Evening star., 1951-04-19
MACARTHUR SAYS U.S. CAN HOLD J FRONTS


talk to Congress today tolloiDS
Mr.. President, Mr.. Speaker
and distinguished members o!
the Congress: I stand on thi.
rostrum with a sense of deer
humility and pride-humility ir
the wake of those great Ameri-
can architects of our history
who have stood here before me
pride in the reflection that this
forum of legislative debate rep
resentS human liberty in the
purest form yet developed.
Here are centered the hopes
and aspirations and failures OF
the entire human race.
I do not stand here as ad-
vocate for any partisan cause
for the issues are fundamental
and reach quite beyond the
realm of partisan considera-
tions. They must be resolved
on the highest plane of national
interest if our course is to prove
sound and our future protected
I trust, therefore, that you
will do me the justice of receiv-
ing that which I have to say
as solely expressing the con-
sidered viewpoint of a fellow
American.
Only Purpose to Serve Country.
I address you with neither
rancor nor bitterness in the
fading twilight of life, with but
one purpose in mind: to serve
my country. (Applause.)
The issues are global, and so
interlocked that to consider the
problems Of one sector oblivious
to those Of another is but to
court disaster for the whole.
While Asia is commonaly re-
ferred to as the gateway to Eu-
rope, it is no less true that Eu-
rope is the gateway to Asia, and
the broad influence of the one
can not fail to have its impact
upon the other. There are those
who claim our strength is in
adequate to prAtect on both
fronts. that we cannot divide our
effort. I can thinR of no greater
expression Of defeatism Cap
plause.)
If a potential enemy can
divide his strength on two fronts,
it is for us to counter his effort.
The Communist threat is a
global one. Its successful ad-
vance In one sector threatens
the destruction of every other
sector. You cannot appease or
otherwise surrender to COM
munism in Asia without stimuli
taneously undermining our ef-
forts to halt it's advance in
Europe (applause).
Revolutionary Changes in Asia.
Beyond pointing out these
general truisms, I shall con-
fine my discussion to the general
areas of Asia.
Before one may effectively
assess the situation now existing
there, he must comprehend
something of Asia's past and the
revolutionary changes which
have marked her course up to
the present. Long exploited by
the so-called colonial powers,
with little opportunity to
achieve any degree of social
justice, individual dignity or a
higher standard of life such as
guided our own noble admin
istration in the Philippines, the
people of Asia found their
opportunity in the war just
past to throw off the shackles
of colonialism and now see the
dawn of new opportunity, a
heretofore unfelt dignity and
the self-respect of political
freedom.
Mastering half of the earth's
population and 80 per cent of
its natural resources. these peo-
Piles are rapidly consolidating a
new force, both moral and
material, with which to raise
the living standard and the
adaptation of the design of
modern progress to their own
distinct cultural environments.
Want Guidance, Not Direction.
Whether one adheres to the
concept OF colonialization or
not, this is the direction of Asian
progress. and it may not be
stopped. 1t is a corollary to
the SHIFT OF the world economic
frontiers as the whole epicenter
of world affairs rotates back
toward the area whence it
started.
In this situation, it becomes
vital that our own country
orient it's policies in consonance
with this basic evolutionary
condition rather than pursue a
course blind to reality that the
colonial era is now past and the
Asia peoples haven't the right
to shape their own free destiny.
What they seek now is friendly
guidance. understanding and
support, not imperious direction
(applause). The dignity of equal
ity and not the shame of sub