- ! I CHUECHILL bfA'.X6>^ /^4^l. — iV"T/^6^ JZy^U4C7 Toda^ as I listened t^o^-t-hw '"T^rTTTdro betv/een / ^ A twel.ve thirty and a little after one, I found myself jxv^ijL (X\AJr\ T v A. •i n C ......... I ^ wondering: .. Conp.ress in A ? i V/ashington? Or yjere we listening to proceedings in the n London House of Commons? Sometimes a near illusion came - an illusion that it was the Commons, a statement TT by the Minister of th^Crown to Parliament. Of course, Winston Churchill was really speaking as a visitor invited to address a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives. But he sounded, in large part. a like British Prime Minister making a statement in a A House of Commons debate - giving an account of his actionsj justifying his policy, explaining! the v/orld situation. And - asking for a vote of confidence. Our form of government does not require the ident to appear before Congress, and give an account - I n 1 CHUBCHILL_-_2 as “thG Brit/ish Hous© of Coninons domancls of it»s PriniG MinistGr. Th© fwo iUGfhods of govGrnnien'b ar© v©ry differ©nt in that respect, and today it seemed as if ggrdrrzg—trhrgxtsxtxHftaste of the British way. ^ v/ Winston Churchill’s way, of course^- being A i born and bred to London parliamentarianism. Out of mere habit, I suppose, he fell'into his House of Commons manner in addressing oUr Congress. At times li you might have thought that he was responsible to” that they could harygii h voted- him out of office if they disagreed with him. Indeed, Churchill reminded || our legislators that in London the Commons could irf remove him from office at any time. So,let’s consider the Churchill speech from that point of view, concentrating on those things which ’.I! sounded most like a statement and an explanat^on__t_o_j CHURCHILL - 4 illuo ion of a BrPrime Minister—orting ire e He-H-9-e—<yf n a -r For examplp, he made forthright statement A of the reason v/hy thejAmerican forces fighting Japan are short of eouipment right now. He replied that it was because of the amounts of armament that the United States has p'iven to Britain and other nations -r fighting Hitlerism. In other' words - Lend-Lease. So far as I kno7/, the British Prime Minister is the first prominent official to make that statement in this country. Winston Churchilt put it in these words:-] "If the United States has'been found at a disadvantage at various points in the Pacific, we know well that it is to no small extent because of the aid which you \ have been giving in munitions for the defense of the British Isles and the Libyan campaign. That*s the kind of downrightness that the T.n-n^_u 'Onaon 'i rt : CHURCHILL - 5 House of Commons expects of ifs prime minister. Indeed, Churchill expressed that ryf—pTT4--rt--i-ff^Tn A resDonsibility to Parliament’ and people. He said, "People have a right to ask me in England - *Why have you not got adequate airplanes and weapons of all kinds in Malaya?*"And to our Congress today he gave y as he would have done in^^r-tiPi^^ "I can only T e 0 1 point to the victory in the Libyan campaign," he said. "If we had divided the forces between Libya and Malaya, we should have been found wanting in both places." He added that both 0reat Britain and the United States had to make a choice of where to place the sunplies of armament that were being turned out. And the choice was - Libya. To Congress he argued his belief that the decision was right. it *3 a thi In England, it *s thing for the A A ggnn' CHURCHILL - 6 Prime Minister to disclose to Parliament important pieces of international information - inside facts that might explain the why and’wherefor of grave events. ^Today gave to Congress his ideas on this absorbing question - ’’Why did the Japs attack the United States?" He xx stated that if they had struck at the United States and Great Britain a yiear and a half ago, right after the fall of France - no one asi?. could guess how disastrous it would have been for^^s:;. But now, British and Amer'ican strength has vastly increased. So why did they attack now? Churchill pointed to the existence of secret societies in Japan, socie^\ies that enforce their fanatical policies by means of assassination. "It may be,” he declared, "that these societies, dazzled with their own schemes of aggression, have 0 CHUBCHILL - 7 ^ brought their own country into war. if They have certainly embarked on a very considerable undertaking", tf : he commented. Later, expatiating on this, he spoke the proclamation that drew the greatest thunder of apnlause from the assembled Houses of Congress. ”V/hat kind of a people do th^ think we are?" cried Churchill. "Is it possible that they do not realize that v/e never shall cease to persevere against them until they have been iksia taught a lesson which they themselves and the world shall never forgetT This was delivered in the best Churchill style - and did it bring the rafters downJ The gist of the political philosophy that / the Prime Minister of Great Britain addressed to th, Congress of the United State^was the ideal of a final oeace arrangement based on British-American it I ■B CHURCHIiiL!