WASHINGTON EXPERTS, ALL j
BUT ONE. “GUESSED” WRONG !
ON RUSSIAN - GERMAN W AR
By JACK STINNETT
WASHINGTON, Aug.— One of
the duties of the departments of
government is to keep the Presi
dent informed. When any vital
issue arises, the experts go into
high and grind away on statistics
and knowledge until they have
■turned cut a c ear summary and
tbeiT test conclusions. Often, it
is frcm such memorandums of
fact and probabilities that the
pftlicy of .he United States is
shaped.
Such a matter of vital import
ance arose when G-erma.ny march
ed into Russia. The experts went
into their huddles and, from au
thorities on labor, agriculture,
economics political activity in
dustry and military and naval af
fairs went memos to be stacked
on the President’s desk.
As nearly as I can find out,
only one expert, out of all the
score or more, even close'y ap
proximated the course of the
Russian-German war so far. All
the rest said, in effect, that the
Nazis would do just what they
said they would do, and in re
cord time —annihilate the Rus
sian armies and take everything
they wanted short of the Volga
River.
Rut this one fellow (I can’t
disclose his name) figured it dif
ferently. Roughly his conclusions
were that the Germans first
would win smashing victories,
that somewhere this side pf the
Ural Mountains or in them, the
Nazi war machine would sow
down and s’all. and that ultimate
ly the Russians would win the
-war.
SAW RUSSIANS AS RUSSIANS
Even his timing erred in favor
of the Germans and of course
how right he is from here on
rer s with the future. But some
rf .he steps by which he arrived'
at these conclusions are interest
ing.
In the first place, he believed
that the Rucsian army was much
better and more effectively mech
anized than anybody suspected.
The Russians, for years, had
been positive that some day they
would have to fight the Germans
and they were not lulled into
passivity by Hitler’s overtures of
friendship and cooperation. They
expected attack and they built
up ar.d trained their army to
meet it.
He buttressed this reasoning
with an observation about Rus
sian . ora e — namely that the
?u iars are Russians first and
any.blog else (including Corn
man ts) afterwards. They might
be Georgians, Ukrainians, White
Russians or Siberians; pro-Stalin
1
or anti-Stalin; but once the in
vader set foot on their soil, they
would b:-' Russians.
He argued. In opposition to
some of his cAnies, that were
would be no defection in the
Ukraine. Reports of what had
happened to some of their rela
tives in Poland would convince
the Ukrainians that the Nazis
would never leave their rich* re
sources and their factories in
iheir hands, he thought. Besides,
he said, the only strong opposi
tion leader to S.alin in the Uk
.sine committed Suicide six years!
ago leaving a note that his fight,
was useless.
The final important argument]
of this expert was that the Ger
mans had fai ed to compute their
risks by the cube roo-t. He meant
by this that the German trans
p :t problem in attack was far
■greater than the Russian one in
retreat—that the Germans would
have to create an endless belt of
supplies and reinforcements on a
vaster and far. far greater dis
tances than they ever had be
fore. It would be failing to grasp
the ^normity of a traffic prob
lem, the like of which they had
never faced, he said.
\LLOWED FOR MORE SPEED
This man figured that the in
itial German drive would go far-1
ther and faster than it has. He
even thought the Nazis would be
in Mo ow by now, perhaps even
have the Ukraine. On this score,
even he has been surprised—but
nj, as surprised as all those who
toretnld complete Russian col
lapse in six weeks.
I must point out that the main
NAMED FOR A CERTAIN AMERICAN—With a muzzle greyed by age, Pete, a
14-year-cld Belgian husky, makes friends with a baby moose being cared for by George Hughes, a
guide at Marten River, Ontario, Canada. It’s been named Wendell. The moose, one day old when
found abandoned in a wood, had a head like a mule and spindly, giraffe-like legs.
body of opinion here si 111 holds
with the other experts—not'with
my one dissenter. It’s just inter
esting that there was one and to
know that his conclusions and
arguments went to the Presi
dent’s desk almost in full and
that on some major points, his
observations so far are holding
against all the others.
Here’s One
Explanation of
Hess’s Flight
WAS NAZI PLOT FOR BRIT.
AID IN WAR ON RUSSIA,
SAYS THIS STORY
Ey Drew Pearson
and Robert S. Allen
WASHINGTON — Following
the outbreak of the Nazi-Russian
war, European capitals buzzed
wth reports of a German offer
to Britain to make peace, then
turn their united forces against
Soviet Russia. These reports
were not empty rumors; they
were absolutely true.
Behind them is a story of the
most audacious and astounding
Nazi intrigue of the war todate.
Its opening scene was the sen
I sational Hess “flight” to Britain;
its closing paragraph the "sur
prise” Nazi declaration of war
on their ally, Red Russia.
The inner details of this brain
reeling plot are not yet unravel
ed and all of them won’t leak out
until the history books are writ
ten. But authorities have pieced
it together and it is now possible
to get the main outlines.
