LINGERING HOPES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20026, 26 August 1939, Page 5

LINGERING HOPES

WASHINGTON OUTLOOK TOUCH OF IRONY" (Reed. August 26, 11 a.m.) WASHINGTON, August. 25. President Roosevelt, at a conference with the press, said that there was still hope that war may be averted in Europe, and because this hope still existed he cannot make any decision now in connection with the calling of a special session of Congress to consider revising the neutrality law. However, the President made it clear that he regarded the current situation as one of fhe utmost gravity.

Mr. Roosevelt said he believed he made the position clear regarding a special session when he said at Hyde Park on August 11, that he would not call Congress together until it became clear that war was imminent.

“There seems to be some confusion about the word ■imminent,’ ” he continued.

He said he always felt that the word carried a connotation of certainty and he would not regard the present situation as being certain to result in war.

It seemed to him that there was to be said further than that regarding a special session.

A touch of irony crept into the President’s tone as he described the prospects of peace as “a lovely hope.” He said he had no information in addition to that possessed by newspapermen in arriving at his feeling that there still existed “a lovely hope” that fftere would be no war.

Turning to the effect of a possible European war on the United States, Mr. Roosevelt said that the Government departments a,nd agencies had been at work since September, 1938, establishing machinery to cushion the effect of a foreign conflict.