Evening star., 1940-11-20

The presence of Congress has
been one deterrent toward the shap-
ng of the New Deals plans, With
Congress here. there is less free
aom of action for the Executive
hbsent there is a tendency to plan
hnd act without regard to the in
hibitions imposed by the legislative
body.
These next few weeks, on the
bther hand can hardly be con-
kidered as anything but breath
Ing spell for the administration
This is because it is not long until
the January session, when the
President has TO submit a budget
Ind an annual message and an
Inauguration address. Something
bf an indication of national policy
must inevitably emanate from these
ehree things.
So far a. can be foretold at the
moment, the President is himself
unable to shape national policy be-
cause there is question mark
plRSSI lIldll any idIbOI lit lldo CNCl
Encountered. It is the war Shall
America throw her weight into the
scales? If not. then what shall
America do to aid Britain, and how?
Defense Lacks Direction.
It is important to determine ma
tional policy because the whole de-
Tense program, while comprehen-
sively outlined on paper and en-
veloped in billions of dollars of
authorized appropriations, still
hacks direction and planning. It isn't
|anybody's fault at the moment for
|the simple reason that nobody
|seems to know yet what actually is
going to be demanded Of the United
States in 194l.
Army and Navy experts can do
better planning if they know what
| the military and naval problems
are going to be in the event the
United States enters the war. Pro-
|duction experts in private industry
can do effective planning only If
|they know what the War and Navy
Departments really want, The
whole situation here is nebulous
because events overseas are not
clear
Domestic policy can hardly be
planned, moreover. until interna-
tional policy is more definite. Hence
Washington nowadays gives an i'm
pression of hesitation and incertt-
tude which is not likely to clear
|up unless the President makes up
his mind whether he believes
Though necessarily trying to avoid
|it-that American entrance into
|state of war is inevitable.
Mr.. Roosevelt is, Of course. unac-
ouainted with what the axis powers
are likely to do and just what the
effect on American public opinion
is likely to be if sabotage of Ameri-
can factories continues and sub
versive elements, inspired by foreign
governments, keep up their efforts
not merely to divide the United
States, but to stir up trouble inside
the countries south of the Rio
Grande.
Seeks Labor Peace.
The business world. to be sure,
Is concerned about the possible evo-
luton of New Deal policy as it re-
lates to domestic reform and radi-
calism But the administration is
preoccupied with the possible effects
of the war situation on America.
Thus the real reason for the attempt
to bring the c. I. o. and the A. F.
of L. together is to endeavor to find
some means of dealing with unWar-
ranted strikes and indiscriminate
interruptions to production on de-
fense contracts.
The President has won unprece-
dented laurels. He is the first
third-term President America will
ever have had. Will his administra-
ton be vindication of his request
for vote of confidence at a critical
time? Will his administration be
able to point to the achievement of
larger victory for Britain In
Europe
These are perhaps the aims that
loom largest in the mind of Mr..
Roosevelt at the moment. Because
of what may be considered par
donable ambition to defeat Hitler
and save democracy, it is quite likely
that every single proposal of the
next few months, whether domestic
or International, will be tested with
only one question before it is ac-
cepted or rejected as national policy
will the recommendation tend to
accelerate the victory of Britain or
will il retard that objective? This
Is the key to the after-election deci-
sions of foreign and domestic policy
of the United States.
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