Following the victorious Bal
kan campaign which made Ger
many master of Europe, power
ful military-nazi elements, al
ways bating the communists, be
gan urging peace with Britain in
exchange for a British-German
coalition against Russia. After a
bitter struggle inside the nazi
J party Hitler sided with the anti
Red group and the wheels were
set in motion to line up the Brit
ish.
It was realized that they would
have to be approached in such a
manner that they could not
doubt the authenticity of the
nazi plan. So Hess was chosen
for this mission. Not only was he
the one man in Germany closest
to Hitler, but he was also known
for his hatred of communism.
And before the war he had had
contacts with the British nobil
ity.
So Hess, not flying alone, but
accompanied by several guiding
p anes; and not taking off from
central Germany as reported but
from Norway, made his dramatic
descent on the estate of the
Scotch Duke of Hamilton.
HESS’S MESSAGE
The message brought by Hess
in substance was as follows:
(1) Britain and Germany
would enter a coalition as the
chief partners in a new axis; (2)
Italy would be placated with
some minor possessions of
France, which would be stripped
of its empire; (3) Germany
would retain a free hand on the
whole of the continent, with Brit
ain helping to establish that free
. THE LAUGHS ARE ON THEM—What Does a U.S. Soldier Look Like? is answered in Jhis typical closeup at Fort Dix,
N.J., where the lads rolled into the grassy aisles. some Broadway entertainers who performed on a mobile stage._
I Mon cheer Old Sunny
Brook for its gonial quality
p; and all-around goodness.
^ This whiskey is 4 YEARS OLD.
| US proof OJLr> ._
fSTJNNr Brook!
I KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY BRAND ||
|P Copr. 1940. National D'slillers Produots Corp., Now York, N. Y. ^
Distributed by National Grocery Company, Seattle, Washington
U. S. UNIFORMS IN LONDON
%r — -
A Bobby (right) gives sightseeing information to 2 United States
Marines, members of a upiit recently arrived in London for duty
at the United States Embassy.
hand by joining Germany in con
quering Russia.
The British government’s an
swer was to incarcerate Hess and
immediately notify Washington
and Moscow of the plan.
The subsequent chain of ev
ents is history. Darlan and Laval
were among the first to'get wind
of the scheme, and rushed to Hit
ler offering complete “collabora
tion.” This drew withering de
nunciations from President Roo
sevelt and Secretary of State
Hull.
Britain, which for months had
been trying to make up its mind
to attack Syria, launched an of-j
fensive with Free French forces
to seize this strategically vital,
region. Then on June 15 British]
intelligence got wind of quiet]
German withdrawals of air and]
other forces from French bases.!
This was why the British tooki
the initiative in their continuous!
day and night bombing raids
wreaking havoc on key German;
centers.
Fearful of attack and anxious
to appease in all directions, Mos
cow abandoned its stiff-necked
coolness to Japan and hurriedly
signed a pact in order to insure
at least temporary tranquillity
on its eastern border. Simultan
eously Stalin abandoned his tra
ditional behind-the-scenes ,role
and actively assumed the reins
as premier of 'Russia. Russia be
gan massing 160 divisions on its
western borders.
It was at this time that Am
basador John Winant returned to
the USA at the request of Prime
Minister Churchill in order to
give President Roosevelt a com
plete fill-in and to deliver cate
goric assurances from Churchill
that Britain will never make
peace with Hitler.
NOTE — The British govern
ment was so sure Hitler would
attack Russia that Churchill was
able to prepare and deliver his
historic radio address only 18
hours after Hitler invaded Rus
sia.
Notice of Rendering First and
Final Report o; Executor and
Petition fer Final Order of Dis
tribution
No. 622
In ttie Probate Court in and
for the Cape Nome Precinct,
Second Division, Territory of
Alaska.
In the matter of the estate of
PATRICK H. SWEENEY, De
ceased.
Notice is hereby given that
Thomas Sweeney, executor of
the estate of Patrick H. Sweepey,
deceased, has rendered for final
settlement, and filed in the above
Court his first and final report of
executor and petition for final
order of distribution, and that
Wednesday, the 15th day of Oc
tober, 1941, at 10 o’clock A. M.,
at the office and Courtroom of
the Court in Nome, Alaska, has
been set as the time and place
for the settlement of the account
and report and for hearing ob
jections thereto if any there be,
and for a hearing on the petition,
and all persons interested in the
estate are hereby notified then
and there to appear and show
cause, if any they have, why the
account and report should not be
be settled and allowed and why
distribution of the estate should
not thereupon be immediately
made to the persons entitled
thereto without further notice or
proceedings. At such hearing the
Court will adjudicate and de
cree who are the heirs and dis
tributees of the deceased. Refer
ence is hereby made to the ac
count, report and petition for fur
ther particulars.
Dated at Nome, Alaska, this
13th day of August, 1941.
Thomas Sweeney, Executor.
Publish Aug. 15, 22, 29, Sept. 5
SOURDOUGH STATIONERY
Write to your friends and rela
tives an the ‘Outside,’ using Sour
dough Stationery. TheyTl get a
big kick out of it.