WARNING GIVEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 March 1941, Page 5

WARNING GIVEN

AMERICAN NAVAL STRENGTH HARDEST-HITTING FLEET IN PACIFIC. I CONFIDENT DECLARATION BY COLONEL KNOX. i By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) NEW YORK, March 17. A blunt warning of the strength of the United States in the Pacific was issued in Baltimore today when, the Secretary of the Navy, Colonel Knox, declared: “I am sure the United States has the most powerful, hardest-hitting fleet afloat in the Pacific. It is ready for any eventuality. There is no cause for alarm about what it would be able to do in the event of war.” Another New York message says British diplomatic circles in Washington regard the visit of American warships to New Zealand as a demonstration of co-operation between Britain and America. In the Far East they express the opinion that the visit has been undertaken to show that any threat to British Pacific territory is l of vital concern to the United States, also that American ships could patrol the seas far from their Hawaiian base.

FIRM POLICY URGED BY AMERICAN COMMITTEE. CO-OPERATION WITH BRITAIN. NEW YORK, March 18. The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, in a new policy statement, urges the convoying of ships with American naval vessels. In addition it recommends that Congress revise legislation in order to allow recruiting of Americans who wish to serve the Allies. It also advises a “firm policy in the Pacific,” including increased American naval strength in the Far East, increased aid to China, extension of embargoes on war materials against Japan, the giving of “a clear indication of our determination to prevent the conquest of Singapore or the Dutch East Indies,” the reciprocal use of British and United States Far Eastern bases, with a clear naval understanding between the two countries. JAPANESE COMMENT ON PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S SPEECH. TOKIO. March 18. The “Asahi” asserts that there was nothing surprising in President Roosevelt’s speech. However, Japan must not fail to watch to what extent American aid to Chungking would be extended. Taking advantage of the technical point that Japan was not at war with China, the United States might dare to carry arms to Chungking in its own ships. “In that event, there is no alternative for Japan than to frustrate such an attempt with the same resolve which Hitler recently professed,” the paper says.