Volunteer Millions Ready to Defend Scotland, Still Untouched by War
DAVIS, JOHN
Volunteer Millions Ready to Defend Scotland, Still Untouched by War Britain By John Davis Glasgow Clfy CoMcJ/foi GLASGOW, Scotland.—Americans have such strange notions of how things are in...
...Smuggling of guns and ammunition across the ·border by private groups means very little because of the need for uniform equipment and replacement parts...
...It may be that we will-get a few bombs dropped in this area but no one is worrying unduly over the prospect...
...There are the remnants of the old Calles regime, lean and hungry after a six-year forced abstinence from government graft...
...Lombardo Toledano's star is falling fast...
...His most M-ely successor as trade union chieftain is anti-Stalinist Fidel Velasquez...
...Nearly all of my friends here have friends and relatives in the United States, and many of them have had letters asking- what they are most short of in the way of foodstuffs...
...All the peccadillos of politics are still being paraded by j the small freak bodies on the left of the Labor Party...
...enriching themselves in their economic activities this class of exploiters win» another very lucrative business in the political life of the country...
...INTRIGUE within the Franco government, a continuous process since that strange melange of Clerical, Fascist, Royal, Moorish, Nazi and Big Business interests joined to overthrow the Republican regime, shifted to Berlin this week, as Ramon Serrano Suner, Minister of Government, journeyed thereon a "friendly visit of state...
...These bilities...
...The Mexican Government will do everything possible to attract United States capital...
...In 1929 he played ball with a group of reactionary and traitorous generals, but deserted them at the last moment...
...There are the ambitious young officers who want military dictatorship and fear the CTM workers' militia...
...Again, we never get a letter from New York, or elsewhere in your country, without generous expressions ~ of sympathy for our lot of living, as we are supposed to ido, in the midst of continuous 'bombing raids which are flaking life unbearable...
...This gives the government the inestimable advantage of interior lines...
...What is left of Romanian territory as a Romanian state- is nothing but a colony in a mighty empire which is to take shape in the near-future if Hitler remains the masier of Europe, a source of raw materials, a colony whose native population's onjy mission in life is to feed the "racially superior people in their 'motherland'.^ In his exile Carol will find enough leisure to ponder over the inglorious end of his reign, the tragic end of his country...
...ing town of Sonora...
...a WOW, neither of these sympathetic references is neces* ' sary...
...In aggregate, these groups are not strong enough to take pow:er or win an h election...
...The would-be Mexican Man on Horseback is Juan Audreu Almazan, one of Mexico's greatest soldiers, an utterly corrupt, shrewd and efficient customer...
...Politics of Rebellion A LMAZAN'S support derives from a broad variety of groups...
...The people's hunger had not been appeased by national unification and liberation from foreign yoke...
...The evidSS would seem to indicate the reverse...
...1 * s » * I 1JOWEVER, the people of Romania will not console themselves as easily as * * will their former sovereign...
...I had read some Sunday papers which featured lurid stories of Chicago gangsters and got everything out of balance...
...There are the dissident labor groups that resent the corruption of the union leadership, the bungling in the workers' administration by railroads, the thievery in the oil industry and the Stalinist policies of Lombardo Toledano...
...But he was also with Victoriano Huerta, the drug-addict president who assassinated his liberal predecessor, committed high treason, destroyed the nascent Mexican democracy and murdered his senatorial critics...
...Unless the border any such action would be can Government is entitled to" tial and shoot Genera l Almazan son the minute he returns to his There are two other indications re\'olt, Almazan's chief aides na\'e r led across the border to be on safe the shooting starts...
...The initial stock of arms and munitions \\:ilI probably ('orne from Almazan's secret hoard of material in the Monterrey zone, where he was commander...
...Cardenas has built a splendid new network of roads, ' but they wind through mountains and over canyons...
...Unless the rebels can move rapidly enough to surround Mexico City from two sides in the first week of operations, they will probably be doomed...
...The truth of the matter is that ex-Mexican President Portes Gil, who outlawed the Communists back in 1929 and is today their most implacable enemy, will probably become the new political power...
...What is left on his throne, after a dramatic, flight in a bulletriddled railroad car is the phantom of...
...The rebellion will begin on the north'ern and western rims of the great plateau...
...Here are all the changes that an American would see in Britain were he to come here to • check up on the changes made by the war: He would find that everyone has a gas mask and a registration card...
