The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1941-05-29
(Rv Staff Writer)

IaEnN nnewsmen andsacongressa.
men here awake each morning
with that question in mind and
with the expectation that today
something is going to happen"
When things 60 along for a week
or two without any major sur
prises, many of us get the feeling
that it's a lull before big storm.
Actually, plenty has happened
during what our drama-filled
minds consider lull. Congress
has given the President the right
to seize foreign ships, the giant
French liner Normandie has been
taken into custody, our relations
with France have reached a dan
ger point over the agreement of
the French Petain government to
collaborate with Germany, major
strikes have been settled and 9TH
ers have been suggested and new
stimulants have been given to our
defense program.
The war sentiment - that we
mustn't let Britain 1ose-has been
closely tied up with the absolute
necessity of protecting our foreign
trade. Both the President and
Secretary of State Hull have en-
phasized that our standard of liv-
ing and our freedom depend on
trading with other free nations.
President Roosevelt said: en-
ternational commerce in a world
d ON in a ted by totalitarianism
would never be carried on for the
mutual benefit of all. It would be
vigorously controlled for the sole
advantage of those nations and
ruling groups which already have
declared their determination to
conquer the world and to subor-
dinate to their own profit the well
fare of all other peoples"
Secretary Hull outlined our
postwar aims in this regard by
giving five guides to the trade
setup we hope to establish, as fol-
lows:
81. Extreme nationalism must
not again be permitted to express
itself in excessive trade restric-
tons.
"2. Nondiscrimination in inter-
national commercial relations
must be the rule, so that inter-
national trade may grow and
prosper.
"3. Raw material supplies must
be available to all nations without
discrimination.
"a. International agreements re-
gulating the supply of commodi-
ties must be so handled as to pro-
tect fully the interests of the con-
Stunning countries and their peo-
pie.
"5. The institutions and ar
rangements of international fl
nance must be so set up that they
lend aid to the essential enterprls-
es and the continuous develop
ment of all countries and permit
the payment through processes of
trade consonant with the welfare
of all countries"
War or no war, most all of Off
cial Washington agrees that we
must build our defenses as if we
were going to have war. Stresslng
the Importance of this, w. L. Bait,
deputy director of the production
division of the Office of Produc-
ton Management called for still
greater enlargement of our pre-
sent defense plans indicating that
the present $40,000,000,000 pro-
gram is inadequate and that it
should be boosted to $100,O0O,OOO,-
600. He also said that there must
! be a radical change in the attl-
tude of ''some people" in both la
Dor and industry eff we are to
make good our promises to the de-
tenders of freedom"
This statement, of course, re-
ferred to the strikes in defense in
dustries which, after brief per-
iod of quiet, have started up
anew. The new Mediation board
of the government has been sue
cessful in postponing and stop
ping many strikes, but has been
unable to cope with some of the
most important-such as those in
the shipbuilding industry on the
Pacific coast.
Letters and wires to congress
men clearly indicate that the pub
lie has lost patience with strikes
and wants a legal club to deal
with them. But congress is hest
tant to put through such legisla-
ton without encouragement from
the President and therefore the
problem is sidetracked from week
to week in the hope that the pres
sure of public opinion will in it.
self be enough to cope with the
situation. Calling off of a threat
ened strike of General Motors,
after the company gave a general
raise in pay, plus the action of the