The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-03-06

1t seems to me that the opponents
of H. r. 1776, the so-called lease
lend" bill, injured their cause on two
counts in the first two weeks of Senate
debate. First, they almost uniformly
labeled the bill war" measure, con-
tending that our involvement in the
war was inevitable if the bill is passed
and going on the radio night after
night to plead against sending Amer
lean boys to die on European battle
fields. BY so doing, they are playing
directly into the hands of the very
small minority that actually favors our
going to war by creating a fatalistic
public belief that if this bill passes,
as is certain, our participation in war
will inevitably follow. Furthermore,
these same gentlemen will have to do
rapid aboutface when the bill is
passed in order to then take the posi-
ton, which they will take, that it's
passage should not involve this nation
in war.
Second, by deliberately stringing out
the debate as long as possible, they
contributed to a growing public belief
that it would be useless to expect the
Congress to act swiftly enough to meet
the perils that may arise for this
nation in the present rapidly chang
ing foreign situation. While arguing so
loudly against delegation of author
ity to the President, they indirectly
undermine public confidence in the
Congress.
While I hold no brief for the form
in which this issue is presented to
Congress, I have studied the bill care
fully, and I am convinced its oppo-
nents misrepresent it in their three
major arguments, that its passage
means war, that its makes the Pres
ident a dictator, and that it would
authorize him to strip" our own de-
lenses.
There is nothing in the bill re-
motely resembling declaration of
war. The great majority of its sup
porters are for it because they are
convinced that speedy and effective
aid to Britain constitutes our best
chance of staying out of war.
The one essential to a dictator is
power to suspend civil right-a free
press, freedom of assembly and free
dom of speech. These are not touched
in the bill. The only additional powers
it confers on the President are powers
to deal with foreign affairs.
Those who claim its passage would
result in stripping our defenses over
look two facts First, the bill limits the
amount of present equipment which
could be transferred to 81 300, 900 600.
Our navy alone is costing ten billion.
and only a small fraction of it could
be transferred even if the President
wanted to do that. The other fact
overlooked is that the President is just
as much concerned with the defense
of this nation as are members OF
Congress and to imply that he would
deliberately strip our army and navy
of vital equipment is to impugn his
patriotism.
went around last week asking
several senators when speech ceased
being a speech and became filibuster.
1t seems to be a controversial subject.
Some said after one hour, some said
after two hours, and some said after
three hours.
A newspaperman said he thought the
change occurred when the speaker quit
talking about the measure under con-
sideration and began reading recipe
books and the like.
This writer has never yet heard a
speech lasting more than an hour that
would not have been improved and
gained in force had it been boiled down
to an hour or less.