President Roosevelt-has added to the cases of the Greer, the Robin Moor, the Sessa, and the Steel Seafarer the statement that in July a submarine, clearly belonging to the enemy, followed a United States battleship and sought to manceuvre itself into a position to attack. The cumulative result of these: five incidents has led him in the course of his broadcast yesterday to warn both Germany and Italy that their war vessels would for the future enter American defensive waters at their own peril. American vessels in those waters would no longer wait for Axis attackers to strike first. With regard to the case of the Greer President Roosevelt said "1 tell you the blunt fact that a German submarine fired first upon the American destroyer Greer without warning and with deliberate design to sink her." There may be shorter and sharper methods of branding Hitler's propaganda machine for the liar it is, but surely none quite so effective.
If President Roosevelt's defensive waters compromise those indicated some time ago there should be a large, reasonably safe area in the Atlantic in which all surface shipping should be able to proceed with comparative immunity, for it is quite obvious that, under the President's orders, it would be protected by the fact that it is no longer safe for enemy submarines. to go into that area. That does not mean that the United States has entered the war. It does mean that President Roosevelt has taken another step which will tend to bring war between America and the Axis much closer, should Hitler and Mussolini be so rash as to disregard the sharp warning which the President has given them. Indeed he has told them that while the United States does not seek war "neither do we want peace so much that we are willing to permit him to attack our naval merchantships while. they are on legitimate business." other words he has announced that American patience is rapidly becoming exhausted and that Hitler will proceed to give cause for further irritation at his own risk.
There can be no doubt as to the gravity of the step which President Roosevelt has taken, but as he rightly says in protection of the United States it cannot be avoided. It is all very well for the Nazis vehemently to claim that they have no sinister intentions upon the Americas. The occurrences which have taken place in various south American republics, the incidents which have come to light in the United States clearly prove that the Nazis are not telling th reduction of the western—tt just as much a portion of their worldwide plan as is the conquest of Europe. The incident 5 is indicative of the lengths to which the of the submarine and the American battle-to estrange.
Britain and intention if they could succeed in sinking it to allege that it waf the act of a British submarine. That the President realized as shown by his statement that no British or American warship was within hundreds of miles of the spot at the time.
That declaration cuts the ground from under the feet of the German propagandists who doubtless even now will seek to, pin the blame on Great Britain. But, unfortunately for them, Washington knows the facts, and so by now do all the American people. What has been made quite clear is that Hitler has been endeavouring to see how far he can provoke the United States under the fancied protection of Japan's adherence to the Axis and her commitment to enter the war should the United States do so. Those provocations would completely relieve Japan of having to intervene, for Hitler is clearly taking advantage of the Japanese position in a manner which no honourable Japanese can countenance for one moment. President Roosevelt leaves the issue up to Hitler. If he wants a shooting war he has only now to send his submarines, or other craft into American defensive waters, and he. must know that, if American war vessels do open fire upon them, it will be with the support of a vast majority of the American people. made history in Brit Yre larger se or mother were known as the Mayo.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.