ROOSEVELT’S WARNING

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 December 1940, Page 7

ROOSEVELT’S WARNING

AXIS MENACE PLAINLY SHOWN WORLD DOMINATION AIM FULLEST AID FOR BRITAIN NATIONAL EFFORT DEMANDED [by cable.—press assn.—copyright.]

WASHINGTON, December 29., Mr Roosevelt, broadcasting to the nation, flatly rejected proposals that the United States initiate a peace movement, promised that American soldiers would not be sent to Europe, confidently predicted that the Axis Powers would lose the war, and appealed to the nation to turn itself into “the great arsenal of democracy.” He pledged the United States Government to expand “short of war” aid to Britain and denounced the new order which the Axis professes to be its objective as “an unholy alliance of power and «selfishness to dominate and enslave the human race.” He asserted that the ability of the United States to keep out of the war would be affected by the outcome of the battle of Britain. If Britain were defeated, said Mr Roosevelt, the United States would be living at the point of a gun. His assertion that the Axis would lose was based on the latest and best information. “The United States has no right or reason, to encourage talk of peace until the day shall copie when there is a clear intention on the part of the aggressor, nations to abandon all thought of dominating or conquering the world,” he said. “This isn’t a fireside chat on the war,” said Mr Roosevelt. “It is a talk on national security, because the whole purpose of your President is to keep you now, your children later, and your grandchildren much later, .from a last ditch war for the preservation of American independence and all the things it means for. you, for me, and for ours. “Never before has our American civilisation been in such danger. For on September 27, by an agreement signed in Berlin, three powerful nations—two in Europe and one in Asia —joined in a threat that if the United States interfered with or blocked the expansion programme of these three nations, aimed at world control, they would unite in ultimate action against the United States. Germany’s Nazi masters have made clear that they intend not only to dominate all life and thought in their own country, but also to enslave the whole of Europe and then use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world. Three weeks ago their leader said: ‘There are two worlds that stand opposed to each other.’ Then, in a defiant .reply, to. .his opponents, pe declared: ‘Others are correct when they say that with this world we cannot ever reconcile ourselves. I can beat any other Power in the world. In other words, the Axis not merely admits, but proclaims that there cannot be ultimate peace between their philosophy of government and ours.

NO TALK OF PEACE. “In view of the nature of this undeniable threat, it canbe as + ser S properly and categorically that tne United States has no right Qj’ reason to encourage talk of peace until the day comes when there is a clear intention on the part of the aggressor nations to abandon all thought oi dominating or conquering the world. At this moment the forces of the States leagued against all the Peoples living in freedom are being held away from our shores. The Italians and Germans are blocked on the other side of the Atlantic by the British and the Greeks. Thousands of soldiers and sailors have been able to escape from the subjugated countries. The Japanese are being engaged in Asia by the Chinese in another great defence. In the Pacific is our fleet. Some of our people like to believe that wars in Europe and Asia are no concern of ours, but it is a matter of most vital concern for us that European and Asiatic warmakers should not gain control of the oceans leading to this hemisphere. “One hundred and seventeen years ago the Monroe Doctrine was conceived as a measure of defence in the face of a threat against this . hemisphere by an alliance in Continental Europe,” said Mr Roosevelt. “Thereafter we stood on guard in the Atlantic with the British as neighbours. There is no treaty. There is no written' agreement. Yet there is a feeling proven by history that we, as neighbours, could settle any disputes peacefully. The fact is that during the whole of this time the western hemisphere remained free from aggression from Europe and from Asia. Does anyone seriously believe we need fear attack while a free Britain remains our most powerful naval neighbour in the Atlantic? Does anyone seriously believe, on the other hand, that we could rest easy if the Axis Powers were our neighbours? EFFECT OF BRITISH DEFEAT. “If Britain goes down, the Axis Powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas—and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against thjs hemisphere. It .is no exaggeration to say that all of us in the Americas would be living at the point of a gun —a gun loaded with explosive bullets, economic as well as military. We should enter a new and terrible era in which the whole world, our hemisphere included, would be run by threats of brute’force. To survive in such a world we would have to convert ourselves permanently into a militaristic Power on the basis of a war economy. “Some of us like to believe that .even if Britain falls we shall still be safe because of the broad expanse of the Atlantic and the Pacific. But the width of these oceans is not what it was in the days of clipper ships. At one point the distance between Africa and Brazil is less than that , from Washington to Denver—five hours bj the latest type of bomber. And at the north of "the Pacific Ocean Americe and Asia almost touch. Even to-daj we have aeroplanes which could fl:

