Evening star. [volume], September 19, 1939, Page A-9, Image 9

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Neutrality
Definition
Elusive
Problem Tangled
Further by
Russia's Course
By DAVID LAWRENCE.
The finality with which some
members of Congress talk about
“neutrality” and “keeping America
out of war" is rivaled by the per
plexity of offi-.-..
ciais in tne exec- ;
utive branch of |
the Government |
In determining
what is really
meant by the
phrase “neu
tral.”
Thus, Russia
now occupies a |
large portion of
Poland in the
middle of a war.
Does this make g
Russia a bellig- I
O /IaoC
Russia remain David Lawrfnce.
a “neutral” and, as such, eligible
to receive munitions, airplanes and
even battleships from American
shipyards?
The Russian foreign office has
been, careful in its diplomatic notes
to other governments to indicate
that its army entered Poland mere
ly to protect some minorities in
the population in view of the “dis
appearance of the Polish state.”
International law records many an
instance in which a military or
naval force is used to protect na
tionals without involving in any
wav a belligerent status.
Thus the United States landed
an expeditionary force at Vera
• Cruz early in 1914 and occupied the
port for several months as a re
prisal, and no declaration of war
was issued. No European country
regarded America as a belligerent
in that controversy. There have
been similar examples of the move
ment of troops into neighboring
territories without a war declara
tion.
But if Russia is to be regarded
as a “neutral,” and there are signs
that for diplomatic reasons the Brit
ish and French will choose to re
gard the Soviets in that category,
shall America take the initiative in
recognizing that Russia is engaged
in war and add Russia to the list
of countries to which arms may not
be shipped?
These are practical problems
which a fast-changing picture in
Europe has brought to State De
partment officials. Neutrality is no
simple term which can be defined
nowadays, yet thousands of offi
cials of the Government are obliged
by our existing laws to permit the
shipment of arms and ammunition
and airplanes to countries like Rus
sia, Italy and the smaller Balkan
countries which are definitely with
in the German sphere of influence,
and must deny these supplies not
only to the British and French, but
to our next-door neighbor, Canada,
which frankly and honestly accept
ed a belligerent status, though her
self 3.000 miles away from the
« theater of war.
These complexities over enforcing
neutrality are what persuade ex
perts in international law for the
most part to say that the task of
seeing whether articles of contra
band should or should not reach
either side in a war is the task of
belligerents who detain and inspect
cargoes, and is not the task of a
neutral country itself. For one
thing, the whole theory of trans
shipment of contraband through
neutral countries contiguous to a
belligerent has sometimes caused
quotas to be set up whereby a naval
power usually strives to see to it
that importation rights of a neutral
are not abused.
Sooner or later, therefore, in the
present war, the British Navy will
undertake to prevent anything in
excess of given quotas from going
to Holland or the Scandinavian
countries, or to Russia and Italy.
If American ships are used in this
trade between the United States
and certain neutral countries, then
the danger of submarine attacks will
persist, just as the danger of seizure
by the allied naval forces.
Neutrals’ Obligation Limit.
Under international la\v there is
ho obligation on any neutral shipper
to find out what happens eventually
to his exports. But under the exist
ing Federal statute passed by Con
gress in 1937, the obligation of de
termining the ultimate destination
of a shipment has been added to
America s enforcement staff. Anybody
who makes a fraudulent statement as
to ultimate destination is. of course,
subject to prosecution. But Euro
peans are not as simple-minded as
that. They arrange for bona fide
shipments from the United States to
bona fide recipients in neutral coun
tries. The American agents actually
know nothing about the ultimate
destination, even though they may
be suspicious about it. All they
know is that orders are placed by
persons in neutral countries. The
belligerents then arrange with a
different set of agents Sor trans
shipment. 9
Under such circumstances, Amer
ican officials nevertheless are sup
posed to trace the cargoes to the
ultimate user, but this is a sad story
in the history of the American serv
ice on customs matters. Little
help has been given American agents
in finding out what Is happening in
ternally in another country. Yet the
present law more or less puts the
burden on the neutrality staff of the
executive branch of the Government.
