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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1940-06-13, Page 2Are We Likely To Be Invaded? We Are Not Inaccessible -- Far Front It Says Jean-Ghas. Harvey, Editor of Le Jour .At a time, when the real war ses- adon of the King Government is piffling and when Germany Is hurl - :log all her forum of destruction against our allies, France and Eng - ,and. after having violated the neu- trality of all the small nations along the Baltic and the North Sea, we believe we express the wish of an immense majority of Canatliana wheu we ask the leaders of the eountry to take all the necessary measures in order to ensure the eecurity of our people and our in- etitutions, writes dean -Charles liars vey, editor of Le Jour (Montreal). Last year, in these very columns we wrote that Canada was not ex- empt tram the danger of invasion. biome sceptics laughed in our faces od held us les to Dees eat montane have passed.. Septem- ber eame with the declaration of wan Even then, our pacifist know - it -alis declared that Canada would :act be directly concerned with the 'bleody adventure. Even the most .aedeut supporters of participation .A11 not dream for a second of the possibility of the invasion of Can- ada by the Nazi forces. The GOV. ernment the *very one that declar- ed war, did not seem to be aware at the immediate Dern that the etteantry might run. It believed the danger, yes, but like millions of Canadians, it did not imagine ie,ast.the day would come when our adiaes, our cities, our industrial cettres, might be attacked and bleed spilled.. I A WARNING TO ts That which is now ba,ppening, be Europe ehould nevertheless be e. Wiles warning to us. What will the marrow bring? Nobody knows. And what we 'do know is that we have to do with an implacable enemy, N9210 has already laid to waste is portion of Europe, an enemy who :moots nothing and who was, at least in the beginning, infinitely better prepared to destroy and to 'conquer than any other country in the world, an enemy who has odsown clearly enough his detee- mination to dominate the universe. Yeeeident Roosevelt himself sestid ,tis, in A heaving Speech Yetently 14 - /ore the Members of the Pan-Aanef- flout Scientific Congress, And for the first time in the history of thins Continent. a President of the great- est American power expressed the. tear of an invasion of the two Our prophets declared, at the • lbeginning of last summer, when the conflict appeared imminent Oat there was no danger whatso- ever for Canada, it being under- otood that, should a defeat of the allies take place, the United States would defend. us; but this large re- public would have to look after its ewn defence and we know that if 'we wanted to save ourselves, we would also have to look out for our- selves. After what has happened In the Netherlands and in Belgium, we know that the United States, with its present armaments alone, cannot, by itself, fight, 'to advan- tage against the combined forces et an all powerful Germafty and an eggOssive and. war -like Japan, FGRESIGHT IS NECESSARY That is our position. No one cam deny this disconcerting reality. We are :mot inaccessible, far° from it! To govern is to foresee. If ever there were a time when foresight was tragically necessary, now is that time. We shall need every ounce of our Intelligence, our cour- sweated our energy to perform acts essential to the safety of our inste intions, our peace, our culture and our liberties. MCKIE SAYS: LEAVIW MAIO BIM OR- ADVERxIsimq SLEETS AT"foLKses DOORS JEST DISTRiBUTtoM MU714041 ELSE Le eiRCuLATow 11 WI4AT '-/OU Orr BY ADVERTIsIP 114(S MFkVgPAPER ) .10 1 Canadian Active Service Corps Go To Sumner Camp esegOlat "1,1.4,{••••• strategic Dardanelles, is allied to Britain and France by mutual aid pact, operating against all en- ergies except Soviet Russia); and the Turkish general staff finished mapping their final defense plans . reports had It that General eanco, of Spain, would shortly ilder his countrymen into the. ight against the Allies; dispatele • Kfront. Madrid told of growing i tome that the British relinquisse "lieir hold on Gibraltar ... Balkan Tension Subsides BALKANS: The. Balkan pot S' dropped- from boiling -point to just :lain hOt during the week. Sor- jet •Ressia, in a southeaster peace move, withdrew troop efiemi the Hungarian froatier and Hungary in return suspended pians to call more reserves to the army; at the same time Russia opened the way to Rumania for out-of-court settlement of the Besserabiaa question (Bessarabia, .• a Rumanian Trevino, was a pat of Czarist Russia seized by Ru- mania in 1918). Soviet an- nouncement in London he Med further to dissipate the Balkan tension — that Russia views her e.,interests in the Black Sea and .the eastern Mediterranean as pae- kaltel with those of the Alliee. (Russian sou:ces also hinted that in particular view of Italian pressure there was at leaat a good Possibility of diplomatic co-optee ation between the Kremlin and the Allies in the Near East). FAR EAST: A Foreign Offiee authority,. in a radio speech to his country last week told the Japanese people, and incidentally let the world know, that Japan's policy of non-ihvolvement in the war between Germany and the Allies Might soon become one ef After a winter of preliminary training at Exhibition Park in To- ronto troops are pictured here taking their departure for summer ens ,.