from the British Isles to New England and back without refuelling, I and the range of the" modern bomber is ever increasing. ' . ‘ln the last'week many people in all parts of the nation have told me what they wanted me to say to-night. Almost all expressed a courageous desire to hear .' the plain truth about the gravity of the situation. One telegram expressed the attitude of a small minority wanting to see and hear no evil, even though they know in their .hearts that evil exists. The telegram begged me not to tell again of the ease with which American cities could be bombed by a hostile Power gaining bases in the western hemisphere. The gist of the telegram was„ ‘Please, President, don’t frighten us by telling us the facts.’ “Frankly Snd definitely there is danger. ahead; danger against which we must prepare. We all know we cannot escape danger or fear of danger by crawling into bed and pulling up the covers over our heads. Some nations in Europe were bound by solemn non-intervention pacts with Germany. Others. were assured by Germany that they would not be attacked. They were attacked, overrun, and thrown into a modern form of slavery at an hour’s notice or even without notice. As an exiled leader on these shores said to me the other day: ‘The notice was a minus quantity. It was given to my Government two hours after the German troops had poured into my country in a hundred places.’ The fate of these nations tells us what it means to live at the point of a Nazi gun. The Nazis have justified such action by various pious frauds. One of these is the claim that they are occupying a nation for the purpose of restoring order. Another is that they are occupying or controlling a nation on the excuse that they are protecting it against aggression by somebody else. For example, Germany has said that she was occuying Belgium to save Belgium from the British. Would she hesitate to say to any South American country, ‘We are occupying you to protect you from aggression by the United States’? “Belgium is to-day being used as an invasion base against Britain, who is now fighting for her life. Any South American country in Nazi hands would always constitute a jumping-off place for a German at-tack-on any of the other Republics of this hemisphere.

EVIL AT THE GATES. “Analyse for yourselves the future of two other places even nearer to Germany.” said Mr Roosevelt. “If the Nazis won, could Ireland hold out? I Would Irish freedom be permitted as an amazing exception in an unfree | world? Or the islands of the Azores, ■ which still fly the flag of Portugal ( after five centuries? We think of i Hawaii as an outpost of our defence in the Pacific. Yet the Azores are closer to our shores in the Atlantic j than Hawaii. There are those who J ’say the Axis Powers would neveri have any desire to attack the western I hemisphere. This is the same form of dangerous wishful thinking which has destroyed the powers of resistance of many of the conquered peoples. The plain facts are that the Nazis have proclaimed time and again that all other races are their inferiors and therefore subject to their orders. Most important of all, its vast resources pt wealth make this hemisphere the most tempting loot in all the world. “Let us no longer blind ourselves to the 'undeniable fact that the evil forces which have crushed, undermined, and corrupted so many others are already within our gates. Your Government knows much about them and is every day ferreting. them out. Their secret emissaries are. active in our own and neighbouring countries. They seek to stir up suspicion ana dissension, and to cause internal strife. They try to turn capital against labour and vice versa. They ' try to re-awaken long-slumbering racial and religious enmities which should not have a place in this country. They are active in every group promoting intolerance, and exploit for their own ends our natural abhorrence of war. These trouble-breeders have but one purpose —to divide our people into.hostile groups, . destroy our unity, and shatter our will to defend ourselves. “There are also American citizens, many of them in high places, who are unwittingly in most cases siding ana abetting the work of these agents. ! do not charge these Americans with being foreign agents, but* do charge them with doing exactly the kind of work the dictators want done in the United States. TheSe people not only believe that we can save our own skins by shutting our eyes to the fate of other nations. Some go much further, They say we can and should become friends, and even partners, of the Axis Powers. Some even suggest that we should imitate the methods of the dictatorships. Americans never can and never will do that. “NO APPEASEMENT. “The experience of the past two years has proved beyond doubt that no nation can appease the Nazis. No man can tame the tiger into a kitten by stroking it. There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. There can be no reasoning with the incendiary bomb. We know now that a nai tion can have peace -with the Nazis ’ only at the price of total surrender. > Even the people of Italy have been ; forced to become accomplices of the ; Nazis. But at this moment they de i not know how soon they may be eml braced to death by their allies. r | “American appeasers ignore the ! warning which can 'be found in the i fate of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Polr and, Norway, Belgium, the Netherj lands, Denmark, and France. Thej

