OCR Text |
Show Bruckart's Washington Digest War Really Between Two Groups With Utterly Selfish Motives Time Has Come When Citizens of United States Must Examine Facts of International Situation; Debates In Congress Should Be Enlightening. By WILLIAM BRUCKART WNU Service, National Press Bid?., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON. With congress reassembled in special session for discussion of, and action on, President Presi-dent Roosevelt's request for modification modi-fication of our so-called neutrality policy, the time appears to have come when citizens of the United States must examine the facts of the international situation. Whether we like it or not, we can hardly ignore those facts any longer. It is Europe's Eu-rope's mess, but that mess is having hav-ing an influence here and will have more influence on our national viewpoint. view-point. A decision must be taken, soon. It may thus be that the present pres-ent extraordinary session of congress con-gress will turn out to be an historic his-toric meeting. Mr. Roosevelt has requested repeal re-peal of the section of the present law that prohibits export of arms, airplanes and some other implements imple-ments of war to all nations engaged in declared hostilities. It will be remembered that he made the same request in the last session, but the senate committee on foreign relations rela-tions said, by its action a few days before adjournment, that it would have none of the plan. Conditions have changed since that time, however, how-ever, and the President is now insisting in-sisting upon repeal of the controversial contro-versial section and the substitution; in its place he is asking for legislation legis-lation jthat will permit any and all foreigners to come here and buy the embargoed war munitions if they pay cash for them and take them away in their own ships. , That, succinctly, is the crux of the modification which Mr. Roosevelt Roose-velt seeks. He has plenty of support for his theory. And there is plenty of opposition, too. Some of the isolationists iso-lationists men who fought Woodrow Wilson and his League of Nations plan men like Senator Borah of Idaho and Senator Johnson of California Cali-fornia are still in the senate. Their numbers have been augmented by fighters of the type of Senator Bennett Ben-nett Clark of Missouri, and Senator Nye of North Dakota, and Senator Vandenberg of Michigan. I think the vote will not be taken at once, in view of the promised discussion. And it probably is well that there will be much debate, for the country will learn more about the two sides to the question. Unseen Factors Involved Is Our Present Concern But while the discussion on the so-called neutrality question is important, im-portant, although the question in my opinion is simply whether we will open the gates for the export of anything we can sell, I am quite convinced our concern should be about the underlying and, at present, pres-ent, unseen factors now involved. It is said that we are extending passive pas-sive aid to Hitler by refusing to allow al-low the British and the French to come here for thousands of planes and millions of odds and ends usable in war. It is said, too, that unless we extend help to the British and the French, our nation eventually must face the onrushing tide of to-talitarism to-talitarism and dictatorship. It can be, and is being, said that unless the arms embargo is lifted, we will have to go in ourselves sooner than otherwise would happen. All of these things can be said and are being said with reference to both sides of the line of fire in Eiirope, but none of the argument has changed my conclusion which has been reached after talking with scores of people who are in a position posi-tion to know the facts abroad. My conclusion remains, and is going to continue to be, that it is Europe's war. I add to that the further thought that our energies should be directed to maintaining peace in North and South America, south of ! the Canadian boundary. Now, there are those who say and they are numerous that repeal of the arms embargo will result in revival of business in the United States, as, indeed, it already has started. A business revival would be swell. Nobody doubts that. But the things like planes and powder that go abroad have to leave our shores. It strikes me that sale of anything, whether planes or powder or wheat or cotton and corn, is likely to bring the war much closer to our shores. It makes me believe that we would be better off if we sold nothing at all. That is, why not modify the policy by placing an embargo on everything that goes to the warring nations and let them fight it out. Utterly Selfish Motives Behind the War in Europe To begin with, there is no moral issue in this war. No one ought to let themselves be kidded about that. The war in Europe right now is a battle between two groups of people with utterly selfish motives. Hitler and his gang have determined to regain that which the British took away from the German people in the World war of 1914-1918, and the British and the French are determined deter-mined not to let him accomplish it. Hitler calls it justice; Chamberlain and Daladier call it brigandage. Back in 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was written, the Germans shouted brigands and other epithets as the French and the British overruled over-ruled Woodrow Wilson and took what they wanted. Not only did the winners in that war, excepting the United States, take what they wanted, want-ed, but they parceled out other parts of the German empire. Where did the United States finish in that war? It helped win a war to make the world safe for democracy, democ-racy, which turned out to be a sham. And it was left holding the bag. It still is holding the bag, because be-cause little of the eleven billion dollars dol-lars loaned to the allied powers ever has been repaid. Only little Finland Fin-land has kept her promise to pay back the loans. Stripped of all of its jungle of words, therefore, the question thus seems to shape itself. We have nothing to gain, so why not make over our neutrality into the policy of an isolationist? Why not stay out by keeping our stuff here at home? I know I will be rebuked by those who say we cannot afford to close down factories and let cotton and wheat and corn remain unsold. Notwithstanding all of this, there surely is ground for belief that ij would be cheaper in the end, cheaper in money, if you want to deal only in the materialistic side and cheaper in blood, because it may come to that. 'Ocean Patrol' Called by Some a Dangerous Step There are a good many people who believe that the President has taken a potentially dangerous step in ordering what is called an "ocean patrol" while hostilities are on. He has placed ships of the American navy as far as 200 miles at sea, as he explained, that they may obtain ob-tain information as to what is going on out there. The patrol looks like an invitation to some German U-boat U-boat to take a shot at one of our ships. Of course, they would not do so deliberately; they would "mistake" "mis-take" a United States ship for one of the enemy, or that would be their excuse.' And would we be in a dither! There would be cries for a declaration of war that would rock the dome of the Capitol. Mr. Roosevelt said that the patrol program amounted to a steel warning warn-ing to the belligerents to stay on their side of the railroad tracks, or words to that effect: Those who dislike the plan say, however, that we, as a nation, cannot lay claim to the sea as our very own beyond a minimum distance from tide fall. To get back to the neutrality policy, pol-icy, as it is called, I have found many persons who have difficulty in reconciling Mr. Roosevelt's present request of congress with his action respecting enforcement of the provisions provi-sions in the three-year-old war of the Japanese in China. The law gives the President discretionary power in proclaiming its operation, except that it becomes effective almost al-most automatically where there has been a declaration of war by a foreign for-eign power. Boldest Propaganda Now Is Flooding the Country In the meantime and as the fighting fight-ing progresses in Europe, we in America are being flooded with the boldest and the baldest propaganda that can be conceived. From Berlin Ber-lin and other points under Hitler domination, we are being fed so-called so-called news that is as putrid as politics used to be under Pender-gast Pender-gast in Kansas City or Penrose in Pennsylvania. It is amazing that any one believes it. From British and French sources, and from their sympathizers in this country, comes "news" that is censored and controlled and inspired. in-spired. It tells only the things that the French and the British would have us believe. We know just as little about the real underlying facts of the controversy from them as we do from the Germans. It is well to remember that we never have known what kind of an agreement was reached at the Munich conference confer-ence in September of last year. We have absolutely no knowledge of what kind of a sellout was arranged between Hitler and Stalin. Nor do we know what has happened insofar in-sofar as Mussolini is concerned. More important than any of these things, however, are conditions within the United States. I would like to see our congress use some brains and take action that will get us out of the depths of a nine-year depression. It is quite evident that all of the theories that have been tried still remain theories. I am among those who fear that entry into another world war will mark the end of our form of government govern-ment here unless our iiome conditions condi-tions are far better than at present. It seems to me to be more important impor-tant to solve our troubles rather than those of Europe. |