Evening star., 1947-01-12
Retiring Secretary
Voices Optimism
For World Amity
CHINA REPORTED near major
political shakeup. Page AS.
BY Newbold Moves, Jr.

BY Newbold Noyes, JT.
James F. Byrnes, in what
clearly was his valedictory ad-
dress as Secretary of State, last
night told the United States that
it could achieve just peace II.
in Abraham Lincoln's words. 1t
persisted with firmness in the
right, as God gives us power to
see the right"
On the virtual eve of his retire.
ment, the Secretary said he was
more confident this was so than at
any time since the end of the war.
Mr.. Byrnes, who has headed the
State Department through critical
days since his appointment on July
g, 1945, is to step out as soon as his
successor, Gen. George G. Marshall,
returns from the Far East to take
the oath of office He spoke last
night before the 21st annual in
stitute of the Cleveland Council on
World Affairs in Cleveland.
The Secretary advised America
to avoid unilateral disarmament,
but to work for establishment of q
common international body for law
and justice.
He stressed that the United States
must try to help the rest of the
world to achieve prosperity as well
as freedom.
Reviews Steps to Peace.
He reviewed steps along the road
to peace taken in the last Is months
and said it was a good thing that
international differences have been
brought more into the open than
ever before. 1....
Sharing the platform with Chair
man Vandenberg of the Senate For
eign Relations Committee, Mr..
Byrnes devoted himself to broad
discussion of the basic principles OF
postwar diplomacy. He steered
clear of specific issues to such an
extent that he avoided any direct
reference to Russia.
| The struggle for peace he asserted.
is the struggle for law and justice,
developed and applied through living
institutions backed by enough force
to protect law-abiding nations.
eff we are going to build a re-
gime of law among nations. :
MIR. Byrnes said, "We must strug-
gle to create a world in which no
nation can arbitrarily impose its
will upon any other nation. Neither
the United States nor any other
State should have the power to
dominate the world.
II Must Maintain Strength.
j "The present power relationships
off the great states preclude the
domination of the world by any one
of them. Those power relationships
cannot be substantially altered by
the unilateral action of any one
state without profoundly disturbing
the whole structure of the United
Nations.
Therefore, if we are going to do
our part to maintain peace under
law, we. must maintain in relation
to other states, the military strength
necessary to discharge our obliga-
tions.
"Force does not make right, but
we must realize that in this i'm
perfect world power as we'll as rea-
son does affect international deci-
sions."
Mr.. Byrnes recalled that, between
the first and second World Wars,
while America scrapped battleships,
Japan scrapped blueprints.
America" he said, will not again
make that mistake. We have urged
a general limitation of armaments,
but we are not going to disarm while
others remain armed. And we should
make certain that all governments
live up to their agreements to dis
arm"
Have Special Responsibility.
l Mr.. Byrnes said the great states
are given special responsibility in
the United Nations because they
can see to it that the peace is kept
If they want to.
/ "As a great power and as a per-
manent member of the Security
Council, we have a responsibility,
veto or no veto, to see that other
states do not use force except in
defense of law he said, adding that
unless the great powers are q
prepared to act in defense of the
law, the United Nations orgariza-
tion canot prevent war"
i Since peoples now differ as to
what is right and wrong, the Secre-
tary counseled, the world must find
generally acceptable standards of
conduct, to be embodied eventually
in a common law of nations.
History informs us" he said, that
individuals abandoned private wars
and gave up their arms only as they