Evening star., 1941-10-09
Text of RooseveIts Plea on Neutrality Act

| FOLLOWING Is the tert OF Presi-
dent Roosepelt's message to Con-
oress urging repiston OF the Neu-
trality Act:
To the Congress of the United
States.
1t is obvious to all of us that world
conditions have changed violently
since the first American Neutrality
Act of 1885. The Neutrality Act of
1899 was passed at time when the
true magnitude of the Nazi attempt
to dominate the world was visualized
by few persons. We heard it said
indeed, that this new European war
was not real war, and that the
contending armies would remain
behind their impregnable fortifica-
| tions and never really fight. In this
atmosphere the Neutrality Act
seemed reasonable. But so did the
/, Maginot Line.
Since then-in these past two
tragic years-war has spread from
continent to continent: very many
nations have been conquered and
enslaved; great cities have been laid
in ruins; millions of human beings
have been killed, soldiers and sailors
and civilians alike. Never before has
such widespread devastation been
!. visited upon Gods earth and God s
children.
The pattern of the future-the fu-
ture as Hitler seeks to shape it's
now as clear and as ominous as the
headlines of today's newspapers.
Through these years of war, we
Americans have never been neutral
in thought. We have never been
Indifferent to the fate of Hitler's
victims. And, increasingly, we have
become aware of the peril to our
selves, to our democratic traditions
and institutions, to our country, and
to our hemisphere.
Cites Aid Given Nations
For Fight Against Axis.
We have known what victory for
the aggresSors would mean to us.
Therefore, the American people,
through the Congress, have taken
important and costly steps to give
great aid to those nations actively
fighting against Nazi-Fascist domi-
nation.
We know that we could not de-
fend ourselves in Long Island Sound
or in San Francisco Bay. That
would be too late. 1t is the Ameri-
can policy to defend ourselves
wherever such defense becomes nee
essary under the complex conditions
of modern warfare.
Therefore, 1t has become neces-
sary that this Government should
not be handicapped in carrying out
the clearly announced policy of the
Congress and of the people. We
must face the truth that the Neu-
trality Act requires complete re-
consideration in the light of known
facts.
The revisions which I suggest do
not call for a declaration of war any
more than the Lease-lend Act called
for a declaration of war. This is q
matter of essential defense of Amer
! lSdll liSll5S.
In the Neutrality Act are various
crippling provisions. The repeal or
modification of these provisions will
not leave the United States any less
neutral than we are today, but will
make it possible for us to defend
the Americas far more successfully
and to give aid far more effectively
against the tremendous forces nov
marching toward conquest of the
world
Asserts Hitler Considers
All World His Battlefield.
Under the Neutrality Act, W.
established certain areas as zones OF
combat into which no American
flag ships could proceed. Hitler
proclaimed certain far larger areas
as zones of combat into which any
neutral ship, regardless Of its flag
or the nature of its cargo, would pro-
coed only at its peril We known
now that Hitler recognizes no linn
itation on any zone of combat in
any part Of the seven seas. He has
struck at our ships and at the lives
of our sailors within the waters of
the Western Hemisphere. Deter
mined as he is to gain domination
of the entire world, he considers
the entire world his own battlefield
Ships of the United States and of
other American republics continue
| to be sunk, not only in the imagi-
nary zone proclaimed by the Nazis
in the North Atlantic, but also in
the zoneless South Atlantic.
recommend the repeal of section
8 of the Act of November 4, 1899,
which prohibits the arming of Amer
dean f1agships engaged in foreign
commerce.
The practice OF arming merchant
ships for civilian defense is an old
one. 1t has never been prohibited
by international law. Until 1887 it
khad never been prohibited by any
statute of the United States.
Through our whole history Ameri-
can merchant vessels have been
armed whenever it was considered
necessary for their own defense. -
1t is an imperative need now to
equip American merchant vessels
with arms. We are faced not with
the old type of pirates but with the
modern pirates of the sea who travel
beneath the surface or on the sur
face or in the air destroying de-
fenseless ships without warning and
without provision for the safety Of
the passengers and crews.
Sees Aiming Of Vessels
Adding to Their Safety.
Our merchant vessels are sailing
the seas on missions connected with
the defense of the United States. It
is not just that the crews of these
vessels should be denied the means
Of defending their lives and their
ships. .s.-
Although the arming of merchant