The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  “Lacking a formula by which Great Britain can buy supplies here,” Mr. Morgenthau said in a colloquy with Senator Nye, “I think Britain will just have to stop fighting, that’s all. I am convinced after having lived with this for several years, wanting to satisfy myself as to the financial necessity.

  “I have come to the conclusion they haven’t any dollars left and I am convinced, if Congress does not make it possible for them to buy more supplies, they will have to stop fighting.”

  The reply was given in answer to Senator Nye when he asked why the situation has suddenly become “so urgent as to necessitate this all-out effort on our part.” Just before the committee recessed for luncheon, Mr. Nye asked the Secretary of the Treasury if he considered Great Britain a good loan risk.

  At that time, Mr. Morgenthau replied that he did consider Great Britain a good risk, not thinking in terms of dollars, but with a view to gaining time for the rearmament program of the United States. For many reasons, which he outlined at various points, he had asked the British Government to make known its financial position.

  SAYS IT IS UP TO CONGRESS

  “They are not hysterical about it,” he said. “They simply placed the facts before us. If this bill doesn’t pass they cannot continue to fight. Congress must weigh very seriously the question whether it wants Great Britain, Greece and China to continue to fight.”

  Asked by Senator Nye whether the British Government had expressed this view, Mr. Morgenthau replied:

  “Not in so many words, but that is the situation.”

  Mr. Morgenthau said that an expert from the British Treasury was waiting in Lisbon to come here and sell to American investment trusts all American securities held by British subjects.

  “England being willing to sell every dollar of properties in the United States, and the American investor being willing to buy, will only enable her to get dollars to pay for what is already ordered,” he said. “We have searched every possible corner to see if there are any hidden assets, and we don’t know of any.”

  FEBRUARY 9, 1941

  BRITISH FAST WRECKING ITALY’S AFRICAN EMPIRE

  By EDWIN L. JAMES

  When Winston Churchill some weeks ago in making an appeal to the Italian people told them the British would chew their African empire to pieces, Rome retorted that it was just a bit of braggadocio propaganda. Now Rome knows more about it.

  Soon after Mussolini took what he thought was a cheap ride on Hitler’s bandwagon he started Graziani toward the Suez Canal from Libya. The orders were to take over Egypt as a part of the movement to make the Mediterranean really “Mare Nostrum.” Now, in a few weeks, the Italians have been driven out of Egypt and back and back until with the capture of Bengazi the British are in control of most of Eastern Libya. Graziani has lost about 120,000 men, most of them prisoners, which is to say about half of his army.

  In the British drive which took them from Sidi Barrani the first part of December, and then to Bardia, to Tobruk and to Derna at the end of January and thence on to Bengazi, the Italians were nowhere able to hold even with superior forces. The only real fight put up was at Bardia, where the garrison resisted in order to give the main Italian forces time to retreat westward. Now the British have reached the coast south of Bengazi, cutting off an Italian force of several divisions. It is a major defeat for Mussolini.

  THE DRIVE IN ERITREA

  In the meanwhile the British have been chewing on the Italian territory to the south of Egypt. A drive has taken them halfway across Eritrea and they are after Massawa and Asmara, supply headquarters for the Italian Army holding Eritrea and what was Ethiopia, which Mussolini conquered in 1936. Haile Sellassie, former Emperor of Ethiopia, has again been recognized by London as the ruler of Ethiopia and his men are harassing the Italians in a savage form of guerrilla warfare.

  The Italian forces in Eritrea and Ethiopia are in a peculiarly difficult position. Every bullet they shoot can not be replaced and the same is true for every gallon of gasoline they use. They have no communication with the homeland, since the British control the Suez Canal and the southern approach to the Red Sea, even if Rome could get ships around Africa past the British blockade.

  Naturally, the Italians have large supplies in the region, but these supplies have been kept around Asmara, which is now the target of the British push eastward from the Sudan. If the British can reach the supply bases, the Italian forces in Ethiopia will be in a perilous position, with troops advancing north from Kenya and east and south from the Sudan regions, not to mention the activities of Haile Sellassie’s men.

  IMPORTANCE OF CAMPAIGN

  It is frequently said that the British success in Libya is all right but that it does not beat Hitler. In one way that is, of course, quite true. On the other hand if the Italians had succeeded in reaching the Suez Canal, which was their hope, it would have seriously crippled British lines of communication and would have made it much easier for the Axis powers to try to wrest control of the Mediterranean from the British Navy.

  The defeat of the Italians in Africa, following their defeat by the Greeks, certainly puts Hitler’s Axis partner on the spot. There must be a difference between an Italy victorious and an Italy defeated, so far as Mussolini’s value to Hitler is concerned.

