The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-11-20
"American Ideals and Intentions"

american Ideals and Intentions"
With unanimity the entire American capt.
talist press, both republican and democratic,
sings, paens of praise to the Coolidge Armis-
tice Day speech. The most unrestrained
praise comes from the organs of the great
banking house, the spokesman of the loan
mongers and war-makers in New York. Join
ing in the chorus are the publications from
sthe great steel centers, the organs OF the
munitions manufacturers, the chemical in
dustries the motor industry. Leading these
psalm singers of pacifist phrases to conceal
preparations for imperialist butchery is the
republican organ of Wall Street, the New
York Herald Tribune. Says that paper:
"The presidents speech, notable for its
vigOr and plain speaking, will have multi
tudinous echoes here and abroad. 1t in
the highest oppOrtune. 1t will clear
the air and make for better appreciation of
American ideals and intentions. 1t cannot
but aid greatly in giving relations with
Europe realistic background We are
satisfied that its plain speaking will dispel
many persistent and harmful illusions and re-
suit in friendlier international feeling and far
better comprehension of the attitude and poll
cies of the United States"
Certainly, already, less than a week after
its utterance, there have been numerous
echoes of the Coolidge speech on Armistce
Day. In the United States the echoes have
been repetitions with variations of the
sophistry of the Herad-Tribune. There have
also been echoes on the stock exchange rs
potential war bonds in basic industries scared
to unprecedented heights in wild frenzy
of specializing on the impending imperialist
war. Surely the capitalist press and the
stock exchange reacted correctly to Cool
idge's expression of American ideals and in
tentions."
Likewise from abroad there have been
echoes of the Coolidge speech which indicate
that Europe also understands the full import
of the Armistice Day Interpretation of
Americas exalted ideals and Intentions Ger
tainly the imperialist statesmen of Europe
were not slow in registering the fact that
"our relations" with them have been placed
publicly in more realistic background" to
quote the words of the Herald Tribune
So realistic is the reaction of European
spokesman Of the capitalist countries that
those who have been advocating a bloc of
EuIOpSdn udIlOiIS against II0 arrogant
United States imperialism are being listened
to as never before. 1t is a reflection of the
attitude of the European capitalist powers
that the Paris press is almost unanimous in
resenting the speech as that of a glorified
pawn-broker who wants to regulate the
household affairs of his financially distressed
customers. That analogy indicates the loath-
ing which yankee Imperialism, the "Uncle
Shylock" of the world, is held. The part of
the Coolidge speech that most arouses the
official and semi-official government press of
France is the reference to the reluctance of
the ruling class Of this country to advance
more loans to Europe until revision of arma-
ments treaties has been consummated. The
desperate condition of the French franc
only adds to the fury of Heroic allies" of
Uncle Shylock in the late war.
The most pronounced echo" from abroad
came from the British Isles, which indicated
that the Baldwin government fully under
stood the attempt of Coolidge to arrive at
"friendlier international relations" by de-
nouncing the British proposals regarding
cruiser building as an attempt to limit that
class of combat vessels in which the United
States is superior and to augment that class
in which Britain has a distinct advantage.
This blast against the tory outfit in Britain
has created so much havoc in the ranks of
the government and so encouraged the spuri-
GUS labor and liberal opposition that Premier
Baldwin was forced publicly to announce the
liquidation of the Anglo-French naval agree
ment concluded last September on the eve of
the signing of the Kellogg pact in Paris In
face of fire from the opposition in Britain
and the spokesman of dollar Imperialism,
Baldwin had to retreat to save, if only tenn
porarily, his political neck.
The speech of Coolidge, occurring as it
did Immediately after the landslide that