Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-22

world are exchanged with some
relationship to the laws Of supply
and demand. Trade is the nfe
blood of democracy.
But none of this seems to have
been apparent to Mr.. Roosevelt in
1888. For a short time after his
Inauguration he did, indeed, re-
gard the London economic con-
ference with favor. He did not,
however, see it for what it was,
a magnificent opportunity for the
leader of the worlds greatest
democracy to do something
tangible to rehabilitate the DEM
ocratic world.
On the contrary, after his
delegates had arrived in London,
Mr.. Roosevelt violently and with
out warning repudiated the in
structions he had given them.
Sitting in a boat of the coast Of
Maine, he hastily adopted a
brand-new experimental none
tary program for the United
States. He denounced the pro-
posal Of the conference as
"specious fallacy." And he had a
few fine words to say concerning
his favorite Observation-Disclosures
cost of government" adequate
government income" and bal
anced budgets"
This rash decision wrecked the
conference, and put an end to
any immediate hope for stabi-
lized international exchange. 1t
condemned France and all the
goldbloc nations to three years
of deflationary pressure, ending
in the collapse of their curren-
cies. 1t thus weakened the struc-
ture of the democratic world and
opened the way to the agrees
sive designs of Hitler.
President Of United States
Has Twofold Responsibility.
Now I am not bringing this
matter up again merely to carp
or criticize. I am bringing it up
because I have had to reach a
definition in my own mind of
the responsibilities of the presi-
dency in foreign affairs. And the
incident of the London economic
conference illustrates a conclu-
sion I have reached.
AS I see it, the President of
the United States has tTo-fold
responsibility. He must defend
and preserve our democracy and
he must encourage other democ-
racies. One of these objectives
cannot be accomplished without
the other because the democratic
world is inter-dependent and in
ter-related. If democracy is not
strong elsewhere it will be diff
cult to keep it strong at home.
The present administration has
not understood that principle.
1t began by weakening the other
democracies and it has ended by
weakening our own. Let us turn
from the first term to the Sec
ond.
Four years after the London
conference, after Mr.. Roosevelt
was inaugurated a second time,
the designs of Hitler against the
democracies had become the
most important factor in Europe.
The situation was dangerous,
and recognized as such by news
paper writer's, editors, and gov
eminent spokesman everywhere,
But the fact that the situa-
ton was dangerous did not mean
that inevitably within a few
years most of the world would be
plunged into war. There was no
such inevitability. There were
good reasons to believe that the
tide would Runaway from de-
preston and war to prosperity
and peace. This hope was soundly
based on the fact that the de-
mocracies seemed actually to be
recovering from the depression.
United States Was Weak
Spot In Economic Recovery.
I want you to note here that
every rising index in those free
countries strengthened their
freedom and their tenure on the
democratic way of life. De-
mocracy is rooted in prosperity.
1t has never been overthrown
from within during a prosperous
period.
But in the general economic
recovery of the democracies
there was one weak spot. That
spot was the United States. In
the United States, of all places,
recovery Jagged behind the rest in
the democratic world, including
even France. Time and time
again the statistics showed that
almost every country in the world
was recovering faster than the
great and rich United States.
Elsewhere it was assumed that
the depression in the United
States could not possibly last
much longer. Sooner or later re-
covery must come. And when it
did come it would confirm and
stimulate further recovery else
where. 1t would strengthen the
democracies. 1t would help them
to deal with the rising tide Of
military dictatorship.
In this situation. dangerous but
far from hopeless, there were two
things that the United States
should have done. First, We
should have assured the domestic
raravAry that the dernocra tic