Evening star., 1941-02-18

SENATOR
ton, consult with the Chief of staff
of the Army or the Chief of Naval
Operations of the Navy, or both.
4. His authority is limited to
June 80, 1943, or it may be termi-
mated at any prior date upon the
passage by the Congress of a con-
current resolution.
5. The President must report to
Congress at least once every three
months respecting action taken
under the bill.
In the face of these limitations
and restrictions, the charge that
the bill confers unlimited power
upon the President is overwhelm-
ingly refuted.
There is nothing in the bill which
modifies the Neutrality Act with
respect to merchant vessels going
into combat or war zones. 1t has
been widely asserted that the bill
would have that effect. That is a
misconception.
There is nothing whatever in the
bill authorizing the employment of
conveys of merchant ships by naval
vessels. Under the Constitution. the
President is commander in chief of
the Navy; Congress has no control
over that power except through
the denial of appropriations.
1t has also been asserted that
the measure Is war bill. No decla-
ration of war can be made by anv
agency of the Government except
Congress. 1t is the intention of
Congress to keep the war away from
our shores-to make it impossible
for conquerorS and ambitious totali-
tartan masters, flushed with victory
and having at their command all
the resources of Europe, to push
their conquest into the Western
Hemisphere. When the American
Colonies gained their independence
and established the United States of
America and later proclaimed the
Monroe Doctrine, there was created
a great zone of the earth's surface,
known as this hemisphere, dedicated
to free government and democratic
institutions. The purpose of this bill
is to make secure forever this hemi-
sphere as sanctuary Of freedom
into which no alien conqueror shall
ever set his accursed footsteps. This
mornings press carries story of a
conspiracy in Mexico directed by
NaZi influences. No new world or
der" shall, by the sword of conquest,
be established in the continents
of America.
To those who oppose the bill, I
pose the question: If we follow your
wishes and defeat this bill, what
shall then be our course? Shall we
do nothing? Shall we close our
eyes to the tide of conquest which
has already engulfed peaceful and
neutral nations and condemned to
enslavement their people? Shall
We close our ears to the oft-pro-
claimed plans of the dictators to
establish a new world order?"
Shall We close our minds to the
coarse and brutal scorn with which
Hitler and Mussolini speak of
democracy? Shall we permit the
rattle of sword and the roll of can
non to drown our own determina-
ton to defend and protect and pre-
serve democracy and the western
world?
Billions for Arming U. S.
The American people are united
behind the program for national
defense. The Congress, with the
enthusiastic appreciation of the
American people, has appropriated
billions of dollars for the strength
ening of our Navy and for the in
crease of the Army and for the ex-
pansion of our air forces. Why the
expenditure of all of these billions
if there is not threat to our safety?
Why the sacrifice of all this treas
ure if there be not a pressing, a
challenging and menacing danger
to our security and safety? Whence
does that danger come? Whence
are our liberties threatened? Do
we fear Great Britain? No thrust
is posed from that quarter. Do we
fear conquered Norway or subju-
gated Denmark or enslaved Holland
or crushed Belgium? Is our safety
threatened by PROSTATE France?
Where are those who say that the
United States is in no danger, that
it is invulnerable to attack, that no
hostile force can assail or attack
us? If that be true, why do we
arm? Why do we build up a mighty
Navy, mightier and stronger than
any that in the long stretch of his
tory has ever unfurled it's flag upon
the far-f1ung seas. If there be no
danger, why do we call to the colors
the young manhood of the Nation?
There Is danger. There is real
danger. The cold-blooded dictators,
intoxicated by conquest, with their
ambitions famed to fury by the lust
for power and mastery of the human
race, and backed by the most power
full and relentless military machine
known by the annals of war,
threaten the security and safety of
democracies everywhere. They await
only the moment when they feel
their strength to be sufficient to
strike down freedom and constitu-
tional government wherever they
exist on the face of the globe. This
bill is Americas answer to their
challenge. We propose to keep the
war away from our shores. We pro-
pose to preserve our own freedom
and that of the western world
Follows Current Procedure.
Those who would do nothing COM
plain, and say they oppose any grant
of authority to the President. Legis-
lation must depend for its execution
upon executive or administrative
authority. Under the Constitution,
the President is commander chief
| OF the Army and Navy and b N