Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-10-26
BEHIND
The News
BY Paul
Malon

WASHINGTON, Oct. 70 The
w hoopla campaign speeches
of boiling Senator Ball are re-
latlng that Mr.. Roosevelt has
taken a strong foreign policy
and Dewey weak one, but this
generalization does violence 10
the inner facts of the matter.
Ball. a 39-ycar-old Republican
not very widely known. became
identified with a world peace
propaganda organization as its
senatorial spokesman some
years back. The secretary OF the
peace promotional outfit is Uric
Bell, long a close New Deal
newSman and A worker for the
White House. Both Ball and the
organization represent an eX-
traordinary if not an extreme
viewpoint which has been quite
clearly presented.
THE accounts Of his bolt neg
Il lected 10 say he submitted
three questions to both Roose-
welt and Dewey, according TO his
own story. These questions rep
resented what he considered the
important matters of the hour:
Cd The world organization
should be set up before the
peace is signed; ~ no TeSeTva-
tions should be permitted, and
CD the United States agent on
the big four council should have
the power TO order the use of
American troops without the
consent of Congress. or possibly
even of the president tthe latter
aspect has not been mentioned).
Ball says both Dewey and
Roosevelt answered the first
two questions satisfactorily to
him. AS a matter of fact they
did so publicly, and not in con-
nection with the Ball inquiry,
which Mr.. R. shunted aside at a
press conference as "prema-
ture.
But a few days later in his
foreign policy speech, Mr..
Roosevelt advocated the use Of
war power by the United States
agent on the council, saying It
would take too long in these
days OF undeclared wars to get
congressional consent. He did
not say anything about the
agent getting presidential con-
sent. At that time Dewey. had
not answered.
GO BALL aggresSively pierced
~ the unity on foreign policy
between the Republican and
Democratic leadership TO raise
an issue which certainly tran
scends the Importance of his
bolt. (He has no personal po-
litical following of Importance
in Minnesota where the pre-
vailing Stassen organization of
which he was a member is say
ing that Ball got the big
head. )
The question then is not
whether there shall be a weak
or strong foreign policy, or any
other question than whether an
American diplomat shall have
the unrestralned power to de-
clare war. That is an issue
which might well have been de-
layed for settlement after this
campaign is over.
II was pressed into this cam
paign not by isolationists or
fascists or disruptioniSts, but by
Ball and his organization. OBJ
viously they do not want unity
on foreign policy unless il be
unity behind them on the third
point.
The only issue then is:
"Shall the L. $. agent on the
peace board declare war;"
II seems to me that question
could have been resolved ami
cably and satisfactorily without
disturbing the unity which State
Secretary Hull and Dewey have
worked so long and hard to pre-
serve.
MR.. ROOSEVELT proposed
I'l that Congress give the
agent the unrestralned author
ity. Personally l do not believe
that remedy will stand.
The Constitution gives the
power of declaring war to the
representatives of the people in
Congress, and the Constitution
cannot he amended by a major
ity of Congress. Ratification by
three fourths of the states
would be necessary, a long and
in this case. needless procedure.
Mr.. r. is short-circuiting the
Constitution here again by pro-
posing Congress delegate its
most important power TO an
agent of the President when he
could attain his objective by
more carefully planned means.
Congress declared in few
hours this war we are in. II
declared the last world war in
even less time. Congress has
never been dilatory in declaring
war.
But If the administration
wishes TO make war declarations
even faster, or easier. it could
limit or prevent debate or even
let the agent act and then have
his action subject 10 approval
by Congress. 1t should GER
tainly require the agent TO re-
port TO the President and Con-
gresS before acting or set some