ACTION NEEDED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 166, 17 July 1939, Page 7

ACTION NEEDED

CAUSE OF PEACE STATEMENT TO CONGRESS MR. CORDELL HULL GOVERNMENT’S NEUTRALITY PROGRAMME (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) Received July 15, 6.20 p.m. ’ WASHINGTON. July 14. In a terse 100-word message, i President Roosevelt forwarded to Congress a statement by the Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull, entitled “Peace and Neutrality.” The President declared that the statement has his full approval, and said he trusted that it would receive the earnest attention of Congress. “It has been abundantly clear to me for some some,” he added, “that for the cause of peace and in the nterest of American neutrality and se- , curity, it is highly advisable that ’ Congress this session should take certain much-needed action in the light , of present world conditions. I can E seen no reason to change that _ opinion.” Mr. Hull’s statement was as folt low:- , “In the present situation of danger ' a peaceful nation like ours cannot L complacently close its eyes and ears ? in formulating a peace and neutrality j policy as though abnormal and critit- cal conditions did not exist . . . This question should, in my judgment, ret ceive full and careful consideration t and be acted upon by this Government without unnecessary and undue . delay. . . . Those who urge the reten- , tion of the present embargo continue I to advance the view that it. will keep the United States out of war, thereby _ misleading the American people to , rely upon a false and illogical delu- [ sion as a means of keeping them out _ of war.” Mr. Hull insisted that it was ilj logical that while trade in arms, 3 ammunition, and implements o? war is banned at present with belligerents, trade in equally essential war materials can con-

tinue. The Secretary then repeated '.he six-point neutrality programme wh s fli the Government, recommends:— 1. Prohibition of American ships from entering combat areas, 2. Restriction of travel by Americans in combat zones. 3. Transfer of title to foreign purchasers for goods exported from the United States to belligerents. 4. Continuation of the forbiddance of loans and credits to warring nations. 5. Regulation of solicitation of funds for belligerents in the United ' States. 6. Continuation of the Munitions Control Board and the system of licensing trade in arms and muni- ’ tions. Improvement on Present Act “There has thus been offered as a substitute for the present Act,” he said, “a far broader and more efficient set of provisions which in no conceivable sense could breed trouble, but which to a far greater extent than the present Act would both aid in making less likely a general war and, while keeping strictly within the limits of neutrality, would reduce as far as possible the risk of this nation being drawn into war if war comes.” Mr. Hull then appealed for cooperation and collaboration between the executive and the legislative branches of the Government on matters of foreign policy, and stressed that the only way in which the United States could prevent involvement in war was by preventing lhe outbreak of war. He then denied that the Administration’s programme aims at aiding or injuring particular foreign countries, and asked for repeal of the arms embargo because it “plays into the hands of those nations which have taken the lead in building up their fighting power.” Mr. Hull concluded by saying that the small countri s are particularly dependent upon nations like lhe

United States which can produce armaments. "Our refusal to make it possible for them to obtain such means of necessary self-defence in time of grave emergency,” he said, "would contribute solely towards making more helpless the law-abiding ind peace-devoted peoples of the world. A Wrong Impression “The present embargo encourages a general state of war both in Europe and in Asia ... Its results are directly prejudicial Io lhe highest interests and the peace and security of ne United States ... I must also refer to the impression which has been sedulously created to the effect th it the sale of arms, munitions, and implements of war by the United States is immoral, and that on this ground it should be suppressed in time of war. As a matter of fact, almost all sales of arms and ammunitions made in recent years by our nationals have been ma’e to Governments whose policies have been dedicated to the maintenance of peace but who have felt the necessity for creating or augmenting their means of national selfdefence and thereby protecting otherwise helpless men, women, and children in the event that other Powers resort to war.”