At a State Department press conference one morning last week, a reporter asked Under Secretary Sumner Welles: "If Russia is attacked by Germany, will she be eligible for aid under the Lend-Lease Act?" A fleeting smile passed across Sumner Welles's usually impassive face. That was, said he, a hypothetical question.
Mr. Welles knew that a German-Russian crisis was at hand, but State Department sources were convinced that Russia would give in to Germany without a fight. Like most other observers, Mr. Welles reluctantly accepted their verdict.
Three days later, as the German Army moved into Russia (see p. 21), the hypothetical question...
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