The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1934-05-04

Inquiry fishing expedition
nE CT into the several In
dustries that manu-
facture things that are used In maxi
ing war. There will be long-drawn-
out inquiry; there will be seizure of
papers and there will be smearing,
some justified and some unjustified.
of leaders in the shipbuilding, NUM-
lions and aircraft Industries. 1t is
liable to be a nasty thing before 1t Is
concluded and a report made to the
senate.
There was no noise about passage
of the resolution which was proposed
by Senators Nye Of North Dakota and
Vandenberg of Michigan. The resolu-
ton creates a special committee which
already has begun work. It's passage
actually was noted in the newspapers
that l saw with no more display than
couple Of paragraphs. But the
proposition ought to be among those
to which attention is closely directed.
Unless the bulk of the observers is
wrong, the investigation that the Nye-
Vandenberg resolution started Is 60
ing to have far-reaching effect both
in domestic affairs Of the United
States and in the international field.
One of the reasons why it is so i'm
portant to give thought to the inves-
tigation is the particular time at
which 1t arrives among the window
displays of government activities. 1t
hardly need be stated here that inter-
national relations are strained In
many parts of the world. There Is
nothing on the horizon to indicate that
they will improve. Strained relations,
If they continue, lead inevitably to
war, and I reported to you several
months ago that some nations are
headed in that direction If the infor-
nation our government has is cor
rect. It Is naturally TO be expected
then that overt acts on the part of
some of the disturbed powers are 60
ing to follow, and the disclosures
which the Nye- Vandenberg committee
are prepared to make will help the
international situation not one bit.
Indeed, there is no reason to believe
otherwise than that the impending
disclosures will complicate the situa-
ton and create more hatred and sus-
picion. In other words, as l see 1t,
the disclosures are more than likely
to hasten that which seems inevitable,
namely, war in several parts of the
world.
Senator Pope Of Idaho, temporary
chairman of the committee, told me
that the country is likely to be
shocked when it learns the ramifica-
lions of the situation" referring to
the operations Of the shipbuilding,
aircraft and munitions companies.
While he did not say so, drew the
inference from his remarks that he
believes there has been collision Of
some kind or other among some of
those industrial leaders in order to
engender i'll will among nations al
ready suspicious of each other.
1--WE are going to find out how many
American shells are going to be used
to kill American soldiers later" said
Senator Pope.
And so we are off on another crash
ing, smashing, -the-china closet
type of inquiry. All
Bad Time of us remember the
far Fishing famous investigation
" e of shipbuilding ac-
tivities at the Geneva armament con-
ference. The committee smeared one
William Shearer when Shearer was
serving as agent for several Of the
shipbuildiny concerns. None was sure
when that investigation started where
it would lead. The same can be said
of the current inquiry.
To my way of thinking, however,
the inquiry is much more important
in the effect it will have upon inter-
national relations than in the smear
ing of men and corporations Frankly,
the opinion l have formed after many
conversations with men and women
Of sound judgment is that this is an
exceedingly bad time for such a fish
ing expedition. Any disclosure of
relations between a munitions COM
pany and a foreign nation are going
to be seized upon by that nations
neighbors as evidence and there will
be blood in the eye in hurry.
1 hope my observations and conclu-
sions will not be taken as condoning
any crookedness. My point is that
business relations between a private
corporation and its customer should
be allowed some degree of secrecy so
long as they are not contrary to pub
lie good. Governments are going to
buy munitions; they are going to buy
aircraft, and they are going to have
ships built. The question naturally
follows. then. whether it is proper or
improper for an American plant to
sell something it makes to a foreign
nation even if it knows they are to
be used in fighting. l can see where
those commodities ought not to be sold
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