tell you the Axis Powers are going to win anyway, that all this bloodshed would be saved, that the United States may just as well throw its influence into the scale of a dictated peace, and get the be?t : out of it that we can. They call it ‘a negotiated peace.’ Nonsense. Xs it a negotiated peace if a gang of outlaws surrounds your community and, by threat of extermination, makes you pay tribute to save your skins? Such a dictated peace would be no peace at all. It would be only another armistice, leading to the most gigantic armament race and the most devastating trade wars in history; and tn these contests the Americas would offer the only real resistance to the Axis Powers. “With all their vaunted efficiency and parade of pious purpose in this war, there are still ■in their background the concentration camp and the servants of God in chains. Concentration camps are not simply the transient tools, but the very altars of modern dictatorships. They may talk of a new order in the world, but what they have in mind is but a revival of the oldest and worst tyranny in which there is no liberty, no religion, and no hope. Their proposed new order is the very opposite to a United States of Europe or Asia. It is not government based upon consent of the governed. [lt is not a union of ordinary selfrespecting men and women to protect themselves, their freedom, and their dignity from oppression. It is an unholy alliance of power and selfishness to dominate and enslave the human race. The British people are conducting an active war against this Unholy alliance. Our own future security is greatly dependent on the outcome of that fight, and our ability to keep out of war is going to be affected by that outcome.

MUST SUPPORT DEMOCRACY, “Thinking in terms of to-day and to-morrow, I make the direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war if we do all we can now to support the nations that are defending themselves against attack by the Axis, than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later. If we are completely honest with ourselves, we must admit that there is risk in any course we may take; but I deeply believe that the great majority of our people agree that the course I advocate involves the least risk and is now the greatest hope of world peace in the future. “The people of Europe who are defending themselves do not ask, us to do their fighting. They ask us for implements to enable them to fight for their liberty and our security. Emphatically, we must get these weapons to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough so that we and our children may be saved the agony and suffering of war which others have had to endure. Do not let the defeatists tell us it is too late. It will never be earlier. To-morrow will be later than today. “Certain facts are self-evident in the military sense. Britain and the Empire to-day are the spearhead of resistance to world conquest. They are putting up a fight which will live for ever in the story of human gallantry. There is no demand for sending an American expeditionary force outside our own borders. There is no intention by any member of your Government to send such a force. You can rail and talk about sending armies to Europe. It is a deliberate untruth. Our national policy is not directed to war. Its sole purpose is to keep war from our country and our people. “Democracy’s fight against world conquest is being greatly aided, and must be aided more, by the rearmament of the United States, and by | sending every ounce and every ton of munitions and supplies we can pos[sibly spare to help the defenders who ’are in the front lines. It is no more i unneutral for us to do that than for | Sweden, Russia, and other nations pear Germany to send steel, ore, oil, and other war materials into Germany j daily. We are planning our own de- ; fence with the utmost urgency and in I its vast scale we must integrate the war needs of Britain and other free nations resisting aggression. This is not a matter of sentiment or controversial personal opinion. It is a matter of realistic military policy based on the advice of military experts who are closely in touch with existing warfare. These military and naval experts, and members of Congress and the Administration, have the singleminded purpose of the defence of the United States. This nation is making a great effort to produce everything necessary in this emergency with all possible speed. This great effort requires great sacrifice.

