Evening star., 1943-07-24
international Commitments

International Commitments
Senator Vandenberg of Michigan
has posed an important question
which, in the interest of our future
foreign relations, should receive
serious consideration. It is whether,
in the liquidation of the problems
| growing out of the war, international
agreements and commitments shall
be made by the Executive alone, or
whether the Senate of the United
States shall be consulted about these
agreements in advance OF actual
commitments.
! The Michigan Senator, a member
| of the Foreign Relations Committee,
on several occasions has called the
attention of the Senate and the
country to what he regards as
tendency on the part of the admins
tration to bypass Congress in arriv-
ing at both international agreements
and national commitments. Such
procedure, it is contended leaves Con-
gress with no choice but to appro-
pirate the necessary funds to carry
out the commitments, or repudiate
them by refusing an appropriation.
Speaking in the Senate just before
the present congressional recess
began, Mr.. Vandenberg illustrated
his point. He referred directly to the
draft agreement which this country
has drawn up with the representa-
tives OF the other nations engaged in
the war against the Axis, for the pur-
pose OF establishing United Nations
Relief and Rehabilitation Admins
tration. The agreement is, in effect,
as binding as treaty. Yet under
the program of the administration it
was not proposed to submit it to the
Senate for approval. 1t is still
draft agreement" subject to revision
and may not be completed for an
other sixty days.
Senator Vandenberg's insistence
that this agreement be explored by
the foreign relations committee re-
suited in conference of the COM
mlttee-a subcommittee with Sec
retary OF State Hull. The Michigan
Senator informed the Senate that
Mr.. Hull and the members of the
committee would go fully into the
matter of procedure. This is wise. A
failure on the part of the Executive
to give consideration to the con-
stitutional prerogative of the Senate
to be consulted on international
agreements might have extremely
unfortunate results.
No attack was made by Senator
Vandenberg on the proposal to set
up relief and rehabilitation inter-
national agency. His criticism ran
only to the method Many other
problems besides that of relief in
war torn areas will arise for inter-
national action before the debris of
war is cleared away, however, and
the question is whether the executive
branch of the Government is to
commit this country to special
courses of procedure and to the use
OF its resources without any consul
tation with the legislative branch.
Article v of the relief agreement,
as it now stands, provides: Each
member Government pledges its full
support to the administration (the
relief administrator, within the
limits of its available resources and
subject to the requirements of it's
constitutional procedure, through
contributions of funds, materials,
equipment, supplies and service for
use in its own, adjacent, or other
areas, in need, in order to accomplish
the purposes of Article l."
This might give other governments
an impression of binding the United
States to use its resources, if neces-
sary, to meet the program set up by
the relief administration, an inter-
national agency, for the commit
ments made under such an agree
ment would certainly be moral COM
mitments. And If Congress should
balk when it comes to making the
necessary appropriations, the United
States might be charged with bad
! faith.
In the opinion of Senator Vanden-
berg, and many of his colleagues,
such an agreement rises to the
dignity and Importance of treaty.
In their opinion no such agreement
should be made without ratification
by the Senate, as provided in the
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