Evening star., 1941-02-04


1GhoSe defense he considered eS-
Sential to safety OF United States.
Present statutes require British
to buy materials on caSh-dnd-
carry basis and officials state
they are running short OF dollar
exchange for cash purchases.
BY the Associated Press
DR.. Charles A. Beard. the his
torian, told Congress today the Brit
ish-aid bill would involve us Off
cially' in war and he urged its de-
feat, but Maj. George Fielding Eliot,
the writer. argued it should be en-
acted with certain proper limita-
tions" because of the world military
situation.
The two men testified before the
Senate Foreign Relations Commit
tee, which also received announce
ment of support for the bill by eight
Southern Governors.
The Governors advised the COM
mittee they believed that passage
of this bill at this time is essential
to the safety of the Nation"
Warns of Danger to u. s.
Maj. Eliot writer on military sub
ieCts, said the destruction of the
balance of power in Europe for
the first time since the Napoleonic
wars had brought about a condition
filled with danger for the United
States. Germany's gaining access
to the Atlantic had wrecked the
strategic military setup of the
world, he declared.
DR.. Beard proposed that instead
of enacting the administrators
bill, Congress should authorize the
use of Government credit to step
up production of war supplies for
Great Britain.
Congress, in voting on the pend
ing bill, must decide, DR.. Beard said,
whether it is prepared, on show
down, to carry our country into war
in Europe and Asia and thus set
the whole world on fire, or is re-
solved to stay out to the last ditch
and preserve the stronghold of order
and sanity even against the forces
of hell"
Wants Credit Legislation.
He said he wanted to see Con-
greSs resume the legislative power
assigned to it, and by specific legis-
lation of its own drafting, "au-
thorize using the credit of this Gov
ernment in the aid of American
industries engaged in supplying
Great Britain with goods under
positive conditions co-ordinated
with American defense production"
Meanwhile, there were reports
that Wendell L. Willkie, the 1910 Re-
publican presidential nominee who
has announced qualified support for
the lease-lend bill, would recon-
mend notifications when he re-
turns from London next week to
appear before the Senate committee.
DR.. Beard said the legislation he
advocated should limit the amount
and the terms of the credit to in
crease production, the amount to be
fixed in excess of careful esti-
mates" of what the British would
need. The credit, he added, should
be made available Immediately, while
the British, he said, should be re-
quired to pledge their assets in the
United States and those available
elsewhere to assure repayment.
This Government then should be
given authority to draw on the full
capacity of American industry, he
said.
Of the administrations conten-
ton that its British-aid bill would
buy time" for the United States
TO prepare for possible Nazi in
vasion, DR.. Beard asserted that
there is no guarantee that this
bill will buy peace or keep us out
of war"
Congress, he said, must ask itself
before approving the bill if it in
tends to guarantee the present ex-
tent, economic resources and eco
nornic methods of the British En-
pire forever"
It also must determine, he con-
tinued, whether it wants to supply
money, ships and commodities of
war until restoration of the French
Republic and other nations existing
before the outbreak of the war and
until Japan is expelled from
China"
Points to Wilson.
OF powers which would be granted
to the President by the bill, DR..
Beard said:
''1n the midst of a declared war
already raging, President Wilson
called upon Congress for no such
powers, no such surrender of its
constitutional prerogatives.
Even in the midst of a frightful
Civil War, testing whether this Ma
ton could endure, President Lincoln
demanded of Congress no such
abject capitulation and humiliation.
There can be no doubt about this
L llC JILL "OulO ouOJCSU dll lllC ldOOl
energies and all the wealth of the
United States to the Presidents
personal orders, issued at his dis
cretion."
Thomas Warns of Peril.
Norman Thomas, four times So.
cialist candidate for President. told
the Senate committee yesterday the
bill heightened the danger that I'VE
shall find ourselves in total war"
Decrying the possibility of Ger
man invasion of the United States,
he said:
Even if you allow him many
years, I do not think it will be easy
for Hitler, in the unhappy event of
a victory over Great Britain, to
organize a sullen, half lf-starved Eu-
rope, with a jealous Stain at his
rear, to conquer the Western Hemi-
sphere"
To back up this opinion with
figures, he estimated that an in
vader would need 100000 tons of
shipping to transport an army of a