APPEAL TO INDUSTRY. “I would not ask anyone to defend a democracy which in turn would not defend everyone in the nation against want and privation. The strength of [this nation shall not be diluted by the failure of its Government to protect 'the economic well-being of its citizens. If our capacity to produce is limited by machines, it must ever be Remembered that these machines are operated by the skill and stamina of i the workers. As the Government is ' determined to protect the rights of the 'workers, so the nation has a right to 1 expect the men manning the machines to discharge their full responsibilities ■for the urgent needs of defence. Workers possess the same human dignityend are entitled to the same-security 'pf position as engineer, manager, or .owner. Workers provide the human power for turning out destroyers, aeroplanes, and tanks. The nation expects the defence industries to conitinue to operate without strikes, without lock-outs. It expects and insists i that managements and workers reconcile their differences by voluntary or legal means in order to continue to produce the supplies so sorely needed. On the economic side we are bending every effort to maintain the stability lof prices, and with that stability the cost of living. “Nine days ago I announced the setting up of a more effective organisation to direct our gigantic efforts to increase the production of munitions. The appropriation of vast sums and the well-co-ordinated Executive direction of our defence efforts are not in themselves enough. Guns and aeroplanes have to be built in the factories and the arsenals, of America and have to be produced by workers, managers, and engineers, with the aid of machines which have to be built by hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the land. In this great work there has been splendid cooperation between Government, industry, and labour. American industrial genius is unmatched throughout the world in the solution of production problems. It has been called to bring its resources and talents into action .Manufacturers of watches, farm im-

(Recd. Dec. 31, 11.15 a.m.).

IRON AND STEEL EXPORTS.

MOTORING CONCERNS.

PUBLIC OPINION CHANGED.

plements,. linotypes, cash registers, automobiles/ sewing Machines, lawn? mowers, and locomotives, are nqw making fuses, bombcrates, telescope mounts, shell?, pistols, anq tanks.’ “But ail our present'efforts are not enough,” the President went on.. “We must have more ships, guns, and aeroplanes, and more of everything’. This can only be accomplished if we discard the notion of business as usUal. This job cannot be (Jone merely by superimposing on existing productive facilities the added requirements for defence. Our defence efforts must not be blocked by those fearing the consequences of surplus plant capacity. The possible consequences of a failure of our defence efforts are much more to be feared. After the present needs of our defence are past, the proper handling of the country’s peace-time needs will require all our hew productive capacity, if not more. No pessimistic policy about America’s future shill delay the immediate, expansion of those industries essential for defence.

ALL POSSIBLE SPEED. “I want to make clear that it is the purpose of this nation to build now, with all possible speed, every machine and arsenal and factory needed for the manufacture of defence material. We have the men, the skill, the wealth, and above all the will. lam confident that if and when the production of consumer or luxury goods by certain industries requires the use of machines and raw materials essential for defence, such production must yield to our primary and compelling purpose. I appeal to the owners of plants, managers, workers, and Government employees, to put every ounce of effort into producing these munitions swiftly without stint. I pledge all the officers of youi' Government to devote themselves to the same whole-hearted extent to the great task ahead. As aeroplanes, ships, guns, and shells are produced, the Government, with the defence experts, will then determine how best to use them to defend this hemisphere. The decision on how much shall be sent abroad and how much will remain at home must be made on the basis of our overall military necessities. We must be the great arsenal of democracy. To us this is an emergency serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to the task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.

“We have furnished the British with great material support and will furnish far more in the future. There will be no bottlenecks in our determination to aid Britain. No dictators and no combination of dictators will weaken that determination by threats of how they will construe that determination.

“The British have received invaluable military support from the heroic Greeks and the forces of all the Governments in exile. Their strength is growing. It is the strength of men and women who value freedom more highly than their lives. I believe the Axis Powers are not going to win this war. I base that belief on . the latest and best information. “We have no excuse for defeatism. We have every good reason to hope for peace, for the defence of our civilisation, and for the building of a better civilisation in the future. I have a profound conviction that the American people are now' determined to put a mightier effort than' has evei- yet been made to increasing the production of all the implements of defence to meet the threat to our democratic faith. As President of the United States I call for that national effort. I call for it in the name of this nation which we love and honour, and which we are privileged and proud to serve. I call on our people with absolute confidence that our common cause will greatly, succeed in the end.”

REPUBLICAN ENDORSEMENT.

WASHINGTON, December 30.

Mr. S. Early announced that Mr. Roosevelt was tremendously pleased with the reception to his speech, especially the fact it was approved by some Republican leaders.

