U.S.A. ARMAMENTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 February 1939, Page 7

U.S.A. ARMAMENTS

STATE PAPER REVELATIONS

EXPORT OF SCRAP IRON [BY CABLE —PRESB ABBN. —COPYBIGHT,] (Feed. February 7, 8 a.m.) WASHINGTON, February 6. Hitherto unpublished papers of the State Department for 1923, released to-day, reveal that the United States adapted a policy of free trade in armaments, during President Harding’s Administration.

The papers disclose that the United States refused to join in the> international agreement proposed by the League of Nations, for the control of the arms traffic, and insisted on freedom in international trade in armaments, because America is dependent almost entirely on the private manufacture of munitions. The Secretary for War (Mr Weeks) commented that the curtailment of

private manufacture would work disadvantageously for the United States. Because they were reelased at the height of the controversy over the sale of aircraft to England and France, the documents, were widely published.

The Press also gives prominence to the warning from Mr-Emery Smith, The 1919 War Industries Board' Commissioner, that the United States could not enter a major war, because of the lack of scrap iron, pointing out that twelve million tons were exported in the last five years. He commented, ‘‘without America’s scrap-iron, there would not have been the SinoJapanese war, or the bellicose European. situation. The childish neutral-

ity cloak has been used to salve our enemies, and to destroy our friends, at the same time stripping America of its natural war protection.” He added that the carrying on of a war was now a “virtual! financial impossibility,” because other countries use scrap, while the United States 1 use newly-mined iron, quadrupling the cost, of heavy armaments. Mr Smith urged an immediate ban on all metallic war material. Mr Roosevelt’s foreign policy is likely to be under fire, immediately Congress resumes to-morrow. Significantly, the critics have not received open support from the Re-

publican leaders. It is. understood that the latter feel the time is not appropriate for an attack on the policy becau,se of the popularity of the defence programme. The leaders said that they feel assailing one is assailing the other. However, there will not be a lack of isolationist spokesmen. One of the leading isolationists, Senator Bridges, declared to-night: “Keeping, 1 out of war would consummate the wish of all straight-think-ing Americans. Twenty-two years ago we found that to reform Europe, we

must perma'nently police it. We helped to rid the German people of the Kaiser, but they got Hitler. Should we relieve them of him? The chance,s are that another twenty years will see an even more dangerous leadership. The solution of Europe’s problems lies in the hands of the people of Europe.”