  An interesting aspect of the campaign in Libya is the failure of Germany to give efficacious aid to Italy. It is true that German planes bombed British ships one day and made several minor raids from Sicily against Malta. But that is a long way from what may have been imagined possible. Indeed, so far, Hitler’s aid to his partner in Africa has been as weak as his aid in Albania. And now it is to be noted that the coming of hot weather in some five weeks casts doubts upon the practicability of the Germans sending a force into Libya or Tripoli capable of aiding successfully the retreating forces of Graziani, even if troop ships could make the trip in the face of the British Navy. While planes could be sent even now, there is room for doubting that a German army could be sent.

  FEBRUARY 16, 1941

  LEASE-LEND BILL EXTENDS WIDE POWERS OF PRESIDENT

  Under the Constitution He Has Control of All Executive Functions Of Government, But More Authority Would Be Added

  By DEAN DINWOODEY

  WASHINGTON, Feb. 15—Debate in Congress on the bill to aid Britain is revolving about the issue primarily, not of aid to Britain, but of the powers of the President. Upon this issue the Senate this coming week will continue the debate. The question before the Congress and the country which has evolved relates not so much to the objective of aiding Britain as it does to the means for attaining that objective.

  The question is one, like other fundamental issues at various times confronting the nation, that involves the so-called doctrine of separation of powers embodied in the Federal constitution. This time, the discussion pertains to the respective powers of the President and Congress.

  TWO MAJOR POWERS

  Under the Constitution, the President has two great powers legislation cannot affect, which have a direct relation to the present situation:

  To conduct the foreign relations of the United States;

  To act as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.

  The latter power places in the President the supreme command over all the country’s military forces and the sole authority to direct and employ these forces in time of peace and war. This authority of the President, however, is dependent upon the exercise by Congress of its complementary constitutional powers “to raise and support armies,” and “to provide and maintain a navy.”

  These powers of the President and the Congress are stated, but not defined by the Constitution. It seems to be generally recognized though, for instance, that his constitutional authority to command the military forces empowers the President, if he sees fit, to provide convoy by the Navy of merchant shipping.

  Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., chairman of the War Resources Board and administrator of the Lease-Lend Bill.

  EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY<
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  The constitutional power of the President to conduct foreign relations also is an exclusive power. The Supreme Court has said that the President alone is the constitutional representative of the United States with regard to foreign nations. In 1936, in an opinion written by Justice Sutherland, which the administration is utilizing in support of its lease-lend bill, the Supreme Court described this power as a “very delicate, plenary, and exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations—a power which does not require as a basis for its exercise an act of Congress.”

  To these primary constitutional powers of the President, the Congress has added many other statutory powers having to do with national defense in an emergency period. Some of these enactments are of long standing; others, the more important ones, are of recent origin. They include, among others, the power to:

  Prohibit or curtail exports.

  Requisition materials denied export.

  Regulate foreign exchange.

  Control shipping.

  Restrict the business of banks.

  Regulate or close broadcasting stations.

  Place mandatory orders for materials with any business.

  Commandeer any plant refusing to comply with mandatory orders.

  Establish priorities for essential materials.

  Suspend labor conditions relating to government contracts.

  PURPOSE OF AID BILL

  These statutory powers which Congress already has enacted that the President may exercise are operative within the United States; they relate to internal, not to external, affairs. Congress, by its enactments has not intruded upon the Constitutional powers of the President to conduct foreign relations and command the military forces; rather, Congress has implemented the President’s constitutional powers.

  MARCH 12, 1941

  THAI BORDER DEAL CLOSED FORMALLY

  Japanese See Victory for ‘New Order in Asia’—Vichy Explains Surrender

  Wireless to The New York Times.

  TOKYO, March 11—Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka today registered what the Japanese call his first diplomatic victory for the “New Order in Greater East Asia” as France and Thailand accepted his adjudication of their frontier quarrel. Simultaneously Mr. Matsuoka announced his immediate departure for Berlin and Rome.

  In the background of both events was the passage, seventy-two hours earlier, of the American lease-lend bill. According to Japanese press comments, this heralds America’s appearance on the Pacific stage in the role of a formidable naval, air and military power, collaborating with Britain to obstruct Axis plans for new world orders.

  Amid the whirr of movie cameras and the glare of calcium lights, in the presence of press representatives from all parts of the world Japan formally assumed what is called her role as the leader in East Asia when Mr. Matsuoka presided at the final session of the Franco-Thai conference. The affair had been speeded up to allow Mr. Matsuoka to start his European trip, and the document that the delegates initialed was a preliminary protocol, the terms of which will be embodied in a formal treaty drawn up by the three Foreign Offices later.

  CEREMONY IN KONOYE’S HOUSE

  The ceremony took place in the main hall of the official residence of Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoye, in the presence of the full Japanese, French and Thai delegations. They were grouped around a horseshoe table, while the heads of the delegations sat at a smaller table in the center.

  After being briefly welcomed by Mr. Matsuoka the heads of the delegations affixed their initials. French Ambassador Charles Arsene-Henry and René Robin, head of Indo-China’s delegation, signed with pens from France. Mr. Matsuoka and Hajime Matsumiya, Japan’s plenipotentiaries, stressed the Oriental note by painting their names with brushes. Prince Varvarn and Thai Minister Phya Aria Sena signed for Thailand with pens.

