Other great churchmen In this country are of the same
opinion, as the Reverend Edgar DeWitt Jones, who Is the
president of the Federal Council of Churches. This Is not
a lone voice, Mr. Chairman. Most of us have been sent to
this body to serve our constituents. We have In our own
great America those who have been cheated, fooled, and
exploited; and the forces of fascism are at work in this
country the same as they are throughout Europe. The
forces of fascism in America today are the du Ponts, the
Morgans, and those who during the last campaign so bitterly attacked the Democratic administration. Are we as
servants of our constituents going to betray the mandate of
our people? I maintain, Mr. Chairman, that this country
is facing a grave danger, because fascism is threatening the
very foundation of all democracies and unless we wake up
and have the courage to be fair in our International dealings
and do that which Is right for our people we may regret our
action of today. [Applause.]
[Here the gavel fell.]
Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I am not surprised at the amendment offered by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Bernard]. It Is an appeal from a vote which was had in this House on January 6, 1937, upon the first resolution that was passed at this session of Congress convened, Public Resolution No. 1. On a roll call every Member of the House voted for it except the gentleman who has just spoken, the vote being 406 ayes and 1 nay. He voted against it. That resolution prohibited the exportation of arms, ammunition, and implements of war to Spain, specifically naming that country. The gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Bernard] objects today to the bill under consideration for the reason that he thinks it is legislation inclined to help one of the factions in the Spanish contest. It was not so intended and it will not so do. This provision simply adds to the temporary neutrality law which we now have by also providing that it shall apply when there is a state of civil strife existing in a foreign country which is of such magnitude or which is carried on under such circumstances that it may involve the peace of the United States, that the same law that prohibits the exportation of arms, ammunition, and implements of war to belligerent nations shall also be applied against the factions in this civil strife.
Mr. Chairman, the gentleman’s speech is not one that I would call neutral; it is a speech which espouses the cause of one of the belligerents engaged in the war in Spain.
Mr. BERNARD. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. I will be as kind to the gentleman as he was to me; I will not.
Mr. Chairman, the war that is going on in Spain has illustrated the necessity Tor this legislation. When we passed the temporary neutrality law we did not realize that any civil war might assume such magnitude that it would be necessary for us to prohibit the exportation of arms, but the warfare going on in Spain has now reached that proportion where it is not local, where it is not national, but where it is international. The nations of the earth are involved and the peace of the world is threatened by that warfare. By the passage of this resolution we do not say that we think that those who are loyal to the Spanish Government are right or that those who are opposing the Government are right. We say to both factions, as we say in this bill with reference to all belligerent nations, that we will not ship arms, ammunition, or implements of war to either faction.
The gentleman from Minnesota and those whom he represents are unfortunate in trying to maintain neutrality by such speeches, because they fan the fires of prejudice and hatred between the factions. As far as I am concerned, I am not in sympathy with either fascism or communism, and I intend to be neutral in all foreign wars, first of all, I love my own country and I want to keep it out of the conflict of other wars. This is the motive that has actuated us in bringing in this legislation. We want to be neutral in mind, in body, and in law. I think, therefore. Mr. Chairman, that this bill is necessary as a part of our law, because the condition in Spain has developed the necessity for legislation to deal with a state of civil strife that has assumed that magnitude, not because we want to help one side or the other but because we want to keep our hands off and help neither.
This amendment ought to be defeated. [Applause.]
[Here the gavel fell.]
Mr. LUCKEY of Nebraska. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike out the last word.
Mr. Chairman, Judging by what has been said during this debate I feel confident that there is no one who wants war. We all want peace. But are we not wandering around in a fairyland of misconception? Are we not attempting to deal with a very concrete problem in the dreamy method of chasing after a pot of gold at the foot of a rainbow?
It seems that some have a misconception of the effectiveness of international law as a law of war and of the principle of freedom of the seas. This debate has brought out the fact that when a strong militarized nation is fighting for its very life, international law is but a scrap of paper and means nothing. It has further shown that freedom of the seas is but a myth when maritime powers are at a death grip. We have been proclaiming this doctrine of freedom of the seas for 144 years without being able to get the naval powers of the world to accept it. We fought the War of 1812 to defend this principle, but when the war was ended we got a peace treaty that did not even mention the principles for which we had fought. In 1917 we joined in another war, partially in defense of the freedom of the seas. We joined a group of nations who had abnegated every component part of the doctrine of freedom of the seas to fight against an enemy who was equally opposed to that doctrine.
Dream all you want to of the pot of gold that lies beyond the war zone, but do not place us in a position where we must again go through the horrors of another great war in the pursuit of war profits. No amount of war trade can ever repay us for the tremendous loss we sustained. Sure, the doors of trade were wide open. Our exports were greater than they had ever been. We made profits unheard of before. We made new millionaires by leaps and bounds. We were reveling in wealth. We owned over half the gold in the world, and we became the richest nation on earth. We were worshipping at the shrine of the "Golden Calf.” But there was no blessing in those ill-gotten gains. It was blood money garnered in the game by the merchants of death. The mad dance was merry as long as it lasted. But oh, the awakening after the delerium tremens came to an end! What a headache there was the morning after the night before. But like the drunkard who again craves a drink the next morning, we want to leave the door of war profits open so that we may again participate in war trade when the next opportunity comes.
Two thousand years ago our Savior raised the question, "What proflteth a man if he gain the whole world, yet lose his own soul?” But was not our conscience eased by the thought that we had done "our bit” to put an end to war in the world for evermore? Oh, the irony of it all! Like the Raven of Edgar Allan Pee, may it be said of war profits: Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door.
Quoth the Raven, "Never, never more.”
Do we realize what the World War cost us? The World War will have cost us, by the time the last veteran is pensioned, hospitalized, and buried, $100,000,000,000. It has cost us in lives 126,000 of our finest young men. It has been the main contributary cause of our depression. It has saddled on the backs of the American people a debt of over $34,000,000,000. This debt entails an annual interest cost of over $1,000,000,000. It has been the main contributary factor in unbalancing our Budget, which was $1,000,000,000 per annum prior the World War and which has now reached the staggering sum of over $8,000,000,000 per annum. In addition to these vast monetary losses it has lowered
the spiritual and moral standards of our Nation. The deplorable crime condition of today is in part an aftermath