Evening star., 1940-06-11
Why Any Subterfuqe?

Like a gallant advance guard sent
ahead to prepare the way, Senator
Pepper of Florida battled almost
single handed in the Senate last
week to obtain from that body either
the specific legislative authority or
a strong expression upholding the
very thing which the President has
gone ahead and on his own initiative
made possible-active, direct aid to
the Allies in the form of planes and
other materiel in possession of the
Army and the Navy.
He obtained neither. He was
twice voted down, overwhelmingly,
by the Foreign Relations Committee
on his proposal to permit the sale of
planes and other Government sup
plies to the Allies on the ground that
it violated international law. He has
not yet been able to obtain from the
Senate a vote on his amended joint
resolution, directing the President, at
his discretion, to use the full au-
thority" he now has to sell supplies
not needed by the Army and Navy
ito any foreign country, to the end
that peace and freedom be preserved
and protected and to keep war from
the Western Hemisphere"
AS everybody knows, the purpose of
Senator Peppers resolution has now
been accomplished by subterfuge-
it is nothing less than that-by
which, under an old statute, never
designed for the present situation,
Army and Navy supplies are turned
in" to manufacturers, who credit
their value against new military
equipment to be sold to the Govern
ment. These supplies are then sold
by the manufacturer-not the Gov
ernment-to the Allies. That meth
cd, it is claimed, does not violate in
ternational law.
That is subterfuge to accomplish
worthy end. Why do we, as Gov
ernment, have to resort to subter-
fuge to accomplish what the over
whelming majority of the American
people want done in taking the ele-
mental steps necessary for our own
defense? In the dark days to fol-
low are we going to have to beat the
devil around stump in every move
that we make in preservation of our
own interests?
We are resorting to subterfuge in
the extension of aid to the Allies
the aid which they need most des-
perately-because a good many SEN
ators are more concerned about
preserving the niceties of interna-
tional law than they are about the
defense of their own country. They
apparently hold to the belief that all
the tenets of international law must
be rigidly adhered to by this coun-
try-just as they were rigidly ad-
hered to by Norway, Holland and
Belgium. These countries had un-
spoiled records regarding strict COM
pliance with international law gov
erning the conduct of neutrals. But
where are they now? What standing
is there for international law con-
ventions which fail to govern all the
signatories? Do we propose to tie
ourselves hand and foot with legal
istic bowknots when our own security
is in danger?
The international lawyers of the
Senate produced another labored
argument to oppose Senator Pepper
while the President was going
ahead without their formal approval.
Sale of Government materiel to the
Allies, they said, would constitute a
Warlike gesture and might lead Herr
Hitler to declare war on the United
States. OF course, Hitler will declare
war on the United States, if that is
his plan, regardless of anything the
Senate does or does not do. And it
is foolish to place more importance
on what Hitler might or might not
do than on the very vital business of
keeping the war away from the
United States by helping to bring
about an Allied victory.
The United States is not neutral
in this war and if statutory neutral
ity serves to retard the steps neces-
sary to our own well-being, such as
active aid to the Allies, then it, is
time to do away with that subterfuge,
too, and face the ensuing issues
openly and courageously.