Evening star., 1939-01-04
Prepare 10 Defend
American Way
OF Life, He Asks
Declares America Must
Keep New Deal Program
Of Social Progress
CONTINUED From First Page.)

against the rest of the world.
We as one of the republics reiter-
ate our willingness to help the
cause of world peace. We stand
on our historic offer to take
counsel with all other nations
of the world to the end that ag-
gression among them be ter
minated, that the race of arm
aments cease and that commerce
be renewed.
But the world has grown so
small and weapons of attack so
swift that no nation can be safe
In its will to peace so long as
any other single powerful nation
refuses to settle its grievances
at the council table.
For if any government bris-
ting with implements of war in
sists on policies of force, weapons
OF defense give the only safety.
In our foreign relations we
have learned from the past what
not to do. From new wars we
have learned what we must do.
We have learned that effective
timing of defense, and the dis
tant points from which attacks
may be launched are completely
different from what they were
20 years ago.
We have learned that survival
cannot be guaranteed by arming
after the attack begins-for
there is new range and speed
to offense.
We have learned that, long
before any overt military act,
aggression begins with prelimi-
naries of propaganda. subsidized
penetration, the loosening of ties
Of good will, the stirring of pref
udice and the incitement to
disunion.
We have learned that God
fearing democracies of the world
which observe the sanctity of
treaties and good faith in their
dealings with other nations can
not safely be indifferent to inter-
national lawlessness anywhere.
They cannot forever let pass,
without effective protests, acts
Of aggression against sister ma
tions-acts which automatically
undermine all of us.
Must Proceed Along
Practical. Peaceful Lines.
Obviously they must proceed
along practical, peaceful lines.
But the mere fact that we right
ly decline to intervene with arms
to prevent acts of aggression does
not mean that we must act as If
there were no aggression at all.
Words may be futile, but war is
not the only means of command
ing decent respect for the opin-
ions of mankind. There are
many methods short of war, but
stronger and more effective than
mere words, of bringing home to
aggressor governments the ag-
gregate sentiment of our own
people.
At the very least, we can and
should avoid any action, or any
lack of action, which will encour-
age, assist or build up an aggres-
sor. We have learned that when
we deliberately try to legislate
neutrality, our neutrality laws may
operate unevenly and unfairly
may actually give aid to an ag-
gressor and deny it to the VIC
tim. The instinct of self f-preser-
vation should warn us that we
ought not to let that happen
any more.
And we have learned some
thing else-the old, old lesson
that probability of attack is
nightly decreased by the assur-
ance of an ever-ready defense.
Since 1881 world events of thun-
derous import have moved with
lightning speed. During these
eight years many of our people
clung to the hope that the in
nate decency of mankind would
protect the unprepared who
showed their innate trust in
mankind. Today we are all
wiser-and sadder.
Under modern conditions what
we mean by adequate defense"
"a policy subscribed to by all
must be divided into three ele-
ments. First we must have armed
forces and defenses strong enough
to ward of sudden attack against
strategic positions and key IA
cilities essential to insure sus-
tanned resistance and ultimate
victory. Secondly we must have
the organization and location of
those key facilities so that they
may be Immediately utilized and
rapidly expanded to meet all
needs without danger of serious
interruption by enemy attack.
In the course of few days I
shall send you special message
making recommendations for
those two essentials of defense
against danger which we cannot
safely assume will not come.
If these first two essentials
are reasonably provided for, we
must be able confidently to in
woke the third element, the un-
derlying strength of citizenship
the self-confidence, the ability,
the imagination and the devo-
ton that give the staying power
to see things through.
Unprepared Nation
May Be Destroyed by Attack.
A strong and united nation
may be destroyed if it is unpre-
pared against sudden attack. But
even nation well armed and
well organized from a strictly
military standpoint, may, after
a period of time, meet defeat if
1t is unnerved by lf-distrust, en-
dangered by class prejudice, by
dissension between capital and
labor, by false economy and by
other unsolved social problems at
home.
In meeting the troubles of the
world we must meet them as one
people-with a unity born of the
fact that for generations those
who have come to our shores.
representing many kindreds and