'The most important question for the American people is whether or not their country can stay out of the second European war, should come. Congress, from the beginning of the present session, has had many' questions to. consider, the proposed. revision of the neutrality law being. Met the Toast important, This law's: object, in brief, is to Keep America, out of a war between any two foreign countries. This law was put the test when war broke out in Ethiopia, when the civil war troke out in Spain, and when Japan began to fight in China, The law was tried and found wanting For instance, should it be applied. to the China-Japan hostilities, China would be more inconvenienced by it than Japan. And that is not what the American people want, their sympathies having always been with the Chinese. This being the case, the neutrality law has never been implemented, on the ground that neither of the belligerents has de-
Perusal of the notice of termination, however, arouses some ques tiont—which of its provisions are found incompatible with the altered conditions of trade between the two countries? Where or how are American interests not protected or promoted as they should be? Or-dirianly, such matters would have been made, clear in the notice of abrogation, " At least it would have veen stated that though the old pact would be discarded, it was hoped that negotiations would be opened at once for the conclusion of another pact to replace it. Such, it seems to me, is the accepted usage of diplomatic procedure, "The method chosen by the American Government was as unusual as it'"Wwas unexpected, The least that can be said is that the procedure adopted is seldom seen when two countries are in normal relations, We are, therefore, obliged to conclude that the American action was due not only to the reasons stated in the note but to something more, of important political signifeance.
New Order not Accepted Our relations with the United States have never been so strained a with Great Britain. But America has never accepted our view rexarding the establishment of a new order which is the objective of the China hostilities. On this subject our gov. ernment sent a note to the Ameri Government on November 18, 1939. 'The latter, in its reply dated Decem-ver 30, took exception to our point of view. Since then we have re~ peatedly' taken occasion to make lear that the large-scale construc~ tion in progress in East Asia is essential not only for a peaceful order Asia bul for the peace of the whole world, But the United States has never accepted our view.
Our country, in common with Germany and Tlaty, has been pictur-menace {0 the democracies.
Revision was thought necessary, therefore. The so-called isolationists would revise it so that America could hot be partial to any country at war with another. The opposed opinion that because the present situation fs the outcome of the totalitarian slates' aggressive actions, peace cannot be preserved unless' their ambitions are curbed by supporting. the democracies. 'Therefore, according to this section of opinion, the law must be so changed as to' serve toward peace in case of war between totally {arian and democratic countries, and this policy is necessary because such a war would be sure to involve America. President Roosevelt and hhis Administration have been leaning toward this latter body of opinion. But the discussion within and. without Congress seemed interminable.
Ald to Allies None of the schemes brought forward seemed good enough. Finally the Bloom Bill, incorporating the Administration's views, was presented to Congress, which discussed it, but on July 12 it was decided to hold over until the next session, in January. The object of the bill was to enable Britain and France, holding command of the sea and lines of communication with the European continent, to carry war supplies unmolestedly from the United States Had this change been made in the neutrality law. as President Roosevelt hoped, and had the revised form of neutrality been applied to the Far East, Japan, and not China, would have had the advantage—a situation not wanted by those who would support the democracies. It was, therefore, thought not improbable that the revision of the neutrality law would be followed by some scheme to impose a handicap on belligerent Japan.
When. it became clear that all hope of revision would have to be given till next year, and that) Japan
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.