MENACED WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 108, 10 May 1939, Page 5

MENACED WORLD.

WILL VS.A. MARCH? ALL FOR DEMOCRACY. DICTATOR TACTICS ABHORRED (R\ JAMKS ROOSKVKLT.) WASHINGTON. For til" pnet several month* [ have b#*m jjiven thn opportunity of meeting ninny poop!'- n wirirni* part* rif the country. 'I he mle:ot ami anxiety concerning fi-ii'iu'u iiir.iin and the. relation of this count i \ hi lhi< |.ri>li]ciim of the world me iilip.-l iinlii-JiiivHlily kern and 'I he intoroM inj; fact ix the etriUiriL.' similarity of viewpoint ox prp»«r<d liy nil gruii|'-i of persons. Brielly. in «pito i>f considerable, confimioii ii lid general uueeitii int y, the question* most nuked me: "Ifnw can v« iilvw our i|iwa|ipn>\ al — even disgunt— for the in-tiiUH mid policies nf tlie dicHiifnr Sialic; and how can we advance and protect the c-iiu-iO of demoerncy without in vulvitis our own country in war?" Apparent Iv. the proiit preponderance of i>111• Ii• • opinion .vi-lio« to express, ectivK iji<np|iMi\nl inn! e\en jihlmiTonce nf Hip method* and i leid .j-y of the tmnlitiiriiin Male-. T, the A'uericnn pnfiple. N:i/i iftn ami I'aneisni menu the milisl itut ion f»f fiH-ee for ronton ill the settlement, nf nil international and even national |iri>li|oiii«; to them, totalitarianism iiii'HiiH the iliwt nicfiixi nf personal frtwlom iimi democrat i<; institutions; moreover, I lie. average American holds Germany nn<! Italy roNpnimihlc! for tho present i>rocarioiis state of the world's ppiiec. Thn problem, therefore, \h what steps «hort of war should we take at a. nation —for tli«> vilot number of Americans have a distini't horror of war. Thin does not mean that they uro ncwssarilv complete pneihVts, hut rnther that there is • utronjr national fooling thnt Aniericnn doldicrs should not bo required to light on foreign soil to settle other people's problem*, nnd porhapn even more fundamentally, the American people in their hatred of war sense its futility as a mean* of determining anything except the end of peace and stability.

Complete Aloofness Impossible. Nevertheless, there is an ever increasing realisation that the world i* so tied. together in this modern day that we mny not safely be able to assume an •ttiturle of complete aloofness. What Mr. Avemjfo Citizen therefore wants to know, whnt undoubtedly he has a right to know, is first how to protect American freedom and institutions from t(y danger of fnrcijrn influence, and second, how can we protect these institution* by giving u i<l to other countries with Interest* and belief* similar to our own. All of thi« he wishes to nrcnmpliwh without the actual necessity of combat on our pnrt. These con versa t ion * hnvo led me to revk the possible choices which wo seem to fare. There in, of course, the position of the complete isolationist. Hi* theory is to abandon all contacts, if necessary, with the rrst of the world and become completely self-sufficient. His thesi* is built around the conviction that we can avoid jiof, only entnnjrlinjr alliances, but all relationships with nny other country; and that we sTiould do so no matter what the cost. It would eeem obviou* that in order to dissociate ourselves from the rest of the world, we mtust be prepared to abandon completely our foreign trade. Although it is true that this portion of our trade amounts only to approximately 10 per cent of our total annual national income, the effect of the lose of this percentage and the adjustments inherent therein would be to severe that the entire American •tandard of living , would be adversely affected for a long time.

Dangers of Isolation. Equally important ie the probability that should we adopt, such a couree, thf. trade that wo would relinquish would fall into the hands of the totalitarian states, giving them strong footholds, not only commerrinllv, but al»o for the planting of their ideology on our very doorstep*. It would eenni to me as an individual therefore that isolation a« a policy ii both dangcrou* and impractical, no matter how attractive it may appear in theory. Assuming therefore that some kind of international relationship is neceseary, the choices would be those: Firat, the possibility of meeting the challenge of uneconomic competition by the totalitarian States through the use of export rubiidie* on our part. It must be recognised that the use of this method Would be an emergency and a definitely unsatisfactory substitution for normal trade relationships. We ehould elect •uch a course only to fight fire v/ith lire. The advantage of the subsidy lies In the fact that even though it is an teergeney requirement, it would proteet our standard of living through the retention of foreign trade that would otherwise be lost.

Second, there is the possibility of the adoption by this country of punitive •eonomlc measures similar in form to the proponed economic sanctions. Such measure* have already been ndopted by the United States, n t len«t :n part by the recent raising of i'ie tnriff wall •gainst Germnny and her newly acquired possessions. punitive measures may he effective when applied to the necessities of national life, but tjieT will adversely, either directly or indirectly, affect many channels of American export and import trade. Standing by themnelvt.'s, it i? doubtful •aether such measures are desirablo or •enldently effective an an economic putrument.

Active Combat as Last Cboiee. *Mrd, we could give active economic •opport to those countries whose institutions and principles are common to •W own interests. This support may *• limited to the modification of the present Neutrality Act—or it might fro •0 far as to giant avnilability to friendly "•tions of all necessary material. The final possibility is, of course, that ♦hi i rt in makin !? "P °*>r minds that 'Iβ only way to safeguard our own freedom and institutions is to make evident "»at we are ready to join in active comwt for their protection. Practically all A «?*ricane fervently hope that the proapplication of one or mom of the prerlous choices will make this last "nnecessary. In nny evont, surely'the i»et choice should be adopted only if all Other methods have failed. t»1 «'" nf> f ' n,,nt tnttt the proposed Plan of referendum on the question of he J* demwratic. This would ■• ideal in a democratic world. But "matching the swift moves of absolute mMiii hi P> we mUHt achieve manoeuvth. • 1" OUr P* Ti withmlt forsaking «• principle of strict accountability to yjwople of a nation—if democracy is