CONGRESS: Admonition “I have come back to Washington with an open mind. Whether I vote for re peal of embargoes or retention of them, my vote . . . will be for the means which I believe best calculated to keep the Unit ed States out of war. That we must do.” Illinois’ Sen. Scott Lucas, a mid- dle-of-the-road Democrat, was bold enough to admit publicly what most of the nation's 531 legislators ad- mitted only to themselves: That no man could stamp his foot and say there was only one way to keep the U. S. out of Europe's war. But a few who took their seats in Franklin Roosevelt's third special session (and the nation's twenty-fifth since 1797) were highly opinionated, 100 per cent positive that only the arms When the President left the floor, so did 17 isolationists of the Borah- LaFollette-Nye-Clark school. Ring- ing in their ears was one presiden- tial admonition: “Letno . . . group + + . assume exclusive protectorate over the future well-being of Amer- ica . . Let no group assume the exclusive label of the peace bloc. We all belong to it.” After the 17 met, California's crusty Hiram Johnson made an an- nouncement: “We are ready to fight from hell to breakfast.” ASIA: Mystery Amazingly brief was Japan's re- action when the U. S. abrogated its 1911 trade treaty last summer. One reason was the Pmmediate up- surge of interest in Europe's dog- fight. But one thing led to another, Japan made peace with Russia, and British-French interests in the Ori- ent were left to fall under Japanese influence. These problems settled, pugnacious Nippon dusted off the U. S. treaty abrogation, mixed it with America’s decision to reinforce her Pacific garrisons, and concoct ed from these ingredients a puz- zling diplomatic issue. Something was in the air. On three successive days Tokyo news- papers carried what were obvious- ly government-inspired editorials “2 ILLINOIS’ LUCAS Like many, he didn’t know. embargo they pushed through con- America neutral. Nye, Michigan's Vandenberg and Missouri's Clark. But national leaders, being mere- ly men, were confronted with the same confusion as the nation: The more they thought about arms em- bargo vs. ‘cash and carry,” the more they argued about straight in- ternational law vs. specific neutral- ity legislation, the less positive they were about everything save one fact, that the U. S. must keep out of war, Day before congress opened, poli- tics found itself ‘‘adjourned’ for 85 minutes, To the White House went Republicanism’s 1936 standard bear- ers, Alf Landon and Col Knox, to talk with Franklin Roose- : confused, for there were rumors he had decided to supplement straight away arms in their own ships) with old-fashioned international law. His thesis: One principle of internation. al law never disputed is that bel- ligerents have the right to purchase anything they need in neutral coun- tries. Only concrete results of the con- ference were the platitudes every- one expected, announced by White House Secretary Steve Early: (1) “The conference with unani- mous thought discussed the primary objective of keeping the U. S. neu- tral and at peace. (2) “There was complete accord that . the whole subject . be dealt with in a wholly non- partisan spirit.” Next day, at 2 p. m., the assem- bled houses of congress heard Mr. Roosevelt's recommendations: ‘Let those who seek to retain the present embargo position be wholly consistent and seck new legislation to cut off cloth and copper and meat and wheat and a thousand other ar- ticles from all the nations at war. “I seek a greater consistency through repeal of the embargo pro- visions and a return to international law . 1 give you my deep and unalterable conviction that by the repeal . the United States will more probably remain at peace than if the law remains as it stands to- day , . . “May you, by your deeds show the world that we of the United States are one people, of one mind, one spirit, one clear resolution, walking before God in the light of the living.” NOTABLES In the news DUKE OF WINDSOR was named major general of British expeditionary forces and planned to go back to France. CHARLES M. SCHWAB, native of Loretto, Pa., who rose to con- trol billions of dollars in the steel industry, was buried at New York. KERMIT ROOSEVELT, son of the late President Theodore Roosevelt, reportedly renounced his U. 8. citizenship and became an Englishman to join the British ministry of shipping. influence in the Far East the U. 8S. is threatening to come forward and . . protect its rights and interests in China, thus giving rise to a greater likelihood € “Neither Japan nor the United States seeks war We desire to judge the situation coolly . . .” Trying to figure out