Evening star., 1941-02-08
British Aid
Continued From First Page)

ure, Chairman Bloom of the For
eign Affairs Committee offered the
substitute and asked unanimous
consent that it be accepted.
Representative Smith, Republican,
of Ohio Immediately objected and
leaders went into a conference on
the floor to decide the next step.
The House will be kept in session
until it has finally disposed of the
bill, Majority Leader Mccormack
announced as the legislators as
! sembled at II a m.
| A dozen or more amendments and
substitutes for the bill were pending,
to be discussed and acted on under
the House rule limiting speakers to
five minutes on each amendment.
That the bill will pass the House
is forgOne conclusion, and the only
question is the size of the vote. Ad-
ministration leaders declared they
believe the bill would receive a sub
stantial majority. Last-minute ap-
peals for unity on the measure are
expected.
The bill has been whipped into
shape, with number of concessions
made by administration leaders,
which it is hoped will bring a max
imum of support.
/ Representative Dewey of Illinois,
former Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury, offered an amendment
proposing that to protect the eco
nomiC welfare Of the Western Hem
iSphere the President be authorized
for the duration of the war to have
British holdings in the Western
Hemisphere, particularly in South
America, transferred to the custody
of the United States. He argued
that this would be done in the same
spirit as the Office of Alien Property
Custodian was set up during the
World War.
Johnson Objects.
Representative Luther A. Johnson,
Democrat, of Texas objected on the
ground that the President had no
right to take possession of the prop
erty of private enterprise or of ma
tionalS of another government. He
also made the point that the amend
ment was not germane.
The chair questioned Mr.. Dewey
to determine whether it was the
purpose of the United States to
become owner of these stocks and
bonds or merely to act as trustee.
Mr. Dewey quoted Secretary of
the Treasury Morgenthau as testi-
flying before the Foreign Affairs
Committee that the holdings Of GER
tain British nationals in South and
Central American countries repre-
sented over $4,000, 100000, and that
more than IS per cent of the rail-
roads in the Argentine were owned
by British nationals. He also stated
that during the last month the Brit
ish treasury has been sequestering
these securities owned by British
nationals. He also pointed to the
danger that Germany might capture
these impounded stocks and bonds
and then promptly engage in bit
ter economic war with the Western
Hemisphere. ut is time now to
safeguard ourselves and our neigh
bors against this possibility" he said.
The chair ruled the amendment
out of order, after some further de-
bate.
In a surprise move just before
the House adjourned late yesterday,
Slo0
Foreign Affairs Committee offered
and had adopted the amendment
which would limit the value of
material owned by the Army and
Navy and to be obtained under
existing appropriations, which could
be transferred to the democracies by
/ the President. to 10 per cent of
the total national defense appro-
priations for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1941.
The text of the amendment to be
offered today by Representative
Wadsworth, Republican, of New
York. is as follows:
The gross expense to the United
States of the exercise of the
authority in this act with respect
to defense articles and defense in
formation shall not exceed in the
aggregate the sum of $7000,O00,0O0
provided, that the elements of
such expense and the amounts
comprising such aggregate shall be
determined respectively, by the head
of each department and agency con-
cerned under regulations to be ap-
proved by the President, which shall
be uniform so far as practical for
all departments and agencies"
Offered as Substitute.
The Bloom amendment was Of
| fered as a substitute for an amend
ment presented by Representative
Taber of New York, ranking Re-
publican member of the House APP
preparations Committee, which
would place such limit at $500 000,-
900. Mr.. Taber accepted the sub
stitute and it was adopted without
opposition on a voice vote.
| Without debate, Mr., Bloom S