Thursday, March 14, 1940
KALTENBORN SAYS:
Enemies Stalemated After 6 Months
Because Defense Outshines Offense
By H. V. KALTENBORN
Noted Radio Commert '.tor.
AT THE end of the first six
ii months of war we find
that the major belligerents
have not yet begun to fight,
# while the major neutral pow
ers have begun to fight for
peace. Small wonder that
the late Senator Borah called
this a, "phoney" war.
Only in Finland is there a
major military effort and
mighty Soviet Russia does not even
admit that she has gone to war
against little Finland. When the war
began no one expected Soviet Rus
sia to participate in military opera
tions and no one expected Finland
to be invaded. On the other hand,
everyone expected an immediate
air-raid by hundreds of bombing
planes on the capitals of Europe,
nd for weeks the headlines spoke
of the coming big offensives on the
Maginot and Siegfried lines. Neither
the raids nor the offensives devel
oped during the first half-year of
fighting. Why?
j- Defense Is Major Factor.
The primary reason is that in
modern war, defense is stronger
than offense. The war in Spain
showed the world that air attack
on large cities is tremendously de
structive, but it also showed that it
Is not likely to be decisive. The ex
pense in planes, fuel, bombs and
aviators who do not return is apt to
offset the military advantages
gained in any mass bombing flight.
And the effect on neutral opinion of
the killing of thousands of women
and children, together with the de
struction of historic monuments in
cities far away from any actual
fighting zone, might well be disas
trous.
The fear of such wholesale air
raids led France and Britain to sur
render at Munich. Now, after a
year and a half of additional inten
sive preparation for air-defense, they
no longer fear German attack. They
are prepared to meet it and cbuld
make it so costly that it would prob
sibly not be repeated. The success
ful defense of the Mannerheim line
against the most highly concentrat
ed Soviet military effort showed the
strength of defense fortifications in
modern war.
Why Poland Was Weak.
The two great surprises of this
war so far have been Poland's weak
ness and Finland's strength. Po
land's weakness arose from a lack
'of national unity and domination of
the illiterate masses by an aristo
cratic caste. In the larger sense,
the government of Poland was nei-
H. V. Kaltenborn attained outstanding Hp J||
eminence in the radio news field during W
the European crisis last autumn, when his S|
frequent and accurate reports over the
Columbia network were awaited each day
by millions of listeners. A native of Wis
consin, he worked many years on the
Brooklyn Eagle before entering the radio |||
news field as a sideline in 1922. For more
than 30 years he has been a keen student I
of international politics, a background
which makes his extemporaneous analyses
over CBS among the most accurate heard
by the American audience today. His famous broadcast from a
haystack in Spain is the first radio description of actual warfare
on record. During last'autumn's crisis he literally lived at the
CBS studios in Neiv York, prepared* to go on the air at a
moment's notice.
ther popular nor efficient. The Fin
nish people are literate, sturdy and
possess a strong sense of social and
political independence.
Just as the failure of Poland's de
fense plan undermined morale, the
success of Finland's well-organized
plan of defense has given tremen
dous encouragement to the army,
the people and the government. But
the of the German blitzkrieg
against Poland and the failure of
Russia's blitzkrieg against Finland
depended primarily on the differ
ence between the attacking armies.
The German army was well organ
ized, well equipped, well directed.
The Russian army is porly organ
ized, poorly equipped and suffers
from bad generalship.
Western Lines Invulnerable.
Already Finland's Mannerheim
line has withstood an overwhelming
Russian assault for more than three
months. It is apparent, therefore,
that the much more completely or-
and much deeper Maginot
z*id Siegfried lines would be simi
larly invulnerable to attack. And
whereas Russia has a superiority of
something like 20 to 1 against Fin
land, fhe forces lined up on both
sides of the French frontier are
practically equal in fighting strength.
In considering the progress of this
war, we are too much inclined to
dwell on military factors. Yet dur
ing this first half-year the military
front has been less important than
the diplomatic front and the eco
nomic front There has even been a
more continuous exchange of am
munition on the propaganda front
than between the fighting armies
themselves.
Radio and loudspeaker systems
lutve made It possible for belliger
to talk to one another inces
BRITAIN GUARDS THE SEA—Somewhere in the north sea
a multiple a.iti-aircrajt gun aboard a British mine sweeper watches
for enemy raiders.
santly, directly on the fighting lines
or indirectly through the air-waves.
