Washington, Apr. 5.
HE President of the United States must be given more extended powers in regard to the maintenance of the country's neutrality -han are provided by the present Neutrality Act, Colonel Henry u. Stimson, U.S. State Secretary at the time of the Manchoukuo incident, asserted today. He was speaking before the Senate For—.gn Relations Committee, which is now studying possible revision jaf the Act.
He declared that if war breaks out in Europe this ring, the Neutrality Act in its present form may actually facilitate an outcome such as would result in the United States being marked ut "as the next victim of attack."
Declaring himself a partisan of collective action by nations wishing to assure peace, he stressed that during the past two year: the United States, possessing one-third of the raw materials in he world, used these resources to a great extent "in stimulating he activities and aggressions of our possible enemies.
This does not seem to me to be a very intelligent course of action.
I know that sometimes economic armament is dangerous.
If this is the case, we are certainly placed in a beíter position to make use of it than any other country in the world."
Without designating any particula> nation, Colonel Stimson stated that by eir aggressive tactics, certain Governments have rejected "with disdain ud contempt" that code of conduct for nations which is based on mutual respect.
"For this reason, the theory of isolation for the United States seems io me to be rather out-of-date," he said.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.