Evening star., 1935-12-30
A New Neutrality Bill.

The coming of Congress will bring a
new conflict between those who believe
in neutrality at any cost and those who
wish to make money at any cost. Be-
tween these two extremes probably will
be found a ground for the new neutrality
act which must be written into law by
February % to take the place OF the
existing temporary statute.
Neutrality" Nye, Senator from North
Dakota and chairman of the Senate
Munitions Investigation Committee, has
very definite ideas about what the law
should be. Indeed, he has prepared,
with the aid of Senator Bennett Clark
of Missouri, neutrality bill which they
will introduce jointly as soon as Congress
is organized for business. The new bill
leans very positively toward mandatory
legislation putting an end to all ship
mentS from this country Of arms and
munitions to any and all belligerents as
soon as war is declared In this respect
it is bit more drastic than the existing
act. A new wrinkle is also written into
the bill. It limits the trade of the United
States in other commodities, including
foodstuffs, to the average" which has
existed between America and the bellig-
erent nations over period of five normal
years. This is at once promise to those
who have commodities to sell that normal
trade with these countries shall be con-
tinued and threat to prevent any in
crease in American trade with these
countries during the period Of the war.
Running along with this new proposal
to limit trade in non-War materials to
the average" that has existed in normal
years is a proviso that the American
goods so sold to belligerents must not be
shipped in American bottoms, but that
the belligerents must either come and get
the goods themselves from American
shores or hire the ships of other nations
to transport them. In this connection
the authors of the bill have written in a
provision that no American flag ships,
after war has been declared between
foreign nations, shall be transferred to
registry of any of the belligerents.
Into the new bill will be written pro-
vision either prohibiting all loans and
credits by Americans to belligerents or
limiting these loans and credits to the
average loans and credits over five-year
period. Loans and credits are regarded
by Senator Nye and his colleagues as
among the most war-provoking tranSac-
tions that this country may have with
belligerent nations.
The neutrality conception of Senator
Nye is harsh, indeed, to those who insist
that American citizens are entitled to
trade with whom they desire-war or no
war. 1t Is new conception of neutrality.
In the older days country was regarded
as neutral if it was willing to sell goods
to all belligerents alike. Under the pres
ent plan this country is to be neutral
through not selling goods to any of the
belligerents except under certain unusual
and restricting conditions.
Senator Nye is confident that the great
mass OF American cltlZenS are With him
in the demand for effective neutrality
laws which will help to keep this country
from becoming involved in foreign wars.
There seems little doubt that in this
Senator Nye is correct. Woodrow Wilson
was reelected President in 1916 on the
slogan He Kept us Out of War" The
neutrality efforts of the Wilson admin
istration, however, were entirely inef-
fective. In a few short months this
country was drawn into the conflict, as
German submarines interfered with
American trade with the allies. It is
to prevent such recurrence that Nye,
Clark and other members of the Senate
and House are intent upon enacting per-
manent legislation at an early date.