Evening star., 1941-03-09
Senate Passes Aid Bill 90 to 81;
Quick Accord on Changes Seen;
Enactment Due by Wednesday
President Is Given
Entire Authority
To Garry Out Act
By GOULD LINCOLN.

DN "OoLD LINeoLANs
The lease-lend bill, as amend
ed by the Senate and in which
the concurrence of the House is
expected, translates into legiSla-
tive form the policies of making
this country the arsenal and the
"granary" for the nations fight
ing aggreSSorS.
1t sets up a system of credit"
for Great Britain, Greece, China,
or any other nation whose aid is
held by the President necessary to
the national defense of the United
States. The amount of credit is
limited only by the size of the ap-
preparations which Congress may
make for these purposes.
1t authorizes the President to
"Sell, transfer title to, exchange
lease, lend or otherwise dispose of
arms, munitions, planes and ships
of the Army and the Navy to these
nations. Here a limitation is writ
ten into the bill. The value of such
defense articles shall not exceed
81 1,300,000000. Nor shall they be
disposed of by the President except
after consultation with the chief of
staff of the Army and the chief of
naval operations of the Navy, or
both
Powers to Expire in 1943.
Written into the bill is a time
limit on all the powers given the
Executive. 1t was first placed in
the bill by the House and rewritten
for clariication by the Senate. 1t
brings to an end all these powers by
June 80, 1943-except that contracts
entered into with foreign govern
ments under the terms of the bill
may be carried forward under these
powers until July l, 1916, provided
the contracts are entered into before
July l, 1943.
There is further proviso that the
passage of concurrent resolution
by the two houses of Congress
which does not require presidential
signature - declaring that these
powers are no longer necessary to
promote the defense of the United
States, shall bring them to an end
The President, under the provi-
sions of the bill, is given wide lati-
tude in making agreements with
the warning nations for payment or
return of the goods transferred to
them. He may take money or pay
ment in kind, or in materials which
this country needs, or he may make
provision for the return of the
articles themselves. He must make
reports to Congress every 80 days or
the operation of the act, but he may
withhold such information as he
deems incompatible with the public
interest to disclose.
There is nothing in the bill which
authorizes the shipment of goods tC
the warning nations in American
ships. Nor is there anything auth.
orizlng the conveying of ships car.
rying such material by the American
Navy. Indeed, two paragraphs de
clare that nothing in the act shal
be construed to give such authorize.
ton.
Presidents Powers Defined.
The so-called Ellender compromis
amendment says that nothing in tn
act shall be construed as changing
existing law relating to the use o
land and naval forces of the Unite
States except when it comes to tn
manufacture, procurement and re
pair of defense articles" This cryp
| tic language means that the PreSi
dent is given no further authority t
send the military and naval forces t
foreign lands than he now has, an
| that none of the authority alon
| these lines he possesses are take
away from him. He may still orde
the fleet to go where he determine
as commander in chief. He may sti
send soldiers and marines to China
Under the provisions of the bill
this country will be able to furnls
war materials of every kind to an
country whose defense the Presider
considers vital to the defense of tn
United States. The bill make n
mention of any country which is
receive this aid. although it is we
understood that the reason for ii
present enactment is to help tn
British defeat Hitler and Mussolin
that aid will help Greece in its wa
against Italy, and to China in il
war against Japan. If Turkey, fc
example, becomes involved in tn
war against Italy and Germany, an
(See BILL, Page A-50