HUMAN RIGHTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 May 1941, Page 7

HUMAN RIGHTS

MAINTENANCE BY UNITED STATES EVEN AT COST OF WAR. COLONEL KNOX ON AID TO BRITAIN. <By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright i (Received This Day, 9.40 a.m.) NEW YORK, May 16. The Secretary of the Navy, Colonel Frank Knox, addressing a graduating class at a Naval College today, said: “We intend to maintain the right of ever improving the lot of the common man, even though we waste our substance in wars defending its maintenance. "Even when Germany is defeated,” he continued, "there may be another Hitler twenty years hence if the world again relinquishes policing power. The war of 1914-18 was not a war to end war, and it would be foolish to suppose that this one is any different. It is the responsibility of all of us to see that in future the Navy is never allowed to decline.” In an interview, Colonel Knox was asked whether selective service men would be used for expanding the Navy’s man-power, and he replied: "We cannot make sailors in a single year, but if an emergency need arises we will use them*.”

Asked if he would ensure delivery of materials to Britain, his answer was a definite yes. Asked what the method of insurance would be. he replied: “Use your head. In the last war there was only one menace, the submarine. This time there are three, the submarine, surface raider and seaplane.” FREEDOM OF THE SEAS ROOSEVELT ON GERMAN THREAT. NOT DISCUSSING HYPOTHETICAL ' QUESTIONS. (Received This Day, 9.55 a.m.) WASHINGTON, May 16. President Roosevelt, at a press conference today, declared that freedom of the seas was a historic American policy, and Germany's proclamation that the Red Sea was a danger zone was a pointed reminder that twice previously the United States had used warships to protect her commerce. Mi- Roosevelt declined to discuss hypothetical questions and talk in glittering generalities, and said international conditions were too serious for him to interpret or to comment further on the implications of his appeal to the French people not to collaborate with Germany. He dismissed a barrage of questions as too hypothetical, including the following: “Is there likely to be a change in the status of Martinique?” “Will Admiral Leahy be recalled to report to Washington?” “Would any additional steps be taken on the French situation?”