(Recd. Dec. 31, 11.15 a.m.). NEW YORK, December 30.

The Journal of Commerce states that in order to expedite shipments to Britain and Canada, the State Department has granted the British Iron and Steel Corporation blanket licences for the export of iron and steel commodities, covered by Mr. Roosevelt’s proclamation.

DETROIT, December 30.

The War Department Defence Commission has tentatively accepted plans calling on the General Motors, Chrysler and Ford Companies, each to accept responsibility for the production of parts under assemblies, of one of three types of bombers. Mr. Roosevelt has invited Mr. Purvis to a luncheon conference, CANADIAN APPRECIATION OTTAWA, December 30. A high Government official said .Mr. Roosevelt’s speech “might be the turning point in the world struggle against Hitlerism. It was an epochal speech.”

RUGBY, December 29. In an article contributed to a London Sunday newspaper by a leading

American newspaper proprietor, he observes how, before the subjugation of France and the Lowlands, most Americans thought Herr Hitler’s

statements about Germans as Herren-

volk supported by resources of a conquered world, to be worthy only of the consideration accorded the rant-

ing of a madman. But in another recent “Gallop pool” eighty per cent, affirmed a belief there was a definite Nazi plan to make slaves of people in I Europe and to conquer American' trade and industry. This change in outlook in a country with a free, im- I partial Press served by its own objective reporters on both sides of the European war front, can be accounted 1 for only by self-revelations of the Nazis themselves. I When Sir. W. Layton returned the other day from his mission on behalf of the Ministry of Supply in the United States, he spoke of an impression made upon him by evidence gained during his visit of a change that country had undergone in its attitude to the war. Events of the past nine months had exposed Hitlerism in its naked evil, arousing deep instincts of chivalry in the people to many of whom a year or more ago issues at stake on this side of-the Atlantic were remote and indefinite. These events

GERMAN COMMENT.

MR. FRASER’S TRIBUTE.

WELLINGTON, December 31.

'also left Americans in no doubt that a ’call to defend the way of life and.values they cherished might sound sud? 'denly and soon, if Hitler'were not held in check by continuing resistance on the part of Britain. ' The American spirit accepted a menace to if? self tamely,‘ nor suffered Wrong tooth? ers in silence. ' r V '

‘BERLIN, December 30.

It is learned that Herr von Ribbentrop (German Foreign Minister) is personally studying Mr. Roosevelt’s speech. Meanwhile, pending, the official reaction, non-official political person--ages expressed the opinion that “the speech is hardly sensational, and it follows the general lines of what Mr. Roosevelt has said on many previous occasions.” ITALIAN ESTIMATE. (Received December 31, 9.15 a.m.) ROME, December 30-.-Dr. Gayda, in an editorial in “Giornale d’ltalia,” assails Mr. Roosevelt after his speech, stating: “Roosevelt is a man of non-declared war against the Axis and Japan, and is side-by-side with England.”

“Mr. Roosevelt’s inspiring statement will hearten every believer in democracy throughout the world,” said Mr, Fraser, when interviewed. “He has performed magnificent service in stating the issues so clearly, and in calling for a realistic attitude among his people towards'the menace which threatens the American Continent as closely as it does every other region. The influence of the United States, with its vast resources, is to be thrown with still-greater vigour on the side of the British Commonwealth, and with the aid of this great arsenal of democracy, victory over the aggressor nations is doubly assured. We in New Zealand have particular cause to be thankful for American policy as defined by the President.

His works provide a powerful contribution towards our security in the Pacific, and enable us with full confidence to concentrate our whole energies upon the struggle in the main theatres of war. Mr. Roosevelt has replied to the clumsy threats of the Axis Powers against the United States in the only possible way, by making it abundantly clear that they have succeeded, not in intimidating the American people, but in strengthening still further their determination to give ever-increased material aid to those at grips with the bullies. His repudiation of the idea of appeasing ruthlessness, and his bold indictment of Nazism, are moral blows shrewdly and powerfully delivered. The timely aid the United States has rendered so far, and the promised vast supplies and speedy deliveries, have earned the sincere and lasting gratitude of all peoples in the British Commonwealth.”