PEACE AND PREPAREDNESS

Grey River Argus, 5 January 1940, Page 11

PEACE AND PREPAREDNESS

Asks Wider Powers AND LARGER DEFENCE VOTE. t' I ■ [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn. I WASHINGTON, January 3. President Roosevelt in his address to Congress in opening the session, asked to have made available. immediately- approximately 272 ' million dollars for defence, supplementing the appropriations already made for the year. The Secretary of the Navy (Mr Edison) asked Congress to vest in Mr Roosevelt vast peace-time powers to commandeer factories, materials, ships and other resources. Mr Edison offered no reason. Navj' Department officials said that the proposal was of a precautionary nature. The President did not suggest the. nature of the taxes. The extra sum he desires for defence is estimated at four, to five hundred million dollars. He devoted the last section of ,hjs speech to domestic affairs. He said that national production had returned to the 1929 levels, but the unemployment of millions remained a symptom of maladjusted economy. He rejected the “European expedient of putting the jobless to wor kat making armaments,” and said he wou’d

encourage the “American way”—reemployment through greater production . , , Mr Roosevelt said that the United States must be a potent, active factor in seeking the re-establishment of peace. He added: “But we must likewise be prepared to take care of ourselves if the world cannot attain peace. Accordingly, I am asking for increases for the Army and •. Navy, which are based on commonsense, and not on panic.” “I have repeatedly warned peop e that, whether we like it or not, the daily lives of Americans of necessity will 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 self-contained unit, can live happily and prosperously, its future secure inside the high wall of isolation, while outside the rest of civilisation and the commerce and culture ot mankind, are shattered. 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. “I can also understand the wishfulness 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 the 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 with 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 iho future of our own nation

for it becomes clearer and clearer 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 hand of a few .... . Already the crash of swiftly-moving events oyer the earth has made us ail 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 part/. That label belongs to the whole of the United States. “Out of all the military and diplo matic turmoil, propaganda, and counter-propaganda, there are two facts which the whole world acknow-ledges.-The first is-that never before has the .Government of the United States done so much to establish and maintain a policy of a good neighbour with sister nations. The second is that, in almost every nation, there, is a true public belief that the Univ,-, ed States has been, and will continue to be a potent and active factor, in seeking the re-establishment, of peace I hope that Americans every-, where will work out . for themselves the several alternatives before world civilisation. • “We must look ahead to see the. fnr our children if the.

rest of the world is dominated by concentrated force alone. Even though, to-day we are a very grea.. and a very powerful nation, we mijst liook ahead to see the effect on our own future, if all the small .nations have, their ’ independence snatched from them, or become mere append ages to relatively vast and powerful military systems., t ... “We must look ahead, to 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, were forbidden to read the daily news of their own and 'other nations, and if they were i deprived of the . truth which makes men free. We must look ahead to see* the effect on our future generations if world trade were controlled by an 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 tl e 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 ostriches, to. bury their heads in the sand. Only an ostrich would look upon, these wars through the eyes of cynicism or ridicule.” , The President continued, that the blind economic selfishness of the United States and other countries after , the Great War produced trade restrictions which blocked commerce betyveen nations. From that premise he devoted the ; mid-section of his message to a defence of Mr Hull’s reciprocal trade agreement programme, which was conducted by the Executive Department without Congressional consent or advice. The

Act under which it operates will expire in June. Mr Roosevelt said it should' not only be re-enacted,. but should' be extended, “as ah indispensable part, of the foundation of a stable and durable peace.” When, the time comes, the United States 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 can wejl gain by a ' peaceful conference. For this purpose, we need the Trade Agreements Act, even more than, when it was passed. I emphasise the leadership which this nation can take, when the time comes,, for a Renewal of world peace, such influence will be greatly weakened if the Government becomes a. dog-in-the-manger of trade selfishness. Washington warned us against entangling foreign alliances. I subscribe to and follow that precept,, but trade co-op-eration with the rest of the world does not violate the precept, in any way. Even as, through the.se trade agreements, we prepare to co-operate in a world that wants peace, we .must likewise be prepared to take care of ourselves if the world cannot .attain peace ...... in the light of continuing world uncertainty I am asking Congress for Army and Navy increases, .which are based not on panic but on. common sense. . . As will appear in the annual ( budget, To-morrow, the only, important increase is in the estimate for defenc Practically all,, the other items show, a reduction, in, the hope that we can continue, in these, days of increasing economic prosperity, to reduce the Federal deficit. I am asking Con-, „ res s to levy sufficient additional taxes to meet emergency spending for defence.” Mr Roosevelt . concluded with an appeal for national unity. He warned apologists for foreign aggressors, and equally those selfish partisan groups at ' home, who “wrap themselves in a false mantle of Americanism to promote their own economic, financial, or political advantage, who are now trying European tricks o nus seeking to muddy the stream of our national thinking, and wteakeriing us in face of danger, by trying to set. our people fighting .among themselves. We must combat such tactics as we would the plague .. We must, as a united people, keep ablaze on' this Continent, human libberty, reason and democracy and of fair'play,, as living things to be preserved for a better world to come.