NORTH-AMERICAN AXIS

Canada is at war. At least, she says so. America is not at war. At least, it claims not to be. But both statements need many qualifications, and by the time they are all made, it is easy to see how little meaning the word "war" has just now.

Belligerent Canada has passed a conscription act, but compared to that of the United States, it reads like an excursion ad. Providing for only 30 days of training for each conscript, it calls for about 30,000 men per month, and aims at a maximum of 300,000 trained men. The Conservative Party scoffs at the shortness of the training period, and would extend it to four months! But the Army feels that the present lack of equipment makes this impractical.

Any possibility of service abroad for the conscript is absolutely ruled out: it would be politically impossible. Only volunteers are sent a broad, and at present about 53,000 have gone. And to top off the military situation, Canada's Army is like a body without a head. There are plenty of junior officers, but scarcely half a dozen thoroughly trained higher officers who can handle large Army units.

In the air, Canada can make a slightly better showing. Of course, there is almost no such thing as a Canadian aircraft industry. Virtually all her planes are American-made. And there is a superfluity of talk about "next year," "late spring and early summer," and "air supremacy by 1942." But with all of that Canada has managed to get 6,000 men under intensive flight training. And there are four times as many trainers as students, which gives plenty of room for expansion.

May 10, date of the German invasion of the Lowlands, marked a real change in Canadian policy. Before that time, she had taken London's advice, and had tried to fit herself into Britain's war economy. But when Germany started to move, Canada made a quick right-face to the south. Since then, Canadian orders in the U. S. have tripled, while her orders in Britain have increased only 50 per cent. Her reception by the U. S. was far from chilly, and led to the formation of a joint defense board. This board has alarmed many Americans, because it appears to ally us with a warring country. But our nine billions for defense, our super-navy now in process of building, our conscription for one-year training, and our goal of 50,000 planes a year make Canada look rabidly isolationist by comparison. Actually, Canada has changed from a British outpost to a closely-tied satellite of America, and right now it is a weak flank. This presents the U. S. with a paradoxical problem. Canada, which over a year ago declared war on the dictators, is now, because of her weakness, a cause of concern to her neighbor to the South, a nation whose war preparations and fervor eclipse her own, and yet a peaceful nation, dedicated to preventing further spread of war.