THE AMERICAN WAY TO PEACE
Sauthoff, Rep. Harry
The American Way To Peace By REP. HARRY SAUTHOFF THE WAR in Europe is rapidly drawing to a close. When the end comes we should be ready with a well-formulated plan both from an economic and a...
...They are doing the suffering, the bleeding, and the dying to make these things possible...
...There should be a tribunal, fair and impartial, based upon the "same principles upon which American courts are based, where any nation feeling itself aggrieved might file its charges and be heard in support of them, and no nation involved in such charges should be allowed to sit upon the tribunal or to have a voice in rendering its judgment...
...That cooperation should be built upon the same principles upon which our American government is founded...
...It is the duty of our Government and our representatives to stand up squarely and openly pronounce to all the world that we are one hundred per cent for cooperation with the rest of the nations...
...Each member state should have a representative in the Assembly who shall have a right to the floor to express his views and a right to Vote on any question submitted...
...Spheres of influence and power politics have been the curse of civilization...
...Unfortunately, we are not...
...As in the case of the sessions of Congress, the people should have free access to all information relating to the manner in which their representatives are standing up for the American principles in these international conferences...
...Let us not have another tragedy and disillusionment such as followed the Versailles Treaty...
...My own idea is that cooperation is absolutely essential or else we will have chaos and destruction...
...The United States must take a definite and positive stand to abolish what has been termed the Four Horsemen of power politics—imperialism, spheres of influence, special •privilege, exploitation of weaker nations...
...They and their children and children's children for generations to come will be paying interest on 300 billions of dollars of war indebtedness...
...Justice must rest on impartiality and disinterestedness and can not possibly function fairly and impartially if a member to a dispute can have a voice in the judgment to be rendered...
...Cooperation Based On Justice The suggestion at Dumbarton Oaks that any one of the Big Three should have the veto power of a judgment rendered by the tribunal would make a farce of the entire proceeding...
...When the end comes we should be ready with a well-formulated plan both from an economic and a political point of view...
...This will be a regional control which will be separate from the international control for which we have all hoped...
...Many of us hoped that the conferences held recently at Dumbarton Oaks would bring something that would be welcomed by the war-wearied peoples of the earth...
...but that such cooperation must rest upon justice and equity with no special privileges to any particular nation...
...The only thing that has come out of the Dumbarton Oaks conferences to date is this: As nearly as we can judge from the facts at hand, Europe is to be left to the control of Britain and Russia...
...Then why should they not have full information as to what they are dying and paying for ? Conferences on international affairs should be wide open with full access to the hearings on the part of the press and the right to print the proceedings in full...
...In my judgment, it is merely a reversion to the age old doctrine of spheres of influence and power politics...
...Secrecy Is Intolerable What has become of the Four Freedoms ? What has become of the Atlantic Charter ? The American people have a right to know...
Vol. 8 • December 1944 • No. 51
