Evening star., 1940-07-06
The Presidents Wurnino

President Roosevelt, in his warning
against any American movement
toward appeasement of or compro-
mise with the totalitarian states,
presumably was endeavoring to in
still in the American people keener
appreciation Of their privileges and
their duties as citizens of a democ-
racy. If that assumption is valid,
Mr.. Roosevelt is to be commended
for addressing himself to subject
which cannot be overstressed at this
time
The President is entirely correct in
his contention that the corporate"
states-Russia, Germany and Italy
have achieved their relative eff
cheney by the sacrifice of the free
doms which are the very essence of
the American way of life. And he is
on equally sound ground in warning
of the dangers to our liberties which
are inherent in any compromise, ac-
tive or passive, with the totalitarian
concept of government.
1t is regrettable, however, that Mr..
Roosevelt did not see fit to pursue
his line of thought little further
to the extent, at least, of laying more
stress on the duty which free citi-
zens owe to their government.
Nothing could be more dangerous
than for the people of the United
States to come to the conclusion that
the American form of government,
with its protection of individual free
dom, can be preserved merely by a
refusal to embrace the doctrine of
the totalitarianS. II we are to sur
vive as democracy in a world to be
largely dominated by what Mr..
Roosevelt calls the corporate states,
we must prove ourselves capable of
matching efficiency with efficiency,
and that cannot be accomplished by
wishful thinking. 1t is a task to
which the individual citizen, cogni-
zant of his duties and his responsi-
bilities, must devote conscious and
continuous effort.
At this critical juncture in world
affairs, it would be extremely dan
gerous not to understand clearly
that the collapse of France and the
desperate situation of Great Britain
are due in large measure to the in
efficiency of their forms of govern
ment in the years Immediately pre-
ceding the present war.
Nor are we in America assured of
any greater immunity than the
French and the British enjoyed if
we continue to make the mistakes
that they made. 1t may be unpleas-
ant, but it is nevertheless true that
a great many Americans, as was the
case in France and Britain, are dis
posed to over-emphasize their priv
ileges while minimizing the duties
that should accompany them. Under
some of the policies of the New Deal
they have been encouraged to lay
too much emphasis on the obliga-
ton of the state to the citizen; too
little on the duty which the citizen
owes the state.
The American people should be
told that our democracy has not been
functioning efficiently, even in peace
time, and that the factors which
have impeded it are apt to increase
rather than decrease in severity in
the future. No useful purpose can
be served by self deception. Britain
and France were forced to embrace
a form of corporate state because
they were not willing soon enough to
make the sacrifices necessary to the
maintenance of efficient democratic
government. There is a lesson in
their experience that we must take
to heart-namely, that continuation
of our present form of government