Transcription
Franklin D. Roosevelt- "The Great Communicator"The Master Speech Files, 1898, 1910-1945Series 1: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Political AscensionFile No. 1381920 August 14Sioux Falls, SD - Campaign Speech
st EEOU Olt' HOliORAJJL.r. 'RAilXLI U D, ROOSZOLTSEIOUX PALLS , YI UB ,, Aug.l4 ,1920l want to drive home a thought on the Leaguenati ons Which is apt to be overlooked, that is theplaoes, orthe irstthat it nottime in history, the relationo to anothor on exaotly the same basis as the relationindividual to another.o one nationo oneThe time i s long pass ed when an individual"bad man" could run amuck i n tho oolJIIIIun1ty , iDIDune fiom puniebmentoxoept by tho startingr olati vono o his victims .a· lood" eudretaliation by fiiends orCivilized communities have p olioe orcas ,with the result that law and order are l egall y enforood,Why should a!Thydi forontrulo appl y in n civilized world?ohould one outlaw nation be able to run amuck and murder or maima brother nation without beingo lledto account f or i t , wi thoutbeing prevented from further misdeeds in the community of nationaYYet up to tho splendid conceptio n of internation almoral ity, f ostered by the whole American nation at tho olose ofthis war , tho Law of Bntions was opelesslybehind the times.Ithas always been tho oustom whon one nation started a war for the
other nat i ons not direotly involved to iaeue p roclamation s oft hereby givi ne a free hand to aggr ession a ndneu t lity ,im e ri ali em .I want every t hinki ng man and woman t o ask them-sel ves what would have happened in 1914 if Germany and (u atriahad known that an attaok on Fol gium and STanco would mean t heythey I'IOuld have againet them the whole civilized world .A.nybodywho hna roa l the history of the beginniiW of the ;ront W3r knowot hat Germany expected tho complete neutrality or Grea t Britain ,I tal y , t he United States and the dozen other nations uhioh e ventuallyentered the war agninet hor . true teni)'Ue of !lations at thatti : ewould have prevented tho very firing of the first shot i n thatwer - that staggering blow to orogross and htunani t y wouldnevor hflve boen s t ruck .Amor i on l/Ould nevor hnvo boon forced tosend two mi l l i on of our boys c croso t ho seas .I t is t oo l ate to change what 1& alr eady written inhietory, but it ie not too loto t o p r event a r ecurrence of tba tterribl e holooauot.The League of nat i ons is desi gned with t he primary
3-purpose of prevent ing a recurrence of this war or of anythinglilte it.No one asks that t he United Stetos or any of thetwenty-:nine nations that have alroady r ntified a nd accepted theLeague , Bhnll give up one iota of their independenc e or changetheir fundamental s of government ,Tho so who oppoue the Soap:uo diAhonootl:r , that is to sayfor purely partiso.n reasons , hove flooded the l!ation with :taleehoods as t o the true moaning of tho inotrumont. heyhave usedevery means at their bands to poison the mlnds of the public.I wnt to cnll your particular attention to the :!llott hat the C:ommittoe of diotinguishe d l awyers , most of themRepublicans , who we re appointed by the America n Rar Associa tion toreport on the League of Bations , have just handed i n a verdict i nfavor of the ratif ication of the league just as it stands.Tbayt alte the position that thoro is abs ol utely nothing in the treaty aswhioh contravenes in any way the Constituti onof tho Uni ted stateo , tho dooioiono o.r tho t.uprcme Court, or the LBWpresented to tho enate
of the lana ,Tb tThey :find t hAt every. erioanrisht is aafegucrded.is the po int of vier. of the majoritJ of a Committee of thegreatest legal mindS we have.But Ift erobo any oiti zono who utill have doubtson tll1s subjoot - if thora still bo any who believe thef laeaseor tiono made by that little oliquo of Senators , tho friends oft ho Loaruo nro ontlroly rlilling to hllvo e oloar and defin1 todaclnration to'lde u pert of the treaty iteelf - n declaration thatthe Conotitution of the United Stutes shall be in ovary way supr eme a doolnr!ltion of \/hat uvery school child Jmo,;s, that CollgToss alonebt:.a t he right to declare war or to authorize the sending of AmorioanA:nni eo agah a orooo the sene .But the question in tho brondeot sense is as to theprimary PUI'JlODe of t he r,eaguo.Can anyone doubt, knowing how 1 t wasstarted - knowi ng how the Amori ocn people hcve believed in theprinci ple of a league for ponce , that this io the onlJ way 1n whichwars csn be avoided in the days to come?Let me give you a definite oX ap1o outo f own
