The Wilmington morning star., 1945-11-14

early years Of the war. Today the
united States stands out as the
mshtlest power on earth. And vet
America Is q threat to no one.
AL know that she will never use
ner power for selfish aims or ter.
rltor1al ACKNOWLEDGMENT in the flu.
ture any more than she has done
IN the past. We look upon her
forces and our own forces and
those of other nations as instru.
ments that must never be EN-.
ployed save in the interests OF
world security and for the repres.
sion OF the aggressor.
When I was last here I was
taking part in the San Francisco
Conference, conference summon
ed by President Roosevelt with
wise prescience while war was still
raging in order that as soon as
victory was secured we might
have an instrument ready to hand
Tor the prevention of all wars in
the future.
We have gone through a hor.
rlole destructive war. You here
have lost great numbers of the
flower OF your young men. So have
We IN Britain. So have all the
countries that have been engaged
IN this great struggle but you have
been spared the destruction of
your great cities, you have not
had in America the spectacle of
hundreds of thousands of broken
homes, you have not had great
masses Of people, driven from
their habitations, wandering about
seeking somewhere to lay their
heads. You have not had the work
OF centuries Of, human endeavor
destroyed in a few short hours by
attacks from the air. But l know
that you are fully conscious of the
tragic folly of war. There was a
time which I remember when we
IN Britain enjoyed the same inn
munity. Wars might devastate the
continent but we were safe behind
our moat, the inviolable sea. Those
days are past. Defensive from.
tiers, mountain barriers, the seas
and even the oceans are no OBJ
stacle to attack. The old discon-
tlnuity of earth and sea has been
replaced by the continuity of the
air. In our aliases that show the
division of land and water, of the
countries and states, there should
be blank page which should rep.
resent the air to make our chill.
dren realize that these old and his
torlc divisions do not exist in the
element in which men now move.
IT not now then in few years
the devastating weapons which are
at present being developed may
menace every part of the world.
1t is in the light of these facts
and in particular in the light-the
terrible light of the atomic bomb,
that l have entered into discussion
with your President in order that
we may get together with all the
nations of the world and consider
what kind of a world it is neces-
sary to have if civilization is to
endure and if the common man
in all lands is to feel secure.
But in facing world problems as
we must, it is a great mistake in
my view to think constantly of
war and the prevention of war.
We have to think rather of the
best means of building up peace.
Speaking last week in London,
said that the foundation of peace
lay in the hearts of men and 1
hold it true that the more the citi-
zens of the world can get to know
each other the less likely are we
to have the emotional condition in
which war is possible. We have
been fortunate in this war to have
welcomed to our shores so many
citizens of the United States of
America. There have been many
friendships made, many misunder-
standings have been removed, be-
cause almost inevitably knowing
each other only from a distance
we see each other in distorted
way. All the differences are en-
phasized. The underlying likeness
is obscured but the British soldier
and the American soldier when
they came to close quarters soon
found how much they had in COM
mon. hold therefore that our
United Nations Organization, in
which l profoundly believe, must
be something more than an agree.
ment between governments.
It must be an expression of the
will of the common people in every
country. Perhaps l might assist to.
day in removing some misappre-
tensions. I come before you as the
Prime Minister of Great Britain,
but in accordance with our consti.
tutional practice, ! am also a party
leader; the leader of a majority
recently returned to power in the
House of Commons. l wonder how
much you know about the Bri.
fish Labor party. We are not al.
ways very well informed on the
politics of other countries. I doubt
in fact whether very many British
citizens know the exact difference
between a Republican and Dem
ocrat. You have heard that we
are Socialists but I wonder just
what that means to you. I think
that some people over here mag.
inc that Socialists are out to de.