Changes

The public debt in 1932 when FDR took office was $22 billion and largely was a heritage of [[World War I]].<ref>''The Roosevelt Myth'', John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, [http://americandeception.com/index.php?action=downloadpdf&photo=/PDFsml_AD/The_Roosevelt_Myth-John_T_Flynn-1948-444pgs-POL.sml.pdf&id=276&PHPSESSID=03d3557b41f249f71349e6d730cc8498 pg. 129] pdf.</ref> Widespread public disillusionment felt that a handful of arms producers had benefited from the war while the nation had been left with a [[public debt]] in the form of credits which had been extended to foreign purchasers of arms. [[Bernard Baruch]] described how the law functioned: "We will sell to any belligerent anything except lethal weapons, but the terms are 'cash on the barrel-head and come and get it."

The public debt in 1932 when FDR took office was $22 billion and largely was a heritage of [[World War I]].<ref>''The Roosevelt Myth'', John T. Flynn, Fox and Wilkes, 1948, [http://americandeception.com/index.php?action=downloadpdf&photo=/PDFsml_AD/The_Roosevelt_Myth-John_T_Flynn-1948-444pgs-POL.sml.pdf&id=276&PHPSESSID=03d3557b41f249f71349e6d730cc8498 pg. 129] pdf.</ref> Widespread public disillusionment felt that a handful of arms producers had benefited from the war while the nation had been left with a [[public debt]] in the form of credits which had been extended to foreign purchasers of arms. [[Bernard Baruch]] described how the law functioned: "We will sell to any belligerent anything except lethal weapons, but the terms are 'cash on the barrel-head and come and get it."

The original Neutrality Act was extended to expire on May 1, 1936. It was renewed with a "cash and carry" provision for two years.<ref>[https://youtu.be/boOPyGBLfv4 Fort Knox & Secret WW2 British Gold], Mark Felton Productions, Feb 25, 2025. [[YouTube]].</ref> The basic feature, a prohibition on loans to belligerent governments remained intact. The new act required that, if the president proclaimed the existence of a state of war between others nations, or a civil war that endangered the peace of the United States, the shipment of arms, ammunition, and implements of war, excluding raw materials, would be embargoed.  

The original Neutrality Act was extended to expire on May 1, 1936. It was renewed with a "cash and carry" provision for two years.<ref>[https://youtu.be/boOPyGBLfv4 Fort Knox & Secret WW2 British Gold], [[Mark Felton]] Productions, Feb 25, 2025. [[YouTube]].</ref> The basic feature, a prohibition on loans to belligerent governments remained intact. The new act required that, if the president proclaimed the existence of a state of war between others nations, or a civil war that endangered the peace of the United States, the shipment of arms, ammunition, and implements of war, excluding raw materials, would be embargoed.  

On July 7, 1937 Japanese troops stationed in North China, under terms of the [[Boxer Protocol of 1900]], clashed with elements of the [[Kuomintang]] army near the Marco Polo Bridge, ten miles west of Beijing. An all-out Japanese invasion of China followed. By the end of the month, Beijing was occupied and the following month Shanghai was attacked. The Neutrality Act required the president to implement its provisions when a state of war existed, but Roosevelt did not invoke the act. Twenty-five members of the House signed a statement demanding the immediate application of the arms embargo in order to "stop the feeding of the war which means destruction of thousands of lives in the Orient and of war to all the world". FDR permitted American munitions to reach China via British ships destined for Hong Kong. ''[[Time magazine]]'' speculated, "though in the long run Japan might need U. S. supplies more than China, the immediate effect of an embargo would be to the advantage of Japan, whose ships could still presumably conduct a "cash and carry" trade with the U. S."<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930929-1,00.html Manslaughter in Shanghai], ''Time'' magazine, Aug. 30, 1937.</ref>

On July 7, 1937 Japanese troops stationed in North China, under terms of the [[Boxer Protocol of 1900]], clashed with elements of the [[Kuomintang]] army near the Marco Polo Bridge, ten miles west of Beijing. An all-out Japanese invasion of China followed. By the end of the month, Beijing was occupied and the following month Shanghai was attacked. The Neutrality Act required the president to implement its provisions when a state of war existed, but Roosevelt did not invoke the act. Twenty-five members of the House signed a statement demanding the immediate application of the arms embargo in order to "stop the feeding of the war which means destruction of thousands of lives in the Orient and of war to all the world". FDR permitted American munitions to reach China via British ships destined for Hong Kong. ''[[Time magazine]]'' speculated, "though in the long run Japan might need U. S. supplies more than China, the immediate effect of an embargo would be to the advantage of Japan, whose ships could still presumably conduct a "cash and carry" trade with the U. S."<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930929-1,00.html Manslaughter in Shanghai], ''Time'' magazine, Aug. 30, 1937.</ref>