HELP FOR ALLIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 June 1940, Page 5

HELP FOR ALLIES

RESOURCES OF UNITED STaTES BATTLE FOR FREEDOM. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S SPEECH. > (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WASHINGTON. June 10. President Roosevelt, in a speech at Charlottesville, declared: "The United States will send its resources to the aid of the Allies in their magnificent fight.” He denounced Italy for her entry into the war. and asserted that Britain and France, in fighting the totalitarian armies, are battling for freedom with magnificent valour. He declared that the United States cannot safely be permitted to become a lone island in a world dominated by the philosophy of force. “Such an island may be the dream of those who still talk and vote as isolationists,” said the President. “Such an island represents to me, and to the overwhelming majority of Americans today, a helpless nightmare of a people without' freedom, a people lodged in a prison, handcuffed and hungry, and fed through bars from day to clay by the contemptuous, unpitying masters of other continents.

CERTAIN TRUTHS. ‘‘Let us not hesitate to proclaim certain truths. Overwhelmingly, we as a nation —and this applies to all the other Americas—are convinced that victory for the gods of force and hate would endanger the institutions of democracy in the Western World, and that equally, therefore, the whole of our sympathies lie with those nations which are giving their lifeblood to combat those forces. “The people and Government of the United States have seen with the utmost regret and grave disquiet the decision of Italy to engage in hostilities,” he said. “Over the past three months the chief of the Italian Government has sent me word that, because of the determination of Italy to limit as far as possible the spread of the conflict, more than 200,000,000 people in the region of the Mediterranean were enabled to escape the suffering and devastation of war. I expressed the earnest hope that the policy might be continu-. ed. ITALY’S ENTRY INTO WAR. “On a subsequent occasion I offered in a message to Signor Mussolini to send to England and France such specific indications of the desires of Italy to obtain readjustment as he might desire, and proposed that if Italy would refrain from entering the war I would be willing to ask for an assurance from the other Powers concerned that they would faithfully execute any agreement so reached and that Italy’s voice at future peace conferences would have the same authority as if Italy had participated in the war. Unfortunately, Signor Mussolini was unwilling to accept. “The efforts of the Government have been directed toyard doing what it could for the preservation of peace in the Mediterranean area. “Italy has now chosen to preserve what she terms her freedom of action, and to fulfil what she states are her promises to Germany. In so doing she has manifested a disregard for the rights and security of other nations, and for the lives of the peoples of' those nations directly threatened by the spread of war, and has evidenced and unwillingness to find means, by pacific negotiations, for the satisfaction of what she believes to be her legitimate aspirations. PRAYERS AND HOPES. “This day we send forth our prayers and hopes for those beyond the seas who are maintaining with magnificent valour their battle for freedom. “We will extend to the opponents of force the material resources of this nation, and simultaneously harness and speed up the use of those resources. in order that we will have the equipment and training equal to the task of any emergency and for every defence. All roads leading to the accomplishment of these objectives must be kept clear. I call for an effort of courage, sacrifice, and devotion.”

NEUTRALITY ACT US.A. EXTENDS PROVISIONS TO ITALY. WASHINGTON, June 11. President Roosevelt has extended the Neutrality Act to Italy, thus declaring Italy a belligerent and naming the Mediterranean as a combat zone. RED CROSS WORK AMERICA PROVIDING FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS. FOR RELIEF OF REFUGEES. (Received This Day. 9.15 a.m.) WASHINGTON, June 11. President Roosevelt is asking Congress to appropriate fifty million dollars for the Red Cross for use for the relief of refugees in Europe. The President’s secretary. Mr Stephen Early, said: “The request is a sequel to President Roosevelt's declaration last night that the United States will extend her material resources for the use of the Allies.”