Neutrality will become, so far as
these matters of shipment are con
cerned. an almost unworkable and
impractical task before the war has
gone many months. That is why
the plan to sell anything to anybody
and transfer the title at the sea
coast, putting the responsibility for
transportation on foreign countries,
is being pressed by the Department
of State as the most practical way
out—and a formula, incidentally,
that conforms to international law.
(Reproduction Rights Reserved/)
German Captives Landed
LONDON, Sept. 19 f/P).—A British
warship has landed 33 German
sailors captured in the sinking of
the Carl Fritzen September 4 at
the Falkland Islands, the Ministry
of Information announced last
night.
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The Capital Parade
'Limited Emergency' Proclamation Called
Only Forerunner of More Embracive One
By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBERT KINTNER.
The President’s proclamation of a "limited emergency” has started
talk which will not be stopped. It is said to be only the forerunner of
another proclamation of full emergency. It is suspected of calling into
being large but ill-deflned powers which lurk, mysteriously and threaten
ingly, in forgotten purlieus of the Federal statute books. It is thought
to be the first step toward putting the Nation cm a "wartome basis.”
It is true that there was little discoverable reason for the presidential
proclamation, beyond the Rooseveltian taste for public drama. But
practically everything that is being said about the proclamation, now that
the first calm comments seem to be forgotten, is either exaggerated or
incorrect.
On the one hand, there is the emphasis on the proclamation’s
"limitation.” Since the limitation was a statement that the emergency
concerned preservation of neutrality and the national defense, it cannot
be considered very circumscribing. He would be a poor Government law
yer, indeed, who could not find some connection with national defense or
neutrality in virtually any contemplated move. Then, on the other hand,
the emergency powers which the president can exercise under the procla
mation are just about one-tenth as great as has been generally supposed.
His Powers
Following is a list of them, drawn from Justice Department studies
prepared, presumably, for the President's use:
i. ne may incorporate me
Coast Guard in the Navy; call Na
tional Guard officers to active
duty (but not for more than 15
consecutive days); designate any
place as a military area guarded
from spies and stray photographers; \
command the construction of
emergency forts, and in general
improve and round out the mili
tary establishment in various minor
wavs. His alreadv-taken stem to
ward bringing the Army and Navy up to full strength did not even require
emergency authorization.
2. He may certify the existence of an emergency to the Interstate
Commerce Commission, thus obtaining broad powers over the Nation’s
transport. Besides putting the railroads pretty much in his hands, these
powers permit him to do such things as arrange for the construction of
additional transport equipment.
3. By a similar certification to the Maritime Commission, he can
obtain similar powers over water transport.
4. He may lower tariffs, but only for the stated purpose of facilitating
the importation of food, clothing and medical supplies needed in emer
gency relief work.
5. He may restrict the use of American ports by submarines or other
armed vessels of foreign nations.
6. He can close the banks or make rules restricting their business, may
take control of foreign exchange trading, and can close the stock ex
changes.
7. On certification of an emergency to the Communications Commis
sion, he can suspend or amend the regulations concerning radio broad
casting, may close stations for certain specific reasons, or may take them
over on payment of just compensation. At the same time, he is specifically
and strongly prohibited from infringing in any way upon freedom of
speech on the radio.
The Real Limits
There is no space to give the history of the various powers set forth
above. It is sufficient to say that most of them could have been exercised
by the President in any case without
sucn a general statement of emer
gency as the recent proclamation,
and, in order to be exercised now,
will require further proclamations
s explaining such actions as may be
proposed.
/ At first glance the powers mav
^ seem great, but the truth is they are
r* no greater than those potentially
enjoyed by any President. The ma
juiny 01 mem nave oeen dormant
since the last war because events and public opinion did not call
for their exercise. The same restriction on their use exists now as has
always existed. Finally, it may be added that, of the actual wartime
powers granted President Wilson, only the power to close the banks has
survived as a peacetime authorization. It was saved after the World War
because international exchanges were then in such a troubled state. And
the memory of the way it was suddenly pulled out of the hat in 1933 is
probably the real source of the current widespread worry.
(Released by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)
HA-HA
HA I
A
Marlon Talley Wins *
Daughter's Custody
By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Sept. 19.—Marlon
Talley has won her court fight to
gain custody of her 4-year-old
daughter, Susan.
