Evening star., 1937-01-10
PRICE OF PEACE FOR u. s.
is TERMED REALBARCATN
Mandatory Neutrality Law Is Urged by
Senator Clark-WOuld Limit
Powers of President.

in other countries, possibly countries
against which some day the United
States may engage in war, and that
as a result, when that war comes,
the enemy country will have a ire.
mendous advantage over us.
New Inventions Cited.
This argument is followed up BY
the allegation that, in the process Of
carrying on the munitions business.
discoveries are made, new inventions
worked out, all Of which tend to give
the country in which these things
happen big advantage.
The answer is simple. When we got
into the World War the tremendous
facilities for munition making which
war exports had built up from 1914
to 1917 were nothing like adequate
for our purposes. Whereas, the mu.
nitions makers blocked and delayed
the efforts Of the Government to aug
ment those facilities, notably in the
case of the Old Hickory plant in Ten
neSSee.
Answering the second point-with
/
mulas, etc.-we brought out in Sem
ate committee hearing that, with the
approval Of military and naval in.
telligence, our private munitions max
ers were actually encouraged to sell
their secret formulas and inventions
to Russia and Japan.
The difficulty about getting started
in quantity production of arms and
munitions Is the lack of the jigs, dies
and tools. Up to today, our War and
Navy Departments have been, It
seemed to me, sadly deficient in this
essential.
Supply Of Dies Needed.
A proper supply of jigs, dies and
tools would make it possible for any
factory to begin turning out, with
little delay, the sort of rifle or other
weapon or ammunition desired. Dur.
ing the World War. most of our SOL
diers used an inferior rifle because
the munitions makers did not have the
dies, jigs and tools to permit their
manufacturing Springflelds, which
were an infinitely superior rifle-in
fact the best in the world.
We begged, borrowed and stole
about twenty Springfields for our reg
iment and gave them to our sharp.
shooters. Had there been a reserve
stock of dies, jigs and tools in the
Springfield and Rock Island Arsenals
We could have put all sorts Of factories
to work making this better rifle.
The Government is spending a very
small amount to supply this lack. Last
year I introduced an amendment to
give Sl5,000000 for this purpose. It
was defeated, and every indication was
that, for reasons of their own, the
War and Navy Departments were &C.
tually opposing the appropriation.
They did not want to discourage the
private manufacture of munitions. In
fact, they wanted to encourage it. And
this notwithstanding the fact that 7
had been assured by the war plans di-
vision that s15,o00,O00 could be very
useful1y spent in this connecticut!
One of the great difficulties in put.
ting more teeth into the new neutral.
ity law is how broad to make the &C.
tual naming of contraband articles.
The present law prohibits exports Of
"arn1s, ammunition and implements of
war" That should stand. There
should be no discretion about that.
After that, think commodities should
be divided into categories.
Different Categories Urged.
For instance, copper, manganese and
steel should be in category we'll up
in the list after arms and ammuni-
tion. Whereas, foodstuffs and cotton
should be in another category.
My own thought is that this last
category, foodstuffs and cotton, should
be on a strictly cash-and-carry basis.
And I mean strictly" They should
not move to the belligerents on Amer
ican ships. They should not be in.
sured by American insurance com.
panies. In short, after being loaded
on foreign vessels in our ports, there
should be no risk whatever to any
American interest.
What did the foreign buyers care
back in the early days of the World
War when our own Government set
up a war risk insurance corporation?
II the ship was torpedoed Uncle Sam
paid the bill. But. primarily, the
American flag must be taken of
munitions ships!
would not be content with warn
ing American citizens not to travel
on belligerent vessels. I would make
the forfeiting of the passports the
penalty for such travelling, one of the
most dangerous possibilities of rousing
public sentiment against one Of the
belligerents which could exist. It
was the lives lost on the Lusitania
which enraged so many in this coun-
try, not the loss of the vessel nor her
cargo; lives of American citizens who,
under my idea Of what the law
should be, would be kept of bellig-
erent vessels.
Copyright. 1887. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. rnc)