The Future of Imperialism
NIEBUHR, REINHOLD
The Future of Imperialism By REINHOLD NIEBUHR 0NBE. n X-o«t» futmr. i/we»i, .Moen end leatc* 11.00. THERE ia a flne quality of moral fervor and moral indignation against injustice in all of...
...Philippine Command of the U. S. Army Air Force, provides of course just J** angla view of the whole fighting in % Philippines...
...Bataan" possesses the thrills of a fascinatingly written novel...
...Only a free government could try " It could try...
...0a the other hand, India has some weaknesses which are not due to British rule, and Fischer seems to me to make a rather lame effort to ascribe them to imperialism...
...The kind of empire he describee is like slavery...
...The author has been on active duty steadily since December 1940, and has been at the front continuously," he explains, but that is only part of the reason for the permanent contribution that this book makes to World War II literature...
...This would make it appear that American power is no peril to a just peace and that the primary peiil comes from the nations who hold empire* in the obvious and traditional sense...
...But this view is accu*»ts, stirring and devastating...
...Fischer's book is a strong indictment of th* policy of traditional imperialism...
...This is the first authoritative inside story that has come from Bataan...
...Fischer proves how imasssibw it is for one nation to hold another in political thralldom without poisoning all human relations...
...Russia might well dominate smaller nations politically without seeking their economic exploitation s-id America might well (and has) exploit weaker nations economically without seeking political control over them...
...The indictment is a very telling one...
...ws all know how dismally unprepared J? Dut that ia far from having th* "itruetive day-by-day details of our unj*"ier*dnes8, ** provided by Ind...
...He went on delsyed military missions to Singapore, Batavia and Australia, and was back at Ft...
...they should have resulted in wholesale firings...
...America, in other words, favors the multi-national control of colonies...
...But the abolition of slavery did not produce the dawn of a new world which the abolitionists had hoped for, simply because other forms of exploitation were substituted for the absolute exploitation of slavery...
...He had available official and original source material that correspondents and other observers did not obtain, and in addition Ind brought to his writing the eloquence and technique of a recognized short story writer and newspaperman...
...Such facts are not matters for mere court martial...
...Was this deliberate...
...Ind established the intelligence section af Air Headquarters in the Philippines OShis arrival only six months before the •tart of hostilities...
...and they are also tempted to use their power for covert rather than overt dominion over other nations...
...Yot it would be foolish to auggest that British policy represents greater haa arda to world reconstruction than Russian and American policy...
...Even the full knowledge that Jap aircraft were over the Philippines on mysterious missions during the tense days BEFORE Dec...
...It is not always clear whether he believes ISM »~----<r ---- -------' — -----in primsrily due to British rule or whether imperialism only makes it app««r so...
...We are presented, too, with a dismal picture of hesitancy even after the Jap* struck...
...Alliton'lnd, MacMillnn, 395 paott, $3..r>0...
...McKinley before the Japs struck...
...Fischer brings into his indictment of imperialism, chiefly because he defines imperialism in too narrow terms...
...Ind is conearned primarily with what he saw and experienced, and before we have the complete story we shall have to have .¦any books such as his, by many individuals from many different vantage points...
...One reason for India's agragrian barkwardneas is the antiquated method of land tenure and land inheritance which breaks up farms into smaller strips...
...This is undoubtedly ess of the most harmful forms of indirect exploitation...
...The main burden af tht w°°*" i" *n m(l'ctment °f British imperialism, particularly in India, port of the examples are drawn from India because of Mr...
...I wonder whether it would not be more convincing to say that some weaknesses of a subject people are directly due to the exploitation of the imperial power than that some are due to their own inadequacies...
...I wonder why the author made so few and such sparse references to Gen...
...Fischer declares that "the end of empire would mark the dawn of a new world," such a judgment is true only if it connotes a wider definition of empire than Mr...
...If Mr...
...A Participant on Bataan By EDWARD HUNTER BATAAN...
...But nations may use their power to the disadvantage of weaker nations without this combination...
...Another reason is the sacredness of the cow...
...Sumner Welles, Willkie and VicePresident Wallace," he declares, "are "anti-imperialists because they see that empires are war-makers and slumpmakers...
...George did—and there we have the hero of the book, a man who saw what was coming and what was needed, but who was frustrated by casual skepticism wherever he turned...
...Fischer has actually given it...
...Fischer destne* it, represents a combination of political and economic dominion...
...for the latter two nationa are tempted to assert their power without mutual commitments to other nations...
...the qualifications of not merely having access to firsthand •vuree material, but actually constituting •earee material by being a participant, lad's report, primarily concerned with...
...We cannot have real peace and justice until we find ways of preventing domination by all forms of power...
...Ind, as an officer in the Philippines from before the start of the war, stayed through until ordered out at the sama time aa Gen...
...After all, MacArthur did not come within Ind's personal experience...
...This applies to Russia's policy in eastern Europe and to our policy <>f economic imperialism...
...By Lt...
...What makes this picture so effective, however, is that it does not consist of accusations, even implied—but is an eloquent recital of damning facts, in the reportorial manner of a diary...
...7 blow was ignored...
...but one of the evils of imperialism is that it allows subject peoples to attribute all of their ills to the imperial I AM a little worried by a certain note of national self-righteousness which Mr...
...Neither Russia nor America hold imperial dominions aa Britain does...
...All, however, will have to possess the Vilifications of Ind...
...In this •4* little book he devotes himself to the problem of "Empire" in ptrtkular and to that of world reconstruction in general...
...Ob*»ou»ly, htsgb places were very casual in their altitude toward the Japanese menace...
...ALLISON IND, in "Bataan," presents us with a saga of national heroism, reflected against a setting that is a national scandal...
...His is not, however, the complete story af our Philippines fiasco...
...But he claims too mu<-h when he suggests that the end of such imperialism would guarantee a peaceful and just world...
...because of Ind's military affiliations was he unable to say all that he could have said, but could only hint by silence* heavy with meaning...
...MacArthur...
...THERE ia a flne quality of moral fervor and moral indignation against injustice in all of Louis Fischer's analyses of world events...
...In addition it possesses the thrill of being a real life story involving every man, woman or child in America...
...He stayed with the troops through the retreat from Manila and the uneven struggle on Bataan, until taken out on March 11, 1942, by plane, via Mindanao, to Australia...
...The account it give* of how our typical rank and file Americans acted under the greatest emergency in their lives—when these unprepared boys came up against a vicious and fully prepared enemy—should make us proud, and help compensate for the sadness and worry caused by the omissions and braaahattednes* of the "big" men who held th* responsible posts...
...Empire, aa Mr...
...but would it succeed T It might not even try...
...An imperialist power," he eVIaies, "is always in a tragic position Arts* mere progress registered by the liliaj, the more progress it demands sad the more it is irked by artificial brakes on its progress...
...MacArthur, however...
...In this connection he presents some very telling evidence of the effort of Britain to prevent the industrialization of India m order to preserve it as a market for industry goods...
...Fischer's meant visit there...
...No British or foreign government could dare tamper with these institutions, which lie deeply imbedded in Indian traditions and superstitions...
Vol. 27 • June 1944 • No. 24
