Evening star., 1941-07-02

The tn cory
that Mr.. Roose-
welt is not sure David Lawrence.
of American public opinion and al
lows the Secretary of the Navy to
make such bold address as a sort
of buildup for a trial balloon for
national policy yet to be formulated
is too naive to be accepted. Govern
mentS cannot afford to go before
the world with such explicit express
sions of purpose by high officials on
one day. only to have such express
sions rendered meaningless later by
inaction.
Mr.. Roosevelt is conceded to be a
masterful student of the trends OF
public opinion and 1t is not likely
that he didn't know exactly What
Secretary Knox had in mind or the
possible effect.
OF Doubtful Value.
But if the idea was to stir up pub
lie opinion to agree with the Secre-
tary of the Navy, the President may
be disappointed. Mr.. Knoxs speech
can create only bewilderment. 1r-
respective of whether it is or is not
q good thing for the American Navy
to get to work now in cleaning up
the Atlantic of submarines, 1t is
questionable whether a matter OF
such grave Importance should be
dealt with only in a public address
by one member of the cabinet. The
danger of such tactics lies in the
possibility that the public will come
to believe the President hesitates to
take the action which follows as
sequence to his last message TO Con-
eress on the Robin Moor incident.
The normal and natural course in
making American policy is by a
presidential message to Congress
setting forth the perils that beset
the United States at this time. This
has been done.
Unfortunately, there is an I'M
preston on Capitol Hill that secret
orders have been issued TO our
airplanes and feet to shoot at Ger
man submarines. This has been
officially denied Senator Wheeler
of Montana, Democrat and 1sola-
ZIONIST, wants to know through con-
gressional inquiry whether the re-
Gently published stories of the
alleged discharge of depth bombs by
American planes or destroyers Is
accurate. Obviously there is cer-
tain reticence in official quarters to
discuss the method America is US
ing in her air patrol. which is re-
ported to be growing in its effective
ness. Evidently the administration
feels that Herr Hitler would also
like to know the details Of Americas
method of defending the waters of
the Western Hemisphere.
War Up to Congress.
If the American policy is confined
10 protective measures against sub
marines that may menace Ameri-
can ships like the Robin Moor, con-
tinued silence would be a presi-
Dental prerogative because the
measures to be taken by President
to protect American lives and
property at sea are very largely
within the constitutional domain of
the Executive, as 1t is evidenced by
many historical precedents. But If
the policy is one Of war by means
ef "undeclared war" then Con-
rress, which alone has the right to
declare war, has to be consulted
and give Its consent under the con-
stitution. The other day, signi-
fcantly enough, Senator George of
Georgia, Democrat and chairman OF
the all-important Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, in a speech in
the Senate, assured his colleagues
that the President would not wage
an "undeclared war"
From this it may be inferred that
Mr.. Roosevelt has not gone beyond
his constitutional rights in protect
ing American commerce and that If
the measures now being taken are
inadequate he will consult Congress.
This may be the reason for the
speech by SECRETARY Knox. Mr..
Roosevelt may be merely allowing it
TO be known that the clearing of
the Atlantic Of submarines is re-
earded as an essential part of our
defense policy irrespective of what
may be happening on the continent
Of Europe.
The clumsiness of the whole pro-
eedure will not fail to produce puz-
Element in Congress among both
friends and foes of the Administra-
tons foreign policy. Naturally the
opponents make much of such secret
n1aneuvers while the supporters are
we'll aware that the policy followed