Thank You, Mr. Fish

Would Congress approve the $3,750,000,000 loan to Britain?

Last week the Senate Banking and Currency Committee listened to a steady hum of argument in its favor. C.I.O. President Philip Murray thought it an "essential first step in expanding world trade in which American labor has a vital stake." Said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Eric Johnston: "The American system of competitive capitalism cannot exist in a contracting world. . . . [The loan] will help create jobs for 5,000,000 U.S. workers."

Then the committee got set for opposition witnesses. To the surprise of everybody, only three turned up: crusty, 92-year-old "General" Jacob Sechler Coxey, hero of the 1894 March on Washington; one John Bond Trevor, of the American Coalition, a loose-knit, isolationist organization; and a New York automobile dealer named Hamilton Fish.*

To an all but empty committee room, ex-Congressman Fish played one of his old records with a new needle: "New Deal squandermania. . . . We are throwing . . . the Treasury wide open to foreign countries." He suggested that if the $3,750,000,000 must be spent, it be used to buy Britain's islands off North America as a buffer against Soviet aggression.

The committee, ready to send the loan to the Senate floor, asked no questions. Said Chairman Alben W. Barkley: "Thank you, Mr. Fish. Your statement will be considered by the committee, when it gets around to it." That might be a long time.

* Picked last week as the Kaiser-Frazer representative for Newburgh and Beacon, N.Y.

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