(Committee room, gallery floor, west corridor. Telephone 230.) CYRUS CLINE, Indiana. HORACE W. VAUGHAN, Texas. ROBERT CATLETT, Clerk. B. F. ODEN, Assistant Clerk. 2 D. of D. recat. Im H 72 EXPORTATION OF MUNITIONS OF WAR. COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Wednesday, December 30, 1914. The committee met at 10.50 o'clock a. m., Hon. Henry D. Flood (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Mr. BARTHOLDT. Mr. Chairman, being a member of the committee, I think ordinary courtesy requires me to give way to my colleague Mr. Vollmer, and I ask that Mr. Vollmer proceed first. The CHAIRMAN. Your resolution and Mr. Vollmer's resolution are identical? Mr. BARTHOLDT. They are the same. STATEMENT OF HON. HENRY VOLLMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA. Mr. VOLLMER. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I must at the outset crave the indulgence of the committee to some extent, as I am afflicted with a very distressing headache this morning, but I will do the best I can under the circumstances. We are aware of the fact that this is a somewhat unusual piece of legislation for which we are asking, and that in all such cases it is certainly wise to consult the precedents for such action in the first place what has been done and how, when, and under what circumstances it was done, as throwing light upon our legal power and the constitutionality of the proposed action of Congress. I find in John Basset Moore's great work on international law a history of this sort of legislation in this country. What we ask for is an embargo limited as to its subject and as to the time of its duration, being confined to arms, ammunitions, and munitions of war, as the resolution reads, during and at the discretion of the President of the United States, in whom we have full confidence in the premises. I find in this work that the first action of the American Congress in this direction was taken as early as the 26th of March, 1794. The CHAIRMAN. Give the volume and page. Mr. VOLLMER. Well, I can not do that, but it was a joint resolution of that date providing for an embargo of 30 days. By a joint resolution of April 17, 1794, this was extended in effect to May 25, 1794. The CHAIRMAN. I meant give the volume and page of Moore. Mr. VOLLMER. Volume 7, page 142 and succeeding pages. Mr. COOPER. Is that the International Law Digest? Mr. VOLLMER. Yes, sir. By act of Congress of May 22, 1794, the export of munitions of war was prohibited for one year. In 1807, on the recommendation of President Jefferson, a general embargo act was passed by Congress. On April 1, 1812, President Madison 3 |