this uncalled- for war talk, the Chicago Daily News’ being prepared for “any drastic American move.” To oth- ers, it sounded like Tokyo was mak- ing a propaganda buildup to justify anti-American moves in China. LABOR: Peace in Wartime Europe's bloody picture mestic affairs and suddenly realized October is U. 8S. month. At Cincinnati the American John Lewis’ Congress for meet in San Francisco October 10. But there was no sign of peace be- tween these two warring factions, internal warfare is bad busi- ness in a time of world war. Soon, however, there were indi- cations the White House would move for peace, as it has done the past two years. The President con- ferred with A. F. of L.'s Daniel MADAME PERKINS What can you do? Tobin, a leading advocate of labor unity. At his press conference he assured reporters he would address a message to the A. F. of L. con- vention, and that “it would be a good guess’ to say the message probably would mention peace. Secretary of Labor Frances Per- kins also did a little campaigning. She told how both factions have asked representation on the new war resources board. Her quandry: If you appoint a representative of both factions, will they carry their fight into the board? Or can you appoint only one representative and say that he truly represents all la- bor without bringing protests from the other groups? : MISCELLANY: Thanksgiving Because President Roosevelt pro- claimed Thanksgiving on November 23, and because Gov. George A. Wil. son designated November 30, the Clayton county, Iowa, board of su- pervisors proclaimed a third date, November 16, ‘so as not to conflict with the dates set by the President and the governor.” THE WAR: Words Guns stil! boomed at a nearby Polish outpost when Adolf Hitler rode triumzhantly into Danzig, “We greet you . . . The city is decked for you,” shouted Albert Forster, who is Der Fuehrer's latest Konrad Henlein. “I am happy to greet you, my faithful gauleiter,”” answered the man whose armies were even then wiping up the spilled blood of Po- land. Then he launched into a speech which the British ministry of informatien shortly called “full of the crass misstatements which usually fall from his (Hitler's) lips.” Typical “misstatements’’: € “The Duce (Mussolini) made pro- posals which Germany and France accepted but Britain refused.” ¢ ‘Poland chose war because the western powers stated that the Ger- man army was worthless, that the German people were low in morale and that there was a breach tween the German people and its leadership.” Germany and Russia reached an agreement. They are now relieved of . . . uncertainty.” Next day, as the New York stock market boomed in hopes of a long war, Britain's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain answered him: “Among the many misstatements . . I wish to refer . . . to the statement that the French govern- ment agreed to Italian mediation while His Majesty's government re- fused.” “Our purpose . is to redeem Europe from perpetual and recur- ring fear of German aggression. No threats will deter us or our French allies from this purpose.” On the third day French Premier Edouard Daladier had his inning, tracing step-by-step every broken promise that litters Adolf Hitler's trail from the reaffirmation of Lo- carno to the rape of Poland. Then: “Germany already has prepared the dismemberment of France. Maps showing France amputated been printed , . But France has arisen . . . We will end the war only when we can ensure the security of France.” In the East Completed was Russia's vali “rescue” of 11,000,000 white Rus- sians and Ukrainians (plus several million Poles) who were “left to their fate’ when the Polish state col- NETHERLANDS (GERMAN TROOPS) CENTERING HERE ANVWY¥3IO WHERE SAAR | BATTLE RAGES BELGIUM'S WORRY Will history be repeated? lapsed undef Germany's invasion. Nazi and Soviet chiefs conferred in Moscow on Poland's new partition, presumably deciding to leave a small, hamstrung buffer state. Lithuania and Slovakia were each given a small slice of the Polish pie. But as war ebbed in Poland, other eastern nations grew fearful Ru- mania’s neutrality was threatened outside and inside: (1) on the north by Russian-German proximity; (2) on the east by an expected Turk- ish-Russian pact which might close her Black sea outlet; (3) internally by violence, illustrated in the assas- sination, mans, of anti-Nazi Prime Minister Armand Calinescu. Meanwhile Der Fuehrer's fast- growing eastern empire suffered growing pains. While millions of sullen Poles presented a constant threat of rebellion, London and Paris heard insistent reports of up- risings among Czechs and Austrians. In the West For the moment, fearful