Mr. Willkie Gives His Evidence
Last Saturday the House of Representatives in Washington passed the " Lease-and-Lend " Bill by 26o to 165 votes, but the measure was still under examination by the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate. It was to give evidence before this body that Mr. Wendell Willkie cut short his visit to this country, and arrived in time to give the last and weightiest evidence that the Committee had to hear. America is profoundly impressed by the fact that the man who stood as Republican candidate in the Presidential election against Mr. Roosevelt should now come forward as a protagonist in support of the measure to help Britain on which the President has set his heart. The facts which he has learnt at first-hand in Great Britain give him unequalled authority for stating the true position. He told the Committee that with American help he was convinced that Britain would win, but that without such help she might not be able to survive. The defeat of Britain would probably involve the United States single-handed in war with a Germany dominating Europe and Africa, and armed with the British fleet. Therefore he urged that America should work not for Britain but with her to defend an area of free- dom, and send as swiftly as possible all the ships and weapons that could be spared. He appealed to America for a united stand before the world as the friend of all who fight for liberty. If anything can help to speed up the passage of the fateful Bill through the Senate it will be Mr. Willkie's authoritative and magnanimous evidence.
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