  Besides initialing the boundary agreement the French and Thai delegates exchanged letters with Japan in which Japan guaranteed the settlement now reached, and all the signatories undertook subsequently to enter into an agreement “with respect to the maintenance of peace in Greater East Asia and the establishment and promoting of specially close relations between Japan and Thailand and Japan and Indo-China. Nothing was disclosed today regarding the nature of those prospective agreements.

  MARCH 22, 1941

  ‘JEEP WAGONS’ GET TESTS AT FORT DIX

  Powell Passes ‘Drivers’ Clinic’ And Finds New Vehicle Does All but ‘Climb a Tree’

  Special to The New York Times.

  FORT DIX, N.J., March 21—Driving one of the Army’s new “jeep wagons,” Major Gen. Clifford R. Powell, Forty-fourth Division commander, passed the division’s “driver’s clinic” today with flying colors.

  The tests comprise indoor and outdoor examinations and are conducted by enlisted personnel of the 119th Quartermaster Regiment, under the supervision of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Department and the Pennsylvania State Police.

  After driving the “jeep wagon,” officially known as a command car, cross-country through muddy fields and up and down steep slopes in gravel pits on the west side of the camp. General Powell said he was convinced that the new vehicles could do everything “except swim or climb a tree.”

  Jeeps for use during WWII waiting for shipment at dock in San Francisco, 1941.

  Considered far more rigid than the examinations for State drivers’ licenses, the Army test includes, besides cross-country driving, indoor tests for color blindness, steering with an artificial horizon, headlight glare and coordination. About 30 per cent of the nearly 5,000 auto and truck drivers of the division have failed to pass the tests. Those with poor coordination or those suffering night blindness are permanently rejected, but those who fail the road tests receive further training.

  More than 3,000 divisional licenses have been issued by Colonel David S. Hill, division quartermaster, to drive any government vehicle. General Powell will also receive one of the cards.

  MARCH 26, 1941

  BELGRADE IN AXIS

  Joins Three-Power Pact on Pledge No Troops Will Cross Nation

  By C. BROOKS PETERS

  By Telephone to The New York Times.

  BERLIN, March 25—The role Yugoslavia will play in world political and military developments received some clarification today when that country became the fifth European nation, exclusive of the original signatories, formally to adhere to the Tripartite Pact and therewith recognize the validity of the principles of the “new order” for Europe and the world.

  In the presence of Reichsfuehrer Hitler in Belvedere Castle in Vienna—where less than four weeks ago Bulgaria also formally joined the Axis powers—Premier Dragisha Cvetkov-itch and Foreign Minister Alexander Cincar-Markovitch, as representatives of the Belgrade government, early this afternoon signed a protocol of adherence to the Tripartite Pact. This protocol is identical in content with those signed previously by Hungary, Rumania, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

  At the same time, however, the governments of Germany and Italy delivered notes of identical text to the Yugoslav Government informing the latter, first, that the Reich and Italy were determined at all times to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia, and, second, that the Axis powers had agreed not to request from the Yugoslav Government during the war the right to march through or transport troops over Yugoslav territory.

  CVETKOVITCH VOICES PEACE AIM

  Yugoslavia thus enters the Axis orbit, leaving Greece as the only Southeastern European State that is not an active collaborator of Berlin and Rome, for by signing the pact Yugoslavia obligates herself to “assist with all political, economic and military means” the other signatories in case any one of them is “attacked” by any power not now engaged in the present European war or the Sino-Japanese conflict.

  In his speech following the formal signing ceremonies M. Cvetkovitch declared that “the main objective and practically the only objective of Yugoslav foreign policy was and remains
: To preserve peace for the Yugoslav people and to strengthen their security.”

  With this end in view, he continued, Belgrade’s efforts had always been directed toward intensifying Yugoslavia’s relations with her neighbors. Yugoslavia, he remarked, had always enjoyed the best possible relations with Germany, which had found expression in a number of important events from 1934 to the present.

  Whereas Yugoslavia has no demands on others, M. Cvetkovitch continued, interests vital to her existence and progress require that Southeastern Europe be preserved from a new extension of the war and that European economic “cooperation, which prepared the way for European pacification—the only salvation for our European continent and its thousand-year civilization”—be strengthened.

  It is only on the basis of “sincere and positive cooperation,” the Yugoslav Premier continued, “that Europe will be able to find the basis for its new order, which will be in position to eliminate the old prejudices and artificial moral and material obstacles from which all of us in Europe today are suffering.”

  In closing his brief address, M. Cvetkovitch declared:

  “On this day on which Yugoslavia joins the tripartite pact she is doing so with the intention of assuring her peaceful future in cooperation with Germany, Italy and Japan. In so far as she is contributing her part to the organization of the new Europe, she is fulfilling the highest duty as much to herself as to the European community.”