Evening star., 1942-10-27

and women of the British Common
wealth of Free Nations the RESPONSE
bility of making the whole world a
commonwealth of free nations The
grim, relentless progress OF this war
! is teaching all of us that in world
| forced to choose between victory and
slavery, between freedom and Fas-
cism, there are no purely local prob
lens.
India is our problem. If Japan
should conquer that vast subcont1-
nent, we will be the losers.s In the
same sense, the Philippines are a
British problem. If we fail to de-
liver, by force OF arms, the lnde-
pendence we have promised to the
Filipinos, the whole Pacific world
will be the loser.
We must believe these simple
truths, and speak them loudly and
without fear. Only in this way can
the peoples Of the world forge, in
this war, the strength and the con-
fldence in each other which we will
need to win the peace.
There will be lots of tough prob
lens. And they will differ in diff
ferent mandates; different colonies.
Not all the peoples OF the world are
ready for freedom, or can defend 1t,
the day after tomorrow. But today
they all want some date to work to-
ward, some guarantee that the date
will be kept.
For the future, they do not ask
that we solve their problems for
them. They are neither so foolish
nor so faint-hearted. They ask only
for the chance to solve their own
problems with economic as we'll as
political cooperation. For the peo-
Piles of the world intend to be free
not only for their political satisfac-
ton, but also for their economic ad-
vancement.
There are other holes that we are
blindly punching in our reservoir of
goodwill which can be more easily
repaired. One of them is the half
ignorant, half-patronizing way in
which we have grown accustomed to
treating many of the peoples in east
tern Europe and Asia.
Leaders Are intelligent.
The rulers of our allies and our
potential allies are proud and intel
ligent men. The Shah of Iran, the
Prime Minister of Iraq, the Prime
Minister or the Foreign Minister of
Turkey, the Generalissimo of China
to mention just a few-are men
who understand the world and who
have important ideas about the
future. They are in substantial
agreement, for example, as to the
necessity of abolishing imperialism,
of liberating the peoples of the
world, of making freedom a reality.
instead OF just nice word. They
feel unanimously, I think, that the
United States can and must make
an enormous contribution to the
new solutions. They are able and
eager to work with Representatives
OF the United States, and to begin
now.
But consider our policy. We have
consistently failed to send to these
men representatives with authority
to discuss such problems intelh-
gently and to take realistic steps
toward their solution.
one OF our representatives to a
great power, for example, although
he has worked for more than 20
years in the country where he is
stationed, has not troubled to learn
the language of proud and sensi-
tive people to which he is accred-
tied. On our special missions to
Russia no one of cabinet rank has
been sent from this country to talk
to Mr. Stain.
1t was the British Prime Minister
who primarily spoke for us on the
last such mission. Between Cairo
and Tehran live the Arab-speaking
peoples, in half a dozen lands, with
great traditions and great futures.
Yet, when was there, we had in all
this area no minister or ambassador
in residence.
We must wipe out the distinction
in our minds between "frst-class"
and "second-class" allies. We must
send to represent us among all our
allies really distinguished men who
are important enough in their own
right to dare tell our President the
truth.
Silence Dangerous.
There is one more leak in our
reservoir of goodwill which 1 must
report to you. 1t can be plugged,
believe, by resolute and aggressive
action by the people of democratic
nations, and especially of the United
States. This is the atrophy of in
telligence which is produced by
stupid, arbitrary or undemocratic
censorship.
1t has been suggested much OF
late, Tor example, that private cltl-
zens, particularly those not expert
in military affairs or those uncon-
nected with Government, should re-
fraln from making suggestions about
the conduct of the War-military, in
dustrial, economic or political. 1t is
said that we must remain silent and
allow our leaders and the experts to
solve these problems unmolested.
This position threatens, I believe,
to become a tight wall which will
keep the truth out and lock mlsrep-
resentation and false security within.
1 have reported to you tonight that
in many important respects We are
not doing good job; that we are on
the road to winning the war, but
that we run heavy risk of spending
far more in men and materials than
We need to spend.
This report is based on facts. Such
facts should not be censored. They
should be given to us all. For unless
we recognize and correct them, we
may lose the friendship Of half our
allies before the war is over and
then lose the peace.
1t Is plain that to win this war we
must make it our war, the war of
all of us. In order to do this, we
must all know as much about 1t as
possible, subject only to the needs
OF military security. A misdirected
censorship will not orcompljeb thjc