Nazi leaders are apprehensive about
casualties In the propaganda battle.
They impose severe punishment on
anyone who listens to a foreign
broadcast. The British and French,
on the other hand, have enough con
fidence in their people to permit
them to listen to whatever Dr. Goeb
bels orders said.
More Activity on Sea. v
At sea, a war of movement has
been possible. This is why there
has been much more activity at
sea than on land. Britain's con
trol of the sea has again demon
strated its importance. The Ger
man fleet is bottled up. Except for
submarines, the German navy and
the German Merchant Marine have
.been swept from the seas.
The Near Eastern Franco-British
army of half a million men under
the leadership of General Weygandt
is now waiting in Syria, ready for
instant action against Russia or Ger
many in any part of the Balkans.
This army may yet prove the de
cisive military factor in this war.
Allied victories in Palestine and Tur
key presaged the collapse of the
Central Powers in 1918.
Germany's commerce - raiders
were swept from the seas much
more quickly than during the World
war. The Graf Spee lies wrecked
in Montevideo harbor after being
put out of action by the combined
efforts of three small British cruis
ers. The Deutschland, her sister
pocket-battleship, thought it'best to
return to a safe German harbor.
Nazis Stress U-Boat Warfare.
But raiding with surface ships is
a minor factor in 'Germany's sea
warfare against Britain and France.
The Germans remembered how
close they came to forcing a deci
sion with their submarines during
the World war. They had from 60
to 75 submarines ready when the
war began. For the first few weeks
of the war, they used these to ex
cellent advantage.
Then the protective measures
which Britain developed during the
World war and since became effec
tive. The larger ships were sent
out in convoy; airplane patrols were
created; minefields against subma
rines were established and all the
resources of the British navy were
mobilized against the U-boats.
On the whole, they have proved
effective. In six months, the British
have lost 550,000 tons of merchant
ships. At the same time, the French
lost 75,000 tons and the neutrals 350,-
000 tons. This makes a total of a
little over 1,000,000 tons.
Losses Not Important.
But nothing in these losses pro
"duced by mines and submarines
even suggests the possibility of a
decisive result. The British mer
chant marine alone totals 21,000,000
tons. The British claim that de
ducting from their losses purchases
and new construction, their net loss
in six months of warfare has been
less than 200,000 tons. It is also
probable that the losses will de
crease rather than increase, since
at sea as well as on land defense Is
proving itself stronger than attack.
Already submarine torpedoes are
THE ELKIN TRIBUNE, ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA
far leas successful in destroying
shipping than mines. The new mag-1 ;
netic mine sown by the
proved very destructive for the first
few weeks in which it was used.
Then more effective mine-sweeping
methods and the establishment of
narrow ship-channels which were
carefully patrolled reduced the suc
cesses of Germany's mine-laying
airplanes.
British Also Unsuccessful.
On the other hand, the British
have been no more successful in
their raids against the German'
navy. Both German and British
submarines have destroyed an oc- j
casional warship, but these forays;
have been costly to the submarines 1
attempting them. The British and'
French claim to have sunk between
40 and 50 German submarines since
the beginning of the war. The Ger- 1
mans admit the loss of less than
half this number. Yet whenever a
submarine is lost, the entire crew
is lost with it, and it takes five
years to train men to handle a sub- j
marine under war conditions.
Talk about the Germans building
one submarine a day is nothing
more than talk. It is more likely
that the Germans are completing
anywhere from six to ten U-boats a
month, which is just about the rate
at which they are being destroyed j
Already Planning for Peace.
There is, then, nothing decisive in
action at sea or in the air. Defense
is stronger than attack. But what
about the economic front? That is
probably the most important front!
of all and the one that will be domi- J
nant long after the war has ended, j
Already Secretary of State Hull is'
negotiating with the neutral powers
to work out a plan of economic re- j
construction. The plan must be
ready for instant application on the
day of the armistice if Europe is
not to sink in to chaos when the
fighting ends.
Every country in Europe, neutral
and belligerent alike, has mort-'
gaged its future. Only if the New i
world remains out of the war and |
stands ready to lend its resources j
for European reconstruction is there ;
any hope of true peace. Europe was
ready for revolution before the war
came and will be much more ready
for it when the war is done.
What After Collapse?