• oampments. Included in the seven thousand men who occupied several UJ, the big lauildings are many former residents of countries ever -run involventent "in the sense of pre- ventingdthe spread of the Euro- Vea.ii4iWie"$8' Asia,"; f.e., in the rk, • • 4ense that Japan would grab the ich Netherlands East Indies; and Possibly Singapore and French rido-China if and when they be- ame weak enough to need "pro- jection." vt "South of the Border" bj Htitler's ordes. The Canadian corps impatiently await the call that.; wall being , em to grips with the Hun. The, Federal government. hese itatid'tliatsrtawill twee no use for Exhibition Park during the stain/pert`, montha. The sixty-second consecutive Canadian National Exhibition will be held before the Department of National Defence takes ove' again in the fall, THE WAR.WEE IC—Commentary on Current Events New Western Front Battle Is Deciding France's Fate "On June 4 Dunkirk fell after bit- ter fighting. The first chapter of this campaign is ended." (Official communique of the. German High Cogniaignad), On June 5 the second chapter in the war to the death between Ger- ard:St tonitlelcWZ.-to settle the score with France first before at- tempting invasion of Britain, the German army on that date launch- ed a terrific offensive against the new Weygand line, throwing 600.- 000 men into the fight, supported by dive -bombers, artillery; tanks and motorized vehicles were in the background. The issues at stake were tremendous — the fate of France, of Britain, of the whole ot Europe was to be decided.. But Hit- ler was evidently gambling every- thing that he and Germany had in a. bid for a quick -crushing victory, (Hitler had. told his troops that he would rather lose 1,000,000 men in a short war than fewer in a war dragged out over many months. He had told them they would be "home by August"). Gambling All The outcome of this super -battle nevertheless was seeu last week to depend upon the entry of Italy into the war. Were Mussolini to attack from the south, France would be ground between an upper and low- er millstone; should he strike also In the Mediterranean, the scope of the conflict wOuld be increased to include possibly the whole world. BRITAIN: In an epic speech be- fore a hushed House of Commons, Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain declared that Britain "will light on, if necessary for years — if necessary aloue," to final vic- tory, despite the "colossal" defeat in Flanders in which he said the British suffel'ed 30,000 casualties, rescued 335,000. 'We Will Fight On" Moving words were his: "We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches and the landing grounds, in the fields, in tbe streets and on the bflls. We shall never surrender. And even if, which I do not for a moiient believe, this Is- land or a large part cif it were sub- jugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, will carry on its struggle until, in God's UNITER STATES: A veritable var hysteria was seen sweeping jhe U. S. during the week, follow- ing a wave of reports of Nazi fifth • column activity in South America and in Mexico . .. fears of a Nazi' uprising south of the border gave rise to the belief that the United States might have a war on her own doorstep shortly, before she had a chance to jump in on the side of the Allies in Europe, or stop Italy from participating. good time the New 111' TO igmaa emergency request for el, - "1",`.."41',•41`6" '""7"3."'"it."L"VCV/1"..tll11"."Hrrf."1.111, 'j the liberation and rescue of the Old." Although the commencement of a new battle on the Western Front removed for the time being from British hearts the foe of an immin- ent invasion by Germany, the peo- ple of the Old Land nevertheless remained prepared. If it came, they did not expect the invasion via the Channel ports, but from Dutch and Belgian ports. from Norwegian beach -heads, and perhaps from Eire. Experts expected landing par- ties to concentrate on the south- east lowlands of England — KeateS the Thames valley, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk — with diversions Ifl the Sottish lowlands and in Wales, for the Germans' main target would'e doubtless be the munitions-makiege Midlands. Invasion Doubted Hope for the frightened Britons came from a voice in the IL SsAd- miral Harry Yarnell, retired, ex- pressed scepticism that Germans could invade England. Said Ad- miral Yarnell: "They can bomb various points and drop parachu- tists, but you need infantry for an invasion. And infantry can only be transported by surface ships. The British fleet will never permit that." MEDITERRANEAN': Events in the Mediterranean basin moved fast during the week. The Allied fleet units off Alexandria were fur- ther increased • Egypt sped new defense