The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1941-11-20
THROUGH
n A E [
E
BY
Hazel Brsnnon

ed with our own Representative Will
M. Wilmington, and with Represen-
tatives Ross Collins and Aaron Lane
Ford, for voting for the repeal of the
section 3 of the neutrality bill which
prohibits American vessels from go.
ing into combat zones.
They were a party to the group in
Congress that permitted themselves to
be i~ntimidated into passing a bill
that will permit American vessels
to go into the war zones and get shot
at.
No clear-thinking American citi-
zen can possibly anticipate our TAX
ing these vessels into those zones
and not have ship after ship sunk
with resulting loss Of American lives.
Those who would have US involved
in this European war to preserve
England and her empire know that
il enough ships get sunk and en-
ough American sailors lose their lives
the people Of the country will blind
ly holler for war . which is what
the group of Presidential advisors
have wanted all along. We're afraid,
with the repeal Of this bill, we will
be getting all the way in the war
before we are even prepared
just like we did in the first World
War.
The only reason the President
himself did not ask for the repeal Of
the combat zone provision is because
he is a shrewd enough politician to
know that the majority Of Congress
was actually against it. He left it up
to the Senate to ask for the repeal
of the combat zone provision. He did
not dare risk losing the prestige Of
his foreign policy being discredited.
Then after the measure was a
mended in the Senate to ask for re-
peal Of section 3 the President him
self had to bargain with the con
gressmen before it could be rail
roaded through the House. The Pre-
sident had to promise the House he
would do something with his pet,
Labor. Whether this promise will be
kept remains to be seen.
Rep. Wilmington not only voted
for repeal Of the combat zone pro-
vision but made a speech on it. He
declared:
when the neutrality act of 1889
wal under consideration l maintain
cd that it was impracticable and
would be ineffective. I asserted that
itfwould be q dslusion. | maintained
then and l contend now that neutrali-
ty under the law of nations win best
promote the peace and security of
the United States.
"The act was proposed by the adj
ministration to promote peace. Not
outstanding my views and my mis-
givings | voted for the act. l there
fore not only favor repeating Sec
tion 6 to permit American vessels
to arm, but l also favor the repeal
of Section 2 relating to commerce
with belligerent countries and Sec
ton 3 with respect to combat areas"
If Mr.. Wilmington voted for the
neutrality bill when it was passed In
1889 as asked for by the admins
tration aad if he voted for it against
his better judgment, as he says, how
are we going to know whether he's
voting his honest convictions this
time when he votes to repeal it?
Is he going to change his mind
only to agree to give the President
everything he wants?
What about the country, this Am
erica we want to preserve? Surely
it and it's welfare should receive
first consideration from our Con-
gressmen. We do not elect them to
go to Washington and say "yes, Mr..
Roosevelt" We elect them to have
convictions Of their own and try to
run the country and promote the
well-being of all the people in AM
erica.
If our Congressman are going to
be nothing but yes" men we might
as well do away with Congress and
turn it over to Mr.. Roosevelt.
Another statement made by Mr..
Wilmington in his speech again and
again was that members were voting
against the bin because of their
hatred of Mr.. Roosevelt.
That statement is ridiculous. There
may be some members of Congress
who do hate Mr.. Roosevelt just as
there are many who love him. We
imagine that division of opinion is
An honest one and certainly it is a
reflection of the pepole in the hinter-
land. There are some classes of peo-
pie who hate Roosevelt just as there
are many who like him for the
patronage he has dished out to them
in the form of jobs, subsidies, la
Dor patronage, conservation pay
ments and the like. But it is fan
tastic to say that a Congressman
hates Roosevelt because he dares
vote his own convictions and not be
dictated to on his vote.
Instead of trying to find out what
the people want in pursuing this way
the Congress looks askanee to Mr.
Poosavalt and has s~hapdoned its