The 32-year-old former Kansas
opera singer was awarded the child
nine months each year by Judge
Alfred Frankenthaler yesterday in
upholding a court referee's report.
The father, Adolf G. Eckstrom,
Miss Talley's former voice teacher,
was granted custody for the other
three months.
Miss Talley charged Mr. Eckstrom
had demanded $150,000 to settle their
matrimonial difficulties and give her
possession of the child.
Although Mr. Eckstrom denied this,
Judge Frankenthaler in his decision
“seriously questioned’’ whether the
father's attitude "is entirely free
from ulterior motives.”
CTHE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not
i necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The
Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its
readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among
themselves and directly opposed to The Star's.
The Political Mill
New Dealers Inconsistent in Declaring
Politics Adjourned and Claims for 1940
By G. GOULD LINCOLN.
New Deal supporters of the writing
variety in one sentence demand that
politics be adjourned because of the
war in Europe, and in the next,
i u u u. * jr u’
claim that Pres- s
ident Roosevelt,
through his ac
tivities to date j
in the “limited ij
emergency,” has |
made certain I
h i s renomina- 1
tion and re-elec
tion in 1940. The
question arises:
Is politics to be
adjourned in the g
interest of na- I
tional safety or I
perpetuation Of G- Gould Lincoln,
the New Deal administration?
Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of
Michigan, who has been a leading
candidate for the Republican presi
dential nomination, in a speech in
his home town. Grand Rapids, to
the Kent County Republican Club
on Saturday, asserted emphatically
that politics should not be adjourned
for the sake of continuing the New
Dealers in power. He handled the
New Dealers without gloves, insist
ing that President Roosevelt and
his followers had prevented recov
ery in this country and had failed
utterly to bring back prosperity.
“Unneutral to Change Now.”
The Michigan Senator, rightly or
wrongly as it may be viewed, is op
posed to the President’s plan to re
peal the embargo against the sale
of American-made arms and muni
tions to the European belligerents.
He thinks it is an unneutral act to
change the law now and* will be a
step toward getting this country
into war. He is expected to be a
leader in the congressional battle
now about to begin. Obviously. Sen
ator Vandenberg has only stuck to
the position which he assumed sev
eral years ago—while others, includ
ing a vast majority of the members
of Congress who now favor repeal,
have abandoned their earlier posi
tion, since they helped to write the
embargo into law. But already Mr.
Vandenberg is being accused by New
Dealers of playing personal politics
in his opposition to the President's
demand for repeal of the embargo.
It is only a step from this kind
of thing to charging all members
of Congress who oppose the Presi
dent on anything he proposes with
playing partisan and selfish politics.
It makes no difference how con
scientious they may be in their op
position. And so politics is ad
journed, but adjourned in one di
rection only.
x-ieaiucut rwuseveii, s cauceuauon
of a speech which he had planned
to make to Democratic women has
been hailed as a real gesture toward
“an adjournment of politics.” His
invitation to former Gov. Alf M.
Landon of Kansas and Col. Frank
Knox of Chicago. Republican nomi
nees for President and Vice Presi
dent in 1936, to attend his confer
ence with congressional leaders at
the White House tomorrow, is re
garded as another such gesture. But
are Mr. Landon and Col. Knox to be
accused of playing partisan politics
if they fail to agree with the Presi
dent over the arms embargo repeal,
or with any of his other plans?
People's Mind Diverted.
Senator Vandenberg does not ac
cept any suggestion that domestic
politics shall be adjourned or that
domestic problems, including deficit
spending and unemployment, be
relegated to the cellar and attic, not
to be seen or heard until after the
national elections of 1940. He made
that very clear in his Grand Rapids
speech.
The increasing apprehension in
this country over the European war
situation, the desire to have this
country remain out of the conflict
and the desire to have American
commerce get full advantage from
the world situation, all tend to take
the minds of the people off domestic
issues. And, domestically, the New
Deal administration was in a mess
before the outbreak of the war. It
is the aim of Senator Vandenberg
and other opponents of the New
Deal to keep the domestic situation
in the minds of the American peo
ple, in the hope that when election
time rolls round next year, they
will turn the New Dealers out of
control of the Government. This,
of course, is politics, but Senator
Vandenberg and others say it is Jus
tifiable politics and in the interests
of the American people. And they
point out another thing—this coun
try is not now engaged in war, nor
is it allied to any of the belligerents.
