The year 1939 will see the development of a rew United States foreign policy, the foundations of which were laid during the closing months of 1938. Perhaps it would be truer to say that the year 1939 will show whether the development of a new foreign policy will be possible, for owing to the American constitutional structure foreign policy, while formulated by the President (the executive arm of the Government), requires the sanction and approval of the legislative arm before it can be carried out. There are certain things which the President can do without reference to Congress, such as expressing displeasure at the acts of other Powers either by speeches or by dramatizing the displeasure by recalling America's dipplomatic representatives. There are certain other things which this particular President, Mr. Roosevelt, can do because he was granted powers by Congress when he entered the White House to cope with the economic emergency. Under these powers he can back up his policy by granting credits to friendly countries whom he wishes to help. But in the long run American foreign policy is always dependent upon Congressional approval.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.