SUNOCO ,__ THURSDAY . DECEMBER 19. 1940
GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY:
As lor telling about the war tonight, I don*t suppose I can
do it half as well as Winston Churchill. Today the Prime Minister
gave the House of Commons a report. As for the conflict in North
Africa, Churchill said:- "The battle in the Libyan desert is still
proceeding. We are attacking the fort and town of Bardia with
strong and increasing forces."
While he was saying that, reports from Cairo indicated that
the Italian base of Bardia is more or less isolated and about to
be captured.
From Rome there were statements confirming this — and more.
Informed Italian comment was that the Fascist forces might make
their main line of resistance at Tobruk— which is far along the
coast of Libya, a naval base eighty miles from the Egyptian frontier.
_
And that would mean an eighty mile


withdrawal by the Italians.
Prime Minister Churchill in the Commons spoke about
the losses on both sides of the Battle of Libya. Said he:-
that thirty thousand prisoners even at the present
moment, is a considerable understatement.” What have been the
British losses? An amazing figure - given by Churchill. A
thousand men killed, wounded and captured. In the House of
----
Lords it was said the number of British lives lost was less than
A
one hundred.
Churchill told a story that sounds almost fantastic -
a cavalry charge in this era of mechanized warl He put it in
these words:- "It happened as an incident - that an Australian
cavalry squadron charged, sword in hand, and gathered both guns
and transport as trophies." To 'which one can only wonder - what's
the matter with Mussolini*s army? " Churchill made some implication
of & thing that is widely surmised — that the Italians don*t aike
the war on the side of Nazi Germany and have no heart in the fight.
The Prime Minister made this observation:- "One cannot sciy,"
said he, "that the Italians have shown a high fighting spirit or






WAR - 3
quality in this battle. In other periods of Italian history,”
he noted, ”v.e have known that they have shown great courage. And,”
he added, ”_ certainly am not going to frame a charge against a
people with whom up to this time we*ve had no quarrel.”
As for the German side of the Axis, Winston Churchill
spoke rather grimly xx of Britain being, what he called, ”half
x.
armed.” Hitler’s realm, on the contrary, wae saturated with
armament*. That disparity of weapons, he indicated, would be
overcome - with the help of the United States. During Nineteen
Forty-One, he estimated^Britain will face hazi Germany on
something like equal mechanical terms - and he looked forward to
British armies fighting the Mazi hosts on the continent of Europe.
Winston Churchill painted no rosy picture of the U-boat
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war combining with air attacks on British shipping. He said the
increase in the number of sinkings *is cause for v*hat he
Co.lled
"disquietude.” he hoped, he said, for an increasing effectiveness
in fighting against the Nazi U-boat and air blockade.
Churchill repeated recent British warnings about the
peril of - invasion. The danger of invasion still exists.
To






Vi Ah - 4
assume that it does not exist any more would be, said he -
"a disaster. Remember,” he cried, "that Hitler has great need
of doing something now or soon." And that's a reflection of
the hritish apprehension that a supreme attack on the Island
may oe launched sixm, by spring,^in ninety days, some are saying
They call it"invasion jitters" in London, and these
jitters have produced a paradoxical state of mind. For so long
a period as a couple of days, Britain has had the strange
experience of not being bombed. London has had no air raids for
what seems to Londoners - an amazing length of time. It gives
the people a feeling of strangeness and unfamiliarity - odd how
the human organism adapts itself to the most terrible conditions.
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and can be even uncomfortable when things grow better. Moreover,
the British are inclined to put* a suspicious interpretation on
the recent absence of Nazi bombing. Maybe
Nazis have held
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a
*
back ^xxmxs.ix-fcheiy air fleets because
mobilizing every
q
P air power for some treihendous attacK, wanting to m^ke the
assault with a single blow - perhaps the long attac£ of lancing
on the
i
.. . I
coast. So the quietude, no air raid s^ien, no


uproar of anti-aircraft batteries, no thunder of bombs — this sweet
tranquility tends to give the Britons ninvasion jitters.”
I don*t know if there1s any comfort — and this seems a bitter
thing to say — to talk of comfort because of bombing. But tonight
the Nazi warplanes are over Britain agqin. Today there was daylight
raiding with bitter dogfights high in the sky. And tonight the
bombers came over. Relieving the ^invasion jitters” - perhaps.


