Replies

"i see that the NYT was even in these days was more concerned about the hurt feelings of potential enemies than about the defense of our nation..."

Do you want to provide us with a quote to support your claim?

Let me give you a better working assumption: in no case that I've seen so far, does the NY Times reporting or editorial comment from the 1939 period stray even in tone from the positions of the Roosevelt administration.

So, if you consider the Times reporting to be, in effect, Roosevelt press releases, I don't think you'll be very far wrong.

Now, notice at the end of the article it says that GERMANY had been supplying CHINA with about 2/3 of her military equipment, UNTIL GERMANY allied with JAPAN, and stopped supplying CHINA.

No doubt, Roosevelt was more than happy for American companies to pick up the military equipment business cast off by Germany. Indeed, FDR's concern over Japanese reactions just might have something to do with the final article about fortifying Guam.