The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-11-04
President To Sign Neutrality Act at Noon
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 It was enacted in a triumph of Roosevelt leadership in which the bitter conservative and New Deal extremes of the Democratic party were reunited to seam roller Con- gressional Republicans and a scat tering of other opposition.
 Roosevelt Gains
 Catastrophe events abroad and the Democratic rally to MT. Roose- velt's foreign policies have boomed his prestige to first term proportions and tremendously increased his hold on the party and his potential in- huence in the l940 Democratic Na- tional Convention. There are po- litical veterans here who belittle another White House term is his for the asking-barring bad breaks. The special session reversed the last regular session which, in the House, would go only part way with MT. Roosevelt on neutrality and, in the senate, would not budge at all. This time, by 55-to-24 in the sen- ate and 243-to-172 in the House, the Roosevelt plan went through in culmination of series of earlier votes which doomed the isolation ists led in the senate by such vet erans of the League of Nations battle as Hiram w. Johnson, R.. Calf, and William E. Borah, R.. Idaho.
 Democratic majorities clipped a bit but did not crack while the ad- ministration gained substantial Re- publican support in both House and Senate.
 Few In Galleries
 Fewer than 50 persons were in Senate galleries when the con- promise and final neutrality draft was offered last night. The House ended in an uproar of one-minute speeches.
 It was notable in both Houses that there was more roll call oppo- sition to adjournment than to arms embargo repeal.
 Rep. John 0. Schafer, R., Wis, had the last word in the House, warning that the drought situation would rise like Banquos ghost to plague you." Many Republicans, pledged to vote against adjourn ment, stood hat in hand in the House to vote and waited not for the tabulation but fled to Hobbies, seized packed bags and started home.
 The neutrality adjournment vic- tory will be celebrated at noon today when Vice President John N. Gar ner-who is a candidate for pres- ident himself-and administration leaders meet at the White House to see the bill signed. State de- partment officials are drafting the proclamations to be signed later to- day.
 Politics Picks Up <
 The adjournment of politics sug- gested by MT. Roosevelt also begins to fade with the end of the special session. Statesmen cannot avoid looking beyond the immediate prob- lems of foreign affairs toward the regular 1940 session of Congress and the presidential election.
 Summoning nation attention once more to domestic problems, the United States Chamber of Con- merce reported that business lead- CTS did not regard Europe's war as a major factor in our economic re- covery because any war-born gain now would be lost in the inevitable peace-time ebb. But the chamber is asking its members what is slow ing the capital investment market and reports that confiscatory taxes Uncertain labor conditions, govern ment competition and experimental economic legislation in many fields are acting as brakes.
 The new neutrality act gives either to the president or to Con- gress, authority to determine the existence of a state of war among foreign states-reversing the pre- vious policy of leaving it to the chief executive alone. It repeals the arms embargo, requires belligerent pur- chasers to pay cash here and pro- hibits American flag vessels from transporting munitions. These and other provisions were designed, in general, to keep American ships, American property and American citizens away from places where they are innocent bystanders to Eu- ropean air, land or sea fighters. | Discussion Cr0ss-Fire
 This general neutrality program was adopted in a cross fire of dis cussion which variously contended: i: l. It returns the nation to its historic conception of neutrality.
 2. It Is a step toward war.
 5. It Is not step toward war but Is . move short of war to aid the French and British against Germany.
 A It amends . neutrality act which, actually, was un-neutraI. 1 Mir. Roosevelt was delighted with