The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-06-10

horrors of war the first necessity of peace will be the opening of ways of communication between nations. The freedom of the seas has always been the pathway to peace. Few wars have resulted in a durable peace without first seeking to pro- tect the world highways of com- merce and supply.
 The country today is full of vis- ionaries and reformers who would change the face of the world without regard to the essential conditions of peace. They would not hesitate to disregard those agreements, which public opinion might be said to have already arrived at without formal treaties.
 Most of Us agree that we have first to win the war before we can advise the rest of the world what our place and theirs shall be in that world. Hence we agree to de- vote for the present every possible energy to winning the war. This obviously includes the avoidance of every unnecessary controversy, which retardS either our efforts or those of our allies. Secondly, we agree that when victory comes our enc mics shall be disarmed and remain 1 disarmed until such time as 1t Is possible for them to give guarantees of peaceable conduct and stable gov ernments capable of protecting in the future the aims for which We are now fighting.
 It will then become our first aim to reestablish the freedom Of the seas and also of the air. Freedom to trade in any quarter of the globe throughout all our history has been the principle of international free dom for which we have most often contended
 We started on the job of establish ing the freedom of the seas in 1901 when our miniature navy of sailing vessels under Stephen Decatur forced the pirates of Tripoli to cease in their attacks on our shipping in the Mediterranean.
 We pushed the freedom of the seas many steps forward when be- tween 1907 and 1872 we compelled Great Britain to lift its embargoes upon our shipping to European shores and more especially through out the Caribbean Sea. After the Napoleonic Wars we forced both Great Britain and France to settle our claims for their damage against our shipping. We finally established the principle at the end of the Civil War when we forced Great Britain to settle for the Alabama claims. We then had established our right to trade anywhere in the world under the, same conditions and subject to the same restrictions as any other nation.
 We compromised that right when President Wilson agreed to confine our shipping to certain areas speci- fled by Germany and to transport no contraband of war in vessels un- der American registry. This method was entirely ineffective in prevent ing our entry into World War I. We again weakly abandoned the right when Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1889 under which we forbade our shipping to enter any of the areas of the war or under any con- ditions to carry munitions of war. The llselessness, If not the hypocrisy of this policy was laid bare when 1t allowed vessels under foreign regis try to carry whatever munitions they would pay for in cash before shipment; that is "on the barrel head. This was not only an aban- donment of the principle of the freedom of the seas for which we have fought during all of our exist ence as a nation, it was futile attempt to appease Germany and to salve our conscience. It failed utterly.
 When the war is over We must re- establish the principle of the free dom of the seas. This should then include our right to sail over every sea in the world either on the water or in the air. This will be funda- mental to the protection of whatever freedoms we may seek to establish. It will entail our establishing by treaties, where they had not before existed, harbors and refueling sta- tions, where our ships and our planes may refit, repair and refuel on an equality with other nations. These harbors and airportS may be obtained by reciprocal exchanges Of privileges with our allies either by possession in fee or on long term lease. The progress already made in this direction in South America Africa, China and Australia must | go on.
 1 We can formalize and strengthen the agreements which existed large ly by common understanding before the war; that Great Britain should be responsible for the policing ot the seas contiguous to her own shores and colonies and for the policing of the highways ot the