The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1945-08-02
zze1Aanse
7au4n
lRp~4s"
hin WASHINGTON
BY Waller Sheod
M WNU Correspondent \
What About 'Americanism'?
BY Waller Sheod
WNU Washington Bureau
62I Union Trust Building.


LOW wide and how deep is your
IL Americanism? Will it embrace
our new concept Of national life. in
GLIDING the good neighbor policy ano
tolerance here at home. as fixed by
our foreign policy?
Does your Americanism contem'
plate protection Of your religious be-
liefs by recognizing the right Of 9TH
ers to their religious beliefs? Does
it tolerate and respect the rights and
opinions of others? Does it follow
the basic chart we have set down
for world peace and international
life . that world peace and the
good neighbor policy cannot succeed
unless the peoples of the world
WILL that we have peace and live
together as good neighbors?
These questions have been raised
by the senate hearings and debate
on the ratification Of the charter OF
the United Nations. They were
raised also on the first pronounce
ment Of James F. Byrnes, new sec
rotary of state, after he took his
oath Of office. He said:
The making of an enduring
peace will depend on something
more than skilled diplomacy,
something more than paper
treaties, something more even
than the best charter the wisest
statesmen a draft. Important
as is diplomacy. important as
are the peace settlements and
the basic charter of world peace,
these cannot succeed unless
backed by the will of the peoples
of different lands, not only to
have peace, but to live together
as good neighbors." And that
mean that we must start here
at home at being good neigh
bors, one to another.
We we're an intolerant. bigoted
nation 26 years ago. We kicked the
Versailles treaty and the Covenant
Of the League Of Nations overheard.
Our Americanism then was in the
narrow sense we thought we
could live within ourselves, self-suf'
ficient apart from the rest o.
the world. As a result Of this atti'
tude of intolerance, all sorts Of
''isms" and movements grew up II
our national life . neighbor was
arrayed against neighbor . socia'
d~istrust and unrest festered.
To-day" concluded the new sec
rotary of state, there can be nj
doubt that the peoples Of this war
ravaged earth want to live in
free and peaceful world. But thu
supreme task Of craftsmanship the
world over is to help them to under
stand that they can have peace anc
freedom only if they tolerate anc
respect the rights of others to opin
ions, feelings and ways Of life which
they do not and cannot share"
Postwar Changes
These postwar years will SCI
many changes in the national life y
our nation. Returning veterans
scared by war and broadened il
their contact with other peoples. will
have a strong influence on the at
fairs Of the country -. decentraliza
ton of population . and the mas!
movement Of population as a result
Of war dislocations r alread,
felt . the political pattern of tn
nation in changing old politica
lines, such as once divided the Nortl
and the South. are being wiped GU
and recent events point to a nev
lineup which will see the great cen
tiers Of population and the small
towns and rural areas divided b.
widely divergent viewpoints.
A generation ago the most out
spoken voices Of liberalism cam
from the rural sections Of the Yves
and Midwest Beveridge. Norris
LaFollette Sr.. Bryan. Walsh o
Montana. Kenyon Of Iowa. Olson o
Minnesota and others . . Will
the r~eactionaries and so-called con
servatives represented the East ant
the populous centers Of the North
Today the pendulum swings the 9th
er way with representatives, gen
orally. from the West and Midwes
the pillars OF conservative thought
while such men as Aiken Of Vel
mont, White and Brewster Of Maine
Saltonstall Of Massachusetts,. Tc
hey Of New Hampshire. and other
from the larger cities become tn
supporters of liberal thought.
In the cities. the influence of labo
unions. no doubt, has caused
swing from conservative to liberia
and given impetus for reform fror
the industrial East and North. An
so the picture presented indicate
the future will see the mass thinkin
Of the large Of population pi'
ted against the individual though
Of the small towns and the ruri
areas.
The purest form Of Americanisr
today is found in the rural section
of the nation. and if the present ter
dency toward decentralization {