measures, closed museums (the mummy of 3,000 -year-old King Tutankhamen, snugly wrapped in Cotton wool was removed to the basement of the Cairo Museum, to a secret, bombproof tomb) .. s premier or Turkey warned his peo- ple that they might be compelled to "take up arms" at any mom- ent to defend themselves against attack (Turkey, guardian of the 182,000,000 for expansion of the na- tions armed forces, President Roosevelt submitted to Congress a supplementary program boosting defense expenditures to nearly $4,- 500,000,000. This latest enlargement of the military program was necessitated, Mr. Roosevelt said, because of "al- most incredible events" in the past two weeks of Europe's war — pax- tioularly as a result of the use of aviation and mechanized equip- s t anent. The one most obvious lesson taught by the conflict raging over- eiOs, declared Mr. Roosevelt, "is Atte value of the factor of speed," asked for action without delay. ,and got it, Parliamentary Battles CANADA: The war -week in Can- ada was featured by the attempted t "blitzkrieg" on the part of the ' Conservative party to run Prime Minister Mackenzie King out of of- fice. Fierce, political battles were waged on the floor of the House at Ottawa as every verbal weapon per- mitted by parliamentary procedure was used against the King admin- istration, accused of "complacency" in the war effort. In the midst of an uproar that had dozens of M.P.'s shouting accusations. Hon. C. G. Power, minister of national defence for air, charged Rodney Adamson (Con., West York) acroas the floor of the Commons with "sabotage of Canada's war effort." Mr. Power at white heat declared Rt. Hon. Ern- est Lapointe, minister of justice, should "intern that fifth column over there." Prime Minister King made an of- ficial statement to the House, after the atmosphere had calmed down, on Canada's part in the struggle abroad. Steps had been token, ho said, to place Canadian military, naval and air forces at the cone nlete disposal of the British Gov- , i*F'`':•Nt•Oz•n , a s Into the gruelling 500 miles, over a rough, hot, brick track at the Indianapolis Speedway, are packed all the strains and wear of 50,000 miles of ordinary driving. Tires have to withstand quarter -ten Mows, not only once hut hondretis of times per minute! With this proof there Can no /eager he any question of which tire . is safest. One tire—and only one—has the ex- clusive safety features to withstand pun- ishment a this kind—Firestone—the tire that has been on the winning cars at Indianapolis for 21 consecutive years/ Have the nearest Firestone Dealer put Firestone Champion tires on your car now. Specify Firestone when buying your new car. 7 lee • ,esses ea, t ernment. Twice, he declared, the First Canadian Division overseas had been ready to embark for ser- vice on the Continent, but had been recalled by the Allied general staff. He announced that a contin- gent of Canadian troops had taken over garrison duties in the West Indies; that destroyers of the Can- adian Navy were operating in Unit- ed Kingdom waters in co-operation with the Royal Navy; that a fighter squadron of the R.C.A,F. was ready for overseas. Heard during the week: that thousands of European' refugee children were coming to make their homes in Canada; that the British a see—semen, --ee-, tease prie- aners of war over here to be intern- ed; that the possibility of evacuat- ing British children. to Canada and Australia was under urgent consid- eration by the British government; that an agreement with the U. S. was shortly to be reached re- garding the St. Lawrence seaway (whether the project could be pro- ceeded with during the war had not been decided). Canada's Apathy Towards Poetry J. Murray Gibbon, of Mee:tree', pleaded "'the case of the Caaadian ballad" before the 'Royal Soseety nt Canada, deplored !eanad lan patly towards poetry anti auggeetel ful- ler appreciation (wet be gained it its teaching were eldest With 1311141C, particularly in lLig ubnol ix) nt- lve-rsitle.s. Mr. Gibbon, paomiaont eotbor and research worker In Lake:ire. and music, suggesece educational authorities in charut schwas for teachers could specify that in tne. teaching of English literature, the study of lyric poetry and the !lolled should be coorditeesel wite the stedy of the music identifiee with the lyrics and the imitates. SHOULD COMBINE TWO I -le said such a coulee xightu work out in Great Britain, "but Canada Is a pioneesing countey awi is entitled to male lei own 'macre Eq'in,," LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Nebel- olf 1 hit the next one over the fence, ci'ya mind if 11 seen from tided to second to first base and then home, just to break the thonotot yr' REG'LAR FELLERS—Take Your Choice CERTANY, MR.DUFFY, IF arq FIST RILEY JG0UA41 RAN IriTO YOU, '(0'). ARE ENTITLED TO t-AVIYI f!- *DAPIACMS AN'YOU, OR'2ER COLLECT'ENIT BEIJEVE ma, I'LL C40 R1414T AFTER THAT QUI AN' MAHIM COME ACROSS, WEI-7,1MR'. DUFFY) SO YOU'RE BACK, EN? DID YOU ciEt YOUR DAMA4ES? By GENE 113YRNES. YES AND SO/ st:k"Nlz.4. tea At: • se, Vas ne eost $1, Y. Office. Ali .4%.• " ste=sesetge 14.