Evening star., 1940-09-29

The address OF UnderSecretdrv
Of State Sumner Welles before the
Foreign Affairs Council in Clepe-
land yesterday:
I have been particularly glad
to accept the invitation Of the
Foreign Affairs Council to ad-
dress you today on the subject
of Our Foreign Policy and Ma
tional Defense"
I have been glad because of
my conviction that, so far as the
interests of the Nation warrant,
and the exigencies of their du-
ties make it possible, those who
hold responsible positions in the
Government involving the con-
duct of our foreign relations,
should frequently make such
public reports. Even more, l
hold the belief that in what is
probably the most critical mo-
ment in our life as an independ-
ent people, every man and
woman in the United States
should be fully advised as to the
course of events upon this tragic
international Scene-they must
be aware of the part which their
Government has played in try
ing to avert the present nature
of that course-and be COM
pletely cogniZant of the steps
which it has taken to safeguard
the vital interests and the peace
Of the American people.
I think we, all of us, have rec
ognized increasingly clearly dur
ing these recent years that our
foreign policy and our ability to
defend ourselves are inextricably
woven together. Outside Of the
Western Hemisphere. the con-
cept of international morality
and the authority of interna-
tional law have ceased to be de-
termining factors. Those ma
tions which have relied upon
their neutrality, or which have
endeavored to exercise the
weight of the prestige they for
mefly enjoyed, and which did not
possess the physical means to
preserve their neutrality or to
make their influence felt, have
found to their bitter cost that a
foreign policy, however righteous,
however acutely devised, based
merely on morality or prestige,
counted for less than nothing
against the impact of brute
force. The peoples of the de-
mocracies have taken a long time
to persuade themselves of this
truth.
Munich Agreements
Mark Turning Point.
The history of the recent in
ternational relations Of this
country can perhaps be properly
divided into two chapters.
The first would cover that
period between 1888 and the
early months Of 1887. when it
still seemed unbelievable that
the impending calamity could
not be averted through resort to
reason and goodwill. In that
period this Government exerted
every effort, by offering its full
cooperation in the negotiation Of
equitable and workable economic
readjustments and in the search
for agreements for the limitation
of armaments, and by urging the
peaceful settlement of those
political and geographic readjust-
ments in which this country was
not directly concerned, to prevent
a world catastrophe which must
inevitably shake all civilized
structures-our own by no means
least.
The second chapter is separ-
ated from the first by the events
of those transition months which
eliminated in the agreements Of
Munich.
That was in September, 1898.
Since then the policy Of this Gov
ernment has been concerned
primarily and consistently with
the assuring Of our own national
defense. 1t has been directed to-
wards the perfection of our
means Of cooperation with our
sister republics of the New World,
and towards assisting those ma
tions outside the Western Hemis-
phere whose continued inde-
pendence and integrity contribute
towards the maintenance of
peace. and whose continued free
dom to live their own untram-
meled democratic way of life con-
stitutes a bulwark for the main
tenance of individual liberty in
the Western Hemisphere.
The basic reason for this
change in objective is illustrated
very clearly in passage in
Harold Nicolson's admirable life
OF his father. In speaking Of the
years before the World War Of
1914-18, he says, "It was not con-
sidered patriotic that ones own
country should on every occasion
set an example of unselfishness,
humanity and intelligence. 1t
thus came about that all but a
small minority approached
the problem of civilization in a
competitive and not in a CO.
operative spirit. In organized
communities this competitive
spirit can be controlled by the
authority of law. The European
community of nations was not an
organized community, and for
them the ultimate appeal was not
to law, but to force"
International Law
Replaced by Force.
During the generation after the
Treaty of Versailles not only had
efforts to organize the community
of nations failed, but in the early
years of the past decade signs
were constantly on the increase
that even that power of public
opinion based on international
agreement, known as interna-
tional law, which had to con-