Evening star., 1941-01-13
Winkie Approves
OF fLease-Lend Bill
With Notifications
Republican Chief to Fly
To England for Survey;
London Criticizes Him
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Jan. 13.-WendUll L.
Willkie favors passage with modi-
fication of President Roosevelt's aid
to-Britain bill and plans a flying
trip to England to survey the war
situation.
Approval of the proposed lease
lend measure was announced by
the 1910 Republican presidential
candidate yesterday and brought
immediate comment from ALI NJ
Landon, who said:
"If Mr.. Willkie had revealed that
to be his position before the Re-
publican National Convention he
would not have been nominated"
The former Kansas Governor,
who himself was defeated on the
Republican presidential ticket in
1896. declared at Topeka that Mr..
Wilkes position was essentially
the same as Mr.. Roosevelt's."
Support Tempered.
Mr.. Willkie tempered his support
of the bill by declaring the powers
it would grant the President should
be for fixed term. not too far in
the future" and that Congress
should not be "harried" into its
passage.
His views were expressed in a
statement he read to newsmen at his
hotel headquarters and during an in
terview afterward
Regarding his planned trip abroad,
he disclosed that in a telephone
conversation with Secretary of State
Hull he had received permission to
obtain passport and would leave by
Clipper within two weeks seeking
personal contact with the situa-
tion-"just as I did when I was
practicing law and wanted to know
the facts of the case"
After a stay in England of two or
three weeks. he said he expected to
resume the practice of law in New
York
Asserting the Nation faced an
emergency under which "extraordi-
nary powers must be granted to the
elected Executive. Mr.. Willkie said:
The so-called lease lend bill
now before Congress asks for an
enormous grant of Executive power.
Under democratic system, in
which the peoples power is pre-
served by limiting the powers of
government, every such grant of
power should be jealousy scrutin-
lied. -
'I have examined this bill in the
light of the current emergency and
I personally have come to the con-
clusion that, with modification, it
should be adopted"
Wants No Partisanship.
He advocated, however, that the
bill be subjected to thorough de-
bate" and that amendments be
made "as Congress, representing
the people, may deem necessary to
retain in its own hands the funda-
mental power to declare war"
ut is to be hoped that the ma
tional debate concerning the bill
will not assume a partisan aspect" F."
he added. This should be true
even though the administration
2ointedly excluded Republicans
from the formulating and drafting
Of the bill and daily continues its
partisan attacks"
At another point in his state
ment, Mr.. Willkie said he was per
fectly serious" in his prediction
charge that the reelection of the
administration would jeopardize
the continuation of the democratic
process in the United States.
Yet" he added, ''the people chose
this administration and we must
abide by that choice. We must not
fall into the fallacy of depriving it
of powers necessary to defend us in
order to preserve the mere form of
democratic procedure.
I'VE must give it the power to act
in this emergency, while at the same
time assuring ourselves by compe-
tent amendments of reversion of
that power to us after the emer-
gency is over"