on two counts: 70 Nazi divisions were being moved from Poland to the western front; (2) Aachen, the town from which Germany jumped into Belgium in 1914, was evacuated of civilians and became a concentration point for about to be repeated? At Sea As the British" airplane carrier Courageous went down, its 578 dead Prime Minister Chamberlain report. ed 31 allied or neutral ships had been sunk by U-boats, also that the allies have sunk seven or eight German subs, Comparison: In April, 1917, peak month of the World war's sea fighting, average British tonnage loss per week was 127,000, or 30 ships. For the week ending September 19 in the present war, Britain lost 45,000 tons, or 13 ships. Biggest U. 8. concern in the sea war: Several American cargoes had been confiscated Britain; at least one American steamer, the Wascos- ta, had been stopped and searched by a German su WASHINGTON. — With congress reassembled in special session for discussion of, and action on, Presi- dent Roosevelt's request for modi- fication of our so-called neutrality policy, the time appears to have come when citizens of the United States must examine the facts of the international situation. Whether we like it, or not, we can hardly ignore those facts any longer. It is Eu- rope’'s mess, but that mess is hav- ing an influence here and will have A decision must be taken, point. It may thus be that the pres- soon. gress will turn out to be an his- toric meeting. Mr. Roosevelt has requested re- peal of the section of the present law that prohibits export of arms, airplanes and some other imple- ments of war to all nations engaged in declared hostilities. It will be remembered that he made the same request in the last session, but the senate committee on foreign rela- before adjournment, that it would have none of the plan. have changed since that time, how- ever and the President is now in- versial section and the substitution; lation that will permit any and al foreigners to come here embargoed war munitic pay cash away in their o That, the the modification w Mr. velit seeks. He has plenty of support for his theory. of opposition, too. ns if they take them crux of Roose succinctly, Wilson and his League of Nations plan—men like Senator Borah of Idaho and Senator Johnson of Cali- fornia-—are still in the senate. Vandenberg of Michigan. in view of the promised discussion. will be much debate, for the country will learn to the question. Unseen Factors Involved Is Our Present Concern But while the so-called neutrality que portant, although the qu opinion is simply whether we will open the gates for the export of anything we can sell, I am quite onvinced our concern should be about the underlying and, at pres- ent, unseen factors now involved. It tion is Im- in war. It is said, too, that unless we extend help to the British and the French, our nation eventually talitarism and dictatorship. the arms embargo is lifted, we will have to go in ourselves sooner than otherwise would happen. All of these things can be said and are being said with reference to both sides of the line of fire in Europe, but none of the argument has changed my conclusion which has been reached after talking with tion to know the facts abroad. My continue to be, that it is Europe's war. I add to that the further Now, there are those who say-— revival of business in the United States, as, indeed, it already has started. A business revival would Nobody doubts that. But the things like planes and powder It strikes me that sale of | or wheat or cotton and corn, is | modify the policy by placing an | embargo on everything that goes to the warring nations and let them fight it out. Utterly Selfish Motives Behind the War in Europe To begin with, there is no moral {ssue in this war. No one ought to let themselves be kidded about that. The war in Europe right now is a battle between two groups of people with utterly selfish motives. Hitler and his gang have determined to regain that which the British took away from the German people in the World war of 1914-1918, and the British and the French are deter- mined not to let him accomplish it, Hitler calls it justice; Chamberlain and Daladier call it brigandage. Back in 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was written, the Germans shouted brigands and other epithets as the French and the British over- ruled Woodrow Wilson and took what they wanted. Not only did the winners in that war, excepting the United States, take what they want. ed, but they parceled out other parts of the German empire. Where did the United States finish in that war? It helped win a war to make the world safe for democ- racy, which turned out to be a sham. And it was left holding the bag. It still is holding the bag, be- cause little of the eleven billion dol- lars loaned to the allied powers ever has been repaid. Only little Fin- land has kept her promise to pay back the loans. Stripped of all of its jungle of words, therefore, the question thus seems io shape itself. We have of an isolationist? Why not stay home? I know I will be rebuked by those who say we cannot afford to close down factories and let cotion and wheat and corn remain unsold. 