...conception of things should be widely believed...
...An odd stray single-engined bomber has on occasion managed to get this far but the damage has been very slight...
...The growth of Romanian industry in times of crisis was possible only at the expense of a starving people...
...3p " The roads have had barricades placed at strategic points to slow down the movements of possible invading trooa...
...There is a curtailment of certain articles of food, such as sugar, butter, margarine, tea, bacon and butcher meat, and if one were very fond of any one of these foods he might feel a slight inconvenience...
...General Hec~ r Lope:;o;, is hiding' 0 . One final matter: If an uprising breaks out before December 1, 1940, Lazaro Cardenas can stay in offic...
...This rule of graft and criminal undermining of the state found its eeB harbor at the court where the jovial and always well disposed king stood principle of "live and let live...
...The liberals the State Department favor Avila Camacho, the old guard that believes in an iron LatinAmerica leans toward the insurgent ",pn p r...
...At any rate large sections of the people are earning much higher wages and are living much better...
...His inclusion in the cabinet is not nepotism, but an indication of his strong following in Nationalist Spain...
...Their anger turned against the old boyars, now converted into modern financiers and against the -modern lords of industry...
...It has about a dozen whippet tanks that can be blown to bits with dynamite charges and bunched grenades...
...MotoI'ized traffic can be brought to a standstiIIby mining ro?d beds and starting landslides...
...THE Cardenas Government has been bus ily depriving potentially traitorous generals of their troop commands...
...The would-be rebels have scant support among the Mexican generals...
...The large variety of alternative dishes completely eliminates the possibility of serious difficulty in food stuffs...
...It is undoubtedly a grandiose development in the course of ten years under the adverse conditions created by world crisis...
...Some time ago I offered to provide hospitality for friends in the South in order to take them somewhat out of the danger zone...
...Seemingly a combined Nazi-Spanish propaganda drive is being prepared against the United States in South America, as well as a conspiracy against Gibraltar and northern Africa...
...Since they were built, however, the defensive armor of tJtti ports and coasts has been strengthened and some of th obstructions on the roads are being removed...
...The Two Candidates T^HE president-elect of Mexico is General Man* uel Avila Camacho, a multiple-chinned polo player, an honest desk bureaucrat, a well-meaning, rather conservative, rather stupid man, known to his enemies as Mexico's Unknown Soldier...
...Romania, two generations ago, was comparatively easier to bear than will beTjthe unofficial, but very efficient, domination of the highly developed Nazi Reich...
...The Mexican rail and road network radiate s outward from the capital city...
...Volunteer Millions Ready to Defend Scotland, Still Untouched by War Britain By John Davis Glasgow Clfy CoMcJ/foi GLASGOW, Scotland.—Americans have such strange notions of how things are in Britain today—if odd paragraphs in our newspapers or suggestions in private letters are any criterion—that I intend to try to giv§ a fair description of the general appearance of things in pie Old Country just now...
...This amounts to only 3,700 lei per head which means in American currency (at the official rate) between $13 and $14 a year...
...Her economic and national life were just as round...
...The quiet cashiering of an apparently loyal army, may sever the ganglia of a treasonable conspiracy and change the military situation overnight...
...There are one and a half million A. R. P. wardens organized, an equal number of home guards, which is a local defense corps to tackle partchute troops—they guard strategic points on roads and portant works against enemy activity...
...It should start in the northern border stares and in opposition-candidate Almazan's bailiwick of Guerrero...
...tective organizations now extant...
...Garrisons a<ld regiments are being shifted rapidly' across the vast mountain ranges of Mexico like · pawns in a chess game...
...While still a divisional general in the Mexican •armyf%e 'amassed a fortune of several millions through illicit contracts, graft and use of his troops as a private labor force...
...They are ' banking on revolutionary ferment among the captains, lieutenants and petty officers...
...Or Unired may be swapped for base sites on l'II:el'.lca,n zunier or the I sles Marias...
...Ostensibly plans are to be worked out for closer collaboration of Spain with the Axis powers...
...In a fair election, Avila Camacho would probably carry the country, but his victory would be infinitely less impressive than the 99 per cent majority of the official count...
...But all thinking Labor people agree that if our boys have to fight with anything more effective than a toothpick our party has to carry its responsibility in the common administration of the country...
...the latter must be carried .about, the former, persons are advised to carry, but don't...
