Evening star., 1941-05-08

6ueSllOIl dllSCo ~
why Mr.. RooSe-
welt didn't do so David Lawrence.
himself. The answer may be found
in the growing feeling hereabouts
that public opinion has not been
fully informed as to the merits OF
the controversy and that Mr.. Roose-
welt has in mind leNing others
speak for him until he is ready to
speak for himself.
The principal reason why public
opinion is supposed to be doubtful
about the advisability of authoriz-
ing naval conveys is belief that
this means war While 1t admittedly
might mean shooting" as predicted
by the President in press confer
ence q few weeks ago, conveys do
not necessarily mean war In TACT
formal entry into the war really
depends on action by the Nazl gov
ernment. There is conviction here
that the Nazis do not want to ac-
celerate American industrial pro-
duction by forcing war on us at
this time.
Successive War Predictions.
The President has gambled thus
far on the assumption that Hitler
would not venture to declare war
on the United States. Every sue
eessive step taken by the admins
tration from the time of the repeal
of the arms embargo to the passage
of the lease-lend bill has been ac-
companied by predictions on the
part of the opponents of these
measures that passage would GER
tainly lead Immediately to war.
Mr.. Roosevelt, of course. may have
IN the back of ,his mind the fact
that if the sending of American
naval conveys results in war, then
1t Is something which cannot be
helped. But. on the other hand. it
may also be confidently assumed
that he doesn't think the ordering
of conveys will mean war at this
time, even if a few American ships
or airplanes happen to be fired on
and lost in an occasional encounter.
So the President is moving to-
ward decisive action, and the real
problem is how to handle the ques-
ton of authority for the move.
American public opinion favors con-
VOWS if the polls taken by DR.. Gal
Mp are to be considered as a cri-
terion. There certainly has been
an increase of sentiment in favor
OF conveys as the argument has
: been hammered home by admins
tration spokesmen that 1t would be
folly to spend s70O0,OO0, 900 to aid
Britain and let most of it go to the
bottom of the ocean.
Sequel to Assistance.
Either the principle of aid to
Britain was approved or disap-
proved when the lease-lend bill was
passed by overwhelming vote of
both houses of Congress. If it was
sanctioned, then the sending of
naval conveys becomes a natural
sequel. 1t was specifically argued
at the time by the administration
spokesmen that the President did
not need the authority of Congress
TO order conveys. He does not.
United States commerce, whether
carried in foreign or American bot
toms, is entitled to the protection
OF the commander of the United
States naval forces if the Chief Ex-
ecutive so wills it. This is consti-
tutional precedent as it has been
followed for generations. If out of
the action of the conveys a situa-
tion should arise requiring a dec
laration of war or the ratification
OF an existent state of war, then
Congress must be asked for such
authority by the Executive.
In nearly every case in the past
the declaration of war has been
preceded by acts of the Executive
which created background for the
declaration of war.
War Up TO Germany.
In the present instance Congress
with full knowledge of what its ac-
ton might foreshadow has in the
middle of war authorized the
Government, first, to allow it's cit
liens to export goods to belligerents,
and, second, to permit the Gov
ernment itself to lend or lease or
sell munitions of war to a belliger-
ent government. The vote by Con-
gress on this issue furnished an op-
portunity for the Executive to de-
termine whether his aid -to-Britain
policy had the support Of the legis-
lative body.
The inquiry from all parts of the
country is whether Washington is
going to declare war. The likeli-
hood is that there will be no dec
laration of war unless the Germans
brings it about. If the Nazis at
tack American conveys, as they
. threaten to do, the United States
Government may decide to con-
slider such action as an attack on
the United States, because it will
bs an attack on the ships and prop
ss$y of Our Government. But 1t
begins 10 look now as If there is
very little concern as to what the
Easis may think about 1.-THE main
job Is 10 get the goods delivered,
md the administration has deter
mined to use conveys to accomplish
that Job. The exact manner of
announcing or executing that pol
Icy Is secondary now that the Slim
son speech reveals the fateful de-
cision to use conveys as having
been made.
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