News Of The World (excerpt) – December 5, 1941 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
News on Japanese/American peace-talks this December 5, 1941 – the Friday before the weekend. A diplomatic delegation from Japan had arrived in Washington in an attempt to break the impasse on negotiations over sanctions placed by the U.S. in retaliation for the Japanese invasion of China as well as Japan’s incursion into Indo-China and the dramatic buildup of military forces. It was viewed as a threat to peace in the Pacific and in direct contrast to Japan’s call for peace in the region. The group were expected to meet with Secretary of State Cordell Hull and possibly the President by the end of the day. Washington was baffled by the Japanese position especially since they were receiving conflicting reports via the Domei News Agency, who in one report stated Japan couldn’t understand America’s views on the situation in the Pacific and that Secretary Hull’s views on Peace were old-fashioned and out of date and would look bad for Japan. And a few hours later, another report from Domei quoted the new Japanese Foreign Office Spokesman, Tomokazu Hori as saying the negotiations had made progress and would continue. The statement was in direct contrast to the earlier report that Japan found the U.S. position impossible to accept. The reports and their implications left Washington perplexed as to which position was the true one.
In other news, the House was readying for a vote on an $8 billion defense package and with it a hot debate based on a story in the Chicago Tribune about a leaked report to the White House from an Army source that disclosed just how much was needed in troop strength and material to wipe out Hitler eventually. The Military expressed dismay that such a secret report was leaked for security reasons and that an investigation over the source of the leak was underway.
And that’s only a small slice of the news that went on, this December 5, 1941 from NBC’s News Of The World, and the unfortunate problem of a broken glass-based disc which rendered the complete broadcast unplayable.
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