Evening star., 1945-10-30

logically, usually those people who
control their own affairs. For the
purposes of simplification let us say
the democracies. Democracy GER
tainly is government by co-opera-
ton. The operators are the au-
tocracies. Among the democracies
the United States has clearly been
the strongest. The strength of the
co-operators, therefore, at the pres
ent moment is tied directly to the
strength of the United States.
And we and our Allies have re-
Gently advanced the structure of the
United Nations organization as
vehicle to promote the cooperative
idea of global order. Nations which
subscribe to this principle, this sys-
tenn, do not propose to establish or
der by conquering everybody else as
Hitler did, nor do they propose to
control for their own profit the do
mestic affairs of the peoples of the
earth. What they DO propose is a
set of rules for global conduct, prin-
cipally rules against aggression or
international violence. They them
selves are to resort to violence only
to enforce these rules, just as does
the State of New York, and every
other States in this Nation, to en-
force its rules.
IF the vehicle of the United Ma
tions organization is to be effective,
it will be because those who advo-
cate it choose to make 1t so. Those
who oppose ii certainly will not
make it effective, and I personally
am convinced that the organization
has not even a remote chance of
success unless it is nourished by
the strength and fiber of the United
States. Obviously, if we have no
manifest strength, the nourishment
of the United Nations organization
will be lean.
Wants Permanent Strength.
1--WE are still strong today, but we
won't be so few months hence
unless we take very positive and
definite measures to give some de-
gree of permanence to the strength
for which we have just spent so
much of human life and money to
develop.
1--WE are currently engaged in the
demobilization of our wartime forces
at the fastest possible rate. That
to my mind is precisely as it should
be. The machinery that we built
to fight this war has been eating
into our national resources for years.
The sooner we reconvert 1t to peace
full production and ways of life
the more likely is this Nation to
survive the economic storms that
may quite easily follow this great
world disturbance.
1T is certain, however, that the
military establishment cannot hope
to insure the safety of the United
States very much longer at the pres
ent rate of demobilization unless
some permanent peacetime program
Is established and at an early date.
For the moment, in wide
spread emotional crisis of the Amer
ican people, rehabilitation has be-
come, in effect, disintegration, not
only of the armed forces, but appar-
emily of all conception of world re-
sponsibility and what it demands of
us. II we are to nourish the infant
United Nations organization and
thus establish some possibility of a
future decent world order, definite
measures must be taken immed-
lately to determine at least the basic
principles for our postwar military
policy. have never felt so certain
OF anything in my life. 9"
Falling Back Into Old Habits.
"Just a few months ago the world
was completely convinced of the
strength and courage of the United
States. Now they see us falling back
into our familiar peacetirne habits.
They witness the tremendous en-
thusiasm with which we mount de-
mobilization and reconversion. but
they see as yet no concrete evidence
that we are determined to hold
what we have won-permanently.
Are we already at this early date in
viting that same international dis
respect that prevailed before this
war? Are we throwing away today
what million Americans died or
were mutilated to achieve? Are we
already sfirking the responsibility
of the victory?
This business of dissipating the
political benefits that a nation may
derive from victory is in the Ameri-
can tradition. 1t is quite under
standable in a nation that runs its
own affairs, because there is no easy
way to get big things done on this
earth. <The victory was hard won.
It will require great deal of effort
and sacrifice to fulfill our RESPONSE
bilities of that victory, to achieve
the future we recently talked about
SO freely,
1--WE must somehow get it clear in
our thinking that the fulfiilment of
our responsibilities is not some
vague mun1bo jumbo. It requires
positive active. effort and sacrifice,
4