War Sentiment
> Almost overnight after the invasion of Belgium and Holland, isolationist and pacifist letters practically disappeared from TIME'S incoming mail. The following letters are a cross section of recent comment about the U. S. and the war. It shows the emergence of feelings and beliefs that have evidently been long latent and inarticulate, the sharpest apparent change in reader-opinion in TIME'S experience. -ED.
Sirs: Two alternatives face the people of the U. S. in the event that Hitler's drive to the west produces a Nazi victory. Either his influence will invade the Western Hemisphere to such an extent that the U. S. A. will find itself actually fighting the German juggernaut in our own sphere of influence; or, in the effort to discourage his stepping into South America, we will be forced to compete with his armament production.
It would seem that, whether we like Allied policies or not, it is necessary for the U. S. to recognize their stake in an Allied victory. Perhaps if we act promptly--for instance, by supplying Allied air forces with thousands of planes--it will not come to troops. But if we do not help stop the drive now, we shall be fighting Hitler for 20 years. . .
CYNTHIA J. WILLETT Lincoln, Mass.
Sirs:
. . . The U. S. should do something besides "holler" for peace. Each generation must do its share toward continued welfare. . . .
There are too many professional peacemongers in this country.
FRANCIS D. CHAPIN Saco, Me.
Sirs: . . . For the first time in many years people in this little town are no longer finding arguments for Germany's aggressions. They did it after the invasion of Austria, after Czechoslovakia, after Memel, after Poland, even after Norway--that is, some of the people.
They would say with a shrug of their shoulders: "Well, Britain and France brought it on themselves. That Treaty of Versailles. . . ." For the first time in many years, that argument is no longer being made. . . . They are saying that if Germany can't beat France and England without raping those little nations, she ought to have the grace to take her licking. . . .
DAN Ross
Clarksville, Tenn.
Sirs:
... Is American behavior . . . supporting Oswald Spengler's theory of Western decadence? Have a half-dozen decades of comparatively easy living so softened our pioneer spirit that we of the U. S. are proving ourselves to have been as little aware of the realities of German and Japanese social dynamics as the English Conservatives have proved themselves to be?
. . . Whether we yet realize it or not, we have still the same responsibility for order in the world that we brilliantly assumed and then shortsightedly rejected in 1917-20.
Just as the necessity to make a few over-rapacious individuals respect law became so obvious to the fair-minded majority in the California gold camps and elsewhere on our borders that they organized for a job no one could do alone, equally obvious to us by this time, it seems to me, should be the necessity for the nations controlled by fairdealing people to gang up on the international lawbreakers and enforce a peace we can all work under.
RALPH WESLEY WESCOTT Camden, N. J.
Sirs: The other day in the card catalogue room of the Chicago Public Library I noticed that there were thirteen and one-half trays of cards under the heading, European Wars.
Out of curiosity I went back to the "P" section of the files and found that all of the cards on Peace occupied only a portion of one tray between the headings, Peabody and Peaches.
Perhaps we should separate Peabody a little farther from peaches.
H. C. Gignilliat Chicago, ILL.
Sirs: ... In view of our experience in granting credit to the Allies after as well as during the last war, I think unquestionably the American people are strongly opposed to the granting of such credits.
Yet there seems a simple way to overcome the difficulty. . . . Various nations now at war have colonial possessions in this hemisphere which are of considerable strategic value to the U. S. for defense purposes, but of little strategic value to such nations for defense.
Let such nations sell to us these insular possessions at some fair agreed upon price, half of such purchase price to be applied on existing debts, the other half to be in the form of credits for additional purchases in the U. S.
This would not noticeably affect the economy of such nations in any way. Yet it would show good faith and enable them not only to clear their records of the debt repudiation which is one of the principal handicaps to more cordial relations with this country. It would enable them to order the additional planes they need in greater quantities, as well as other materials now no longer available from other sources. . .
