Evening star., 1945-01-06

and tolerate and try to understand |
one ar1other's opinions and feelings. I
Nearness Of Victory
Exposes Differences.
The nearer we come to vanquish- |
ing our enemies the more we in
evitably become conscious of differ
ences among the victors.
/ We must not let those differences
divide us and blind us to our more |
important common and continuing
interests in winning the war and
building the peace.
| International cooperation on
which enduring peace must be based
Is not one-way street.
Nations, like individuals. do not |
always see alike or think alike, and |
international cooperation and prog |
ress are not helped by any nation |
assuming that it has monopoly of
wisdom or of virtue.
In the future world the misuse
of power, as implied in the term
'power-politics," must not be con-
trolling factor in international re-
lations. That is the heart of the
principles to which we have SUBJ
scribed. We cannot deny that power
is a factor In world politics any
more than we can deny its existence
as a factor in national politics. But
in democratic world, as in demo-
cratic nation, power must be linked
with responsibility and obliged to
defend and justify itself within the
framework of the general good
Perfectionism. no less than isola-
tionism or imperialism or power
politics, may obstruct the paths to
international peace. Let us not for
get that the retreat to isolationism
a quarter of century ago was
started not by a direct attack
against international cooperation,
but against the alleged imperfec-
tions of the peace
I In our disillusionment after the
last war We preferred international
anarchy to international co-opera-
ton with nations which did not see
and think exactly as we did We
gave up the hope of gradually
achieving better peace because we
had not the courage to fulfill our
responsibilities in an admittedly i'm
perfect world.
We must not let that happen
again, or we shall follow the same
tragic road again-the road to a
third world war.
Exercising Our Power
To Uphold Principles.
We can fulfill our responsibilities
for maintaining the security of our
own country only by exercising our
power and our influence to achieve
the principles in which we believe
and for which we have fought.
In August, 1941, Prime Minister
Churchill and I agreed to the prin-
ciples of the Atlantic Charter, these
being later incorporated into the
Declaration by United Nations of
January l, 1912. At that time cer-
lain isolationists protested vigorously
against our right to proclaim the
principles-and against the very
principles themselves. Today, many.
of the same people are protesting
against the possibility of violation of
the same principles.
!, l. 1t Is true that the statement of
!. principles in the Atlantic Charter
does not provide rules of easy ap-
lpHcation to each and every one Of
this war-torn worlds tangled situa- :,
, tiors. But it is good and a useful
thing-it Is an essential thing-to
, have principles toward which we can
aim.
And we shall not hesitate to use
our infiuence-and to use it now-to
secure so far as is humanity possible
4 the fulflllment Of the principles of
i the Atlantic Charter. We have not
j Eshrunk from the military RESPONSE
/ lbiIties brought on by this war. We
d cannot and will not shrink from the
political responsibilities which fol-
low in the wake of battle.
| do not wish to give the impress
sion that all mistakes can be avoided
and that many disappointments are
not inevitable in the making of
peace. But we must not this time
lost the hope of establishing an in
iternational order which will be ca
pable of maintaining peace and
realizing through the years more
perfect justice between nations.
i To do this we must be on our
guard not to exploit and exaggerate
the differences between us and our
Allies, particularly with reference to
the peoples who have been liberated
from Fascist tyranny. That is not
the way to secure a better settle
ment of those differences or to Sc
cure international machinery which
can rectify mistakes which may be
made.
Concerned Over Greek
And Polish Situations.
I should not be frank If did not
admit concern about many situa-
tions-the Greek and Polish for
example. But those situations are
not as easy or as simple to deal with
as some spokesmen, whose sincerity
/ do not question, would have us
believe. We have obligations, not
necessarily legal, to the exiled gov
4 lCIiAiCIitS, W Tile uIlQGTBTOulQ ledQ-
ers and to our major Allies who
came much nearer the shadows
than we did.
/ We and our Allies have declared
that 1t is our purpose to respect the
right of all peoples to choose the
form of government under which
they will live and to see sovereign
rights and self government restored
to those who have been forcibly
ldeprived of them. But with internal
dissension, with many citizens of
liberated countries still prisoners OF
war or forced to labor in Germany.
1t is dif1cult to guess the kind of
self-government the people really
want.
1 During the interim period, until
conditions permit genuine express
sion OF the peoples will, we and our
Allies have duty, which we cannot
ignore. to use our influence to the
end that no temporary or pro-
visional authorities In the liberated