France and Britain count on eco
nomic pressure to bring- about the
collapse of Germany, but one won
ders whether they have asked them
selves, what then? Will they march
into Germany at the head of a vic
torious army, establish a new Kaiser
and a new Junker government? Or
will they stand aside while Germa
ny's underground Communist move
ment re-asserts itself and calls out
for assistance to the Red brethren
in Moscow?
There is the third possibility of or
ganizing those liberal forces that
have either been driven out of Ger
many or driven under cover within
Germany, and helping them to re
establish constitutional government
by granting them a generous peace.
That would be the hardest task.
Rumania Under Pressure.
Meanwhile, there is more pressure
behind the economic than behind
the military war. Members of the
Rumanian government are being
bribed, bulldozed, flattered and ca
joled by both sides. Both are seek
ing to purchase Rumania's oil and
Rumania's grain. Each wants it so
that the other cannot have it. The
French and British offer gold, the
Germans threaten war. So far,
King Carol has kept a precarious
balance; Britain and France con
tinue to guarantee his frontiers and
King Carol remembers the Blitz
krieg against Poland. Poland had
been given the same guarantees.
On the diplomatic front, the Al
lied powers won their greatest vic
tory in winning Turkey to their
cause. This gives them control of
the Dardanelles and the Black Sea,
in case of war with Russia. It also
assures France and Britain com
plete dominance of the Mediterrane
an thereby discouraging Italy from
siding with Germany.
(Releaied by Western Newspaper Union.)
WILKES HAN IS
GIVEN 20 YEARS
Somers Man Charged With
Death of His Deaf and
Dumb Mother
DID NOT ADMIT GUILT
North Wilkesboro Andrew
Gregory, 50-year-old WPA work
er, charged with the death of his
mother, Ganzada Gregory, at
their farm home in Somers town
ship on January 14, was sen
tenced in Wilkes court Monday
to serve 15 to 20 years in state
prison.
Gregory, who never admitted
being guilty but offered to shoul
der all blame in connection with
the death of his aged mother, en
tered a plea of guilty of man
slaughter.
Reviewing the known facts in
the case, officers testified that
Gregory, in a drunken condition,
went to the home of neighbors
on that afternoon and told them
that his mother had burned to
death. He said that he found her
clothing afire that morning, that
he put out the fire with a bucket
of water and sat by her until she
died. Later he said that he was
so drunk he could not recall what
happened and what he did, offi
cers testified.
A physician who examined the
body found her nose broken and
a bruise on her forehead. Blood
was found on Gregory's clothing
and on his arms. A large splotch
of blood was on his back. In
vestigators from the state bureau
of investigation said it was hu
man blood.
Neighbors said Gregory had
been abusing his mother when he
jwas drunk and that when he was
i sober he treated her well. She
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Thursday, March 14 —(Today)—
(Matinee and Night)
DEAD END KIDS ON DRESS PARADE
Devil Drivers News Admission 10c-25c
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was- deaf and dumb but was an
Industrious and active woman
despite her advanced age. She
and her son operated a small
farm and he worked on WPA
dining winter months.
ROCKFORD
(Deferred from last week)
The Home Making Class of the
Adult School gave a party at the
home of Mrs. T. B. Holyfield Mon
day night.
The work of this class was put
on exhibit at this time and Mrs.
Q. E. Burrus, Mrs. Harvey Burrus
and Mrs. Coke Wall were the in
vited guests who acted as judges
for the class. It was very hard
to tell who should get the prize
in the sewing contest for all work
was exceptionally good. After
much discussion among the judges
the prize went to Mrs. Bertice
Jarvis, for a pair of pillow cases.
After playing a number of games
planned by their teacher, Mrs.
Alma B. Holyfield, they were in
vited into the dining room where
delicious angel food cake, pound
cake, pickles, hot chocolate and
pop corn prepared by the class
were served. About twenty were
present.
Rev. D. G. Reece of Jonesville
filled his pulpit at the Rockford
Baptist church last Sunday.
Mr. Paul Marion of Burch was
a visitor in Rockford over the
week-end.
Mrs. J. W. Thore and Miss Eu
lala Burrus attended the county
council meeting of the Home De
monstration Clubs at Dobson last
Thursday.
Mr. Woodson Burrus of Wins
ton-Salem visited relatives here
last Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Coe returned
to their home here last Friday
after having spent the past week
in King and Winston-Salem visit
ing relatives.
His First Job
An Irishman got a job at a
railway station. When the first
train came in, however, he forgot
the name of the station, so he
called out: "Here ye are for
where ye are going. All in there
for here, come out."
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