Evening star., 1941-01-15
Hull
Continued From Page A-12)

| thoroughly prepared ana well dTNleQ
is fighting every hour of the day to
prevent that crossing, and is fortified
with every known device to repel a
landing. The 20 miles of water be-
tween continental Europe and
Britain are under British, not Ger
man, control.
Were Britain defeated, and were
she to lose command of the seas,
Germany could easily cross the
Atlantic-especially the South At
lantic-unless we were ready and
able to do what Britain is doing now.
Were the Atlantic to fall into Ger
man control, the Atlantic would offer
little or no assurance of security.
Great Britain a Fortress.
Under these conditions our ma
tional security would require the
continuous devotion of very great
part of all our work and wealth
for defense production, prolonged
universal military service, extremely
burdensome taxation, unending
vigilance against enemies within our
borders, and complete involvement
in power diplomacy. These would
be the necessities of a condition as
exposed as ours would be-
Great Britain is today veritable
fortress. So will this country be
when our preparations for armed
defense are completed Most likely,
however. it will not be by direct and
frontal attack that the would-be In
vaders will undertake the conquest
of this country, if they ever have a
chance to embark upon such an en-
terprise. It Is rather to be antici-
pated that their efforts would first
be directed against other portions
of this hemisphere more vulnerable
than this country, and then against
us.
Control of Seas Essential
Supversive forces are hard at work
in many American countries, seek
ing create interal dissension and
disunion as a now familiar prelude
to armed invasion. Today these
forces are held in check and are
being steadily eradicated. But the
entire situation would change if
control of the high seas were to
pass into the hands OF the would
be attackers. Under such conditions,
the difficulties of continental de-
fense would demand from us vastly
greater efforts than We are now
called up to envisage.
The most serious question today
for this country is whether the con-
troll of the high seas shall pass into
the hands of powers bent on pro-
gram of unlimited conquest. 1t is
in this light, above all that we
should order our present-day think
ing and action with respect to the
amount Of material assistance which
our country is prepared to furnish
Great Britain.
Aid to Britain ef-Defense.
On no other question of public
policy are the people of this country
so nearly unanimous and so en-
phatic today as they are on that
of the imperative need, in our own
most vital interest, to give Great
Britain and other victims of attack
the maximum aid in the shortest
possible space of time.
This is so because it is now alto
gether clear that such assistance
to those who resist attack is vital
part of our national self-defenSe.
In the face of the forces of conquest
now on the march across the earth,
elf-defense is and must be the COM
pelling consideration in the determi-
nation of wise and prudent national
policy.
For us to withhold aid to victims
of attack would not result in re-
storation of peace. 1t would merely
tend to perpetuate the enslavement
of nations already invaded and sub
jugated and provide an opportunity
for the would-be conquerors to
gather strength for an attack against
us.
Legal Concepts No Protection.
The protagonists OF the forces
against which we are today forging
the instrumentalities of self defense
have repudiated in every essential
respect the long-accepted principles
of peaceful and orderly international
relations. They have disregarded
every right of neutral nations, even
of those to which they themselves
had given solemn pledges of inviola-
bility. Their constantly employed
weapons for the government of their
unfortunate victims are unrestricted
terroriZation; firing squads. deceit,
forced labor, conflscation of prop
erty, concentration camps and de-
privations of every sort.
The most scrupulous observance
by peaceful countries of legal con-
cepts provides today no security
whatever. Many nations which
trusted to the integrity of their
intentions and the care with which
they observed their legal obligations
have been destroyed.
Speed Our Greatest Need.
I am certain that the day will
come again when no nation will
have the effrontery and the cynicism
to demand that, while it itself SCOTS
at and disregards every principle of
law and order. its intended victims
must adhere rigidly to all such prin-
ciples-until the very moment when
its armed forces have crossed their
frontiers. But so long as such ma
tions exist, we cannot and must not
be diverted-either by their threats
or by their hypocritical protests
from our firm determination to Gre
ate means and conditions of self
defense wherever and in whatever
form we find essential to our own