WAR OF PRINCIPLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 July 1941, Page 6

WAR OF PRINCIPLES

MAKING DEMOCRACY SUCCEED

Just before he left the United States for London, Mr John G. Winant, the new American Ambassador to Great

Britain, addressed a conference of women on the subject of the citizen's stake in foreign policy. “Not until the threat of war shook Europe to its very foundations in September, 1938, was there any real awakening by the average citizen to his stake and his responsibilities in the foreign policies within democratic countries. And this was not

soon enough; for war came and found the democracies largely unprepared to meet this challenge to their very existence. Unpreparedness was not only military. There was also a lack of foresight and of readiness in the social field. War came to the democracies when they still had thousands of unemployed. It found them holding out little promise to the young or to the old, with pool- living conditions, with tired faith. The Fascist promise of work and hope fell on fertile ground under those conditions; it contributed to division within the house of democracy. The present conflict goes far deeper than the battlefields of today. This war is a war of and for social principles. Those principles are not national; they are international. No one of us can afford to be complacent as to the future. To win the war or to build our defence, we must first justify our beliefs by strengthening the fundamental economic, social and civil rights of all free citizens. Not everyone can take a stand in the front line of battle. But each one can help to make democracy succeed. It is the duty of every citizen to see to it that no opportunity to enlarge the social content of democracy is lost. To do this is to fulfil an important part of your duty in foreign policy, for it lends strength to your country. Each one of us must keep in mind, now and in future, that social justice is a basic requisite for a united and alert citizenry, for war and for peace. A further opportunity will come to you when the war has been won for democracy. Then we must be prepared to conquer the peace.”