NO MASTER RACE

Evening Star, Issue 23836, 17 March 1941, Page 7

NO MASTER RACE

THE RIGHT TO NATIONHOOD AMERICA'S BELIEF IN DEMOCRACY 41 China likewise expresses the magnificent will of millions of plain people to resist the dismemberment of their nation,” the President said. “ Chinn, through General Chiang Kai-shek, asks for our help. America has said that China shall have our help. - - 44 Our country is going to be, what our people have proclaimed it matt be—the arsenal of democracy. Our country is going to play its full part, and. when dictatorships disintegrate—and pray God that it ' will be sooner than any of, us now dares ,to hope—then our country... must continue to play its great part in the period of world reconstruction. .• “ We believe that the rallying cry of dictators, their boasting about a master race, will prove to be pure stuff and nonsense. There never has been, is not now, hnd never will be, any race pf people fit to serve as masters over their fellow men. The world has no use forany nation which, because of its size or military' might, asserts the right to goosestep to world power over other nations or races. We believe that any nationality, no matter how small, has the inherent right to its own nationhood. We believe that men and women of such nations, no matter of what size, can, through processes of peace, serve themselves and serve the world by protecting the common man’s security and' improve his standards of healthful living, and provide markets for manu- , facture and agriculture. Through that kind' of peaceful service every nation, can increase its happiness, banish the errors of war, and. abandon man's inhumanity to man. Never in all our history have Americans faced a job so worthwhile. May it bo said of ns in the days to come that ‘ our children and our children’s children shall rise up -and call us blessed.’ “ This dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association is unique,” Mr Roosevelt said. “It is the.first >one at which 1 Jiave made a speech in all these eight years. ■ It differs from our Press conferences twice Sveekly,- You cannot ask me any questions, and everything I say here' is Word for word on the record. IMPORTANCE OF FREE PRESS. For eight years you and I have Iseen helping each other. I have been trying to keep you informed of the news at Washington and of the nation and of the world from the point/ of view of the Presidency.' You,. more than you realise it, have been giving "me a great deal of information about yhat the people of this country are thinking. In our Press conferences, as iat this dinner to-night, wo include reporters representaing the papers and hews agencies of many other lands. To most of them, it is a matter of constant amazement that Press conferences such as ours can exist in any nation in the world.' That especially is true in those lands where freedoms do not exist, where the purposes of our democracy and the characteristics of our country and of our, people have been seriously distorted. Such misunderstandings are not new. UNITED AMERICA. 44 1 remember in the early days of the first World War, 1 the German Government received solemn assurances from their representatives in the United ’ States that the people of America were disunited, that they cared more for peace at any price than for the preservation of their ideals and their freedom, and that there would* even be riots and revolutions in the United States if this nation ever asserted its own interests. Let not the dictators of Europe and Asia doubt their unanimity now.

“ Before the present war broke out

on September 1, 1939, I was more worried about the future than many people. The record shows that I was not worried enough. That, however, is water over the dam. Don’t let us waste time reviewing the past or fixing or dodging the blame for it. History cannot be rewritten by wishful thinking.

