GOVERNMENT OF ARGENTINA

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24192, 26 February 1944, Page 5

GOVERNMENT OF ARGENTINA

RAMIREZ RESIGNS PRESIDENCY THREE OTHER MINISTERS LEAVE POSTS (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Eec. 11 p.m.) LONDON. Feb. 25. The President of Argentina (General Ramirez) has resigned. A message from Reuter’s correspondent in Buenos Aires says that he has handed over his office to the Vice-President (Colonel Farrell). Announcing his resignation, General Ramirez said: “Exhausted by the strenuous tasks of government, which make it necessary for me to take a rest immediately, I have handed over my office to the Vice-President.” A message from Montevideo says: “Throe key members of the Argentine Government have resigned. They'are the Minister of War and Vice-Presi-dent iColonel Farrell), the Minister of the Interior (General Perlinger), and the Secretary of Labour and Undersecretary for War (Colonel Peron). Colonel Farrell and General Perlinger were full ranking members of the Cabinet. v Colonel Peron had an important influence because of his leadership of the G.0.U., the group of officers responsible for the recent coup, and of the colonels’ clique. No reasons were given for the resignations. All three Ministers are noted for their strong nationalistic sentiments. “It is reported that General Gilbert and Colonel Gonzales, Ministers whose resignations were forced by the G.O.U. earlier in the month, will, take the War and Interior portfolios respectively.”

AXIS AGENTS IN CHILE MANY ARRESTED (Rec. 10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 24. The Chilean police have arrested about 100 Axis agents in the last few days, in a drive to smash the enemy spy ring which formerly operated under the direction of the German Embassy in Buenos Aires, according to an official source. Although direct communication with Germany was broken when Argentina severed diplomatic relations, crews of neutral ships and clandestine radios have been transmitting information to Berlin. The Chilean Government has indicated that drastic and speedy action will be taken against enemy agents. TAX BILL VETO OVER-RIDDEN LEGISLATIVE REBUFF TO ROOSEVELT ACTION BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON, Feb. 24. The House of Representatives has over-ruled Mr Roosevelt’s veto of the Tax Bill. The veto was imposed because Mr Roosevelt considered provision under the bill to be inadequate. His veto was over-ridden by 299 votes to 95. The Senate is expected to follow suit to-morrow. Senator A. W. Barkley, who resigned as majority leader in the Senate, as a protest against Mr Roosevelt’s veto, was unanimously re-elected by a conference of Democratic senators, but this does not mean that he is restored to his former position. He is what amounts to an independent leader for all the Democratic groups. The House vote, which is one of the worst legislative set-backs Mr Roosevelt has ever suffered, is indicative of the extent of the Democratic rebellion. Mr Harold Knutson, of the Ways and Means Committee of the House, immediately called for a complete shqke-up of the Treasury Department. He said that Congress was unable to rely on the Treasury’s tax recommendations. Therefore, he was introducing a bill to establish a Bureau of Internal Revenue as an independent agency “to serve both the President and Congress unfettered by theorists and star-gazers in the Treasury.” “The significance of Senator Barkley’s resignation obviously far transcends the immediate question of the merits of the legislation involved,” states the New York "Herald-Tribune” in a leading article. “The cleavage is far too deep to be repaired by any eleventh-hour repentance by the President, however abject. Two theories have been advanced to explain the growing rift between the President and Congress. Ofie is that Mr Roosevelt, like President Wilson, has become so immersed in world affairs that he has lost touch with public opinion at home. The other is that he has embarked upon a deliberate campaign to discredit the legislative branch as part of his fourth term campaign.” The “New York Times” in a leading article states: “The tone, even more than the fact of Mr Roosevelt’s veto of the Tax Bill, precipitated the crisis in relations between the President and Congress. The intemperate language of the veto was an obvious blunder. The President, in his telegram to Senator Barkley wisely recognised how essential it is for the sake of collaboration with the legislative branch to repair that blunder,” The Washington correspondent of the New York “Herald-Tribune” states that Government officials are anxious to determine whether a Cpngressional revolt'would imperil the hitherto nonpartisan support for foreign policy, such as lend-lease, Unrra. and the purchase of strategic materials. The Associated Press states that the capital was stunned by the revolt. Its repercussions on the steadily-deterior-ating relations between the President and Congress could not immediately be appraised.