MUNITION SALES

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20726, 9 February 1939, Page 9

MUNITION SALES

AMERICA’S POLICY DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED LIVELY DEBATE LIKELY (Dotted Press Assn. —Elec. TeL Copjrrlgrtu) WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 Hitherto unpublished papers of the State Department for 1923 were released to-day, They reveal ttiat tbe United States adopted a policy of free trade in armaments during President Harding’s administration. The papers disclose that the United States refused to Join in an International agreement proposed by the League of Nations for the control of the arms traffic. Freedom in Trading The Government insisted on freedom of international trade in armaments because America was dependent almost entirely on ttie private manufacture of munitions. The Secretary for War, Mr Weeks, commented that the curtailment of private manufacture would work disfor the United States. Because they were released at the height of the controversy over the sale of aircraft to Britain and France the documents are widely published in the press. It also gives prominence lo a warning from Mr Emery Smith, \*io was War Industries Board Commissioner in 1919, that the United States could not enter a major war because of lack of scrap iron, and pointing out that 12,000,000 tons were exported in the last five years. Mr Smith commented: “Without America’s scrap iron there would not be a Sino-Japanese war or a bellicose European situation. The childish neutrality cloak has been used to salve our enemies and destroy our friends, at the same lime stripping America of its natural war protection. ‘The carrying on of a war now is a virtual financial impossibility, because other countries use scrap while the United State* uses newly-mined Iron, quadrupling the cost of heavy armaments." Mr Smith urged an immediate ban on all metallic war material. Under Fire In Oongreaa President Roosevelt’s foreign policy is likely to be under fire immediately Congress resumes to-morrow. It is significant that critics have not received open support from the Republican Party leaders. It is understood that the latter feel the time to be inappropriate to attack the policy because of the popularity of the defence programme. The leaders are said to feel that assailing one is assailing the other. However, there will not be any lack of isolationist spokesmen. One of the leading isolationists. Senator Bridges, stated to-night that keeping out of war was the consummate wish of all straight-thinking Americans. Twenty-two years ago,” said Mr Bridges, “we found that to reform Europe we must permanently police it. We helped to rid the German people of the Kaiser and they got Herr Hitler. Should we relieve them of him the chances are that in another 20 wars we would see an own more dangerous leadership. The solution of Europe's problems lies in the hands of the people of Europe.”