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PAPER VII
"We are adopting such measures as will minimize our risk of involvement,
but we cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which
confidence and security have broken down."
Address at Chicago, Illinois, October 5, 1937
I am glad to come once again to Chicago and especially to have the
opportunity of taking part in the dedication of this important project
of civic betterment.
On my trip across the continent and back I have been shown many
evidences of the result of common sense cooperation between
municipalities and the Federal Government, and I have been greeted by
tens of thousands of Americans who have told me in every look and word
that their material and spiritual well-being has made great strides
forward in the past few years.
And yet, as I have seen with my own eyes, the prosperous farms, the
thriving factories and the busy railroads, as I have seen the happiness
and security and peace which covers our wide land, almost inevitably I
have been compelled to contrast our peace with very different scenes
being enacted in other parts of the world.
It is because the people of the United States under modern conditions
must, for the sake of their own future, give thought to the rest of the
world, that I, as the responsible executive head of the Nation, have
chosen this great inland city and this gala occasion to speak to you on
a subject of definite national importance.
The political situation in the world, which of late has been growing
progressively worse, is such as to cause grave concern and anxiety to
all the peoples and nations who wish to live in peace and amity with
their neighbors.
Some fifteen years ago the hopes of mankind for a continuing era of
international peace were raised to great heights when more than sixty
nations solemnly pledged themselves not to resort to arms in furtherance
of their national aims and policies. The high aspirations expressed in
the Briand-Kellogg Peace Pact and the hopes for peace thus raised have
of late given way to a haunting fear of calamity. The present reign of
terror and international lawlessness began a few years ago.
It began through unjustified interference in the internal affairs of
other nations or the invasion of alien territory in violation of
treaties; and has now reached a stage where the very foundations of
civilization are seriously threatened. The landmarks and traditions
which have marked the progress of civilization toward a condition of
law, order and justice are being wiped away.
Without a declaration of war and without warning or justification of any
kind, civilians, including vast numbers of women and children,
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are being ruthlessly murdered with bombs from the air. In times of so-
called peace, ships are being attacked and sunk by submarines without
cause or notice. Nations are fomenting and taking sides in civil warfare
in nations that have never done them any harm. Nations claiming freedom
for themselves deny it to others.
Innocent peoples, innocent nations, are being cruelly sacrificed to a
greed for power and supremacy which is devoid of all sense of justice
and humane considerations.
To paraphrase a recent author "perhaps we foresee a time when men,
exultant in the technique of homicide, will rage so hotly over the world
that every precious thing will be in danger, every book and picture and
harmony, every treasure garnered through two millenniums, the small, the
delicate, the defenseless-all will be lost or wrecked or utterly
destroyed."
If those things come to pass in other parts of the world, let no one
imagine that America will escape, that America may expect mercy that
this Western Hemisphere will not be attacked and that it will continue
tranquilly and peacefully to carry on the ethics and the arts of
civilization.
If those days come "there will be no safety by arms, no help from
authority, no answer in science. The storm will rage till every flower
of culture is trampled and all human beings are leveled in a vast
chaos."
If those days are not to come to pass-if we are to have a world in which
we can breathe freely and live in amity without fear-the peace-loving
nations must make a concerted effort to uphold laws and principles on
which alone peace can rest secure.
The peace-loving nations must make a concerted effort in opposition to
those violations of treaties and those ignorings of humane instincts
which today are creating a state of international anarchy and
instability from which there is no escape through mere isolation or
neutrality.
Those who cherish their freedom and recognize and respect the equal
right of their neighbors to be free and live in peace, must work
together for the triumph of law and moral principles in order that
peace, justice and confidence may prevail in the world. There must be a
return to a belief in the pledged word, in the value of a signed treaty.
There must be recognition of the fact that national morality is as vital
as private morality.
A bishop wrote me the other day: "It seems to me that something greatly
needs to be said in behalf of ordinary humanity against the present
practice of carrying the horrors of war to helpless civilians especially
women and children. It may be that such a protest might be regarded by
many, who claim to be realists, as futile, but may it not be that the
heart of mankind is so filled with horror at the present needless
suffering that that force could be mobilized in sufficient volume to
lessen such cruelty in the days ahead. Even though it may take twenty
years, which God forbid, for civilization to make effective its
corporate protest against this barbarism, surely strong voices may
hasten the day."
