Evening star., 1941-12-09

in producing articles of defense for
the United States.
We have been seeking as nation
over many months and years to
bring about a peaceful settlement
of problems of the Pacific. There
have been conferences held, some in
the islands of the Pacific, seeking
to arrive at an accommodation of
interests and policy among all the
nations involved in the Pacific, in
cluding China, Japan, Russia,
France, Holland and England, and
all the other nations and their pos
sessions in that great ocean.
Negotiations Held Hope.
There was some hope that these
negotiations might culminate in
success and at the request and sug-
gestion of the Japanese government,
several months ago, negotiations
were entered into-or conversations
rather were entered into, for until
very recently they never obtained
the dignity of Observation-Disclosures
the Secretary of State and the
President and between the japanese
Ambassador to the United States,
and more recently through the
agency of a special Ambassador
from Japan, in an effort to bring
about peaceful settlement of the
diSagreements which had arisen
between the two countries and in
the Pacific region generally. And it
seems to me to be almost incredible,
and would be incredible if it had not
occurred, that while these very
conversations were in progress.
while the japanese Ambassador and
his colleague were delivering to the
Secretary of State a reply from
Japan to our Government in re-
sponse to representation of our
Government, in the process of the
negotiations. Japan attacks the ter
ritory of the United States, murders
our citizens, sink some of our ships,
and makes war upon the United
States of America without the
formality of declaration.
| I today say that in all civilized
history, if this can be called civilized
history, no such evidence of treach-
cry and duplicity has ever been en-
gagged in by any nation that called
itself civilized. Of course, in view
of what happened yesterday, there
was no course that the American
Government could pursue, there was
no course that the President of the
United States could pursue, there
was no course that the American
| people could pursue except to accept
this challenge at once and without
equivocation, and set about to not
! simply punish Japan, but to make
it impossible for such an occurrence
again to be brought about between
nations supposed to be friendly.
Therefore, as result of these
events, the President today in the
message to Congress. brief and to
the point, asked Congress to accept
the existence of war as a fact, and
that our Government proceed ac-
cordingly.
Challenge Promptly Accepted.
Within an incredible brief time
both Houses Of Congress, with only
one dissenting vote, declared that
a state of war exists between Japan
and the United States. There are
95 Senators in the United States
Senate. Ordinarily there are &C.
but due to the death of Senator
Adams of Colorado, there are now
only 95 Many of these Senators
were taken by surprise at the events
OF yesterday and were in their
homes in many parts of the United
States. Some were unable to reach
Washington in time to vote on the
!; resolution which was adopted to-
day, but there were 80 out of 81
. Senators in their seats today and 81
Senators voted for the declaration
of war recommended by the Presi-
,, dent. In the House of Representa-
tives, the vote was 398 to l, so that
I think I may say that never before
in the history of the United States
did Congress act so promptly anc
so definitely and with such unanim.
ity as it acted today in accepting
the challenge hurled at us by thi'
treacherous government of Japan
which may or may not represent the
real people of Japan. So that we
are at war with Japan.
, Now, there are many people in thi
I'M