The Pittsburgh Press (August 7, 1941)
STALIN CALLED ‘CUTTHROAT’ IN DRAFT DEBATE
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Johnson assails aid top Russia; final service extension vote due
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Washington, Aug. 7 (UP) –
Senator Hiram W. Johnson (R-CA) interrupted debate on legislation to extend military service beyond one year today with an attack on Premier Joseph Stalin of Russia as a:
…cutthroat who cannot be trusted a quarter of an inch.
The veteran Californian, now serving his fifth term in the Senate, drew enthusiastic applause from the galleries when he waved his fist and shouted:
I will not subscribe to the doctrine that you must be a Stalinite to be an American.
Aid to Russia is ‘foolhardy’
Senator Johnson excoriated the aid-to-Russia as “foolhardy” and said that the theory that Stalin would support the United States in event of national danger here is not justified by the history of the Soviet Union under its present government.
Stalin, he said, was guilty of:
…the greatest massacre in world history and is the man who preaches world revolution – actually preaches it within our gates.
Senator Johnson renewed his suggestion that:
…Hitler and Stalin be locked in an elevated cage and made to fight it out.
‘May turn weapons against us’
His voice throbbing with passion, Senator Johnson exclaimed:
Good God, did we ever sink so low before as to choose one cutthroat out of two? This man was Hitler’s ally when it was advantageous. Now we furnish him with weapons which may be turned against us.
A year ago, he recalled, Congress and the entire American public were expressing sympathy for Finland, now fighting by Germany’s side against the USSR.
He continued:
Now we are making war on little Finland, the only country on the face of the earth that paid us what she owed, that dealt with us honorably.
Senator Johnson condemned the proposal to keep selectees, Guardsmen and reservists in service for more than one year as a “breach of faith.”
Passage forecast
Extension of service to two-and-a-half years, which leaders expected to be voted by the Senate by nightfall, is not justified on the plea of national “peril,” Senator Johnson contended.
Democratic Leader Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) predicted passage of the extension measure by a margin comparable to the 50–21 vote by which the Senate yesterday rejected a proposal by Senator Harold Burton (R-OH) to limit the total service to two years.
Senator Barkley planned to ask a further limitation on debate to speed final Senate action. A previous agreement had limited Senators to one 30-minute speech on the bill, but debate on amendments was unrestricted.
House GOP members meet
Opposition to the service extension was already crystallizing in the House, where the Republican minority last night adopted a resolution condemning:
…all executive acts and proceedings which might lead to war without authorization of Congress.
The House Military Affairs Committee planned a meeting at which the Senate bill will be endorsed House consideration had been scheduled today, but was delayed pending final action by the Senate.
The minority adopted a declaration of policy in the belief that:
…the people of the United States are entitled to a definite expression of our views on national defense and foreign policy.
Strong defense advocated
The declaration reaffirmed the Republican view that the United States should not become involved in a foreign war and that the defenses here should be strengthened to the point that foreign aggression will be discouraged.
The House Republicans said:
The Lend-Lease policy was presented to the American people as a measure short of war. We insist that it be administered as a short-of-war measure.
Non-interventionists claimed that the vote on the Burton amendment did not reflect the strength of the opposition to the Senate bill. They said 17 Senators who expected to vote against the bill itself also voted against the Burton amendment because they were against any kind of an extension.
More pay proposed
The administration has agreed to support an amendment by Senator Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT), floor manager for the legislation, which would limit the total service to 30 months. Ther bill had been drafted originally to provide retention of the troops for duration of the emergency.
Before final passage, the Senate will also vote on an amendment by Senator Sheridan Downey (D-CA) which would pay enlisted men an additional $30 for each month they serve beyond the first year. Senator Barkley expected to defeat the amendment without protracted debate.
The War Department, which originally recommended the selectees be kept in service for the duration of the emergency, threw its weight against the Taft and Burton amendment.
Senator Barkley said he had been authorized by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to say that an extension of 18 months was the minimum under which the War Department could operate.