Preparedness and Peace For America

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 4, 5 January 1940, Page 8

Preparedness and Peace For America

Roosevelt Urges Long View U.SJL CANNOT BE ALOOF FROM ISSUES AT STAKE IN WAR United Press Assn. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright. WASHINGTON, January 3. Addressing Congress to-day at the opening of the session, President Roosevelt said that the United States must be a potent and active factor in seeking the re-establishment. •f peace. He added: “But we must likewise be prepared to take care cf curse'.ves if the world cannot attain peace. Accordingly, 1 am asking for increases for the army and navy which are bared cn corr.rr. onsense, not panic.’*

President Roosevelt continued: "1 have repeatedly warned that, whether we like it or not, the daily lives of Americans c£ reccssity feel the shock of events in other continents, but there are those who wishfully insist, in innocence or ignorance, that the United States as a self-contained unit can live happily and prosperously and that its future is secure inside a high wall of isolation while the rest of civilisation and commerce, culture and mankind are shattered. I can understand the feelings of those who warn the nation that they will never again consent to send American youth to fight on the soil of Europe, but nobody asked them to consent, for nobody expects such an undertaking. An overwhelming majority of our citizens do not abandon in the slightest their hope and expectation that the United States will not become involved in military participaion in the war. "I can also understand the wishfulness of those who over-simplify the situation by repeating that all we have to do is mind our own business and keep the caticn out of war. but there is a vast difference between minding our own business and pretending that this war is none ef our business,” the President declared. ' Wc do not have to go to war with other nations, but at least we can strive with other tuitions to encourage the kind of peace ihat will lighten the world's troubles. "I ask that all of us should think things through with the single aim of how best to serve the future of our own nation .... for it becomes clearer end clearer that the future world will be a shabby and dangerous place to live in, even for Americans, if it is ruled by force in the hands of a few •'Already the crash of swiftly-moving events over the earth has made us all think w’ith the longer view. The time is long past when any political party can curry or capture the public favour by labelling itself a peace party. That label belongs to the whole of the United States. Two Acknowledged Facts. “Out cf all the military and diplomatic turmoil of propaganda and counter-propaganda." he said, "there are two facts which the whole world acknowledges. The first is never before has a Government of the United States done so much to establish and maintain a policy of good neighbours with sister nations. The second is that in almost every nation there is a true public belief that the United States has been, and will continue to be, a potent and active factor in seeking tha re-establishment of peace .... "I hope that Americans everywhere wfllw-ork out for themselves the several alternatives before world civilisation. W* must look ahead to see the possibilities for our children if the rest of the world is dominated by concentrated ■fbffre alone. Even though to-day we ana a very great and powerful nation, w« must look ahead to see the effect on our own future if all the small nations have their independence snatched Irom them or become mere appendages to relatively vast and powerful military systems. “We must look ahead to see the kind of lives our children would have to lead if a large part of the rest cf the world were compelled to worship a god imposed by a military ruler, or forbidden to worship a god at all; if the rest of the world were forbidden to read the daily news of their own and other nations: and if they were deprived of the truth which makes men free. We must look ahead to see the effect on our future generations if world trade is controlled by any nation cr group of nations which sets up that control through military force. Fewer American Ostriches. “It is true that the record of past centuries includes the destruction of rmall nations and the enslavement of peoples, but, apart from the greater international morality which we seek to-day, we recognise the practical fact that, with modern weapons and modern conditions, modern man can no longer live a civilised life if wc go back to the wars cf conquests of the 17th and 18th centuries. “In the words of commcnsense I hope that we will have fewer American ostriches in our midst It is not good for the ultimate health of ostriches to bury their heads in sand. Only an ostrich would look upon these

lions. From that premise he devoted the; middle portion cf his message to a defence cf the reciprocal trade agreement programme of Mr Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, which was conducted by the Executive Department without Congressional consent or advice. The Act under which it operates expires in June. President Roosevelt said that it should not only be re-enacted but extended "as an indispensible part of the foundation cf a stable and durable peace.” "The old conditions of world trade,” he said, "made for no enduring peace. When the time comes the United States must use its influence to open the world’s trade channels in order that no nation need feel compelled in later days to seek by force of arms what it can well gain by peaceful conference. For this purpose wc need the Trade Agreements Act even more than when it was passed. Trade Selfishness. "I wish to emphasise the leadership which this nation can take when the time comes for a renewal of world peace,” said President Roosevelt. "Such influence would be greatly weakened if the Government becomes a dog in the. manger of trade selfishness. George. Washington warned us against entang-j ling foreign alliances. I subscribe toi and follow that precept, but trade co-j operation with the rest of the world! does not violate that precept. Even as? through these trade agreements we prepare to co-operate in a world that' wants peace, we must likewise be prepared to take care of ourselves if the, world cannot attain peace . . . "In the light of continuing world uncertainty I am asking Congress for army and navy increases which are based not on panic but on common sense . . . As will appear in the annual Budget to-morrow the only important increase is in the estimate for defence. Practically all other items show a reduction in the hope that we can continue in these days of increasing economic prosperity to reduce the Federal deficit I am asking Congress to levy sufficient additional taxes to meet the emergency spending for defence.” The President did not suggest the nature of the taxes. The extra sum h* desires for defence is estimated at from 400-million to 500-million dollars. Domestic Affairs. He devoted the last section of his speech to domestic affairs. He said that national production had returned to 1929 levels, but the unemployment millions remained a symptom of the maladjusted economy. He rejected "the European expedient of putting the jobless to work on making armaments,” and said that he would encourage "the American way” re-employment through greater production. President Roosevelt concluded with an appeal for national unity and warn- ! ed apologists for foreign aggressors and eaually those selfish partisan groups at home "who warp themselves in a false mantle of Americanism to promote I their own economic. financial or political advantage and who are now trying European tricks on us, seeking tn muddy the stream of our national j thinking and weakening us in the face of danger by trying to set our people fighting among themselves. “Wc must combat such tactics as we would a plague . . ,” he said. •We must, as a united people, keep ibla-e on this continent the flames of human liberty, of reason, of democracy and of fair play as living things to be presented for a better world to come.”