Show Bruc Bru karts charts washington digest diga U S so national nati onal defense program needs careful study by public president Roosevel ts stab in the back speech causes nation to consider carefully any preparedness suggestions or military policies by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D C washington there are arc many persons throughout the country who are growing more and more disturbed not to say alarmed at the dangers inherent in the administrations so called defense program more and more persons are asking aloud tor for something in the way of an explanation and more and more one meets with situations and conditions in the defense program that cause doubts to arise the climax to this circumstance appears to have developed with the speech which president roosevelt made at the university of virginia the pronouncement that has come to be known as the charlottesville speech early in june from the words uttered there by the president of the united states has come a wide division of opinion on the course our nation is being guided unless I 1 am incapable of reading y X y SENATOR from neutrals to non belligerents signs we will hear reverberations of that speech tor for weeks to come and it is not strange that people everywhere should talk about that speech it was remarkable some folks said it was amazing but however you wish to characterize it there can be no doubt that mr Rob roosevelt sevelt spoke with great depth of feeling when he described dictator mussolini almost personally as a man who stabbed his neighbor france in the back nor can anyone doubt that the president spoke the mind of a vast majority of the american people they feel that way about cowardly decision to join with his bloodthirsty axis partner hitler but it is not a question of how you feel or how I 1 feel as individuals mr roosevelt is president of the united states As such it is dim cult if not utterly impossible to separate parate s himself as an individual from the presidency of a great nation and it if it were possible millions of persons throughout the world still would regard whatever he says as the statement of the president and therefore the statement of the united states as a nation there is a difference presidents official statement carries much importance so regard it as an official view there can be no distinction thus it becomes a matter of grave importance the head of a nation that is officially neutral as between the allies and the dictators has uttered words that place the united states formally on the side of the allies and he did it without approval of congress the congress it is to be remembered is the body authorized by the constitution to declare war and congress has taken no such decision the presidents charlottesville declarations therefore can be termed unwise at the best and probably will be subjected to much more virulent descriptions before the year is is out now another phase of the defense preparations that is causing concern I 1 refer to the policy of supplying gove government rement owned war stocks for use ol of the allies it is common knowledge that the war and navy departments under orders from the president are turning millions of dollars worth of so called surplus war stocks over to manufacturers and private corporations which in turn sell them direct to the allied agents in this country hundreds of army and navy planes hundreds of thousands of rifles some som e thousands of heavy french left over from 1918 millions of rounds of ammunition these and other things stored in army and navy warehouses are being made available to the purchasing missions from france and england through their sale to private corporations the purpose is so obvious that few persons take the trouble any more to explain the nature of the translations it is sufficient to say they are being made available tor for use in defending the democracies against dictatorships ships it happens that the united states signed and the senate of the united states ratified what is called the hague convention this is an agreement among nations of all the world which sets down certain terms and rights and obligations called international law article 6 of the hague convention states the supply in any manner directly or indirectly by a neutral power to a belligerent power of warships ammunition or war materials of any kind whatever is forbidden policy short of war has official approval it is to be recalled moreover that the president has consistently stated that the united states must do everything short of war to aid the allies in their struggle that policy has neen been put pdt forward officially so many times that it seems to occasion no surprise any more it ought to cause surprise however because it is not the pronouncement of a neutral nation I 1 could goon with many instances in which the administration has placed the united states in an odd 1 appearing position for a neutral power senator of michigan a accurately described the picture when he said the other day that president Roosevel ts policies had taken us out of the role of neutrals and have made of us a non bellig erent nation on the allied side the michigan senator had no quarrel with building up a real defense program and he wanted to see that done but senator like eke many others fears there are things being done that may sooner or later be held to be an act of war and when that happens in we go whether we are ready or not and the united states has very little at this stage of the game with which to fight my own feeling is that the national government can give freedom to its citizens to help the allies in any direction that they see fit or are able ta help but the united states as a nation and mr roosevelt as president must be careful of where the whole people are led these things that I 1 have mentioned and countless others each constitutes a half step many half steps even taken slowly will take us to the brink and then it is ever so easy to topple opple off stop hitler movement Is another serious problem another situation ought to be discussed because it is part a and nd parcel ot of the whole problem every day and almost in every way we hear or read statements by persons of official position as well as thousands ot of self appointed saviors of the nation that all of this defense preparation all of these vast expenditures tures all of the emergency actions are necessary and warranted because hitler must be stopped before he gets over here from many persons who have seen the carnage of the current war and from many others who are familiar with the lives and living conditions of europeans I 1 have become convinced co that whether hitler wins or loses or whether there is a stalemate the insane leader of the german reich will face a far greater problem than any he has met in battle it will be the condition of stark and real famine and pestilence it will come after the war just as surely as night follows day all of europe will be involved and the price I 1 of war will be paid my information is that this year of untended intended crops this year of destruction of men is leaving germany germa especially and most of the oth others as well without a semblance of a storehouse of food the fighting men were withdrawn from production early moreover food rationing started in this war in its first weeks whereas it was not used in the first world war until late in the second year and then to a less degree than now there is the machine that will stop hitler from coming over here and it will be effective I 1 repeat therefore that we can prepare to defend ourselves but we need not be hysterical about it |