The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1961-01-27
KENNEDY'S PLEDGE
IN SUPPORT OF
WORLD FREEDOM
President Says Let Us Begin Our
Task; Ask What Shall We Do
For Our Country


gural address last Friday:
My fellow citizens:
We observe today, not a victory
OF party but a celebration of free
dom-symbolizing an end as well
as MISUNDERSTANDING renew
al as we'll as change. For / have
sworn before you and Almighty
God the same solemn oath our
forebears prescribed nearly a CEN
fury and three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now.
For man holds in his mortal hands
the power to abolish all forms of
human poverty and to abolish all
form of human life. And yet the
same revolutionary beliefs for
which our forebears fought are
still at issue around the globe
the belief that the rights of man
come not from the generosity of
the state but from the hand of
God.
We dare not forget today that
we are the heirs of that first revo-
luton. Let the word go forth from
this time and place, to friend and
foe alike, that the torch has been
passed to new generation of
Americans-born in this century,
tempered by war, disciplined by a
cold and bitter peace, proud of our
ancient heritage-and unwilling to
witness or permit the slow undo
ing of those human rights to which
this Nation has always been COM
mitted, and to which we are COM
mitted today.
Let every nation know, whether
it wish US well or ill, that we shall
pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any
friend or oppose any foe in order
to assure the survival and success
of liberty.
Pledges of Help and Friendship
This much we pledge-and more.
To those old allies whose cul-
tural and spiritual origins we
share, we pledge the loyalty of
faithful friends. United, there is
little we cannot do in a host of
new cooperative ventures. Divid-
ed, there is little we can do-for
we dare not meet powerful chal-
lenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new states whom we
now welcome to the ranks of the
free we pledge our word that one
form of colonial control shall not
have passed, merely to be replaced
by a far more iron tyranny. We
shall not always expect to find
them supporting our every view.
But we shall always hope to find
them strongly supporting their
own freedom - and to remember
that, in the past, those who fool
ishly sought to find power by rid
ing on the tigers back inevitably
ended up inside.
To those peoples in the huts and
villages of half the globe strug-
CLING to break the bonds of mass
misery, we pledge our best efforts
to help them help themselves, for
whatever period is required - not
because the Communists are doing
it, not because we seek their votes,
but because it is right. If the free
society cannot help the many who
are poor, it can never save the
few who are rich.
To the sister republics south of
our border, we offer a special
pledge-to convert our good words
into good deeds - in a new alli-
ance for progress-to assist free
men and free governments in cast
ing off the chains of poverty. But
this peaceful revolution of hope
cannot become the prey of hostile
powers. Let all our neighbors know
that we shall join with them to
oppose aggression or subversion
anywhere in the Americas. And let
every other power know that this
hemisphere intends to remain the
master of its own house.
To that world assembly of SOW
ereign states, the United Nations,
our last best hope in an age where
the instruments of war have far
outpaced the instruments of peace,
we renew our pledge of support
to prevent it from becoming mere
ly forum for invective - to
strengthen, its shield of the new
and the weak-and to enlarge the
area in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who
would make themselves our adver-
sary, we offer not a pledge but a
request: That both sides begin
anew the quest for peace, before
the dark powers of destruction
unleashed by science engulf all
humanity in planned or accidental
elf-destruction.
The Duties OF Both Sides
We dare not tempt them with
weakness. For only when our arms
are sufficient beyond doubt can we
be certain beyond doubt that they
will never be employed.
But neither can two great and
powerful groups Of nations take
comfort from our present course