Some of the conclusions to which the responsible officials-of the United States had been led by events in Europe were placed before Congress by the President in a message on May 16 requesting over a milliard of dollars in additional funds for defensive purposes. "The clear fact is that the Ameri~ can people must recast their thinking about national protection," the President said. He pointed out that motorized armies could now sweep through countries at the rate of 200 miles a day. Parachute troops could landed from' aeroplanes behind the outer defences, People supposed to be peaceful visitors or tourists turned out actually to be part of an enemy unit of occupation. Sur~ prise which had always been dri effective technique in warfare had become all the more dangerous because of the amazing speech with which mechanized armies could each their objectives. The whole picture, as far as the United States was concerned, was summed up by the President in one significant sentence, "so-called impregnable fortifications no longer exist." From. this fact arose the necessity of being able_"to al lack an aggressor on his route before he can establish strong bases within the territory of American vital interests."
The policy of sitting and waiting for the attack to come at whatever spot the enemy might choose is one to which American de~ fence experts, contrary to the views of some of their French and British colleagues, have never subscribed, They still hold fast to the old adage, "attack is the best defence." As the President said in his defence message, "A defence which allows an enemy to consolidate his approach without hindrance will lose. A. defence which makes no effective offer destroy the lines of supplies and communica tions of the enemy will lose."
In addition to the defence of the contin ental United. States the President reminded Congress that the joint defence of the Western Hemisphere must also be considered. The popular and over-simplified view of the Mon~ roe Doctrine, that the United States is obligated to protect all Latin American countries from attack, was not in question. But, fs the President pointed out, the original aim of President Monroe in keeping all hostile forces out of the Western Hemisphere be~ _eauise they threatened the security of the United States itself had become more essen~ tial than ever before. Air navigation had increase the speed of possible attack to more than 200 miles an hour, while at the time when the Monroe Doctrine was promulgated Aeets under sail moved at an average speed of five miles an hour. If some of the outer bases of the Western Hemisphere were cap~ tured, the United States would be within easy bombing distance. From Alaska, with its white population of only 30,000 people, bombing planes could reach Seattle, Tacoma and Portland within four or five hours. From Greenland planes could reach the New Eng-Tand coast in six hours.
The most easterly points of Brazil could be reached in seven hours from the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa and once enemy force was established there Cuba and the Canal Zone were within easy strik= ing distance, Cuba, moreover, was but 2% hours from Tampico (Mexico)'and Tampico, the same number of hours from the heart of the Middle West. The isolationists of St.
Louis, Kansas City and Omaha might be as. determined as they please never to go to war, but even they would find a high explosive bomb a difficult object to deflect by neutrality. resolutions.
'Thus the growth of air power has made it essential for the United States, whether it wishes to or not, to see that no hostile force hains a foothold' anywhere on the American continent. The Latin American countries: are thinly populated and"many of them are no more capable of defending themselves from attack than Denmark, Norway and the Balti States. Said President Roosevelt, "more than ever this protection calls for ready-at-hand weapons capable of great mobility because of the potential speed of modern attacks." President Roosevelt, in other words, was warning the country that they must have at hand an army capable of despatching an expeditionary force at a moment's notice should there be a threat to: the independence of any Western Hemisphere state.
This speech of the President's requesting staggering new expenditures on armaments and a far greater preparedness to meet any attack (aeroplane production should be stepped up to 50,000 planes a year, for example) fitted like a headstone into a' series of Administration pronouncements made as a result of Germany's invasion of the Low Cour tries. The very day the invasion took place the President met the press and cautiously, og though still a little uncertain of what the untry's reaction would be, endorsed the laming protest" of the Queen of the Netherlands in his personal capacity and not as the head of the Administration. That evening the President was to deliver a speech to a Pan-American conference of scientists. By
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.