Evening star., 1951-09-24
United Europe 10 Keep
lis Peace, De Casper
Tells Joint Session

on his Washington visit ar.
Giuseppe Pella. minister of tn,
budget, and Randolfo Pacciardi
minister of defense.
Text of Speech to Congress.
Following is the text Of Premier
De Gasperis address to Congress
''It is a high great honor fol
me to speak in this assembly, thi.
great stronghold of world democ'
racy. The vicissitudes of my po'
litical life have led me to expert
ence different regimes, to sustain
struggles for national independ.
ence and freedom, to witness thu
suppression of the democratic
parliamentary system, and finall!
to see the triumph of our fret
institutions. My past therefor'
lends weight to my testimon.
when I say that the American
Congress has shone in the las
40 years as a beacon of ligh
which has drawn wandering hu,
manity back on the path of demo
cratic progress. Here, in tn,
darkest days, resounded the guild
ing voices Of the Presidents o
the United States; here you mem
bers of Congress took the mos
important decisions for victory
and liberation.
LAS a democrat, as European
as an Italian, I pay tribute to tllt
greatness of your pFovidentia
mission.
You have admirably and gen
erouSly accomplished this mission
by intervening at decisive mo.
ments with the armed forces ot
liberation. You have accom-.
plished it in peace and in war
by encouraging resistance. appeal
ing to moral forces, recalling tt
peoples their common heritage oi
human dignity and reviving the
feeling of brotherliness which
knows no inequalities, neither be.
fore God nor before men.
Basic Idea of Freedom.
"How many times. bent under
oppression or tyranny. did we
raise our hearts and our hopes b,
meditating on those words of the
Declaration of Independence: we
hold these truths to be self.
evident: That all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain un.
alienable rights. that among these
are life. liberty and the pursuit
of happiness
BY these truths and by your
faith in those human rights you
were impelled to act and to in
tervene in far-away countries
where freedom was in peril. The
actions of people are complex:
Good and evil. egoism and un-
selflshness may alternatively af-
feet. their course. But the basic
ldeae the underlying force that
provides the impulse is but one,
Yours is not imperialism, it is not
a spirit of conquest. 1t is your
love for freedom which-as Lin
coin wrote to compatriot of ours
unlike the pattern of the French
Revolution, upholds the rights o.
citizens, but also has a moral con.
tent because it sanctions theil
duties.
Moves for Solidarity. q
What is, after all, your en-.
oeaVour to set up the United Ma.
tions if not an effort to overcome
conflicts and war on the basis OF
equality ard reason? And since
on the opposite side unity is not
desirec and dissension is fostered
what is the Atlantic pact if moi
another attempt at solidarity
among men of good will in build
ing a free world and defending il
If attscked-by the force OF
arms?
I nave just paid homage te
the Unknown Soldier. the symbo
OF all those who died in your wars
and in ours Before that monu.
ment / thought of all the faller
OF yours and of ours, who lie ir
the cemeteries of Italy and
thought of all the sacrifices thai
have been made None of those
dead .'oldiers-as reads that su.
perb inscription-is unknown bu
to God: and all must have theil
place IN the hearts of the nation.
who have fought. and are still
fighting, for right against aggres.
sion. The Italian people feel tha
this iron law of solidarity in de,
tense is the price of freedom anc
of democracy. Should they b'
faced with an aggression which
all attempts at conciliation hat
failed to avert, the Italian people
would stand by to give their con
trlbut.on to common defense.
Must Avert Third War.
Nobody can believe that fire,
men such as you are, men whit
have had an intimate experience
of the evils Of war as we hava