CONSCIENCES CLEAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 17 April 1939, Page 7

CONSCIENCES CLEAR

NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED PRESIDENT AND MR HULL CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF APPEAL GENERAL SCEPTICISM AS TO SUCCESS (Received 17th April, 9.15 a.m.) WASHINGTON. 16th April. At a conference with Press representatives after the release of the text, the President said that he and Mr Cordell Hull could now sleep with clearer consciences because they were leaving no stone unturned to prevent war. He warned the nation against minimising the threat to peace and recalled that many laughed when he said, before boarding the cruiser in Florida in February to witness manouevres, that events might hasten his return, yet soon after this Czechoslovakia had ceased to exist. it had become apparent, he said, that no one could tell how far the fire would spread. He added that rumours circulated by the Press of impending aggressive moves were supplemented by rumours in confidential dispatches from official sources. One important effect of President Roosevelt’s appeal, as seen here, would be to fasten the guilt for starting a war firmly on the dictators —an important consideration in moulding American public opinion. President Roosevelt’s appeal to the has won wide Congressional approval, »ut an almost equally general scepticism that it would achieve any success. The majority regard it merely as a gesture, which, if the dictators are looking for a way out, could not do any harm. There is a growing feeling in Congress that it is too late for American influence to count abroad. This attitude is joined by the middle-road thinkers who now believe that the United States could have contributed 20 years ago to a more stable and contented world, but that her insistence through the years that she would have no part in European problems has been accepted by the European chancellerThey believe that the plans of the totalitarian Powers were formulated on the assumption of isolation by the United States and that this cannot be changed at this later date by a mere Presidential pronouncement. POSITION STRENGTHENED it is felt in political circles that the President has at least strengthened his own position by demolishing the charges of warmonger being made against him within the United States. It is felt also that the appeal may help in the formation of a “stop Hitler” bloc. It is noted that, in asking for the pledges not to joge force, the President specifically listed 31 countries, incidentally omitting Danzig. If the assurances are refused, it is felt that these 31 countries may all feel themselves in the orbit of totalitarian ambition and hasten to line up with the democracies.

The “New York Times” interprets the message, not as an appeal “to

the better nature and sense of resr ansibility which the dictators do not possess” but as a warning “that if they resort to acts of aggression threatening the peace of the world, they will find the odds overwhelmingly against them.”