If war comes, the American peo
ple will close ranks and support the
Government. But if war does not
come, there is no particular reason,
in the opinion of Mr. Vandenberg
and other anti-New Dealers, Demo
crats as well as Republicans, why
the American people should unite to
re-elect the present regime. In fact,
they have just the reverse in their
minds.
Billions for Defense Better.
Bernard M. Baruch, head of the
War Industries Board in this coun
try during the World War, in an in
terview with the Associated Press,
declared that this country should
prepare to defend itself on both the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans—with
an adequate fleet in each ocean.
This, he asserted, is the only way
that America can be sure of peace
in the future. In addition to a
greatly increased naval strength, Mr.
Baruch proposed that the land forces
and the air forces be added to ma
terially. This suggestion will find
support in many quarters. In a
world which has abandoned, appar
ently, everything except the rule of
force, reason and justice are not
alone able to cope with the situation.
Americans generally are alive to
the need of adequate defense. And,
generally, they are in favor of pro
viding such defense. They would
much rather spend billions for de
fense, if necessary, rather than com
mit this country to foreign entan
gling alliances. They would rather
spend a huge sum of money build
ing up the Navy than to spend the
money—and much more—to carry
on a war in Europe or anywhere else.
Under the leadership of President
Roosevelt long steps already have
been taken to strengthen the Amer
ican Navy and the air defenses of
the country. It requires time, how
ever, to construct naval vessels. The
sooner the program is completed
the better off this country will be.
There will be opposition to the
Baruch idea of naval increase. There
will be plenty of those who say: "If
we just mind our own business and
maintain friendly relations with the
nations of the world, there is no
need for greatly increased armed
forces.” The trouble about it, how
ever, is that other nations have
given no indication that they will
be content to mind their own busi
ness, or to maintain friendly rela
tions with the United States. Some
of them have already been treading
! ~ "
on Uncle Sam's toes. And some have
indicated they did not care to re
spect the Monroe Doctrine. It Is
necessary to be realistic.
Glenn Frank Pleads
For Neutrality Effort
By the Associated Press.
DES MOINES. Iowa, Sept. 19 —
Pleading that Americans, regardless
of political views, Support every
effort to keep the country' out of
the current war. Dr. Glenn Frank
of Chicago told a Constitution Day ,
dinner audience here last night: 1
‘‘If we keep our heads now, we
can be a healing and constructive
force when the war is over.
‘‘If we lose our heads now, we
shall be simply one of the victims
at the end.”
Dr. Frank spoke to 400 persons
attending a Republican Constitution
Day dinner. He is chairman of
the Policy Committee of the na
tional Republican organization.
Bureau Aids Citizens
Enfield. England, has organized a
citizens’ air bureau to assist in solv
ing personal problems in wartime.
Headline Folk
And What
They Do
Stalin's Ruthlessness
Wins Him Highest
Spot in Russia
By LEMUEL F. PARTON.
As Carl Sandburg sings the "Good
Boy” song. It runs like this: “I have
led a quiet youth, wed to peace and
study. I shall have an old age
ribald, coarse
anu uiuuuj.
t It would per
I haps mark some
E turning point in
B the career of
1 little Joseph
g D z s h u gashvili,
2 on his way on
B ward and up
J ward. When he
B was 13. his moth
B er gave him a
1 big goat's milk
J cheese and sent
■ him trudeine far
over the hills to
suiin. a church school,
to study for the priesthood, as she
admonished him to be a good boy.
He studied hard, and a year later
won a scholarship in a theological
seminary.
His father was a cobbler. They
lived in a cellar. Their food was
black bread and cabbage soup.
There was alw'ays poverty and
meanness and tyranny in their
wretched little village in the Cau
casus. He was grubby, dirty and
illiterate when they marched him
off to the church school. He was
16 when, studying for the priest
hood, he joined an organization of
revolutionary youth.
