Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

46 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
he didn’t receive what he considered satisfactory answers to his
questions. He testifi ed later that one of Stimson’s anti-Japanese
appointees in the State Department, Stanley Hornbeck, appeared
to be “exercising a greater infl uence over the disposition of the
Fleet than I was.” 37
Richardson was called back to Washington a second time in
October, at the request of the new Secretary of the Navy, Knox.
When they met, the talk turned to the possibility of war in the
Pacifi c. Th e British were planning to reopen the Burma Road
shortly so as to be able to supply the Chinese forces from the
south. Roosevelt was concerned about Japan’s possible reaction.
“In the event the Japanese took drastic action, he, the president,
was considering shutting off all trade between Japan and the
Americas, and to this end was considering establishing a patrol
of light ships in two lines” west of Hawaii across the Pacifi c.
Richardson asked Knox “whether the president was considering
a declaration of war. Th e Secretary stated that the president
hadn’t said, and that all he, Knox, knew was what he was told.”
Richardson was “amazed” at this proposal; he said “the fl eet was
not prepared to put such a plan into eff ect, nor for the war which
would certainly result from such a course of action.” 38
Richardson also visited the president. With FDR he went over
the personnel situation, pointing out the need for more enlisted
men. Roosevelt believed that “men in mechanical trades in civil
life could be quickly inducted and made adequate sailor men, if
their services were suddenly required.” Richardson explained to
FDR that “a seasick garage mechanic would be of little use at sea,
and that it took time for most young men to get their sea legs.” 39
37 79th Cong., 1st sess. Joint (Congressional) Committee on the Investigation
of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Pearl Harbor Attack, 39 vols. (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Offi ce, 1946), part 1, p. 297.
38 Richardson, On the Treadmill, pp. 399–400.
39 Ibid., p. 434.