Peace Proposal

Striking out at the world's war makers in his message to Congress last week (see p. 9), President Roosevelt proclaimed U. S. neutrality policy to consist of refusal to belligerents of: 1) all munitions; 2) abnormal quantities of other commodities essential to war. Point No. 1 of the President's policy exists as law only until the Neutrality Resolution passed by Congress last session shall expire on Feb. 29. Point No. 2 has thus far been only a matter of moral suasion by President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull. Few hours before the President spoke, there was introduced in both Senate and House, by Chairman Key Pittman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman Sam D. McReynolds of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, an Administration-backed bill which proposed to make not only these two points but other neutrality ideas permanent parts of the land's law.

Prime new feature of the Pittman-McReynolds bill was a momentous mandatory provision for an embargo on loans and credits to all belligerents. Otherwise the new bill largely strengthens, confirms and makes permanent the peace policy set up by Congress, President and Secretary of State since Italy's Ethiopian campaign sent a great war scare rumbling across the U. S. As in the expiring law, the President in case of war must declare an embargo on arms, ammunition & implements of war against all belligerents, must forbid U. S. ships to carry munitions directly or indirectly to belligerents. He may forbid U. S. citizens to travel on belligerent ships except at their own risk, may close U. S. ports to belligerent ships as bases of supply, to belligerent submarines for any purpose. The new bill supplements these provisions by requiring the President to extend the arms embargo to any new participant in a war, to refuse passports to citizens proposing to sail on belligerent vessels.

The Pittman-McReynolds bill would further allow the President to prohibit shipment to belligerents of abnormal amounts of any commodities essential to war, except food and medical supplies. Kinds and "normal" amounts of commodities would be fixed by him. Modifying its mandatory embargo on loans & credits, the bill would empower the President to permit ordinary commercial credits and short-term obligations necessary to normal business.

Though they promptly introduced a bill changing several of the above Presidential powers from "may" to "must." Senators Nye, Clark and other members of the Congressional peace-by-isolation bloc were, in general, surprised and pleased by the Administration's concessions to their ideas of Neutrality. Meantime this week they planned to bring the nation's peace passion once more to white heat and whoop Neutrality through Congress by haling J. P. Morgan & Co. before their Senate Munitions Investigating Committee, setting out to reveal how much that firm's Allied loans and credits were to blame for sending the U. S. into the War.

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