Before the death of Lenin, there
were 72 "old Bolsheviks” who had
made the revolution. There are
now two of them alive—Stalin and
Leon Trotsky. At a time when he
had Russia firmly in his grip, such
names as Kameneff,, Radek and
Tchitcherin were widely known
throughout the world—but not
Stalin. His ascendency was the
quiet and ruthless manipulation of
a political machine. In his famous
"testament,” written shortly before
his death, Lenin said:
"Comrade Stalin, having become
General Secretary, has concentrated
an enormous power in his hands,
and I am not sure that he always
knows how to use that power with
sufficient caution. Stalin is too
rude, and this fault, entirely sup
portable among us Communists, be
comes insupportable in the office
of General Secretary. Therefore
I propose to the comrades to find
a way to remove Stalin from that
position, and to appoint to it an
other man who in all respects dif
fers from Stalin, namely one more
patient, more logical, more polite,
more attentive to comrades, and
less capricious.”
But, by that time. Stalin had the
comrades pretty well sewed up.
We, the People
London Assailed for Attack on Wallace
Assurance of Ample Food Supplies
By JAY FRANKLIN.
Whether it be considered as an attack on American unity or merely
an inherent characteristic of our economic system, the rise in the price
of food since the outbreak of the European war is the most serious
problem which confronts the Roosevelt administration.
One thing ought to be emphasized at once. On the whole, the
farmers are not getting the benefit of this profiteering. Farm prices
have been unwholesomely and dangerously low for the last year and
unless farm income rises, we face a social catastrophe. The beneficiaries
of the price-jumping have been the processors, the speculators, the
middlemen generally.
For that reason public opinion should repudiate the attitude taken
by Alf M. Landon of Kansas—Republican candidate for the presi
dency in 1936—who attacked Henry Wallace for reassuring the public
that there were abundant food supplies. European war will raise the
price of American food quite enough without politicians encouraging
the commercial Interests involved to make an undisturbed killing. We
can give the farmer the break he deserves only if we dissociate his
interests from the speculators—political as well as financial—who assume
to speak for agriculture.
Says Hoover Responsible
As a matter of cold historical fact, the man who is mainly responsible
for the buying panic is Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, former food administrator
l! ln the Wilson wartime administra
nun. mi. xiuuver aia a superD jod
of syphoning American food stuffs
out of the United States into the
t war zone, creating an artificial scar
! city in a land of agricultural abun
dance. Wheatless days, meatless
' days, limitation of sugar were still
> strong in the public memory. Thus
it became a matter of instinct with
-• I y t/g* many Housewives 10 rusn 10 me
""" —'-v .. crK' corner grocery and lay In stocks of
sugar and flour, in spite of the fact that these two particular commodi
ties were drugs on the market which were selling at close to give-away
prices.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that war not only tends to reduce
agricultural production in belligerent countries—partly by taking men for
the armies and partly as a direct result of military operations—and that
it increases the demand for food, since fighting men must receive more
generous rations than men on the dole or in sweated industries. This
increased demand—coupled with submarine warfare which makes North
America the most economical base of supply for Western Europe—is bound
to raise the price of food over here.
Rising Costs Threaten Relief
This forceS'Mr. Roosevelt to act, if the war threatens to be a long one
(two years is the minimum period of hostilities expected in Washingtoni.
Even a “war-baby” industrial boom and expanding munitions factories
cannot absorb our 13,000.000 unemployed overnight. In the meantime,
rising costs of living threaten the entire system of relief, the whole struc
♦ urn nf inductri o 1 ti'O rtoc tViO
mestic budgets and the solvency of
all American homes. At the least, it
would lead to fresh industrial con- i
flict, and might produce food riots j
in our large cities, if allowed to go
unchecked. ‘
So the first domestic issue aris- (
ing out of the European war is apt '
to take effect in the most contro
versial field known to American
farm commodities and the limitation of the profits of processors and
middlemen. This means either stretching the “national emergency”
powers of the President or the enactment of new legislation. It means
headaches and hot words in any case, and a revival of the bitter charges
of "socialism” which the friends of the "profit motive” have raised when
ever the New Deal strove to protect the consumer. Yet this is the first
I thing Mr. Roosevelt must do if he is to maintain national unity in the
present crisis.
(Released by the Consolidated News Features, Inc )
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