The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-21

are either part
ners or servants.
The seven SEN seymour Naio'nan
atOrz who are to
conduct the in
uuiry, at a cost
not exceeding $4,000 are instructed
to examine existing legislation and
treaties pertaining to the menufaC-
ture or shipment of arms. NUM-
tions or other implements of war
and to review the findings Of the
War Policies Commission with a
view to crystalhzing them into leg
islative form.
Though the preamble Of the res
olution refers to the influence of
the commercial motive" as an in
evitable factor in considerations in
volving the maintenance of the ma
tional defense this same "inf1u-
ence." in the second sentence Of the
preamble, becomes "one of the in
evitable factors often believed to
stimulate and sustain wars" EN-
phasiS mine-S.W0.
Such wriggling to camouflage the
war danger inherent in capitalist
society, however, is not so dangerous
as the resolutions misrepreSenta-
ton Of the origin and recommended
tions Of the War Policies Commits
sion, nearly every public session of
which I attended over a period of
about year.
Furthermore, said the Senate,
Whereas the Seventy first Congress,
by Public Resolution No. 90. approx
ed June 81, 1880, responding to the
long standing demands of Ameri-
can war veterans, speaking through
the American Legion, for legislation
TO take the profit out of war. Great
ed a War Policies Commission,
which reported communications
on December T. 1881, and on March
7, 1882, to decommercialize war and
to equalize the burdens thereof; and
Whereas these recommended
tions never have been translated
into the statutes: Therefore be it
Resolved, !" and so forth and
so on, that a special committee Of
the Senate be appointed for the pur-
poses already named.
Now, the war veterans did demand
that the government take the profit
out of War'-but under universal
mobilization" slogans, popularized
for ten years by the very leadership
that betrayed the rank and file on
the witness stand, which called for
drafting capital "as man is
drafted 1t is well known in Wash
ington how the then American
Legion Commander O'Neil went
even one per CENT further than the
War Department. The Commander
recommended guaranteed return
up to 7 per cent to industry in war
time. This 7 per cent, he declared,
would be "a fair return"
Equalizing the Burden
Little need be said as far as
equalizing the burdens of war is
concerned. 1t is a recklessly dema-
gogic capitalism that pirates of such
edualizing when it must hide the
things that once we're whole men,
the things that saved j. P. Morgan
from going to the wall as the fiscal
agent of British and French i'm
perialism and gave millions to
Charlie Schwab and other patriot
GERS who ran the Emergency Fleet
Corporation and similar "dollar-a-
year" centuries.
But, as far as demonstrating
war in an imperialistic county is
concerned, it is not only non
senical but also even contrary
to the arguments made openly by
the legislative spokesman of finance
capital when such an important
innperialist necessity as navy
second to none was being author
lied by Congress through 750-
million-to "a billion-dollsr naval
and airplane construction Vinson
Bill.
In the main. the War Policies
Commission recommended a con-
stitutional amendment TO elirni-
nate all doubt concerning the eX-
tent Of the power of Congress to
prevent proflteering and to stabi-
lie prices in time Of war" Until
that amendment is passed, the
Commission recommended a pro-
gram which should "be adopted as
governmental policy in order eff
fectively to minimize the profits of
war and to distribute its burdens
and sacrifices equitably" (heari
heard This program, its sponsors
announced, would seek to prevent
anyone receiving a profit due 10
the war chat is, anything above
the so-called normal rate by the
imposition of wartime revenue
law taxing individuals and corpo-
rations "95 per cent of all income
above the previous three-yesr aver
age, with proper adjustments for
capital expenditures for war pur-
poses by existing or new indus
tries To remove all doubt con-
corning its conception of distribut-
ing the wartime burdens and sac
rifices equitably," the Commission
recommended that no constitu-
ticnal amendment to permit the
taking of private property in time
of war without compensa ton be
considered by the Congress
The allowance for proper adj
justments for capital expenditures
for war purposes by existing or new