Evening star., 1941-01-18
Unreal Feurs

| OUISOI TSOIS
Opponents of the Presidents lease
lend bill have left no stone unturned
in their quest for every conceivable
objection, real or fancied which
might be raised against the measure.
Some critics express fear that Mr..
Roosevelt, under the terms of the
bill, would have power to sell or give
away our Navy, Army and Air Force,
leaving the United States defenseless.
Others are alarmed by what they
consider the possibility that he might
be empowered to buy the British or
French navies. And if these two
apprehensions seem to cancel them
| selves out, there remain other objec-
tions just as unsubstantial, such as
the assertion that the measure seeks
to combat t0talltarlaniSm by abolish
ing democracy here and establishing
the President as dictator, or the
contention that Mr.. Roosevelt would
be endowed with some new power
to take this country into war"
In our present situation none of
these objections has real merit. 1t
is entirely possible that the further
ance of our own defense during the
next few months may make it de-
Sirable to transfer some of our naval
ships or some planes to the British:
certainly it might we'll be distinctly
to our advantage to buy all or part
of the British Navy if England should
be successfully invaded this spring.
Nor is there any historical justi-
fication for the fears that have been
aroused by the proposal to give the
Executive power to act quickly and
decisively in this period of great
emergency. There is ample prece-
dent in our own experience for such
delegation of authority by the legis-
lature, and it is fact that democ-
racies always have found it necessary
to strengthen the hand of the
Executive in times of extreme crisis.
Our own democratic way of life will
be endangered, not by granting the
powers in question to the President,
but by refusing to grant them, with
the consequent impairment of our
capacity to meet the external threat
of totalitarian aggression.
The remaining objection-that
passage of the bill would grant to
the President powers which might
be used to take us into the war
overlooks the all-important fact that
Mr.. Roosevelt already is possessed
of ample authority to lead the Nation
to war, if he had any desire to do so.
These assertions that the President
might lead us into war do not square
with the realities of our position,
which are that certain steps must
be taken from time to time to insure
our national security, and that, in
all probability, our avowed enemies
and not Mr.. Roosevelt will decide If
and when these steps constitute a
cause of war.
The real interests of American
democracy would be much more
effectively served if the critics Of
the lease-lend bill, instead Of taxing
their imaginations for reasons to
oppose its passage, would consider it
calmly in the light of the infinitely
more serious and more tangible
dangers that might be expected to
follow the defeat of the British and
the passage of Atlantic control to
our enemies.
II, through refusing to free the
hands of the President for effective
action, we permit the dictators to
win the war we can confidently ex-
pect, at the very least, as Secretary
Hull has pointed out, that mainte-
nance of national security would
require the continuous devotion of a
very great part of all our work and
wealth for defense production, pro-
longed universal military service,
extremely burdensome taxation, un-
ending vigilance against enemies
within our borders, and complete
involvement in power diplomacy"
In short, we would incur on
permanent basis most if not all of
the undesirable results which oppo-
nents of the lease-lend bill believe
would follow it's passage, while for
going the opportunity to insure our
national security by promptly en-
powering the President to give full
aid to the British while they are
still barring the Atlantic to all
aggreSsors.