PART TO PLAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20137, 5 January 1940, Page 11

PART TO PLAY

AMERICAN NATION FUTURE OF WORLD TORCH OF LIBERTY REASON AND DEMOCRACY AIDING JUST PEACE MESSAGE OF ROOSEVELT (Elec. Tal. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Jan. 4, 2.10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Jan. 3. ■ “I have repeatedly given warning that whether we like it or not, the daily lives of Americans of necessity 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 selfcontained unit, can live happily and prosperously, its future secure, inside the high wall of isolation, while outside the rest of civilisation and commerce, culture and mankind may be shattered,” said President Roosevelt in his speech at the opening of Congress to-day. “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 has asked them to consent, for nobody expects such an undertaking. “The 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 participation in the war. How to Serve Future “I can also understand the wishfuli ness of those who over-simplify the situation by repeating that all we have to do is to mind our own business and keep the nation out of war, but there is a vast difference between minding our own business and pretending that this war is none of our business. “We do not have to go to war witn other nations, but at least we can strive, with other nations, to encourage the kind of peace that will lighten the world’s troubles. I ask that all of us think things through with the single aim of how best to serve the future of our jown nation. “For it becomes clearer and dearer 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 swiftlymoving events over the earth has made us all think with a longer view. The time is long past when any political party can curry or capture public favour by labelling itself a peace party. That label belongs to the whole of the United States.” “Out of all the military and diplomatic turmoil and propaganda and counter-propaganda, there are two facts which the whole world acknowledges. The first is that never before has a Government of the United States done so much to establish and maintain the policy of a good neighbour with the sister nations. The second is that in almost every nation there is a true public belief that the United Government has been, and will continue to be,' a potent, and active factor seeking the re-establish-ment of peace. Several Alternatives “I hope Americans everywhere will work out for themselves the several alternatives before world civilisation. We must look ahead and see the possibilities for our children if the rest of the world is dominated by concentrated force alone. Even though today we are a very great and a very powerful nation, we must look ahead and see the effect on our own future if all the small nations have their independence snatched from them, or become mere appendages to relatively vast and' powerful military systems.

“We must look ahead and see the kind of lives our children would have to lead if a large part of the rest of the world were compelled to worship a god imposed by a military ruler, or forbidden to worship God at all, if the rest of the world is forbidden to read the daily news of their own or other nations, if they are deprived of the truth which makes men free. Future Generations

“We must look ahead and see the effect on our future generations if world trade is controlled by any nation, or group of nations, which sets up that control through military force.

"It is true that the record of past centuries includes the destruction of small 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 we go back to the wars and conquests of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. “In the words of commonsense. I hope we will have fewer American ostriches in our midst. It is not good for the ultimate health of the ostriches to bury their heads in the sand. “Only an ostrich would look upon these wars through the eyes of cynicism or ridicule.’’ Aftermath of Last War The President continued that blind, economic selfishness in the United States and other countries after the Great War produced trade restrictions which blocked commerce between the nations. From that premise he devoted the mid-section of his message to a defence of the reciprocal trade agreement programme sponsored by the Secretary of State. Mr. Cordell Hull and which was conducted by the executive department without Congressional; coiisent or advice. The Act under which it operates expires in June. Mr, Roosevelt said it should not only be re-enacted but extended, “as an indispensible part of the foundation of stable and durable peace.”

The old conditions of world trade made for no enduring peace. When the time came the United States’ Government 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 could well gain by peaceful conference. “For this purpose we need the trade agreements Act even more than when it was passed,” said the President.

“I emphasise the leadership which