_- 8 \ cooD^r2.t;ion. M i argued the benefits that might have ^ derived, if\such cooperation had been effective in the past. " l W years ago,” he said, "it would have been easy forVhe United States and Britain to have insisted on the\fulfillment of the terms of the in Treaty that GermVny signed after the last war." And he added that thi\ would have assured the Germans of iil !ii those supplies of \aw materials which, m Churchill s ill words, "should notVe denied to any nation, victor or vanquished. ” Fro. this ,cl.d in concert aurllgAliocc .p IV, fiv+ureV"! avow my hope and faith," vision of the luture^v^^ that in the days to p r 0 c 1 a i ra e come the British and American neoples will, , the good of all, walk together in own safety and for I CHURCHILL - 9 in majesty, in justice, and in neace.” And that state^ent was an excellent example of thoC^ famous Churchill gift of expression and choice of words - so familiar in the London Parliament and now heard with rich and powerful expression in the Congress of the United States.(^v\ Jic^, ni ^ J. PHILIPPINES Manila is an open town tonight. The Philippin Government has moved to some other place - just where it is not disclosed./ Troops marched out of the capital of the islands, guns removed, anti-aircraft batteries ii I dismantled. Every step has been taken to save Manila || from devastation by bombs and the destruction that might accompany a military assault on the city if the enemy should get that far. V/hat do the Japb say about this? Earlier reports were that they lad refused to recognize Manila as an undefended not subject to bombing under international law. But later the word was to the radio stat.ion Siam contrary. An enemy control^eO rao.io j +h?-f the Japanese military declares in a broadcast that tne Manila as an open city authorities have recog If were +o-intiPS in the stories of bombing " There^xxx some uncertainties in A /V • in the Manila area, but today. There wbs air raiding m m PHILIPPINES . 2 it wou^d appear that the ^aps aimed their bombs at the harbor and at the seaport on the outskirts. The abandonment of Manila as a stronghold does not mean any relaxation by the^defense.( The announcemenij, that Manila was to be considered an ooen city was r accompanied by statements from American Commander Douglas MacAJCthur; United States High Commissioner Sayre; and Philippine President Quezon; who stated that the battle will continue unremittingly^ ”VJe will fight to the last man,’’ declared High Commissioner Sayre. From the battlefronts around the city, we hear of the heaviest kind oIn the critical area of Lingayen, the American-Philippine forces have been reorganized and strengthened and they are beating back violent enemy assault. This is announced tB in . i PHILIPPIIIS - 3 today’s Army ccmmuaique, but it’s admitted that the Japs continue to bring up what the communique calls - "he'^vy reinforcements.” They appear to have reached the town of Baruio, a favorite sumu.er resort for the people of the city. This vacation place ^ no large strategic 'importance. A The other important sector in today’s v/ar ne ws is the Atimonan region, seventy-five miles southeast of Manila. There the Japs are driving with tanks, trying to thrust forward with a mechanized spearhead and are meeting with stern res^is^n The point about miles ^ui I Army communique speaks of heavy casualties on both s ides. Vr e ’ V e s cored . naval " PhiUppiaa i waters - our submarines torpedoing a Jap transport and —' . J -- PHILIPPI?tES - 4 mine sv.'eeper. And probably they've also sunk another transport and seaplane tender. Blows like that at sea are of the highest consequence - the United States undersea fleet striking at the enemy transport, so important for the invasion. y The surorising story of the Dutch in the East Indies continues. They've sunk two more enemy ships, and this brings their total up to fifteen. In Malaya, the British report they are holding || firm along the Perak P.iver. That's on the west coast of the neninsula and about three hundred mi es north of Singapore. The ’japs have been attacking heavily. but have been repelled with ^eavyl^s^^ of Malaya, t^e enemy has penetrated to within two hundred and twen^y-^ive miles 'of Singapore.'