TEXT OF ROOSEVELT'S SPEECH
Text of RooseveWs Speech FOLLOWING is the text of the address delivered by jPres. Roosevelt at the grad-luation exercises of the University of Virginia, held at Charlottesville, Va., last...
...It is understandable that they should ask this question...
...in this new system of force the mastery of the machine is not in the hands of mankind...
...I call for effort, courage, sacrifice, devotion...
...Where control of machines has been retained in the hands of mankind as a whole, untold benefits have accrued to mankind...
...Sen...
...Because the measure deprives utility propaganda t. of their favorite contention, It was bottled up In the house military affairs committee by Its chairman, Cong...
...Overwhelmingingly we, as a nation, and this applies to all the other American nations, are con-cinved that military and naval victory for the gods of force and hate would endanger the Institutions of democracy in the western world—and that equally, therefore, the whole of our sympathies lie with those nations which are giving their lifeblood in combat against those forces...
...Conversely, nelthcj- those who pring from that stock nor those ho have come hi he\ in later cars can be Indifferent fk the detraction of IreedOir in tV'ir an-¦ csti'al lands m-ra-x Die sea...
...Some indeed still hold to the now obvious delusion that we of the United States can safely permit the United States to become a lone island in a world dominated by the philosophy of force...
...Face Philosophy of Force "It is natural and understandable, therefore, that the younger generation should first ask itself what the extension of the philosophy of force to all the world would lead to ultimately...
...Signs and signals call for speed— full speed ahead...
...We will not slow down or detour...
...Roosevelt at the grad-luation exercises of the University of Virginia, held at Charlottesville, Va., last week: "Every generation of young men and women in America has questions to ask the world...
...Love of Freedom Steady "We need not...
...We see today in stark reality some of ihe consequences of the machine age...
...I informed the chief of the Italian government that this desire cn the part of Italy to prevent the war from spreading met with sympathy and response on the part of the government, and the people of the United States, and I expressed the earnest hope of this government that this policy on the part of Italy might be continued...
...This throws the question into conference, with May on the outside...
...Such an island represents to me and to the overwhelming majority ot-Americans today a helpless night-marc of a people without freedom, a peopl...
...But in recent months the prinripal questions has been greatly simplified...
...The efforts of this government have been directed to doing what it could to work for the preservation of peace in the Mediterranean area, and it likewise expressed its willingness to endeavor to cooperate with the government of Italy when the appropriate occasion arose for the creation of a stable world order, through the reduction of armaments, and through the construction of a more literal international economic system which would assure to all powers equality of opportunity in the world's markets and in the securing of raw materials on equal terms...
...the machine was the servant...
...There was such a time at the beginning of our history as a nation...
...mankind Is not only the servant but the victim...
...All roads leading to the accomplishment of these objectives must be kept clear of obstructions...
...On this 10th day of June, 1940...
...The peo...
...In so doing it has manifested disregard for the rights and security of other nations, for the lives of the peoples of those nations which are directly threatened by this spread of the war...
...We still insist on the need for vast improvements in our own social and economic life...
...Noma Wins Against Ulililies WASHINGTON, IJ...
...The program unfolds swiftly and mto it will fit the responsibility und the opportunity of every man and woman to preserve our heritage In days of peril...
...Andrew J. May iDem.-Ky), who has constituted himself the special champion of the power trust...
...They read the word and hear the boast of those who say that a belief in force—force directed by self-chosen leaders—is the new and vigorous system which will overrun the earth...
...But every now and again in the history of the republic a different kind of question presents itself—a question which asks, not about the future of an individual or even of a generation, but about the future of the American people...
...Let us not hesitate—all of us —to proclaim certain truths...
...Such mastery abandons with deliberate contempt all »f the moral values to which cver\ this young continent for more than 300 years has been accustom W and dedicated...
...More then three months ago the chief of the Italian government sent me word that because of the determination of Italy to limit, so far as might be possible, tile spread of the European conflict, more than 200 millions of people in the region of the Mediterranean had been enabled to escape the suffering and the devastation of war...
...Again today the- young men and the young women of America ask themselves with earnestness and with deep concern this same question: 'What Is to become of the country we know?' "Now they ask It with even greater anxiety than before...
...Norris met that situation by offering hi,s bill as an amendment to the relief appropriation bill and securing Its unanimous acceptance...
...opportunities to find, ambitions to satisfy...
...Offers to Get Assurances "While making It clear that the government of the United States In such event could not and would not assume responsibility for the nature of the proposals submitted ncr for agreements which might thereafter be reached, I proposed that If Italy would refrain from entering the war I would be willing to ask assurances fr.vm the other powers concerned that they would lalthli.lly i-.i' utt any agreement so reached and that Italy's voice in any future peace conference would have the same authority as if Italy had actually taken part in the war as a belligerent...
