Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-04

,.v If on enoch- David Lawrence.
MAKING transaction, the President
has decided on the basis of a tech
nically worded opinion from MS
ATTORNEY General to conSummate the
deal and let the matter be debated
afterwards.
This is precisely the manner In
which the heads of totaltarlan
states function and it is the hrst
evidence that the President OF the
limited States is truly distrustful OF
the democratic process. Ihere Is
some justification for his bellet thaV
II he had put the matter before
Congress. t. might have been flll-
clustered 20 death in the Senate or
blocke. by other legislative means
exercised by a minority OF members
But to refuse to put the queS-
ton to a test and to assert his
leadership at this time and let the
Congress decide the matter IS 10
concede a fear of the minority rule
in the national Legislature.
The rules of the Senate in March,
1917, permitting unlimited DEBATE
blocked an effort by President VIII
son to secure authority to arm
American merchant ships-a step
which he believed would avert war
but since then cloture has been
adopted and the rules permit two
thirds of the Senate to compel ter
mination of debate If two-thlrds
of the Senate wanted to approve
the exchange of destroyers for bases,
there would be no filibustering.
Authority At Issue.
Thus it is apparent that Mr..
Roosevelt feared he could not COM
mand two thirds of the Senate for
q treaty for the passage Of a cloture
rule which would force quick action
on a Joint resolution approving the
exchange of air bases for deStroyers.
In any event, the Attorney Gen
erals opinion alleging that the Pres
ident has power virtually to do any
thing he pleases with the property
and territory of the United States
under the broad constitutional au-
thority which the President possesses
rs Commander Chief OF the Army
and Navy is so startling an interpre-
tation that it transcends in impor-
lance the acquisition Of the air
bases themselves.
It is. not a matter of neutral
ity, for that word has become
virtually obsolete with the financial
aid already given by the American
Government to American manufac-
turers of airplanes and war supplies
for British use. 1t is much more
question of domestic statutes and
constitutional authority to surrender
American naval property to foreign
governments in accordance with
Executive agreements.
Although the object in this case
Is a desirable one-and it is not
infreuuently that a desirable objec-
tive is claimed in Washington to
Justify any means however illegiti-
mate-the scar left by the refusal
OF the President to lay the matter
before Congress in advance of con-
summation will not soon be removed.
Question of Dictatorship.
For one thing, in the middle of
presidential political campaign in
which Mr.. Roosevelt has done an
Unprecedented thing in accepting a
third-term nomination, it will raise
the question of dictatorship in a new
form. 1t will also tend to emphasize
what Secretary Wallace'S recent
acceptance speech left the public
to infer, namely, that the President
and the New Deal party have be-
come the war party and are ready
evidently to go to the polls with
that issue clearly established.
The entire executive branch
of the Government and the New
Deal leaders in Congress are be-
having as if the United States is
already in war and as if the Pres
ident should have the power to use
any form of coercion he may desire
to attain anything he may choose
to characterize as a national de-
tense objective. The Russel-Over-
ton amendment of the Senate has
now been matched by an amend
ment passed by the House Military
Affairs Committee which enacts
word for word statute hitherto
used only in Wartime to commander
plants and factories. The logical
corollary to this is the future pas
sage of measure to conscript labor
and force the American workingman
to give his services at Army pay, If
necessary, to achieve defense OBJ
jectives.
Totalitarianism came to both the
peoples of Germany and Italy in
cloak of beneficence. Everything
that was done, even the abrogation
of constitutional guarantees, was
accomplished by following the al
legged forms of constitutionalism
The document in which the Attorney
General justifies the transfer of so
naval destroyers for air bases Is
typical of the logic used by foreign
dictators and their spokesman in
making seem legal that which was
fagrantly illegal.
Public Approval Seen.
There is no way that the acts Of
q President can be subjected at this
time to court review, but quite apart
from the technicalities involved, the
question which remains for the
American people to decide at the
polls this autumn is whether they
want the Chief Executive to take
steps of such a far-reaching nature
without permitting the Congress as
a coordinate branch of the Govern
ment to express itself at the same
time The s,Inerficjal excuse is that