Strong Hand in Asia

By two unmistakable signs the U.S. last week clearly showed its stand in Asia. One sign was the President's earmarking of a billion dollars in Lend-Lease funds for hard-pressed Russia. The other was a calm refusal to be stirred by threats of war with Japan.

Wrote the President, in his letter to Dictator Stalin: I propose that the indebtedness thus incurred be subject to no interest and that the payments by the Government of the U.S.S.R. do not commence until five years after the war's conclusion and be completed over a ten-year period thereafter. I hope that special efforts will be arranged by your Government to sell us the available raw materials and commodities which the United States may need. . . .

Thus President Roosevelt took a step which he had long pondered, had hesitated to take until he felt certain that the U.S. was behind him. Including Russia in the Lend-Lease pool does not mean that the U.S. can send any more help to the Russians than it is now sending. But as a diplomatic gesture, the President's act was of prime importance. It made Russia, like Britain, a virtual ally of the U.S. And in effect it guaranteed to Joseph Stalin that as long as Russia continues to resist, the flow of supplies from the U.S. will continue also.

The only peculiar circumstance was the indifference of the U.S. people to the war menace looming in the Pacific. Apparently they were aware of the menace, ready, if necessary, to meet it. Theirs seemed to be the indifference of a gambler whose cards are face-up on the table. The U.S. has called Japan. The Japanese must play their cards or drop them.

On his way to the U.S. by Clipper this week is a special Japanese envoy, natty, handsome Saburo Kurusu.

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