EXTRA MILLIONS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20137, 5 January 1940, Page 7

EXTRA MILLIONS

> ! COSTS OF DEFENCE CALL BY ROOSEVELT NEW PEACETIME POWERS REACTION OF CONGRESS | PRAISE AND CRITICISM .) (F.b-c. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Jan. 5, 9 a.m.) NEW YORK, Jan. 4. e During his speech at the opening of y Congress yesterday, President Roose3. velt asked that approximately £68,is 000,000 be made available immediately i- for defence, supplementing the appropriations already made for the h year, e The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. i- Charles Edison, asked Congress to vestt. in President Roosevelt vast peace-time _ powers to commandeer factories, materials, ships and other resources. Mr. Q Edison offered no reason. 0 Navy Department officials said that 1 the proposal was of a precautionary nature, s ;t Amid the general Congressional ap- ; plause at President Roosevelt’s pleas for peace economy, sharp disputes broke out over the recommendations for special defence taxes and the con-. y tinuance of the reciprocal trade proe gramme. a Democrats warmly praised the tone of President Roosevelt’s address, esg pecially in relation to the declaration g that the United States must avoid war while trying to promote peace. r Too Indefinite t Many Republicans concurred, al- - though some termed the entire dis--3 cussion of foreign and domestic prob- - lems too indefinite. Both parties split over the questions of trade treaties and defence taxes. : Senator Barkley expressed the opin- : ion that the nation would approve the tax suggestion in lieu of increasing the deficit. Among other typical comments were those of Senator Connally, who said he believed that there would not be any heavy increase in taxation this session ana that the real tax bill would probably be passed in 1941. Senator Vandenberg said: “I welcome tlie desire to put extraordinary expenditures on a pay-as-you-go basis.” Senator Glass, who is 82 years old to-day, said they should have levied the taxes every time they made an appropriation. “You cannot spend without taking from the taxpayers’ pockets,” he added. Sharing, the Burden Senator Walsh said: “I think the money for defence should not be paid by the present generation. Future generations which will benefit should share the burden.” In a leading article, the New York Times says: “This is our world as much as Europe’s. President Roosevelt’s counsel is sound. We have a role to play in the critical times ahead which destiny seems to have marked out for us. That role is to conserve our strength and when the opportunity offers to use it generously and wisely in the work of reconstruction.” The New York Herald-Tribune says: “Rarely have the emotions and excitements of war been more expertly used in an effort to hide failures of domestic affairs than yesterday’s message. It was a beautiful smoke screen. With much that President Roosevelt said regarding the .foreign problems confronting America we agree. We are equally glad to applaud his words on national defence. The contrast between these inspiring portions of the message and the misleading discussions of domestic policies is the measure of the tragic failure of the New Deal.”