Evening star., 1939-07-10


one of the advisers of Mr.. Landon
and he has continued to be, on many
counts, a sharp critic of the adj
mlnlstration. He is, however. like
Mr.. Landon and like former Secre-
tary OF State Stimson, one of those
who believe that partisan politics
should play no part in the determi-
nation OF our foreign policy.
1t ought to mean something to
the public, If not to the die-hard
Senators who are seeking to retain
the arms embargo at all costs, that
on this great issue the two head
men in the State Department at
the time the Hoover administration
went out OF power are making COM
mon cause with the Democratic
Secretary of State, Mr.. Hull.
Mr.. Castle was severely critical
OF that part of the original Bloom
bill which would have permitted the
President to define combat areas
and to exclude American shipping
therefrom. In this respect he saw
the bill as an exceedingly danger
GUS piece OF legislation. The COM
bat-area provision, however, has
been dropped out of the bill and
the issue presented is clean-cut: it
Is whether or not the existing arms
embargo should be kept in the law.
On this question. the former Under
secretary ranged himself uneouiv-
ocally on the side of the present
Secretary of State.
Only Technically Neutral.
1T is true" he said, that this
general prohibition against the sale
OF arms is technically neutral, Just
as 1t Is technically neutral to sell to
all concerned. When the law applies
only to us it merely forces belliger-
ents to buy elsewhere or to intensity
their own production. 1t puts us out
OF step with the rest of the world
and makes neutrality more than
ever, difficult to interpret. But there
Is in the embargo a very serious
danger at the present time, one that
is psychological. 1t is the result of
the division of the nations of the
| world today
What mean is this: The only
demonstrable effect of our embargo
in the case of European war would
be that it would prohibit American
sales to England and France, ma
tions which would presumably be
our friends. 1t would not change
the situation for Germany, because
the blockade would have largely pre-
vented Germany from buying in
any case. In other words, in case
OF such a war, we should see our
selves penalizing only the democ-
racies. The almost certain result
would be an outburst of popular
feeling which would force Congress
to drop the embargo and permit
general sales. And you must not
forget that such a change of rules
during the course of the war would
almost inevitably mean our own in
volvement
Even if had believed in this
prohibition at the beginning.
should today whole-heartedly agree
with the Secretary of State that
now, before it is too late to do it
with safety, We ought to return to
the custom prescribed by interna-
tional law, that neutrals may sell
what they want so long as they are
willing to sell to all corners. 80
Recalls Prohibition Lesson.
THE Government itself should
never sell arms to belligerents or to
prospective belligerents The Gov
ernment should not loan money to
them. but on the other hand, it
should not prohibit normal transac-
tions of its citizens. The sad era of
national prohibition of liquor should
have taught us the dangers of any
prohibition which people do not con-
slider fair"
The fairness of this statement
from an outstanding opponent of
the administration is in refreshing
contrast with the disingenuous char
acter of the manifesto issued by
Senator johnson of California as
representing the views of "a Sena-
tors. In their thinly yelled threat
TO flllbuster against repeal or mod
iflcation Of the present embargo. the
Senators of the Johnson -Borah-
Nye-Clark group express themselves
against any discretion being lodged
in the hands of any Chief Executive
to determine an aggresSor or aggres-
sors during any war abroad" In its
context this is likely to give the i'm
preston to any one who has not
followed the fight over neutrality
that the administration is trying to
get the discretionary power to which
the Senators object. The fact is
that neither the original Bloom bill
nor the bill as amended in the
House carries any such grant
Asks Complete Frankness.
Complete frankneSS would have
required the Senators also to state
that if they succeed in scrapping
the administration proposals they
will scrap not only the arms-em-
barge repeater, but also the provi-
slons designed to safeguard the
peace of the United States by re-
quiring the title to any goods
shipped to a belligerent to be trans
ferred out Of American hands. This
means that the embargo will con-
tinue to run against arms, ammuni-
ton and implements of war, but
there will be no restrictions on the.
shipment of other commodities
copper, oil or anything else. The
distinction between arms and the
raw materials needed in war is
hardly more valid than the absurd
distinction drawn by the House, in
amending the Bloom bill, between
lethal weapons and other kinds of
weapons.
1t is not to be doubted that the
Senators who subscribed to the
johnson manifesto believe that
theirs is better plan for keeping
us out OF war than the State De-
partment's, but their statement GER
tainly contributes nothing to an un-
derstanding of the difncult neutral