“ We, the American people, are writing history to-day. The big news story of this weekjps this: The world has been told that we, as a, united nation, realise the danger which confronts us, and that to meet that danger our democracy has Bone into action. MODERN TYRANTS. “ On every continent, including our own, they , seek to establish systems of government based 'on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers who have seized power by force. “ These men and their hypnotised followers call this a ‘ New' Order.’ It is not new, and it is not order. For order among nations presupposes sometiling enduring; sonic system of justice under which individuals over a long period of time are willing to live. Humanity will never permanently accept a system imposed by conquest and based on slavery. These modern tyrants will find it necessary to their plans to eliminate all the democracies, and eliminate them one by onb. The nations of Europe, indeed we ourselves, did not appreciate that purpose. We do now. The process of elimination of European nations proceeded . according ' to plan through 1939 and 1940 until the schedule was shot to pieces by tho unbeatable defenders of ; Britain. The enemies of democracy were wrong Jin their calculations for a. very simple reason. They were wrong because they believed that democracy could not adjust itself to the terrible reality of a world at war. They believed that democracy', because of its profound respect for the rights of men, , would never arm itself to fight. They believed that democracy,% because of its will to live at peace, could not mobilise its energies even in its own defence. They know now that democracy can still remain' a deniocracy, speak and reach conclusions, and arm itself adequately, for defence. AXIS PROPAGANDA. “ From the bureau of propaganda of the Axis Powers came the confident prophecy that tho conquest of our country would be an inside job, accomplished not by an overpowering invasion from without, but by disrupting confusion, disunion, and moral disintegration from within. Those who believed that did not know our history. “ America is not a country which can be confounded by appeasers, defeatists, and backstairs manufacturers of panic. It is a country which talks out its problems in the open. “ We have just now been engaged in a great debate. It was not limited to tho halls of Congress. It was argued in every newspaper, on every wavelength, over every cracker barrel in the land, and it was finally settled and decided' by the American people themselves. “ The decisions of oup- democracy may be slowly arrived at, but when the decision is made it is proclaimed not with the voice of any one man, but'with the voice of 130,000,000. It is binding on all of us, and the world is no longer left in doubt. THE TIME ELEMENT. “ This decision is the end of any attempts at appeasement in our land; it is the end of urging us to get alonjj with dictators, and it is the end of compromise with tyranny and the forces of oppression. 1 " The urgency is now. We believe firmly that when our production and output is in full swing the democracies of the world will be able to prove that dictatorships cannot win, but now the time element is of supreme importance. Every plane, every other instrument of war, old or new, which we can spare now, we will send overseas. That is common-sense strategy. “ Tho great task nf this day ami the deep duty which rests upon us is to

move tho products from the assembly lines of the, factories to the battlo lines, of democracy. We can have speed and effectiveness if wo maintain our existing unity. We do not have and never will have the false unity of the people brow-heaten by threats and misled by propaganda. Ours is oi unity which is possible only among free men and women who recognise the truth and face reality with intelligence and courage.

“ To-day at last ours is not only a partial effort; it is a total effort. That is the only way to guarantee ultimate safety. IMMEDIATE SHIPMENT. “ Beginning a year ago,” Mr Roosevelt said, “ wo started the erection of hundreds of plants, we started training millions of men, then, at the moment the Aid Bill was passed we were ready to recommend a 7,000,000,000d0l appropriation on the basis of the capacity of production as now planned. The articles themselves cover the whole range of the munitions of war and the facilities for transporting them. “ The Bill was agreed to by both Houses of Congress last Tuesday afternoon. I signed it half an hour later. Five minutes later I approved of a list of articles, for immediate shipment. Many of them are on the way. On Wednesday I recommended the appropriation for new material to the extent of ; 7,000,000.000d01, and Congress is making patriotic speed in making the appropriation available. Here in Washington we are thinking in terms of speed, and speed now, and I hope that that watchword will find its way into every home in the nation. SACRIFICES NECESSARY. “We shall have to make sacrifices, every one of us. The final extent of those sacrifices will depend upon the speed with which we act now. I must tell you to-night in plain language what this undertaking moans to you and to your daily life, whether you are in the armed services, whether you are a steel worker, stevedore, machinist, or housewife, farmer, banker, storekeeper, or manufacturer. To all of you it will moan sacrifice on behalf of your country and your liberties.' “You will feel the impact of, this gigantic effort in your daily lives. You will feel it in a way which will cause many inconveniences. You will have to be content with lower profits from business because obviously your taxes will be higher. You will have to work longer at your bench, your plough, and your machine. “ Let me make it clear that the nation is calling for the sacrifice of some privileges, but not for the sacrifice of fundamental rights. Most of us will do that willingly. That kind of sacrifice is for our common, national protection and welfare, for . our defence against the most ruthless brutality in history, and for tho ultimate victory of the way of life now so violently menaced. ALL-OUT EFFORT. . ”“ Half-hearted effort on our part will lead to failure. This is no part-time job! The concepts of business as usual and normally must be forgotten Until the task is finished. This is an all-out effort—and nothing short of an all-out effort will win. “Wo are now dedicated from hero on to a constantly-increasing tempo of production—a production greater than we now know or have ever known before, and a production that does not stop and should not pause. And so tonight I am appealing to the heart and mind of every man and every woman within our borders who love liberty. I ask you to consider the needs of our nation at this hour and to put aside all personal differences until victory is won.