I have been helping to run thooxper1enoe.States for oeven years.I tell you that I ov,y veof tho Unitodalways wished theUnited States to have a navy wh olly sufficient to proteot us in a llof our international relations , but I have never asked for a llav,yof ouoh size that it would be regarded ac a monaoa of aggression byother powore.1 tell you that if the United States doos not entertho League of !lations nnd returns to i te old poei ti on of isolation ,we Amori oana will have to have in the future a Bavy even largerthan what we have had in the past, even larger than what wo havetoday, and eva n larger than what our pre sent building program oontemplatos.The Navy today ooste the paoplo of the Uni ted Statesnearly a hal f billion dollars a year.If we do not j oin tho oonoertof nations that ooe t will increase a s evory year goes by .If, how-ever , the United States, containing the largest civilised populationof any nation in tho rlorld , shall throw ita splendid moral fo rce intotho Longue a nd beoome tho keystone thereof, then the first pr a otioalbeginning will be made on the limitati on of world armaments ,I see avery reason wily , under the Longue of Bat iolUI,
6complete agreement will be reached eo that standing armies andnevioe oen be ooormously reduced.There is no reneon from thopraotioal point of view why , under on arrangemen t of this kind ,the oost of the Un1 ted 3tetca llovy, for instance, cannot be cutat looet in half.From the poi nt of view of the taxpayers alonea saving of a billion dollars o yea r from its army and navy is aconsiderab lo item, but that, a fger a ll , is a sordid way of puttingit and of minor considerat ion compa r e d t o tho great moral prinoipleaat eteke.The United St oto o loves peuoe , but she l oves her honormore.Her honor i s pledged.I t io pledged i n tho g reat nationalpurpooe f or whioh we threw ourselves ao a nation into tho fight onApril 6, 1917 .It is pledged in the offort of a hundred million ofAmorionns , men and women, in the propor etione for and in the oonduotof that great s t ruggle.It is pledged in the herosim of thousandsof the flower of young Ameri can lllllnhood who gave their life- bloodfor civilization.It is pledged in the splendid record of t he menin khaki and in blue who served in our armed f oroea on lnnd and sea.
7I t is pladged i n the sacrifices of the mother s of tho nation whos nw i n t hose Bllorifi cas a purpos e bigger than tho winni ng of battlae , ethooe pledges to remain unfulfill e d?sncrlfiooa to go unr e\Vtlrded?fulfilment of thet goal toAro theseAr o 110 to stop abort of the c omple t e .vhichour eyes 11ere Uftod? o!amvor;y confident 11e will aae this t hi ng through without nllowing oureelvoo to bo ·docoivod by tho,o who quibble over v10rde, by thooo whooproad whispered inuondoo o , 1vho 11ould ho.vo you bolieve the Leagueis just what it is not .If you want the pocsibility of a rapetition of anotherwar agai nst c ivil ization, than let us GO baok to tho conditione of1914.If you want tho possib i li t;; of sanding onoo moro our t r o opsandzavioo to freign lands , thon stay out of the League - thon aooeptthe wild suggeotions we have heard of attempting to f o l'lll some newkind of agrocment bct 1een nations along linoa which have never beendefined .On the othe r oi de of the pi cture , t he Democra t i o Partyoffaro something defi n i te - an i mmadi ate ratifioa . i on of t he t rea ty
and the League of lfations, with every Amerionn right eafeguarded,That ia keeping faith with the rest of the world, including alsothe peoples of Germany and the other powers with whom wo lately fought.Do not f orr,et that the Central ?owera of ope entorad into theArmiatioe on llovembor 11 , 1918, with the express understanding thatthe principle of the T,oague of Uations as outlined by Amorioa wouldbo embodied in tho terms of final peaoe .I fool confident that, if the Domooratio nominee forthe .l'residanoy is chosen in l!ovember , the treaty t\nd the lAiague oflfattona will be ratified within sixty days.1 bolievo that this Fallt he Amorioan people will speak so emphatically in favor of tho eagueof lfations that Republioans in the Senate of the united States '11111join with the nemoorate in immediate ratifioat1on ,The opposition to the League and t o the Treaty of Peaoooomes primarily from that little group of reaot1onary Re ublioans , mostof them the very men who in 1912 forced the forward-looking membersof the Party into the Progressive !arty.These oame men dominated,
9as you know , the platf orm and seleotion of the candidAtoa atthe Chicago conveniton.Thei rs is n policy of vagueness .Theyseek to cover up the fact that they are tho same wolve a in sheep aclothing who tried to deceive the American peoplo on eo many ocaaeionsin the peat .few.Theiro is n theory of Go'Vermont 'Ly tho fo11 and for the!t is only through a complete rebuke of these men that thetradi tiona of the .,epublican arty ann O'Ver again be restored.