...The machine ii.-the hands of Irresponsible conquerors becomes the master...
...1'crcepLWm ot danger !<>• our institutions may come slowly or it may come with a rush and shock as it has to the people of the United Stales in the last few months...
...j and government of the United States have seen with the utmost regret and with grave disquiet the decision of the Italian government to engage in the hostilities now raging in Europe...
...This was to meet the argument of the power trust that publicly-owned power projects can sell at low rates because they do not pay taxes...
...Several weeks ago Norris secured senate approval of a bill providing that 10 per cent of TVA's income, shall be distributed as taxes to counties where private power plants are purchased by the government...
...in this university founded by the first great American teacher of democracy, we send forth our prayers and our hopes to those beyond the seas who are maintaining with magnificent valor their battle for freedom...
...I made it clear that in the opinion of the government of the United States any extension of the hostilities in the region of the Mediterranean might result 'n a still greater enlargement of the scene of the conflict In the near east and in Africa and that if ihis came to pass no one could foretell how much greater the extension of the war might eventually become...
...Again upon a subsequent occasion, recognizing that certain aspirations of Italy might form the basis of discussions between the powers most specifically concerned, I offered, in a message addressed to the chief of the Italian government., to send to the governments of France and of Great Britain such specific indications of the desires of Italy to obtain readjustments with regard to her position as the chief of the Italian government might desire to transmit through me...
...Surely the J new philosophy proves from mofth to month that it could have r.4 concept of the way of life or the\way of thought of a nation whose Vigins go back to Jamestown and pymouth rock...
...and has evidenced its unwillingness to find the means through pacific negotiations for the satisfaction of what it believes are its legitimate aspirations...
...It is in the control of infinitely small groups of individuals who rule without a single one of the democratic sanctions...
...Norris' action will give the house a chance to vole on the proposal, and its approval by that body is considered certain...
...and we will not, in any way, abandon our continuing effort to make democracy work within our own borders...
...Sen...
...Such an island may be the dream of those who still talk and vote as isolationists...
...On this 10th day of June, 1940, the hand that held the dag-ger has struck it in the back of its neighbor...
...They ask, not only what the future holds for this republic, but what the future holds for all peoples and all nations that have been living under democratic forms of government—under the free institutions of a free people...
...In our American unity, we will pursue two obvious and simultaneous courses: We will extend to the opponents of force the material resources of this nation and, at the same time, we will harness and speed up the use of those resources jn order that we ourselves in the Americas may have equipment and training equal to the task of any emergency and every defense...
...They have seen the ascendancy of this philosophy of force in country after country where free institutions and individual liberties were once maintained...
...There was such a time again in the seemingly endless years of the war between the states...
...Most of the time they are the simple but nevertheless questions of work to do...
...Young people asked themselves in those days what lay ahead, not for themselves, but for the new United States...
...They read the words of those who are telling them that the ideal of individual liberty, the ideal of free franchise, the ideal of peace thru justice is a decadent ideal...
...Faced for Third Time "There is such a time again today...
...Means of Prevention "It is natural also that we should ask ourselves how now we can prevent the building of that prison and the placing of ourselves in the midst of it...
...Young men and young women on both sides of the line asked themselves, not what trades or professions they would enter, what lives they _ would make, but what was to become of the country they had known...
...But that is a component part of national defense Itself...
...And the love of freedom is still fierce and steady in flit nation Imla.v...
...Once more the future of the nation and of the American people is at stake...
...George W. Norris, Nebraska Progressive, this week cut another nolcli on his tally stick of victories for the TVA, which he regards as his particular "liuby...
...Granting the love of freedom all of these are po*-slb'-e...
...Unfortunately, the chief of the Italian government was unwilling to accept the procedure suggested...
...For mankind was then the master...
...The government of Italy has now chosen to preserve what it terms its 'freedom of action' and to fulfill what it states are its promises to Germany...
...But...
...I iave likewise, of course, felt it necessary in my communications to Signor Mussolini to express the concern of the government ol the United States because oi the fact that any extension of tile war in the region of the Mediterranean would inevitably result in great prejudice to the ways of life and government and to the trade and commerce of all of the American republics...
...lodged in prison handcuffed, hungry, and fed through the bars from day to day by the contemptuous, unpitying masters of other continents...
...This perception of danger has come to us clearly and overwhelmingly: and we perceive the peril in a world-wide arena— an arena which may become so narrowed that only the Americas would retain the ancient faiths...
...It is right that each new generation should ask questions...
Vol. 10 • June 1940 • No. 25
