Evening star., 1942-06-14
National Sovereignty Emerges
AS a Paradox of War and Peace
Emphasis on 1t Is Necessary for Victory, Yet 1t
Must Be Played Down for Lasting
Results at Treaty Table
BY Felix Morley

1t is now generally recognized that
the one essential prerequisite for stable
postwar order is subordination Of the
doctrine of unlimited national SOW
ereignty Much as the concept of States
rights had to be restricted before the
United States could be regarded as united
in more than name, SO national SOW
ereignty must be limited by some form
Of supranational authority if the goal of
mankind is an effective peace system.
Therefore a paradoxical situation is
created by the intense emphasis on ma
tional sovereignty, which is essential in
order to fight the present war success
fully. Although we recognize that SOW
ereignty must be played down to win
the peace We also know that it must be
played up to win the war. The cumula-
tive effects of this inescapable wartime
distortion constitute the most difficult
single issue which the trainers of peace
will eventually have to confront.
The issue is particularly complicated
for the democracies, for under this sys-
tenn of government public opinion cam
not easily be manipulated and directed
first one way and then another
Tremendous effort and valuable time
have been required to make the Amer
lean people reach the conclusion that
every personal consideration is secondary
to the necessary concentration Of power
in their national government. The very
success of this effort tends to obscure
the fact that the development of ma
tional power is not an end in itself, but
merely a preliminary to the creation of
a world authority which can control ma
tional power.
Two Alternatives Equally Disastrous.
Yet this distinction must be kept clear
in American thinking if one of two dis
sstrous alternative outcomes is to be
averted when the war is won. At pres
ent it still seems possible that the
United States, after very costly and
exhausting victory. will as in 1919 en-
deavor to revert to narrow isolationism.
1t seems equally possible that we shall,
in terms of an American Century" en-
deavor to impose our national will
throughout the globe. Neither of these
two extremes would carry any promise
of a more satisfactory world order.
Consequently, it is significant that our
governmental spokesmen are with in
creasing clarity emphasizing that be-
tween the two blind alleys of isolationism
and imperialism lies a practical golden
mean toward which American policy
should be continuously directed. This
was the keynote of the important speech
made by Vice President Wallace in New
York on May g. 1t was also the heart
of the Memorial Day address, at Airing
ton. of the Undersecretary of State, Mr..
Sumner Welles.
Some have spoken of the American
Century" said the Vice President in his
New York speech. Il say that the CEN
tury on which we are entering-the
century which will come into being after
this war-can be and must be the GEN.
tury of the common man.
when the time of peace comes con-
tinued Mr.. Wallace, the citizen will
again have duty, the supreme duty Of
sacrificing the lesser interest for the
greater interest of the general welfare.
Those who write the peace must think
of the whole world. There can be no
privileged peoples"
In these passages and elsewhere in
this notable declaration, the Vice Pres
ident made plain his evident conviction
that the United States must, with the
coming victory, pool it's enormously de-
veloped power in behalf of collective
security and regularized international
cooperation. mo nation will have the
God-given right to exploit other nations"
he said. There must be neither military
nor economic imperialism"
Welles Sees Long Armistice Period.
In his speech at Arlington on Memo
rial Day, the Undersecretary of State
carried this line of thought stage fur
ther. Like the Vice President Mr..
Welles asserted that "the age of i'm
perialism is ended" But his address
was the more important as the first Off
cial advocacy of long armistice period
during which permanent system OF
general security" necessarily involving