Events are moving fast in the Aid for Britain program.
Today v*e hear of a British list calling for armament to the amount
of three billion dollars. This follows President Rooseveltls
proposal that we should take over British war orders, pay for them/
and deliver the armament to Britain, under what is being called —
"a gentleman^ agreement.n An agreement — that it1 s a lof~ —
lease of war material on a rental basis. The British to ‘
back wht they have left of it when the war is over and rep!
has been used up or lost. ,—--------
The London representatives in this country have responded
promptly, and today they completed the list of war orders they
need. Total — three billion dollars. One prominent item is t welve
thousand war planes, bombers mostly. Cost — one biLlion, two hundred
million. Guns, tanks, and so on, one billion, seven hundred million.
Sixty new cargo vessles, to replace ships sunk by the U-boats.
Cost — one hundred million.
We’re told that the administration has advised the London
representatives to go ahead and negotiate with American concerns for
the placing of these huge orders, but not actually award them —
untjl Congress has taken action.



BRITISH AID -
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The U-boat crisis is reflected by a proposal that the United
States shall take over thirty-seven Danish vessels in American
ports. T:iese ships have been tied up ever since Nazi Germany
seized Denmark. The administration is studying the suggestion that
these Danish ships be acquired by the United States and then turned
over to Great Britain.
In actual armament production the latest is the plan to create
defense
a three-manr.cominission consisting of Secretary of War Stimson,
Secretary of the Navy Knox, and Defense Production Coordinator
Knudsen. The present National Defense Commission is merely advisory
One complaint is that itfs lacking in power. The new proposed three
man committee will have a lot more authority — delegated to it
by the President.


CONGRESS
Congress is to stay in session. Administration leaders hoped
to £• t the lawmakers to go home and adjourn until the new session
alter the holidays. But no there was Republican opposition and so
the attempt for adjournment was given up. Congress will take some
briei recesses during the Christmas and New Xearfs season, but
will remain in session.
Today in the lower House there was some official elucidation
si of the attitude of our Former Ambassador to Great Britain,Joseph
P.Kennedy. Representative Ludlow, a Democrat of Indiana, read a
letter from former Ambassador Kennedy.
"As it stands today," wrote Kennedy, "our production for
defnese is nowhere near adequate for protection of our own
situation, let alone aid for Britain. Therefore our first
obligation is to speed up d efense with all our might. It wou d
be suicidal," the Kennedy quotation concludes, "for our country
to get into the war in our present state of u^preparedness.


In the army the co^mnand, "Forward marchl" is getting a
larger response than it did when the A.E.F. of the World War
was trained. That is - the feet that do the responding are
larger. The men drafted for the new army are mere degtie than
mere amp le and eepioes-**
This is indicated by news from Fort Dix, New Jersey
where they are fitting shoes to thousands of draftees. Today
Captain George Danger, the property officer at Camp Dix,
gave out a set of figures. These show tnat in the campa,
seventy-seven men out of every ten thois and wear Number Twelves
Number Twelves are of the canal_boat^ order. When the A.E.F. was
trained,
only
^six^draftees out of ten thousand required size
Twelve. There are more than ten times as many nov. • All oi which
I suppose, helps to put the country on a war footing^



PINLAKD
Today in a dramatic coincidence the Republic of Firfiland
selected a President and lost its ex-President. Former Premier
Rytr was chosen to succeed President Callio, who had resigned.
A mere few hours later, the retiring President died. He was Finland»s
political leader in the war with Soviet Russia last winter, staunch,
simple, determined — what we think of the character of the fighters
of Finland. He resigned the office of the Presidency at Helsinki
because of ill health, the malady that brought about his end today,
a few hours after^successor was elected. v\)
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^
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(Tj- '-R^rv^y-L -^
2
.
C^OQ.


