The War Approaches America
The United States has been thoroughly shaken out of complacency by the success of the German campaign in Northern France and is now alive to the fact that even America will be in danger if the Allies are defeated. Many Americans fully recognise the truth expressed by Lord Lothian at Columbia University last Tuesday, when he said that the British Fleet was the naval Maginot Line which has hitherto defended the United States as well as Great Britain. But the first impulse in America today is not so much to give direct help to the Allies as to look to her own defences. Thus President Roosevelt has asked Congress for authority to call into service the National Guard—the State militia subsidised by the Federal Government—and it is expected that an in- crease in the Regular Army will be a first charge on the new financial appropriations for defence. None the less, in spite of isolationism and electoral nervousness, the desire to give more active assistance to the Allies is making great headway. There has been discussion of the possibility of selling surplus material possessed by the army and navy to the Allies. The decision of the Attorney-General that this can be done without breach of international law may have important consequences. When America does wake up she will wake up in earnest. And there is no doubt that she is now waking up very rapidly.
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