...The Stalinist trade union leadership of Lombardo Toledano will walk the gangplank...
...The most probable foci of the Almazan uprising would be industrial Monterrey, the Torreon rail center, and the min...
...The decisive election for Alma s the a t - titude of Washington...
...and at the surrender of France there might have been a tremor for the coming "blitzkrieg...
...Now the miracle has reversed iiself...
...as a military factor it is insignificant and as a cause for sleepless* nights it is not worth worrying about...
...Thus Romania was in a position to tear off Transylvania from her foe, Hungary, and Bessarabia from her friend, Russia...
...The miracle of the birth came after World War I when little Romania was able to see her dream of nationdj unification fulfilled because not only her enemy, the Austro-Hungarian empire, was defeated but her friend and ally, Czarist Russia, too, collapsed under tihe blows of the revolution...
...No , before him was cunning enough to split all the political parties or to set politician against the other and always to come out a laughing winner...
...It is not improbable that the issue will into the lap of the United States mand, which will be asked t o pick best for Pan-American defen se .. If Washing ton backs Avila revolution will go out like a cane...
...More than half a million nurses and doctors are organized in an emergency medical service, while innumerable fire, fighting, demolition and decontamination squads are read...
...Nearly every town has its quota of air raid shelters, on the streets, in the back courts, in disused shops, etc...
...There is the Catholic Church and the rapacious, dispossessed landlords...
...Of all the buyers the one most capable and most eager was of course NS*> Germany...
...The Catholic Church will crawl out of its storm cellar...
...If you were to read a detailed statement on our vanbhs rationing schemes it might sound serious, but in actual practice there is really no shortage in the, homes of working class people...
...It is.surely a commentary on our publicity in America that such a completely mistaken...
...The American public to some extent is under a similar misapprehension today regarding conditions in this country...
...There is nothing to worry about We are living under a constant strain, but then we are at war, and we are fighting for our lives...
...They were satisfied with modest gifts »¦» their good will did not cost the Nazi treasury too much money...
...It is probably not right of me to speak pf how people are living in the areas that have been bombed, as we have had no experience of it, worth speaking of, in these parts...
...As Cardena~ is the only man on the horizon with the wisdom and idealism necessary to lead Mexico along the road of e~onQmic reconsJructi"n, t.hj ~ development would-be"" ll1o'st 'deirrable:' Romania Crumbled While Carol Played And Nazis Bought His Industrialists Balkans By Dr.Joseph Kissman Romanian writer and former Socialist leader CAROL VON HOHENZOLLERN wis the last king of Romania just as the era of his ten years' reign was the last period of the independent kingdom of "Romania...
...He is anticlerical, for his dreams of a dominant fascist state conflict with the desire of the Church for a leading voice in government affairs...
...The basic legacy of reform and socialization will be retained intact...
...In the large he was valued as a free thinking generous ruler who opposed with so power the rising tide of Nazism in his country- j . lm In fact, however, he was nothing but a very adjeit circus rider v?nc aged to make breath-taking jumps from one horse to the other at fu^^*2 The nature of the horse didn't matter...
...The border will be aN~n...
...He was with Emiliano Zapata, the great apostle of agrarian reform...
...After Lombardo Toledano and the Stalinists had already endorsed the double-chinned General as the latest standard bearer of "democracy and progress," the astute Portes Gil emerged from obscurity as the real jiolitical boss...
...From these figures it appears that the industrial investments had grown 30%—from 40 billion to 52 billion lei...
...Arrows and indication notices point' the way to the nearest shelter...
...Whether these two th2«» equalize I won't say, but certainly there is not any noticeaS lowering of the standard of living of the people...
...I First of all let me show you what I referljto in my reference to American misunderstanding...
...AJS our American friends are anxious to assist us to withstand the German blockade...
...Russia, as the only great power left on the continent besides the two axis nations, and even Bulgaria, always treated as quantite negligeable, presented their Jfclaims, with the result that Romania had to pay them all...
...Certainly no one in this city is in any way put out of their stride by the threat of Nazi bombers...
...Prices are higher for goods in the shops, while almost timM one has had increases in wages...
...despire the constitutional ban on a second term...
...They think we are really short of essential foodstuffs and they want to send some...
...Irrespective of whether Almazan or Avila Camacho wins, several important things will happen in Mexico...
...There are peasant communities that want land, but oppose cooperative operation of agriculture...