FLAME OF DEMOCRACY. \ “ The light of democracy must be kept burning, To perpetuation of this light, each must do his own share. The single effort of one individual may seem very small, but there are 130,000,000 individuals over here. There are many more millions in Britain and elsewhere bravely shielding the great flame of democracy from the blackout of barbarism. It is not enough for us merely to trim the wick or polish the glass. The time will come .when we must provide the fuel in everlasting quantities to keep the flame alight.

“ There will be no divisions of party, or section, or race, or nationality, or religion. There is not one among us who does not have a stake in tho outcome of the effort in. which we are now engaged. 1 1 THE ULTIMATE STAKE. “ A few weeks ago I spoke of our freedoms —freedom of speech and expression, freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, freedom from want, from fear. They are the ultimate stake. They may not ho immediately attainable throughout the world, but humanity does move towards those ideals through democratic, processes. If we fail, if democracy is superseded by slavery, then those freedoms or even the mention of them will become forbidden things. Centuries will pass before they can be revived. By winning now wo strengthen their meaning, we increase the stature of mankind and dignity of human life. “ There is a vast difference between •tho ,-word loyalty and tho word obedience. Obedience can be obtained and enforced in a dictatorship by the use. of threat and extortion or can ho obtained by failure on the part of a Government to tell the truth to citizens. Loyalty is different. ’ It springs from the mind that is given facts, that retains ancient ideals, and proceeds without coercion to give support to its own Government.-

“ That is true in England, Greece, China, and the United States to-day, and in many other countries, millions of men and women are praying for the return of the day when they can give that kind of loyalty. NOT DOLLARS ALONE.

“ Loyalty cannot he bought, and dollars alone will not win this war. Let us not delude ourselves-as to that. To-day nearly 1,500,000 American citizens are hard at work in the armed forces. The spirit and determination of these men of our army and navy are worthy of the highest traditions of our country. No better men ever served ’under Washington or John Paul Jones, or Grant or Lee, or Pershing. That is a boast, I admit, hut it is not an idle one. *

“The national will'to sacrifice and work depends on the output of our industry and our agriculture. Upon that will depends the survival of .the vital ' bridge across the ocean—the bridge of ships which carry arms and food for those who are fighting tho good fight.

“ Upon that will depends our ability to aid other nations which may determine to offer resistance. Upon that will may depend the practical assistance to people now living in nations which have been overrun, should they find an opportunity to strike back in an effort to regain their liberties. “ This will of the American people will not he frustrated either by threats from powerful enemies abroad or by small selfish groups or individuals at home. This determination of America must not be obstructed by war profiteering; it must not be obstructed by unnecessary strikes by workers, or by short-sighted management, or by deliberate sabotage, for unless we win there will be no freedom for either .management or labour. Wise labour leaders and wise business managers will realise how necessary it is to their own existence to make a common sacrifice for this gregt common cause. There is no longer the slightest question or doubt that the American people recognise the extreme seriousness of the present situation. That is why they demanded and got the policy of unqualified, immediate, and all aid for Britain, Greece, China, and lor all Governments in exile whose homelands are temporarily occupied by the aggressors.

“ From now on that aid will be increased and yet again increased until total victory is won. The British are stronger than ever in the magnificent morale which has enabled them to endure all the dark days and shattered nights of the past 10 months. “ They have the full support and help of Canada, the other dominions, the rest of their Empire, and all non-British people throughout the world who still think in terms of the great freedoms. The British people are braced for invasion whenever an attempt may come—-to-morrow, next week, next month. BRITAIN'S BRILLIANT LEASER. “in this historic crisis Britain is blessed with . a brilliant , and great

leader in Winston Churchill, but no one knows better than himself that it is not alone his stirring words and valiant deeds which give the ? British their superb morale. “ The essence of that morale is in the masses of plain people who - are completely clear in their minds about the one essential' fact—that they would rather die as free men than live as slaves. THE FRONT LINEt “ These plain people, civilians as well as soldiers, sailors, and airmen, women and girls as well as men and boys, are fighting in the front line of civilisation. They are holding that line with <1 fortitude which will forever be the pride and inspiration of all free men on every continent, on every island of the sea." , Departing from his text, the President expressed the hope that the day would soon come when the peoples of the occupied countries would strike back and regain their liberties. MR WILLKIE’S COMMENT. Mr Wendell Willkie was also a guest at the correspondents’ dinner, and later commented: “The President enumerated well America’s aspirations. Wo nil pray lie meets the opportunity of becoming the greatest statesman of his generation, for he must be if democracy js to be saved.”