Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-31

1941 boldly announcing the new
concept. For controversial inter-
national acts the Senate method
chat is. the treaty method) may
well be quietly abandoned. and the
instruments handled as executive
agreements.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
had done something like this eight
years earlier, many will recall, and
got eventual approval of the Su-
preme Court. He entered into an
agreement with Ambassador Maxim
Litvinov of Russia in 1888 on dis
tribution of assets of nationalized
Russian insurance company. New
York State had another plan for
distributing the New York City as
sets of the Russian company. The
Supreme Court ruled. in the case of
United States .. Pink, that contrary
to New York State law, the Federal
Government was able to take pos
session Of the property to satisfy
claims of another class of creditors.
thanks to the ROOSEVELT itvinov
executive agreement.
President Roosevelt was not ex-
actly setting a precedent, however,
in extending the executive agree
ment formula into the treaty field.
sura agreement Of 1905. for instance.
was negotiated secretly and not re-
vealed until 1924. 1t provided that
the United States would not inter-
fere with Japanese ambitions in
Korea in return for q japanese
promise to disclaim territorial con-
quest Of the Philippines. In this
fragrant abuse Of the treaty power.
the first President Roosevelt clearly
used an executive agreement in a
matter which should have been
handled as a treaty, requiring Sem
ate ratification.
Secretary of State Robert Lam
sing. under President Wilson. Sc
cretly negotiated an agreement with
Viscount Kikujiro Ishii of Japan
committing the United States to
recognize that territorial propin-
guilty creates special relations be-
tween countries. and consequently.
the Government of the United States
recognizes that Japan has special
interests in China. particularly in
the part to which her possessions
are contiguous" This Lansing-Ishii
pact of 1917 was not made known
until 1922.
YoIto
More recently. of course. there was
the unfortunate Yalta executive
agreement between President Frank
lin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and Premier
Josef Stain. Much Of this pact.
arranged in the Yalta conference of
February, 1945, was not made public
until after the war. In return for
a pledge to enter the Far Eastern
war. the Soviet Union was given the
Kurile Islands, the southern half
of Sakhalin Island, and an occupa-
ton zone in Korea. In addition the
Soviet Union got privileged rights
in Manchuria and in the Chinese
cities Of Dairen and Port Arthur.
President Roosevelt also agreed that
the United States would recognize
Outer Mongolia. which had severed
its connections with China and be-
come a Soviet satellite. In addition,
the United States was committed to
awarding Eastern Poland to the
Soviet Union. while compensating
Poland at the expense Of Eastern
Germany. The Ukraine and Byelo-
russia also got full and equal mem
bership in the United Nations.
1t is high time for America to bark
back to the advice of Thomas JEFF
ferson. who said, TN questions of
power. let no more be said Of con-
fldence in man, but bind him down
from mischief by the chains Of the
Constitution"
Those constitutional chains are
loose today The Bricker amendment
would tighten them.