Termination of War Controls

Report Outline
Transition to Normal Conitions After War
War Controls After Armistice of 1913
Congressional Action to End State of War
Postwar Status of Present Controls

Transition to Normal Conitions After War

Sweeping russian victories against the Germans on the eastern front, the capitulation of Italy, Anglo-American plans for a second front in western Europe, and the imminent opening of a large-scale offensive against the Japanese in southeast Asia have raised hope throughout the United Nations that the war may soon be at an end and have turned the thoughts of the American people to the conditions that will prevail in the United States after victory has been won.

As leaders in industry and other fields of private endeavor begin to give serious attention to plans for the postwar period, the American tradition of hostility to governmental regimentation in time of peace is receiving renewed emphasis in many quarters. Insistent questioning has arisen as to when the sweeping powers at present exercised by the government at Washington will cease to operate, as to when a return to something approximating normal conditions of life can be expected in the United States.

Termination provisions, variously worded, are carried in all special legislation enacted by Congress for prosecution of the war; similar clauses appear in the earlier acts by which extraordinary powers were conferred upon the President to prepare the nation for defense. Some of these powers are to operate “for the duration of the emergency”; others are to continue in force until the present war is “terminated by a treaty of peace proclaimed by the President,” and for six months thereafter.