A Check for Mr. Jones

Last week Jesse Jones asked the House of Representatives to countersign a blank check already drawn for him by the Senate.

The provisions of the new RFC bill were staggering. If passed, Jones could: 1) Set up any corporation which the President thinks necessary to "expedite the defense program."

2) Lend money (with the President's approval) to any foreign Government, so long as the loan was secured--a device to enable the British to hock their U.S. holdings instead of selling those that now can be disposed of only at a sacrifice.

3) Increase RFC's lending capacity by $1,500,000,000.

To some the prospect of turning Mr. Jones loose with all this money to found any corporations he liked sounded like the finishing blow to U.S. free enterprise.

Even he admitted that the bill would give RFC "the power to do whatever it lacked the power to undertake heretofore." And RFC had lacked very little.

Under present law the RFC corporations can buy strategic materials and even manufacture armaments. Under the new law, RFC will be able to set up in any business at all--in competition with existing enterprises. Kewpie-faced Representative Jesse Wolcott shouted to the House: "This bill would . . . make it possible to establish a Fascist state in the U.S. It would give the President and the Federal Loan Administrator the power to do anything they saw fit to do so long as it was incidental to the defense program."

But even those who considered the bill a dangerously blank check did not worry about Jesse Jones's cashing it. Congress had learned to trust him. Said Hamilton Fish: "I believe that this fund is in safe hands when placed at the disposal of Jesse Jones. ... I would bet on Jesse Jones to outguess and outbargain Hitler, Mussolini. ..." The House passed the bill (218-to-116), sent it on to conference, where no trouble is expected.

By week's end the impact of the bill had reached far beyond Congress. Many a U.S. citizen agreed with Representative Fish that Jesse Jones could be trusted not to misuse his powers in this great emergency. But others looked beyond the emergency and shivered.

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