Evening star., 1939-02-05
Sees American Assets
Used Against Dictotors
BIZ OUen L. Scott

in the Senate. The House remains in q
rebellious mood. There is a crack-up
in the Farmer-Labor coalition on which
the New Deal has rested.
BY all the rules of the game, Mr..
Roosevelt should content himself with
defense while waiting for his opposition
to get entangled in its own contradictions.
Instead, the President is off on another
offensive-this time in the field Of world
affairs.
The idea, so far as it can be cleaned.
is that even If the United States is un-
able to solve its own problems Of unem-
ployment and depression and instability,
it can help the rest Of the world solve
some Of its problems.
Those world problems are immense.
Their very size attracts the President at
a time when domestic problems seem so
hopelessly entangled in petty congress
sional politics. It is much more thrilling
to try to stop Hitler and Mussolini and
to checkmate the Japanese general stat
than to try to compete with the Vice
President in gathering votes to decide
what may be relatively unimportant
issue of domestic relief policy.
Furthermore, as experience demon
strates, there is little that Congress or
the Supreme Court can do to limit the
activities of an energetic President who
wants to wander from the home field
into the broader field Of world politics.
The constitution gives the executive arm
of the Government wide latitude in di-
recting the Nations foreign policy. Even
neutrality laws, as result, have very
uncertain application.
What now is going on reveals clearly
that Mr.. Roosevelt is taking advantage
of the latitude the Constitution so def
nitely gives to him.
Senators are told fatty that this Gov
ernment intends to make available to
the French and the British the latest
types of American military airplanes.
Two leading American Ambassadors
William Bullitt and Joseph Kennedy
are turned loose on joint committee of
Congress to give its members the 'in-
side dope" on the state of Europe. What
the Congressman heard was supposed to
leave them popeyed and in somewhat of
a crusading mood
II -
Then there is a loan to China to be
used in buying road-building equipment
and trucks that will help to improve
transportation of supplies to Chinese
forces through the new back-door road.
Diplomatic relations with Germany are
deliberately strained. A decision is made
to start preliminary work that must pre-
cede fortifcation of Guam, 5000 miles
out in the Pacific and only 1,5OO miles
from Toxic.
Study is being made of new loans for
Latin American nations at time when
billion and one-quarter dollars worth
of old loans, out of total of a billion
and half, are in default.
Those moves become more clear when
placed against the background of the
world situation, as that situation is
viewed by leading representatives of the
American State Department, and, appar-
emily, by Mr.. Roosevelt.
In the case of Europe, the view seems
to be this:
NSAAAuAAy o4AA AGo4y 0AC 6OAA6 w NOAA-
tinue to play dangerous game of bluff
to make gains at the expense of England
and France. American financial and
commercial interests and American SYM
pathies lie with the British and the
French. Those nations, denied support
from this country, are vulnerable. Con-
sequently they should have support from
tryyf hyN, to Av,,n
markets, provided they pay cash on the
barrel head for what they buy.
In a sense, according to this view, the
British and French are the first line of
American defense This is SO because
Germany and Italy, even If gaining a
free hand in Eastern Europe and Spain,
and even if getting African colonies, still
would face a desperate need for trade
outlets and population outlets. South
America offers the most attractive area
in the world for settlement and develop
ment. Victorious in Europe, Germany
and Italy would turn to the New World.
Then it would be the turn of the United
States to test its strength, probably with
out the aid Of allies.
Whether or not that view Is correct, 1t
remains the prevailing official view.
When 1t comes to the Far East, the
attitude seems to be as follows:
Japan is desperate for markets, just as
Germany and Italy are desperate. China
does not offer the outlet for goods that
the Japanese had expected. As the cost
of the Chinese venture mounts, Japan
will be forced to take more and more
energetic measures to find outlets for
goods abroad in order to acquire the ex-
change with which to buy needed raw
materials.
This pressure will drive Japanese
traders into greater and greater compe-
tition with American traders for avail
able markets. Trade wars have an un-
happy tendency to generate other types
of trouble.
Against this background in Europe and
Asia, a number of conclusions concern
ing policy apparently have been drawn.
One of these conclusions is that the
United States should do whatever is pos
sible, short Of direct alliance, to give
aid to those nations that are standing
against the military relationships. The
British and the French have weak spots
in their industrial organizations. The
United States should seek to remedy that
handicap. China lacks material to wage