Evening star., 1936-11-29
Warning to Aggressors.

On any occasion Mr.. Roosevelt's ad-
dress before the Brazilian Congress
would have been notable contribution
to the cause of peace and inter- American
fraternity Delivered at the present
moment of international tension, with
perils of conflict and new power group
ings aggravating war psychology, the
Presidents utterance, on the threshold
of this weeks epochal conference OF the
American republics, assumes extraordi-
nary significance. Its implications are
not confined to the Western Hemisphere.
They span the globe. Their true in
wardness is manifest in the assertion
that I'VE cannot countenance aggression,
from wheresoever it may come In
voicing that sentiment, the President
affirmed that the peoples of the New
can discard the dangerous language Of
rivalry. We can put aside the empty
phrases of diplomatic triumphs' or
'shrewd bargains Then he added:
1--WE can forget all thought of domina-
ton, of selfish coalitions or of balances
of power. Those false gods have no place
among American neighbors."
If Mr. Roosevelt had been addressing
himself directly to certain quarters in
Europe and ASIA his words could hardly
be more timely or purposeful. He was
speaking while the ink was not yet dry
on the German-Japanese alliance and
the correlated Italo-German under
standing, and while the world waits to
discover what may flow from the clash
between Fascist and Communist ideolo-
gies in Spain. The President was re-
ceiving the plaudts of his warm-hearted
Brazilian hosts, too while the world
speculates anxiously about what lies
behind current moves on the European
and Asiatic chessboards.
Mr.. Roosevelts allusion to aggression"
cannot have been lightly made. It does
not seem unlikely that he had in mind
the possibility that in its zeal to make
the world safe for its particular cult,
Fascist or Communist dictatorship some
day may risk a mad gamble to secure
a political or territorial foothold among
the democracies of the American Con-
tinent. That contingency, fantastic as it
may once have seemed, assumes a differ
ent guise in light of the asserted purpose
of Germany and Japan to carry their
NJ do i,fo Gala
they consider it necessary to clear for
action. Latin America, being so largely
Spanish in origin. naturally suggests,
because of events in the mother country,
that the southern continent might easily
become battle-ground between the rival
PHILOSOPHERS now at daggers drawn across
the Atlantic.
The Presidents visit to Rio de Janeiro
recalls that not SO long ago both Ger
many and Japan evinced lively interest
IN Brazil. Germany in pre-Hitler days
conducted an intensive drive for German
colonization" in the Amazon republic.
Japan once sent emigrants there on a
systematic scale. Perhaps those facts
were not out of President Roosevelt's
mind when he warned would-be ag-
gressors to keep hands off the Americas.
His declaration strikes stimulating key
note for the business about to be trans
acted at Buenos Aires. BY every portent
the Peace Council of the sister republics
Is destined to link them more closely
together than ever in bonds of interde-
pendence, amity and confidence for
preservation of ideals and interest COM
mon to them ALL