Evening star., 1939-09-06
'So-CoIIed' Neutrality


States has clamped a tight embargo
on shipments OF arms, ammunition
and formidable assortment Of "im-
plements of war" to belligerents In
the second great war. Mr.. Roosevelt
proclaimed the embargo yesterday in
the second of two documents he
signed in accordance with laws and
treaties governing American neutral
ity. In the first proclamation, which
cited sundry unneutral acts specific
ally forbidden by the penal code OF
1909 and by certain World War legis-
lation, the President pointed out that
It is the duty Of all persons in the
United States to maintain strict
and impartial neutrality" The Sec
ond Observation-Disclosures no fault
of the President or the State Depart
ment-made grim mockery of this
admonition to American citizens. 1t
committed this Nation to a "neu-
trality" that is strictly partial; a
neutrality that lends comfort not to
our friends in their desperate de-
tense Of democratic ideals and of
life itself, but to an openly unfriendly
power bent on wanton aggression.
The embargo provision is an un-
considerable remnant of the hastily
drawn 1887 Neutrality Act, the saving
feature of which-a cash-and-carry
trade arrangement-was permitted
by the last Congress to expire on May
! last. The plan Is an outgrowth
of claims that failure to restrict
American trade was in part re-
sponsible for our entry into the
last great war, and the present
embargo provision is composed OF
previous embargo laws and amend
ments intended to deal with the
1talo-E Ethiopian conflict, the civil war
In Spain and any other armed out
breaks. Invoked in 1885 during the
italian invasion Of Ethiopia, the en-
barge tended to serve the interests
of the invaders, who had a plentiful
supply of war equipment, and to
work to the detriment of defenseless
Ethiopia. Certainly there was moth
ing strictly impartial about its opera
ton in that emergency. Later the
embargo was made to apply to Spain
perhaps properly so in view of the
internecine nature Of the strife-but
the thesis cannot successfully be
advanced that the effect of the en-
barge was impartially neutral. While
one side received vast stores of arms
and reserves of manpower from Ger
many and Italy, the other, despite
support from Russia, suffered sorely
from the withdrawal of American
supply sources. During all this time,
however, none of the embargo pro-
visions of the 1885, 1886 and 1887 acts
was applied to the undeclared war
between Japan and China-although
a precedent for invoking the law in
an undeclared war had been set
during the Italo-E Ethiopian "inci-
dent" The administration presum-
ably shut it's eyes to the state of war
raging on the other side of the Pacific
because of the belief that an en-
barge on arms would have seriously
disadvantaged China in her heroic
struggle against the japanese war
machine.
Now comes the climactic chapter in
the sorry story of isolationism's ILL
conceived attempt u conjure up a
magic, mandatory neutrality formula
that would meet all possible exigen-
cies-seen and unforeseen. Again
the embargo will prohibit American
shipments of arms, ammunition and
actual implements Of war, including
gas, to all belligerents. Thus we
indirectly aid Germany and handl-
cap Great Britain, France and their
allies in the fateful efforts to save
Poland-and Europe-from ruthless
domination by Hitler and his armies.
In theory, the embargo applies to
Germany as we'll as the allies, but
in practice Germany will feel no
adverse effect because of her self
suff1ciency as to arms, ammunition
and implements Of war. The en-
barge plan has proved to be an
utter failure from the very outset,
both as an instrument of "strict and
impartial neutrality and as a con-
tribution to world peace. Nor is
there any present assurance that it
will serve to keep America out of the
war in Europe. If the British and
the French, through inability to
obtain supplies, should be faced with
defeat, it is quite probable there
would arise strong sentiment in this
country for going to their aid. It is
conceivable that employment of the
embargo in the present European
war may strip it Of its pious sham
and reveal 1t as the dangerous