- at a Pl-- Kemanen. There they are beId, says Singapore T - -- ------- add PHILIPPINES And here s a bulletin;- The British forcei in the Far East have a new commander. It is just announced that Lieutenant General Sir Henry Pownall takes over tonight in Singapore. Pownall succeeds Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert 3rooke-Popham on Britain*s Far Eastern front gefmans In the battle of the North African det>ert, tne British Iniperia±s announce that they are driving bro-ien forces of the Axis into a sector ninety railes beyon^( Bengesi.y~The capture of the important City of Benghasi was stated yesterday - it was taken without resistance. A London military spokesman tells us that the Nazi North African Corps has lost much of its war material, but still has a number of tanks. These are x trying to escape the British, who are driving hard^^ag—ti7 to trap them. The Soviets tell of a whole new series of " i successes. They announce the capture of a town fifty | miles southv^est of Moscow. Also - ground gained ^ in the Leningrad area. The Red army is striking as hard i as it can to break the line of land encirclement, and accomplish the relief of Leningrad - so long besieged. I j s i I GEPMAIjS - 2 The Bed army tells of the use of ski troops on a large scale - tens of thousands of ski soldiers sliding over the frozen waste. H r . I 1 TSLANDS The tangle concerning the islands of St.Pierre and Mi^elon is even more intricate tonight. It would seem as if the DeGaulle Free French forces had stuck their finger in the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. Today in London the headquarters of General DeGaulle loudly defended ’the Free French seizure of the two islands off the coast of Newfoundland. They argued that, under Vicycontrol, the island of St.Pierr* had been broadcasting radio information useful to the enemy. The information consisted of weather reports of a sort to be helpful to Nazi UOboat commanders in attacking NorthAtlantic convoys. That's the reason why DeGaulle's Free French sent their forces in boats to seize the islands - as a blow to Nazi Germany In Washington, the disclosure today was yes, there's a good deal to the story about radio station at St.Pierre and the messages it was 1 ISLANDS . 2 SGnding. Th© British, Canadians and AniGrican wgt © botherGd about thosG WGathor rGports - as a possible aid to Nazi submarine commanders in the Battle of the Atlantic. Hov;ever, something was being done about it, negotiations were being conducted for the purpose of having^Allied observers sent to the islands, keep a watch on the radio activity, and make sure that no information useful to the Axis sea prowlers was being sent. These negotiations had just about reached a successful conclusion, when the Free Frenci^w^=^p#9 jumped in and seized the islands. That, as today’s V'ashington dispatch remarks, tends to complicate the ^negotiations, to say the least. Furthermore, it is said that the United States had given to the Vic..y Government assurances that the status quo of French possessions in the Western >/- = ISLANDS - 3 Kemisphre will be maintained. The seizure of the islands obviously complicates relations between the United States and Vichy, and a Washington dispatch tells us that these relations have been improving lately. They’re delicate, at best, with the United States trying to induce Marshal Petain to take a firm stand against Nazi Germany. One Washington reports tells us that President Roosevelt recently sent a message to Marshal Petain, expressing his appreciation of the fact that when war broke out between the United States and the Axis powers -- the Vichy Government declared its neutrality. All cf which would seem to indicate that the DeGaulle people committed a faux pas. A Freoch term which expresses its mean ingbetter than any other, faux pas, a false move -- wrong thing, wrong time, and all that. 15 ^ State Department, expressed its appreciation of ISLANDS ; 5 And that i——ft«gotioi"iono contuTning £t. Diuir ®i | Ij-j .-in -"inn—bfae rttfti 0 ■ 0 trBt-ien wore in g-seo-n-h-apew. Today, the Vichy Government, in a note to our Secretary Hull's declaration yesterday - his sharp rebuke of the FreeFrench forces and his indication that the United States wants to have St.Pierre and Miquelon j returned to the control of the Vichy authorities. | The general indication from Washington is that Secretary I Hull has started things moving to abolish the Free , • in-in+ action by the United States, French seizure - joint aciioii j I n +n 0tve the isifinds h&ck to Canada and Great Britain to give If,.. th, Pel.l«|:overn..nt.'I^It’= =11 = l«e. the hor. so because the Fcec French .enl ahead pro.ptly li , -L • • + .n n+ q+ Pierre and Miquelon. And j and held a plebiscite at bt.t^i-rr | 1 -r +hp is‘'?nds voted overwhelmingly in the oeople of the is_cduuD i ^ —- XI' >>%'- A'Y' ^ >.'< >^-^,’ J»i ''•'H^*'. -v^' 'H,'- ^ ■■ "^v V^'. ■v' ^ ' / □ V«*