CHRISTMAS
The Christmas spirit hit a court in Brooklyn today.
Judge Franklin Taylor was passing sentence on a long string of
offenders. The cops ushered in one young fellow who had helped
to rob a grocery store of fifty dollars’ worth of merchandise.
His Honor^prenounced sentence in these words:- am convinced
that urgent need drove you to this. I believe you will not
trreak the law again. Go straight. Sentence dismissed - and
nere’s five dollars.n The Judge dug into his pocket, handed a
five dollar bill to the defendant, and sent him home*
Up came another youth - this one charged with
swiping twenty dollars’ worth of jewelry from a private house.
Judge Franklin Taylor listened to tiie story of the crime,
and said to the prisoner: ’’You deserve another chance, here’s
five dollars - and go home to your sick mother.”
Prisoner Numbor Three was an eighteen year old
negro girl. The testimony against her developed that she came
to New York from North Carolina a week ago, got a job as a maid
in a home, and proceeded to steal sojje clothing and jewelry.





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In her defense, the negro girl related that she found a bottle
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of v. his key in her employees pantry, and took a couple of
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Th&t^s what made her swipe the clothing and jewelry.
Later she wanted to return the articles, but she wras afraid.
His Honor, the judge, said to her: "Would you like
to go home, back to Worth Carolina inhere you know people and
nave friends?"
"Yes suh, boss," said the negro girl.
Whereupon.
gave her a suspended sentence and
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a bus ticket home.
Altogether, the judge passed sentence on seventeen
prisoners today, and sent not a one of them to jail.
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Instead of prison terms, he gave good advice — and sometimes money.
Twas Christmas in the court-ro*om - to paraphrase an old and Oh so
solemn song.


JOKES
I hc.a an idea today that I’d scan through the news and try
zo find something funny - some humorous kind of story, but then
I cnought I’d better not. The thing that changed my mind was one
articular news dispatch, which jumped up and hit me between the
eyes - so to speak. It tells of some court proceedings in New York
today.
A man named Koprowski was brought before the judge,
cnarged with trying to choke Mrs. Koprowski. The reason was -
ne didn’t like his wife’s jokes. Tne testimony related that Mrs.
Koprowski has a great sense of humor, and likes nothing better than
telling a funny story. Mrs. Koprowski is such a comic that it was
her habit to keep Mr. Koprowski awake at night, telling him jokes.
She’d think of one while he was snoring, give him a good shake,
and then proceed a humorous wheez - laughing and laughing as she
came to the side-splitting point. ’’And so,” she testified today.
”he tried to choKe me.”
His H0nor,,:fcfc Judge Ramsgate, trie* to arrange a
reconciliation. He turned to Mr . Koprov.ski and explained that
jokes and humor have their place in the world - and help to make
life a little less grim.


JOKES - 2
To wnich Mr. Koprowski nerely replied, "I don't like
jokes."
good?"
Hi5 Honor persisted, "Aren^t your wife's jokes any
Mrs. Koprowski interrupted. "Sure they are good -
they're just so funny," and she laughed heartily.
"Her jokes are no^ood," said Mr. Koprowski.
The magistrate decided that he'd pass judgment on that
point and so he asked Mrs. Koprowski to tell one of her jokes.
She was only too willing. Mrs. Koprowski, as you may surmise
from her name, is
Polish,
and she tells her jokes in Polish.
So she
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*
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± rattled one off in that melodious language, laughing
her head off as she related it. The judge doesn't understand
Polish - so he laughed. Mr. Koprowski, however, understands
Polish only too well - he didn't laugh at all. His face grew
longer and more lugubrious, as his wife related her funny story.
juclggfg verdict was a compromise. He told the
Koprowkis to go home - enjoining Mr. Koprowski not to choke his
wife again, and bidding airs. Koprowski not to tell him any more


JOKES 3
jokes.
So tnatfs the bit of news that stopped rae from looking
trirough the press dispatches for a funny story to tell tonight.
In telling a Joke to you folks, I might score as flat a failure
as Mrs. Koprowski. And you might figi feel about the same as
Mr. Koprowski - and want to choke me. So letfs close this
uroadcast with something lugubrious - and even grim.
At Montreal today, a wife went to court asking for a
legal separation. She is seventy-nine - her husband is
eighty-six. The Judge looked the old girl over and asked^auutxiangx
MHow long have you been married?"
"Sixty years,” she replied.
Whereupon the Justice expressed his surprise - why should
she want a separation after being married for so long?
To which she responded - "Enough is enough."
And so it is.
Enough is enough, and
herefs Hugh.