THE NAZIS WANT VICTORY, NOT TALKS. The C.B.S. Berlin correspondent, William Shirer, broadcast a good wrap-up last night of Under Secretary of State Welles’ trip to Berlin. The most important news Mr. Shirer says, is that Secretary Welles leaves the Reich not with a peace proposal from Hitler, but with “formal assurances” from Hitler’s men that Germany intends to fight to the finish. The Secretary got this message in spades over the last two days -- in a four-hour conference at Field Marshal Goering’s country home, in talks with Rudolph Hess, Hitler’s deputy, in a meeting with Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, and finally at a chat with Hitler himself. Mr. Shirer concluded his talk with a gloomy observation -- “Things have gone much too far now in Europe for there to be any possibility of a negotiated peace.”
Earlier reports echoed that belief. Otto D. Tolischus wrote in Saturday’s New York Times that “all hopes for peace that may have been attached to the visit...turned into dust” after the Friday meeting with von Ribbentrop. The Foreign Minister, according to the Times, bragged that the Reich was poised to strike “a decisive blow that will put in the shade all previous ideas of military penetration power.” In Saturday’s Chicago Tribune, Walter Trohan cites a semiofficial German news agency as promising the German Army would soon strike “the greatest blow in its history.” The Germans were friendly enough to Secretary Welles, and tell American newsmen they hope the Roosevelt administration soon will send an ambassador to Berlin. Not too likely, if they plunge the continent into a devastating war.
Of course, if there is truly no chance for peace, that brings everybody back to the twin questions of (1) Will Germany strike this spring? and (2) If so, where? My own guess -- “fear” would be a better word -- is that Hitler will send his troops swarming across Belgium and Holland and launch a full-scale air assault across the English Channel at Britain. The French will be left alone for now, in the belief that once Britain is destroyed, France will fall quickly thereafter. It might all happen before this month is out -- one current report mentions March 15 as a possible starting date for the offensive.
RUSSIAN TROOPS ENTER VIIPURI. More sad news from the Finnish battlefront -- the Finns’ second city, Viipuri (Viborg), is being set afire this week-end by her fleeing defenders. According to a Saturday Associated Press dispatch, Red Army troops are advancing into the southern outskirts of the ancient port city. They’ve seized five more towns in the Karelian Isthmus. The Reds also claim to have shot down twenty-one more Finnish warplanes. A United Press story, same day, emphasizes the “heavy casualties” inflicted on the invaders by the Finns. But the U.P. also notes that “Russian mass assaults [were] so extended over a thirty-mile front that the Finns had difficulty in concentrating their meager defensive man power to best advantage.”
But Walter B. Kerr writes in Friday’s New York Herald Tribune that the Finnish population behind the lines has shown no sign of panicking yet -- “The end of the third month of the war has brought with it no signs of weakening Finnish morale. The people on the home front still take bombings as their share of the burden. And in Helsinki and elsewhere they are working to strengthen their shelters...The film theaters are open, the trains run and the stores stay open longer than they used to.”
ADMIRAL YARNELL -- NO WAR WITH JAPAN. A Saturday Associated Press story says the former commander of the U.S. Asiatic fleet, Admiral Harry Yarnell, has spoken out on the question of whether an American embargo on trade with Japan would lead to a U.S.-Japanese war. His answer, given in a letter to Senator Schwellenbach, Democrat of Georgia, is a firm “no,” coupled with a warning against what might happen if we continue to sell war materials to Japan’s armies --
“It would be suicidal for Japan to engage in another major war with a powerful enemy. As for our interests in the Far East, the question arises whether our nation can afford to see the domination of that great area by a power inspired by the ideals of fire and sword that have had full sway in China during the present war. Success in this adventure will entrench the Japanese Army in control of the government for many years, and, as time goes on, will lead inevitably to the acquisition of more territory by force of arms....We will face an uncertain and dangerous future if the democratic nations of Europe, and China, are defeated in the present war.”
Amen to that. Expect, however, that Japan will make a lot of frightening noises over the next few months about the impact of an embargo. According to a Saturday United Press dispatch, the Tokyo magazine Chuo Koron proclaims that once the President announces an embargo, “we must be prepared to wage war against the United States.”
“OSCAR” NIGHT BIG FOR “GONE WITH THE WIND.” Clark Gable must be some sort of lucky charm. A few years ago he starred in “It Happened One Night,” which swept the Movie Academy Awards for best production, best actor, best actress, and best director. Then, Mr. Gable takes the lead male role in the color extravaganza “Gone With the Wind” -- and that picture swept the Academy honors Thursday night in eight categories -- best production, best actress (for Vivian Leigh), best director, best screen play, best actress in a supporting role (for Hattie McDaniel, first Negro to win an award from the Academy), best art direction, best editing, and best color. Best actor went to Robert Donat for “Goodbye Mr. Chips” and best supporting actor was given to Thomas Mitchell in “Stagecoach.” The “Oscar” award for best song went to “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz,” which also won for best score. Other awards went to “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “Wuthering Heights.” It’s been a pretty fair year for movies, overall.
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