Evening star., 1940-11-14

very week pup bA'iu La"ieh0e'
licly assumed that Mr.. RooSevelt'S S
pledge to keep out of war would be
fulfilled. He might have added, II
there had not been a danger of be-
ing misunderstood, that the pledge
would be fulfilled so far as Mr.
Roosevelt and the United States
Government may have control OF
the decision.
For the truth is that President
Roosevelt and Secretary Hull and
everybody who has any hand in
shaping major policies fully hopes
and believes that, judged by any
thing which has happened thus far,
the United States will not delib-
erately choose to enter the war.
The sentiment Of the people is
against such a decision and the cam
paign merely brought out the uni
versal desire TO be kept from en-
tanglement in Europe's war. But
this is a far different, thing from
the circumstances that may con-
front us in the next y months
History May Repeat.
History may repeat itself. 1t is
unfortunate, to be sure, that many
people today have been led to be-
lieve that Woodrow Wilson violated
in April, 1917, a pledge given in
the 1916 campaign and that one
event followed the other as a matter
OF American choice.
s1Ioeo,-traYr farpor tl1o+
the 1916 campaign was largely a
defense of MI. wilson's efforts to
keep the Nation at peace after the
Lusitania had been torpedoed in
May, 1915, and a large section of
the electorate felt that American
rights were not being protected with
sufficient vigor. Many people forget
also that in December, 1916, just
a month after the election, Mr.. Will
son sent his famous note on peace
to the belhgerent governments and
that the stock market broke badly
because of a belief that peace
might be negotiated. 1t was in the
latter part Of January. 1917, when
Germany decided to disregard all
her pledges given to the United
States by announcing a campaign
of unrestricted submarine warfare
against any and all vessels, neutral or
belligerent alike, which were to be
sunk without warning. The United
States Government broke off diplo-
matte relations with Germany on
February 3. It was only after Pres
ident Wilson failed on account OF
a fllibuster in Congress in March,
1917, to get authority to arm Ameri-
can merchantmen that a chaotic
situation on the seas was produced
out of which America in April. 1917.
through a vote of Congress. formally
recognized a state of war as having
been thrust upon us.
No Intention of Entering War.
1t is important to recall this
sequence because it may conceivably
be repeated and there will be critics
who will say Mr.. Roosevelt violated
his campaign pledge. The President
has no intention at this moment of
dragging America into the war, yet
few persons in Washington official
life can be sure that the United
States will not be in the present war
before it is over.
The most likely source of en-
tanglement will again be shipping
This time the British are being
blockaded more severely than last
time. In 1917, the United States
hn icrI1f 81 l,A
vessels to go from one neutral port
to another without being interfered
with. Today there are few neutral
ports-those Of Ireland and Portugal
for instance, being open to American
ships. But when spring comes and
British losses of shipping reach the
danger point, will the United States
insist on her right to ship food and
raw materials to England? America
has altered her local laws by for
bidding American ships to carry
goods to belligerents, but this has
not altered historic international law
which gives neutralS the right to
proceed from neutral port to neutral
port and from neutral even to bel
ngerenC ports II nOn-cOnLraDand
articles are carried.
Since it would take repeal of
existing neutrality legislation to per-
nit American ships to resume the
carrying of goods to Europe, the
prospect of change in this direction
seems remote at the moment, but
so did, the repeal of the original
embargo on arms seem back in
1885.
If America insists on conveying
her own merchant ships, the chances
of involvement of the naval sector
would seem plausible. But if Britain
is being badly squeezed in the spring
the same argument for using the
FOR ERInAV ANT