Evening star., 1941-09-25
Neutrality Repeal
Resolution Offered
By Senator McKe|Ior
Law Conflicts
With Free Seas
Policy, He Says
BACKGROUND

ldW has been furnished IN recent
1UeekS By series OF SinkingS By
ATiS raiders OF Americana olUned
merchant ships, most OF them
carrying cargoeS to American
defensive outpoStS. Not until
last Tuesday, hoUeUer, did PreSi-
dent Roosevelt publicly take the
leadership in such proposals 10hen
he admitted to press conference
that an administration recon-
mendation for reUiSion 1Uould be
made to Congress.
By the Associated Press.
Senator Mcclellan. Democrat. OF
Tennessee introduced in the Senate
today a resolution to repeal the
Neutrality Act which bars the arm
ing of American merchant ships and
prevents them from entering COM
bat zones.
Declaring the act was in direct
conflict with our freedom of the
seas policy" Senator McKellar told
his colleagues the law ought to be
repealed outright. The Tennessee
Senator has been a consistent sup
porter of the administration for
eign policy, but there was no imme-
diate indication as to whether he
introduced the repeater with the
knowledge of Senate leaders.
President Roosevelt said Tuesday
that revision or repeal of the act
was being studied, indicating action
might be forthcoming next week.
mo Attention to Law"
Senator Mcclellan said he thought
that while the law was on the statute
books, the Government was paying
virtually no attention to it" and
for that reason it ought to be re-
pealed.
In the House, Representative
Woodruff, Republican. of Michigan,
said the President was going to give
Congress an opportunity to agree
with President Roosevelt that the
act should be repealed
The law, Representative Woodruff
said. lis the merest shell of an empty
statute which the Government
doesn't intend to enforce"
Every informed member of Con-
greSS," he said. and every informed
observer in Washington, knows that
President Roosevelt has not left a
veStlge Of the Neutrality Act un-
violated in spirit. if not in letter
Judging by Mr.. RooSevelts
past performance. it would matter
little to him whether the Congress
did or did not modify or repeal the
ragged remnants of the Neutrality
Act because Mr.. Roosevelt in effect
repeals and modifies and amends
statutes to suit himself when he
feels the occasion requires.
Dead as Dodo.
1T is mistake for the American
people to be mislead into believing
that an issue confronts the Con-
gress In the sense that the Neu-
trallty Act anaemlc as it is, has
prevented the President and his ad-
mintstrators from proceeding as they
pleased in the conduct of the ma
tional preparedness. the sdministra-
ton of the Lease-Lend Act. and the
so-called defense of the Western
Hemisphere
The American people ought to
Understandable most of them prob
ably do underStand-that when the
President issued a worldwide radio
broadcast his famous order to the
Navy to shoot on sight" at any
German or Italian submarine, sur
face or aircraft, he himself shot the
decrepit Neutrality Act right through
the Vitals. 1t has, of course, been
as dead as the dodo ever since"
Meanwhile, it appeared likely to-
Gay that outright removal of sttutory
barriers against American merchant
ships entering any of the worlds
waterways would become the focal
point of the whole bitter controversy
looming over administration desires
to revise the Neutrality Act.
Notice of such desire was given
by President Roosevelt Tuesday
when he said he believed provision
should be made for arming mer-
chant ships, also presently forbidden
by the neutrality law.
In the last 36 hours, however, in
f1uential congressional leaders of
both parties have indicated they
would favor more far-reaching
changes, with some supporting full
repeal and others calling for re-
moval of the belligerent waters re-
strictions as minimum revision.
Taft Opposes Repeal.
Even leading spokesman of the
hon-intervention group, Senator
Taft, Republican, of Ohio. directed
himself primarily to the helligerent
waters provision in telling reporters
tSee NEUTRALITY, Page A-3D