There is a solidarity and interdependence about the modern world, both
technically and morally, which makes it impossible for any nation
completely to isolate itself from economic and political upheavals in
the rest of the world, especially when such upheavals appear
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to be spreading and not declining. There can be no stability or peace
either within nations or between nations except under laws and moral
standards adhered to by all. International anarchy destroys every
foundation for peace. It jeopardizes either the immediate or the future
security of every nation, large or small. It is, therefore, a matter of
vital interest and concern to the people of the United States that the
sanctity of international treaties and the maintenance of international
morality be restored.
The overwhelming majority of the peoples and nations of the world today
want to live in peace. They seek the removal of barriers against trade.
They want to exert themselves in industry, in agriculture and in
business, that they may increase their wealth through the production of
wealth-producing goods rather than striving to produce military planes
and bombs and machine guns and cannon for the destruction of human lives
and useful property.
In those nations of the world which seem to be piling armament on
armament for purposes of aggression, and those other nations which fear
acts of aggression against them and their security, a very high
proportion of their national income is being spent directly for
armaments. It runs from thirty to as high as fifty percent. We are
fortunate. The proportion that we in the United States spend is far
less-eleven or twelve percent.
How happy we are that the circumstances of the moment permit us to put
our money into bridges and boulevards, dams and reforestation, the
conservation of our soil and many other kinds of useful works rather
than into huge standing armies and vast supplies of implements of war.
I am compelled and you are compelled, nevertheless, to look ahead. The
peace, the freedom and the security of ninety percent of the population
of the world is being jeopardized by the remaining ten percent who are
threatening a breakdown of all international order and law. Surely the
ninety percent who want to live in peace under law and in accordance
with moral standards that have received almost universal acceptance
through the centuries, can and must find some way to make their will
prevail.
The situation is definitely of universal concern. The questions involved
relate not merely to violations of specific provisions of particular
treaties; they are questions of war and of peace, of international law
and especially of principles of humanity. It is true that they involve
definite violations of agreements, and especially of the Covenant of the
League of Nations, the Briand-Kellogg Pact and the Nine Power Treaty.
But they also involve problems of world economy, world security and
world humanity.
It is true that the moral consciousness of the world must recognize the
importance of removing injustices and well-founded grievances; but at
the same time it must be aroused to the cardinal necessity of honoring
sanctity of treaties, of respecting the rights and liberties of others
and of putting an end to acts of international aggression.
It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world lawlessness
is spreading.
When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community
approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect
the health of the community against the spread of the disease.
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It is my determination to pursue a policy of peace. It is my
determination to adopt every practicable measure to avoid involvement in
war. It ought to be inconceivable that in this modern era, and in the
face of experience, any nation could be so foolish and ruthless as to
run the risk of plunging the whole world into war by invading and
violating, in contravention of solemn treaties, the territory of other
nations that have done them no real harm and are too weak to protect
themselves adequately. Yet the peace of the world and the welfare and
security of every nation, including our own, is today being threatened
by that very thing.
No nation which refuses to exercise forbearance and to respect the
freedom and rights of others can long remain strong and retain the
confidence and respect of other nations. No nation ever loses its
dignity or its good standing by conciliating its differences, and by
exercising great patience with, and consideration for, the rights of
other nations.
War is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared. It can engulf
states and peoples remote from the original scene of hostilities. We are
determined to keep out of war, yet we cannot insure ourselves against
the disastrous effects of war and the dangers of involvement. We are
adopting such measures as will minimize our risk of involvement, but we
cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which
confidence and security have broken down.
If civilization is to survive the principles of the Prince of Peace must
be restored. Trust between nations must be revived.
Most important of all, the will for peace on the part of peace-loving
nations must express itself to the end that nations that may be tempted
to violate their agreements and the rights of others will desist from
such a course. There must be positive endeavors to preserve peace.
America hates war. America hopes for peace. Therefore, America actively
engages in the search for peace.
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This address is also known as the "Quarantine" Speech.