R. G. COLE Chicago, ILL.
Sirs:
... I nominate for the American Society of Ostriches the following. First, those who believe we can have peace by wishing for it; second, those who thank God for the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and think that the conqueror of all the rest of the world would fail to clean up the 130,000,000 Americans also; third, those who believe in equality to such an extent that in preference to sending men to fight at a distance, we should all stay home, so that the women and children would be treated equally, and get their share of foreign bombs. . . .
L. LEE LAYTON JR. Dover, Del.
Sirs: This evening I wrote a letter to an editor, saying I feel we should send gratis all the planes, bombsights, materiel and food we can to the Allies for use in this death struggle; that this would be more effective and less expensive than a long-range armament program, etc.
Later I got hungry and went to the kitchen for a bacon-&-egg sandwich. While I was cooking the egg, I became suddenly and fully aware of what makes me want to write that kind of letter. It is simply that I can't enjoy the things I used to--reading, good food, an occasional drink, the love of my wife--without thinking that there exists on this planet a powerful so-called human who sets all these things at naught; who robs millions of these pleasures that make a life. . . .
HERBERT D. CANNON Rapid City, S. Dak.
Sirs: WITH EACH NEW NAZI OUTRAGE THE WISDOM OF STREIT'S UNION OF DEMOCRACIES TO PRESERVE AND EXTEND THE BENEFITS OF DEMOCRACY BECOMES MORE EVIDENT.
FEDERAL UNION WITH WARRING NATIONS IS OBVIOUSLY DIFFICULT, ISOLATION IS IMPOSSIBLE. DEFEAT OF ALLIES CAN ONLY MEAN DEFEAT OF DEMOCRACY. AS REALISTS WE KNOW THAT TOTALITARIANISM IS IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE FOR AMERICANS.
AS YOUNG MEN WHO MAY BE CALLED ON TO FIGHT WE ARE CONVINCED WE MUST GIVE EVERY POSSIBLE AID NOW TO ALLIES SO THAT WE MAY NOT LATER HAVE TO FIGHT THE BATTLE ALONE, FOLLOWING GERMAN VICTORY OVER EUROPEAN DEMOCRACIES UNAIDED BY US.
MANY YOUNG TIME READERS MUST FEEL AS WE DO. . . .
R. C. SCOTT, Businessman C.B. MILLIKAN, Professor of Aeronautics* California Institute of Technology Pasadena, Calif.
Sirs: It has been dinned in our ears by the isolationists that our entry into another world conflict would spell the end of American democracy. The now imminently possible defeat of Britain and France and triumph of Totalitarianism will even more certainly spell the end of American democracy. Attacked by an economic Blitzkrieg more deadly than an armed invasion, our only defense will be "fiveyear" plans, government subsidy, strict control of industry and production, a lower standard of living, and ultimate surrender of the freedom of press, radio and education.
J. THOMAS FIELD Webster Groves, Mo.
Reputable Sirs:
MANY INQUIRIES RECEIVED HERE INDICATE YOUR FOOTNOTE TO PACIFIC FINANCE CORPORATION STORY MAY 6 ISSUE OF TIME DID NOT MAKE IT SUFFICIENTLY CLEAR THAT NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER EXISTS BETWEEN PACIFIC FINANCE CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA AND THE NEW YORK FINANCE COMPANY OF SIMILAR NAME INVOLVED IN LEGAL DIFFICULTIES.
PACIFIC FINANCE CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA IS THE LARGEST AUTOMOBILE FINANCE COMPANY IN THE WEST, WITH ASSETS IN EXCESS OF $42,000,000. IT MAINTAINS HEAD OFFICES IN LOS ANGELES CONDUCTING ITS FINANCE BUSINESS THROUGH BRANCHES IN EIGHT WESTERN STATES, AND DOES NOT OPERATE A FINANCE BUSINESS IN NEW YORK. ITS SECURITIES ARE LISTED ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE AND THE LOS ANGELES STOCK EXCHANGE.
FRANCIS S. BAER President Pacific Finance Corp. of California Los Angeles, Calif.
> TIME stated that the Pacific Finance Corp. of California was thoroughly reputable, repeats that statement for anyone who missed it the first time. --ED.
* Not to be confused with his famed father, Physicist Robert A. Millikan.--ED.
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