Freedom Is Ultimate Stake

Northern Advocate, 17 March 1941, Page 6

Freedom Is Ultimate Stake

“There will be no divisions of party or sections or race or nationality or religion. There is not one among us who does not have a stake in the outcome of the effort in which we are now engaged. “A few weeks ago I spoke of our freedom —the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, freedom from want, freedom from fe,ar. They are the ultimate stake. “They may not be 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 If we fail, if democracy is superseded by slavery, then those four freedoms, or even mention of them, will bring forbidden things. “Centuries will pass before they can be revived. By winning now we are strengthening their meaning, we increase the statue of mankind and the dignity of human life.

“Dollars .alone will not win this war —let us not delude ourselves as to that. Today nearly a million and a half American citizens are hard at work in our armed forces.

“The spirit and determination of these men of our army and navy are worthy of the highest traditions ol 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, but it is not an idle one. Aid Those Who Resist. “Upon the national will to sacrifice and to work depends the output of our industry and our agriculture. Upon that will depend the survival of the vital bridge across the ocean—the bridge of ships which carry arms and food for those who are fighting the good fight.

“Upon that will depend our ability to aid other nations which may determine to offer resistance. Upon that will may depend practical assistance to people now living in nations which have been overrun, and I hope a day will soon come when they will find an

Ciwilis®tl©ii , s Front Line

“The essence of that morale is in the masses of plain people who are completely clear in their minds about the non-essential fact that they would rather die as free men than live as slaves.

“These plain people—civilians as well as soldiers and sailors and airmen, women and girls, as well as men and boys—are fighting in the front line of civilisation, and they are holding that line with fortitude which will forever be the pride and inspiration of all free men on every continent and on every island of the sea. “The British people and their

Grecian allies need ships from America. They will get the ships. “They need aeroplanes from America. They will get the aeroplanes. “They need food from America. They will get the food. “They need tanks and guns and

ammunition and supplies of all kinds from America. They will get the tanks and guns and ammunition and supplies of all kinds.

Help For China Also,

“China likewise expresses nificent will of millions of plain people to resist the dismemberment of their nation. China, through Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, asks our help.

America has said that China shall have our help. “Our country is going to be what our people have proclaimed it must be—the arsenal of democracy. “Our country is going to play its full part, and when the dictatorship disintegrates—and pray God that 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 rallyihg cry of the dictators, their boasting about a master race, will prove to be pure stuff and nonsense. There never has been, there is not now, and there never will be, any race of people fit to serve as masters over their fellow men.

Rights of Nationhood,

“The world has no use for any nation which, because of its size or because of its military might, asserts its

opportunity to strike back in an effort to regain their liberties. “This will of the American people will not be frustrated either by threats from powerful enemies abroad or by small selfish groups or Individuals at home.

“The determination of America must not be obstructed by war profiteering. It must not be obstructed by unnecessary strikes of workers, by shortsighted management, or 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 great 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 have demanded, and got, a policy of unqualified, immediate and full aid for Britain, Greece, China, and for all the Governments in exile whose home lands are temporarily occupied by .aggressors. From now on that aid will be increased, and yet again increased, until total victory has been won. British Morale Ever Stronger. “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 and the other Dominions, of the rest of their Empire and non-British people throughout the world who still think in terms of the great freedoms. “The British people are braced for invasion whenever the attempt may come —tomorrow, next week or next month.

“In this historic crisis Britain is blessed with ,a brilliant and great leader in Winston Churchill, but no one knows better than Mr Churchill himself that it is not alone his stirring words and valiant deeds which give the British their superb morale.

rights to goose-step to world power over other nations or races.

“We believe that any nationality, no matter how small, has an inherent right to its own nationhood. We believe that men and women of such nations no matter what their size, can, through the process of peace, serve themselves and serve the world by protecting the common man’s security, improve the standards of helpful living and provide markets for manufacture and for agriculture. “Through that kind of peaceful service every nation can increase its happiness, banish the terrors of war and abandon man’s inhumanity to man.

“Never in all our history have Americans faced a job so well worth while. May it be said of us, in the days to come, that our children and our children’s children rise up and call us blessed.”