Evening star., 1941-06-16
Won't Rush Draft Measure.


idable opposition from House men,
bers.
Won't Rush Draft Measure.
Chairman May said the House
Military Affairs Committee would be
in no hurry" in considering the
Senate-approved measure that
would permit the President to defer
active service of registrants who
reach their 28th birthday before
July l of this and subsequent years
without having been called into the
Army.
Such delay, it was pointed out
also would have the effect of hold
ing up House consideration on the
proposal of Senator Connally. Dem
ocrat. of Texas, for empowering the
Government to take over plants
where defense production was
threatened by strikes, lockouts or
other causes. The Connally meas
ure was passed by the Senate as an
amendment to the bill calling for a
lower selective service age limit
The property-seizure bill. which
President Roosevelt said was drafted
and submitted to Congress by the
War Department without his seeing
it, has drawn substantial opposition
from Senate members, who consider
its provisions too broad. Reports
were current over the week end that
the President would tell Congress to
write its own ticket on the legisla-
ton so long as its main objectives
were preserved.
Senator Connally told reporters he
considered the present language of
the War Department bill much too
broad"
"Of course" Senator Connally
added, I'VE cannot permit any citi-
zen who owns an airplane, a yacht,
thousand pounds of copper or
anything else vital to the national
defense to withhold it from the
Government.
Guarantees Urged.
The bill could be redrafted to
trim down the wide authority but to
permit the Government to stop
boarding of needed defense ma
terials. Guarantees should be pro-
vided. too, against the seizure of
certain types of property. A man
should be given assurance that the
Government will not take his home,
for example"
Senator Mead, Democrat, of New
York, consistent administration sup
porter, declared that the bill will
have to be modified to prevent the
taking over of non-essential indus
tries and materials"
In addition" Senator Mead said
Eve must put in some guarantees
against the seizure of personal prop
erty and we must provide that prop
erty which is still usable be returned
to the owners at the earliest pos
sible date"
Acting Majority Leader Byrnes
told reporters that much of the
property taken over would have to
be taken permanently" because it
could not be returned to the owners.
He declared: If you took 10000
pounds of aluminium and made air.
planes out of it you couldn't very
well give it back to the owner five
years from now"
Under the existing legislation
owners of seized property would be
paid such compensation as "the
President shall determine to be fair
and just" There was some opposi-
ton to this provision, and opponents
discussed the possibility of giving
the courts authority to determine
compensation.
Hearings Start Wednesday.
Even if the pending bill is dras-
tically revised by the Senate Mill
tary Committee, which will start
hearings Wednesday, it was ap-
parent it still would encounter oppo-
sition on the Senate floor.
Opposition to lowering the selec-
tive service age limit came from
some committee members who asked
not to be quoted directly. They
said they were opposed to excusing
from service men in the higher age
brackets, believing that the present
q through 35 age classification
should stand.
The Senate Military Committee
meanwhile, made public testimony
by Brig. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey
deputy director of selective service
disclosing that So per cent of the
men called for active duty in the
ages from 81 through 35 had been
rejected for physical disabilities.
Gen. Hershey said that "a per
cent of those from 81 through Is
and 26 per cent of those from 2e
through 80 were rejected for the
same reason.
The House and Senate had Sec
ondary legislation on today's cal
endar The House called up a bill
providing fol temporary naval pro.
motions, while the Senate gave its
attention to legislation calling fol
construction of a Nation wide sys.
I