Evening star., 1940-06-02
The National Guard

Congress, before it adjourns, grant
him authority to call into active
service such portions of the National
Guard and Reserve personnel as
may be deemed necessary to main
tain our position of neutrality and
to safeguard the national defense"
has encountered not altogether un-
expected opposition from some
members of the Senate
Senator Vandenberg, who has been
in the vanguard of the critics OF
the administrations foreign policy,
was Shocked" by the proposal,
which sounded to him as though the
President wanted to be able to Or
der partial mobilization by Execu-
tive authority alone Senators Wheel
er, Nye and Bridges are reported to
have seconded this view.
With respect to this criticism, it
will be recalled that Senator VAN
denberg and his isolationist sup
porters have dissented vigorously in
the past from other proposals ad-
vanced by the President in matters
OF foreign policy affecting our own
national welfare. And many of
these proposals, notably the request
for repeal of the arms embargo, have
indicated to the isolationists that
the President was seeking congress
sional action which might endanger
the peace of the Nation. Fortu-
nately, the record speaks for itself.
Subsequent events have demon
strated that the President, on the
whole, has been consistently right;
his isolationist critics consistently
wrong. There is no reason to sup
pose at this time that the tables
have been turned
The proposal with respect to the
National Guard, however, also has
encountered opposition from Sena-
tor Austin, Republican, of Vermont,
who has been strong supporter of
the President on most issues relating
to our external relations. What"
Senator Austin asks, "does he know
that we don't know that would justify
him in implying that it would be
necessary to call out the National
Guard to enforce neutrality?"
That, certainly, is question which
The Star cannot answer It may be,
as Secretary of War Woodring has
suggested, that the President has
nothing more in mind at this time
than the possible calling out of the
Guard for training and seasoning
purposes. But it is also possible, even
probable, that Mr. Roosevelt is
thinking along far more significant
lines
This particular request obviously is
based on the assumption that Con-
gress is going to adjourn in the
near future. But the adjournment of
Congress is not going to halt the
swift march of events throughout
the world. Neither the President, nor
any member of the Senate can say
with the slightest certainty that we
will not suddenly be confronted with
critical national emergency six
weeks or three months in the future.
In such an eventuality, particularly
if Congress should be in adjourn
ment, the President, in The Stars
opinion, ought to have full authority
to call the National Guard into active
service and to take any other steps
calculated to protect the security of
the Nation. The suggestion that he
cannot be trusted to exercise such
powers with appropriate discretion
not only is refuted by all that has
gone into the record since the war
started in Europe, but it has, in ad-
dition, a tendency to impair public
confidence in the President, and in
that respect it renders a distinct dis
service to our national safety.