Evening star., 1941-01-26


such articles for example, as air
planes or mosquito boats when in
his opinion, reached after consultation
with his defense experts, this transfer
would help and not hurt the defense
of the United States.
prohibition against such trans
fer would leave Britain dependent
wholly on defense equipment yet to be
made 1t would also as in the case
of an explicit ban on conveys. weaken
what it is hoped will be the moral effect
Of the bill
Al a recent press conference the
President estimated that the transfers
of existing defense equipment under the
bill would not exceed l per cent Of the
total transfers.
Centralized Authority.
The administration argument on this
point comes down to the tWofold con-
tention that Tor speedy and efficient ac-
ton in aid OF Great Britain centralized
authority is required, and that the
President, by reason both of his expert
ness and Of his patriotism, can be trusted
10 use this authority wisely.
Secretary Stimson in his testimony on
the bill referred to his service in the
cabinets Of three Presidents Taft,
Hoover, Roosevelt, and spoke of the
tremendously SOLDERING influence Of the
presidency on any man, especially in
foreign affairs
'Yon can safely lodge responsibility
with the President Of the United States,
he said and in reply to question added
"A government so constructed that you
cant trust anybody would not survive
the test of war"
Secretary of State Hull, testifying on
the bill, traced the long course of Ger
man and japanese aggression and re-
counted the futile efforts of the United
States 10 establish a basis for world
peace His theme was the danger of the
United States from AN organized,
ruthless and implacable movement Of
steadily expanding conquest
Under these conditions he said. "our
national security would require the con-
tinuous devotion Of a very great part Of
all our work and wealth for deferee pro-
duction, prolonged universal military
service. extremely burdenSome taxation,
unending vigilance against enemies
within our borders. and complete in
volvement in power diplomacy These
would be the necessities Of a condition
as exposed as ours would be-"
Axis Power Exceeds L. S.
Secretary of the Navy Knox presented
figures showing that the combatant
naval tonnage Of Germany. Italy and
Japan is now larger than that OF the
United States Navy and would be nearly
twice as large if the remaining effec-
tive French units were included. 1t
was estimated that by 1943 the axis
powers would be from two to four times
as strong as the United States in nearly
all the cateeories of naval vessels.
He said that if Germany should be-
come free to move. she would probably
move first into South America
We need time to build ships and to
train their crews" he said. We need
time to build up our outlying bases so
that We can operate our fleets as
screen for our continent. We need time
10 train our Armies. to accumulate war
stores, to gear our industry for defense.
Only Great Britain and its feet can
give US that time. And they need our
help to survive.
We will act in our own best national
interests, therefore, if while increasing
our naval power as fast as we can, We
provide the British Commonwealth with
the means that will bring her through
this tragic crisis"
Back of the spoken arguments for the
bill is the unspoken thought-though 1t
shines through much of Washingtons
discussion of the meaSure-that a sweep
ing grant of power to the President will
have the merit of strengthening his hand
in the war of nerves" with Hitler That
the President is engaged in such a war
is obvious. 1t has now reached an acute
stage. He is trying to keep Hitler guess
ing, and, it is argued, by so much as his
power under the pending bill is re-
stricted, his chance Of winning this war
of nerves and thus keeping the United
States out of a real war will be di-
minished.