Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-20
Congress Power

all the people
Into their hands the Constitution of the United States
confdes enormous powers.
War cannot be declared constitutonally without
their assent-for CONGRESS ALONE is given authority
to declare war and affirmative of the House of
Representatives is necessarily required,
War If undecared, cannot be waged without the
approval Of the House of Representatives because money
or revenue the sinews of war-and the Constitution
ordans that ALL shall originate IN the
House of Representatives.
The statesmen who constructed the Constitution knew
what they doing: they had SEEN some of them
had SERVED IN war and they knew that they we're
empowering THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES to
keep the country out of wars OFF the Senate should
concur-to put the country into war.
THESE powers-the power of the purse and the power
i of war peace-are the most august and also the
most fateful powers of government
That is why the Constitution reposed these powers
in Congress rather than in the executive and that why
theMAJOR PART of these combined powers was bestowed
upon the House of Representatives.
For the founding fathers believed that the liberties
of the people and the institutions the republic would
be safeguarded if these immense powers resided
inalienably IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLES DIRECT
REPRESENTATIVES
Now how is the House of Representatives disposing
of its noble powers?
Are its members conscious of the dignity Of their
office and properly jealous of their long honored preroga
RE the members of the House dilgent to exercise
a those powers in the public welfare and are they
equally dgent resent and to prevent the transgesson
usurpation of those powers?
Well, hardly
Recently the House of Representatives passed bill
giving THE PRESIDENT untrammeled power to send
American ships flying the American flag into the battle
of foreign bearing munitions for of the
bellgerents in that
That BILL in effect confers upon THE PRESIDENT
power to take the nation into AT HIS DISCRETION:
For when sovereign government gives military aid to
another government that is already at that action
is itself an ACT OF WAR.
There was some little debate before the House voted
the bill.
THE House was told that the bill would send American
1 sailors on missions of suicide"
The House warned that the bill would perhaps
involve American naval forces in combat.
How many members of the House of Representatives
listened to these words?
The New York Herald Tribune says:
NO MORE THAN 100 of the 4OO-ODD member.
ship of the House present the floor AT ANY
- ONE TIME during the debate
And how many members of the House of Representa-
tives VOTED on the bill?
Again according to the Herald Tribune the bill was
passed with BARELY 100 members present-an it
passed by voice vote at that record exists
of HOW any member voted or of WHICH members were
actually present.
THINK of it American citizens!
/ Here is bill, which admittedly contains the
danger if not the very seeds of long and costly
that may change in the established form of
your American government bill which confers DlCTA-
TORIAL POWER upon the President to WAGE WAR at
his discretion and which passed by the House of Rep
resentat vesby YOUR representatives. brief and
listless debate, with THREE.FOURTHS Of those repre-
sentatives ABSENT FROM THEIR SEATS OF DUTY.
1t MAY BE all right, it MAY BE necessary, for me
President to have those unprecedented powers.
. UT that is not the point.
- The point is this
Is THIS the way in which you want to be governed
by your elected representatives?
Is THIS the way in which you want YOUR House
of Representatives support and defend the Consttu
ton Of the United States and to perform those historic
duties which YOU elected THEM to perform?
BAERlNG DOWN ON THE NEWS:
CI'ePpU OM Wars
BY ARTHUR BUGS" BAER