0 his, there urely is ground for belief that it in money, if you want to deal only "4 wi Some a Dangerous Step There are a good many people who believe that the President has taken a potentially dangerous step in ordering what is called an “ocean patrol” while hostilities are on. He has placed ships of the American navy as far as 200 miles at sea, as he explained, that they may ob- tain information as to what is going on out there. The patrol looks like an invitation to some German U- boat to take a shot at one of our ships. Of course, they would not do so deliberately; they would “mis- take’ a United States ship for one of the enemy, or that would be their excuse, And would we be in a dither! There would be cries for a declaration of war that would rock the dome of the Capitol. Mr. Roosevelt said that the patrol program amounted to a steel warn- ing to the belligerents to stay on their side of the railroad tracks, or words to effect. Those who dislike the plan say, however, that we, as a nation, cannot lay claim to the sea as our very own beyond a minimum distance from tide fall. To get back to the neutrality pol- icy, as it is called, I have found many persons who have difficulty in reconciling Mr. Roosevelt's present request of congress with his action respecting enforcement of the provi- sions in the three-year-old war of the Japanese in China. The law gives the President discretionary power in proclaiming its operation, except that it becomes effective al- most automatically where there has been a declaration of war by a for- eign power. Boldest Propaganda Now Is Flooding the Country In the meantime and as the fight. ing progresses in Europe, we in America are being flooded with the boldest and the baldest propaganda that can be conceived. From Ber- lin and other pecints under Hitler domination, we are being fed so- celled news that is as putrid as politics used to be under Pender- gast in Kansas City or Penrose in Pennsylvania. any one believes it. that censored have us believe. We know just as little about the real underlying facts of the controversy from them as we do from the Germans. It is well to remember that we never have known what kind of an agreement was reached at the Munich confer- ence in September of last year, We have absolutely no knowledge of what kind of a sellout was arranged between Hitler and Stalin. Nor do we know what has happened in sofar as Mussolini is concerned. More important than any of these things, however, are conditions within the United States. 1 would like to see our congress use some brains and take action that will get us out of the depths of a nine-year depression. It is quite evident that all of the theories that have been tried still remain theories. I am among those who fear that entry into another world war will mark the end of our form of govern- ment here unless our home condi- A leaf, a flower, a center patch applique, Start your blocks now easy to apply! same material You can use the do each one in a different Pattern 6416 scrap. Use block for p well. Pattern 6416 contains the 3lock Chart; carefully drawn pat- tern pieces; this easy and effec- r pillow or scarf as Priced as You Go H : cups GARFIELD TEA to show you the cosy woy ts KEEP CLEAN INSIDE! You'll like the way It snaps vou back, overnight, to the feeling of “rerin’ to go” Binen and inside clean Himes! Help oliminste the leb-over waster thet hoid you back, come besdacher, indigestion, sic. Garkeld Tes is nots miracle worker, bet § CONSTIPATION bothen vou, Bt will certainly do wonden!” 10¢ end £5¢ of drugstores —or WRITE FOR FREESAMPLES of Gerbeld Tes end Goarfield Headache Powder bor GARFIELD TEA CO, Dept. 40, Brooklyn, N.Y. Source of Pleasure yabe in house is a well- l= LIQUID - TABLETS di us ETAT (oh Te vr 24 There to Stay What's bred in the bone will never out of the flesh. A wonderful aid for boils where 8 drawing spend Is indicated. Scothing and comforting. Fine for chile dren and grown-ups. Prac. ticsl, Eronomiesl. GRAYS OINTMENT 25° Time Saver Method will teach you to win time. Goethe. | VESPER TEA F RANGE 50 Cups for 10 Cents CET ERE ha rE ad WNU-—-4 39-39 MERCHANT
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers