angehörigen desselben Volkes, das wir als eine parasitäre Erscheinung der Menschheit in Deutschland bekämpften und aus dem öffentlichen Leben zu entfernen begannen.
Und doch hatten wir beide etwas Gemeinsames:
Franklin Roosevelt übernahm Staat mit einer infolge der demokratischen Einflüsse verfallenen Wirtschaft, und ich trat an die Spitze eines Reiches, das sich ebenfalls dank der Demokratie vor dem vollkommenen Ruin befand.
Die Vereinigten Staaten besaßen 13 Millionen Deutschland 7 Millionen und allerdings noch weitere 7 Millionen Kurzarbeiter.
In beiden Staaten Waren die öffentlichen Finanzen zerrüttet, das Absinken des allgemeinen wirtschaftlichen Lebens schien kaum mehr aufzuhalten.
In diesem Moment beginnt in den Vereinigten Staaten und im Deutschen Reich nunmehr eine Entwicklung, die es der Nachwelt leicht machen wird, über die Richtigkeit der Theorien ein abschließendes Urteil zu fällen.
Während im Deutschen Reich unter der nationalsozialistischen Führung in wenigen Jahren ein ungeheurer Aufstieg des Lebens der Wirtschaft, der Kultur. der Kunst usw. einsetzte, war es dem Präsidenten Roosevelt nicht gelungen, auch nur die geringsten Verbesserungen in seinem eigenen Lande herbeizuführen.
Wieviel leichter aber mußte diese Arbeit in den Vereinigten Staaten sein, in denen knapp 15 Menschen auf dem Quadratkilometer leben gegenüber 140 in Deutschland!
Wenn es in diesem Lande nicht gelingt, eine wirtschaftliche Blüte herbeizuführen, dann hängt es nur zusammen entweder mit dem schlechten Willen einer herrschenden Führung oder mit einer vollkommenen Unfähigkeit der berufenen Führer.
In knapp fünf Jahren waren in Deutschland die wirtschaftlichen Probleme gelöst und die Erwerbslosigkeit beseitigt.
In derselben Zeit hat der Präsident Roosevelt die Staatsschulden seines Landes auf das ungeheuerlichste erhöht, den Dollar entwertet, die Wirtschaft noch mehr zerrüttet und die Erwerbslosenzahl beibehalten.
Dies ist aber nicht verwunderlich, wenn man bedenkt, daß die Geister, die dieser Mann zu seiner Unterstützung gerufen hat oder besser, die ihn gerufen hatten, zu jenen Elementen gehören, die als Juden ein Interesse nur an der Zerrüttung und niemals an der Ordnung besitzen können! Während wir im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland die Spekulation bekämpften, erlebte sie unter der Ära Roosevelts eine staunenswerte Blüte.
Die Gesetzgebung des New Deal dieses Mannes war falsch und damit der größte Fehlschlag, den je ein Mann erlitten hatte. Es gibt keinen Zweifel darüber, daß eine Fortsetzung dieser Wirtschaftspolitik in Friedenszeiten diesen Präsidenten früher oder später trotz aller seiner dialektischen Geschicklichkeit zum Scheitern gebracht haben würden.
In europäischen Staaten würde er sicherlich sein Ende vor dem Staatsgerichtshof wegen willkürlicher Verschleuderung des nationalen Vermögens gefunden haben. Vor einem bürgerlichen Gericht aber wegen schuldhafter Geschäftsgebarung dem Gefängnis kaum entgangen sein.
Dieses Urteil oder besser diese Erkenntnis besitzen auch viele und auch angesehene Amerikaner!
Eine drohende Opposition braute sich über dem Haupt dieses Mannes zusammen. Sie ließ ihn ahnen, daß nur eine Ablenkung der Aufmerksamkeit der öffentlichen Meinung von seiner inneren Politik zur äußeren hin Rettung bringen konnte.
Es ist interessant, in diesem Zusammenhang die Berichte des polnischen Gesandten Potocki aus Washington zu studieren, der immer wieder darauf hinweist, daß sich Roosevelt der Gefahr des Zusammenbruchs seines ganzen wirtschaftlichen Kartenhauses genau bewußt sei und deshalb unter allen Umständen eine außenpolitische Ablenkung benötige.
Er wurde darin bestärkt durch den Kreis der ihn umgebenden Juden, die aus alttestamentarischer Rachsucht in den Vereinigten Staaten das Instrument zu sehen glaubten. um mit ihm den europäischen, immer antisemitischer werdenden Nationen ein zweites Purim bereiten zu können. Es war der Jude in seiner ganzen satanischen Niedertracht, der sich um diesen Mann schade und ach dem dieser Mann aber auch griff.
So beginnt denn steigend der Einfluß des amerikanischen Präsidenten sich in dem Sinne auszuwirken, Konflikte zu schaffen oder vorhandene Konflikte zu vertiefen, auf alle Fälle aber zu verhindern, daß Konflikte eine friedliche Lösung finden. Jahrelang hat dieser Mann nur einen einzigen Wunsch, daß irgendwo in der Welt ein Streit ausbricht, am besten in Europa, der ihm die Möglichkeit gibt, durch Verpflichtung der amerikanischen Wirtschaft an einem der beiden Streitenden eine politische Interessenverflechtung herzustellen, die geeignet sein konnte, Amerika einem solchen Konflikt näherzubringen und damit die Aufmerksamkeit von seiner zerfahrenen Wirtschaftspolitik im Inneren nach außen hin abzulenken.
Besonders brüskant wird sein Vorgehen in diesem Sinne gegen das Deutsche Reich. Vom Jahre 1937 ab setzten eine Anzahl von Reden ein, darunter eine besonders niederträchtige vom 5. Oktober 1937 in Chicago, in denen dieser Mann planmäßig beginnt, die amerikanische Öffentlichkeit gegen Deutschland aufzuhetzen. Er droht mit der Aufrichtung einer Art von Quarantäne gegen die sogenannten autoritären Staaten.
Im Vollzug dieser sich nun dauernd steigernden Haß- und Hetzpolitik des Präsidenten Roosevelt beruft er nach neuerlichen beleidigenden Erklärungen den amerikanischen Botschafter in Berlin zur Berichterstattung nach Washington. Seitdem sind die beiden Staaten nur noch durch Geschäftsträger miteinander verbunden.
Vom November 1938 ab beginnt er planmäßig und bewußt jede Möglichkeit einer europäischen Befriedungspolitik zu sabotieren. Er heuchelt dabei nach außen hin Interesse am Frieden, droht aber jedem Staat. der bereit ist, die Politik einer friedlichen Verständigung zu betreiben, mit Sperrung von Anleihen, mit wirtschaftlichen Repressalien, mit Kündigung von Darlehen usw.
Hier geben einen erschütternden Einblick die Berichte der polnischen Botschafter in Washington, London, Paris und Brüssel.
Im Jänner 1939 beginnt dieser Mann seine Hetzkampagne zu verstärken und droht mit allen Maßnahmen vor dem Kongreß, gegen die autoritären Staaten vorzugehen, außer mit Krieg.
Während er dauernd behauptet, daß andere Staaten versuchten, sich in amerikanische Angelegenheiten einzumischen und auf die Aufrechterhaltung der Monroe-Doktrin pocht, beginnt er seit dem März 1939 in innereuropäischen Angelegenheiten hineinzureden, die den Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten überhaupt nichts angehen.
Erstens versteht er diese Probleme nicht und zweitens, selbst wenn er sie verstünde und die geschichtlichen Hergänge Begriffe, hätte er ebenso wenig das Recht, sich um den mitteleuropäischen Raum zu bekümmern, wie etwa das deutsche Staatsoberhaupt ein Recht hat, über die Verhältnisse in einem Staat der USA zu urteilen oder gar zu ihnen Stellung zu nehmen.
Ja, Herr Roosevelt geht noch weiter! Entgegen allen völkerrechtlichen Bestimmungen erklärt er Regierungen die ihm nicht passen, nicht anzuerkennen. Neuordnungen nicht entgegenzunehmen, Gesandtschaften von längst aufgelösten Staaten zu belassen oder gar als rechtmäßige Regierungen einzusetzen. Ja endlich geht er so weit, mit solchen Gesandten Verträge abzuschließen, die ihm dann sogar das Recht geben, fremde Territorien einfach zu besetzen.
Am 15. April 1939 kam der berühmte Appell Roosevelts an mich und den Duce, der eine Mischung von geographischer und politischer Unkenntnis einerseits‚ gepaart mit der Arroganz eines Angehörigen bestimmter Millionärskreise anderseits darstellte und in dem wir aufgefordert wurden, Erklärungen abzugeben und mit x-beliebigen Staaten Nichtangriffspakte zu schließen, dabei zum großen Teil mit Staaten, die überhaupt nicht im Besitz ihrer Freiheit waren, weil sie von den Bundesgenossen des Herrn Roosevelt entweder annektiert oder in „Protektorate“ verwandelt worden sind.
Sie erinnern sich, meine Abgeordneten, daß ich damals diesen zudringlichen Herren eine ebenso höfliche wie deutliche Antwort gab, was immerhin wenigstens für einige Monate den Strom der Redseligkeit dieses biederen Kriegshetzers abstoppte.
An seine Stelle trat aber nun die ehrenwerte Frau Gemahlin. Sie lehnte es ab, in einer Welt leben zu wollen, wie wir sie besitzen. Das ist wenigstens verständlich. Denn dies ist eine Weit der Arbeit, nicht eine solche des Betruges und der Schiebungen. Nach Erholung aber setzt der Mann dieser Frau dafür am 4. November 1939 die Abänderung des Neutralitätsgesetzes so durch, daß nunmehr das Waffenausfuhrverbot aufgehoben wird, und zwar zugunsten einer einseitigen Belieferung der Gegner Deutschlands.
Er beginnt dann so ähnlich wie in Ostasien mit China, auch hier über den Umweg einer wirtschaftlichen Verflechtung, eine früher oder später wirksam werdende Interessengemeinschaft herzustellen. Schon im selben Monat erkennt er einen Haufen von polnischen Emigranten als sogenannte Exilregierung an, deren einziges politisches Fundament ein paar Millionen von Warschau mitgenommener polnischer Goldstücke gewesen ist.