...He suppressed the revolt he had helped to fan and earned the sobriquet of Napoleon of Mexico...
...Almazan rose to power with the Obregon-Calles machine...
...Whereas Marquis d'Ormesson, the French Ambassador, looked afWj the interest of his country by representing it at all court functions in the o» statesmanship tradition, Herr Fabricius the Nazi Ambassador sent his men in high boots and workmen's clothing to tour the country, pour the story of new creed into bewildered ears which became more willing to listen as soon •» the freely distributed gold of the apostles stuck to their hands...
...Not so the Ws" ger ones and especially the politicians who demanded much and received Tj7 sincere leaders of the great mass parties were silenced by the government ww» already started on the way toward totalitarianism...
...Although Franco's brother-in-law, Suner has been a bitter opponent of Franco...
...The word wiII ·be passed ico City and divisional generals forget their oaths of loyalty and the legitimate government . • • Whell to Strike 1 GENERAL ALMAZAN can or ;Ut~ the inauguration of on December :first...
...The government has practically no airplanes fit for combat...
...I * * *I*HE birth and the death of greater Romania are miracles of contemporary * history...
...I I have visited some of the areas that have been bombed and curiously enough the people there look upon the danger as a remote possibility, as indeed it is...
...to act in an emergency...
...We are getting your sympathy on false pretenses...
...For this the nation has to thank the fresh elements brought into the Government and the generous support of our friends throughout the world...
...The ,nn*~'j authorities saw, heard and shut up...
...Land distribution to the peasantry will be speeded up, but the emphasis will be on individual ownership, Tather than collective farming...
...Look at her map and see how round her shape...
...The public applauded him and thought of him as clever because of J^yS liance in all affairs of state, and his adventurous private life...
...In the days of the Great Mexican Revolution of 1910-15, Almazan switched from one side to the other like a Chinese warlord...
...But since it is not to be expected that his conscience will writhe under athe pangs of remorse for a long time he will soon find consolation in the stern fate of world history...
...than a pudgy puppet...
...a royal majesty in the hands of a brutal military dictator who himself is nothing but a lackey in the service of the totalitarian masters of Europe...
...But if Washington rejects thousands of customs guards will develop myopia, and tru munition, will rumble down hito desert...
...She even bore the convulsions of the economic crisis which shook the world in 1929 more easily than did most other countries and after a radical amortization of farm debts she was able to return to almost normal economic activity...
...This is charaeteristic of agrarian states ^t the start of their industrial development...
...Ve can assume ,that the regiments in Mexico City will be abSOlutely loyaL There wiII be no Mexican blitzkrieg...
...tember 25th...
...They trf**j the foreign relations of the country, speculated on national defense and barganw for military alliances in the coming world conflagration—in one word they sola their country by pieces...
...But also brewing, observers believe, is an anti-Franco move on Suner's part...
...Until the zero hour, the issue of war or peace generally hangs in the balance...
...The Mexican constitution is sll'Spended during periods of civil war...
...However, the satisfaction caused by this growth of national wealth is slightly diminished if we learn that the total national income of- 1939 was only 74 million lei, distributed over a population of almost 20 million...
...AT the beginning of the war the people of Glasgow expected, and to some extent feared, the danger of.bombing raids...
...Avila Camacho's program is "consolidation of the Mexican Revolution...
...I am writing this well after midnight,' after addressing twelve short meetings of approximately fifteen minutes duration today, and this on top of my own work) Bat this is typical of all thinking people who appreciate the problem the growth of Hitlerism creates...
...I think I have how indicated all the differences that a visitor to Britain would find between present-day conditions and pre-war conditions...
...to them the only crime is to face the facts frankly and act spoil their logic...
...The actual deaths from air attack about equals our death "toll of the roads...
...Newspaper reports are inclined to exaggerate the danger of incidents they report: I remember, as a boy, imagining that Chicago was simply a gigantic battlefield in which gang warfare went on continually...
...But generally no one in this country could say that the' war is seriously affecting his breakfast or dinner table...
...JlflY own duties, as a lecturer for the Ministry of Information on A. R. P. and Civil Defense, take up ail my Span time, and a lot more...
...from the very jaws of defeat we are snatching victory...
...Mexico Faces Revolt Before Oct 1 Unless U. S. Openly Backs Avila Mexico By Stephen Bandalier Authority on Latin-America A REBELLION is expected in Mexico between September 16th and October first...
...eIL"'" kie is out of the p icture...
...He had no other principle of government vm his desire to reign absolutely and independently for his own benefit...
...But today the country is living a settled life, taking all the- consequences of the war in its stride...
...Utftil one day he miscalculated and iu—*on the Trojan Horse of Hitler's Iron Guard...
...Predicting Mexican revolutions is always a hazardous business...
...The most nervous person in Glasgow sleeps every night without a great deal of worry...
...There is the middle class that fears labor control of industry and the rise of cooperatives...
...Yet there is no doubt that the primitive old Turkish rule over little...
...It is largely because of this work that I am not able to send articles more often to The Naw Leader...
...For ten years Almazan has been military commander in Montterey, center of Mexico's under developed heavy industry...
...It can turn its troop concentrations against the weakest link of the insurrection and crush it...
...In June of this year at the time when Carol celebrated the tenth anniversary of his reign the government issued some figures revealing the industrial growth of the country...
...If he figh face the extremely popular Cardl:fha.s...
...Even an elderly lady in the family did not see anything to worry about in the frequent raids on districts around her...
...Accordingly, he has Mexico and claim the presidency A rebellion in Guerrero or Yucatan would be of secondary importance...
...The Communist Party will be outlawed...
...1 Of all the states built upon the;*uins of the former great empires Romania was the most harmonious, economically, nationally and geographically...
...Whether it was left, right, or in "J*TJ| die, as long as it served his purpose...
...Behind Avila Camacho are the trade unions, • the official peasant confederation, the state governors, and the enormous weight of the Cardenas administration...
...But Alma:;o;an does not dare to time, give the government ample pare, and wait until his support apathy...
...That decent citizens could be found in the city just did not strike me...
...Here he rendered ample service to the local industrialists and used his military power to suppress trade unionism...
...against arms movement s. We to the Cardenas regime for the guns and airplanes...
...There art aafew, misguided men of good will who approve President Cardenas' policies, but are disputed by the knavery and corruption of some of his associates...
...Mexican foreign policy will dovetail with that of Washington...
...Serrano is president of the Nationalist Junta, president of the National Council of the Falange, which is now an integral part of the government machinery, and has succeeded in placing three of his important followers in the cabinet...
...This means no steps forward, several steps backward—on the whole, maintenance of the new Mexican social order...
...the total industrial power about 40% from 500,000 HP to 700,000 HP, etc., etc...
...Serrano Suner is an ardent Falangist...
...Every responsible citizen in the country is giving service in a voluntary capacity in one or another of the many m...
...Roosevelt is in the White House...
...He has big stakes in the Monterey region, in Acapulco real estate, in a shady railroad and development program in the Yucatan, peninsula...
...3 Made up almost entirely of peasants the Romanian people have changed within two generations from Turkish) feudalism to the beginnings of a modern national life in a unified national stale and now are changing again to a territorially disrupted and nationally subjugated life...
...Hitler is not adverse to Suner's ambitions, for Franco is more of Mussolini's puppet, and still responsive to the Church, rather than the Nazi regime...
...VTOU need not look far for a reason for the unrest of the masses in Roinaaas...
...The people of the country are in good spirits...
...The general a puppet provisional ' president 'Iuirk ill the l\Tt:xiclln cOllstitution...
...Almazan represents Mexican big business...
...Although he visited Nfczi Germany and returned a fervent admirer of, the Reich, he will pursue a pro-United States policy if he takes power...
...Unless the Ullited States pennits Almazan agents to acquire arms in this country, the revolt would have to succeed at ·once or fail miserably...
...The rent is Vnown...
...But apart from this, necessary war strain we live a normal life...
...The theory that Avila Camacho is a Stalinist stooge is a myth that has been sedulously spread by Almazan and his "left-wing" supporters...
...Another clue of Suner's visit is the editorial in this week's Madrid's Informaciones: "As for moral ambitions, Spain wants reaffirmation of Spanish culture in Spanish America...
...ably rumored, in the Colombian ministry in Mexico City...
...Hungary is resurrected as the outstretched arm of-Nazi Germany...
...Since she was rich inv raw materials and only slightly developed industrially, she overcame the birth Bangs of her formation easily, and made a good start toward economic reconstruction and inner consolidation by the means of radical agrarian reform...
Vol. 23 • September 1940 • No. 38