SP&.RC!l 0!" HOUD!l , Ll li'R xtllr D, ROOSEV: LTSlOOX JALLS , llliK . , .lq. l4 ,U20I want to drive bornel'.Rations Which is apt to be overlooked , that ie thepl aces , ortheto another onthe same bnais as the relationex otlyindividual to another.except by the startingo one nationo oneThe time io long passed when an individual"bad lll&n" oould run amuck: i n the community , itltlunefrel ll tiveao .that it a cttiMe in hi&torJ , the relation irsto tholl8ht on the Leagueo hi o victims .a "blood" eud romretaliatio n bypunishlllen tor riendeCivilized col1liii1Ulitios have police torcoe ,with the result thot law and order are legally enforced. chould adif erentrule apply in a civili ed world?Why shoul d one outla w na tion be able to run amuck and murder or maima brother notion wi t hout being called to account t or it , withoutbeing prevontedfro fnr ther misdeeds in tho communi tyo nations?Yet up to the splendi d conception of internatio nalmorali ty , fostered by t he whole :.merican llation at the closethis war , the Lawo nations wns hopelessly behind the times.o Itbaa a lways been the oustom when one nation started a war t or the
ll-other nations not directly involved to 1oeue proolamat ions ofneutrality , thereby giving a froe hand to aggression and1mper1a11am.I WBnt every thinking man and woman to aa:t them-selves wb.Ot would have happened in 1914 ifGerm and Austriabad Jrno.m thllt an attack on Belgium and Prance would mean thatthey would have againot them tho whole civilized world.AnybodJwho b.Oa read the history of tho beginning of the groat war knowsthat Germany expected the complete neutral! ty of Great Britain,Italy, the United States and the dozen other nations which eventually entered the war against her.A true League of nations atthat time would have prevented the vory fir ing of the first shotin that war - that staggering blow to progress and humanity wouldnever have been struck .America would never have been forced tosontt two million of our boys across the seas.It is too late to change what is already written inhistory, but it is not too late to prevent a recurrence of thatterrible holocaust.The League of Uations is designed with the primary
3-purpose of preventing a recurrence of this war or of anyt hinglike it.!o one asks thet the United St ates or any of thetwenty- nine nations that have already ratified and accepted theLaagos , shall givs up ono iota of their independen ce or changetheir fUndamenta lo of governmen t.Those who oppoae the Loague dishonestl y , that is to sayfor purely partisan reasons , have flooded the lation with falsehoods aa to the true meaning of the instrument . ayhave usedevery means at their bands to poison the minds of tho public.I want to onll your particular attontion to the footthat the Committeo of distinguis hed lawyers, most of themRepublioen e , who were appointed by the American rar Aseooiatio n toreport on the League of Dations, have just banded in a verdict infavor of the ratifica tion of the league juet ae i t etanda . Ytake the poe1t1on that ther e is abeolutely nothing in tbo treaty aapresented to tbe enato\1111Gb contravene s in any way the Conatituti onof the Uni ted States, the deois1ona of the SUpreme Court , or the l aw
of tho land.Th t!hey find that oveq \l:lorican right ill safeguarded .ie the point of vien of t e maJority of a Committee of thegreatest legal minds we have .But if thoro be any citizens who sti ll have doubtson this subJect - if thoro still be any who believe the falseaaeertione mnd.e by that little clique of Senatore , the friends ofthe League oro entirely willing to have a clear and definitedecl aration made a part of tho t r eaty itself - a declarati on thatt he Constitution of tho United vtatos shal l be in ovary way supreme a declar ation of hatevery school child knone , that Congress alonehna the right to declare war or to authori 8 tho cending of \mer 1oanArmies agai n a cross the seas.Bat t he question i n tho broadoet sense iD as to thoprimary purpo3e of t he League .Cnn anyone doubt , knowing how it waus tarted - knowing how the American people have believed in thepri nciple of a leogue for pea oe , that thi s is the only way 1n whichwars oan be a voided in tho days t o oome7Let me gi ve you o definite 81Baple out of my own
6-I bnve been helpinc to run the navy of the Unitedexperience .States t or aoven years.! tell you that I have always wished theUnited States to have a M vy wholly eu!!ioient to protec t ue in allof our international relations , but 1 hove never &eked for o Bavyof such size that it would be regarded oe a menace of esgroeeion byother powers.I tell you that i f the United 8totoe does not enterthe teague of Notions and returns to ita ol d pooi tion of 1oolation,weNnorio&ns will have to have in the fUtur e a navy avon larcerthen whet we have had in tho poet , even larger than what e hovetoday , and even larger than what our present bui lding program oontemplotee .TheBavy.today ooeto the people of the United Statesnearly a half billion dollars a year.If wo do not join the concertof notions t hat coot will 1ncre ee oe every yenr coos by .lf, however ,the United States , oontnining the largest civilized population of onynation i n theorld, shall throw ito splendid moral force into t heLeague end become the keystone thereof , tl n tha first praotloalbegi nning will be mode on the limitation of worl d armaments .I oee every reaeon why, under the Leaguo of Jationa,
6compl ete agreemon t wi l l be reached so that standing armies andnavies oan be enormous ly reduced.l rei8 no reason trom thapraotion l point of view why , under an a r rangemen t of that kind,the cost of tho United tstes HeTY, for instance , cannot be cutat least in half./'rom tho J Oint of view of the tazpa;yers aloneaa saving of a billion dollnro a yonr for its army and DRTY isoonsiderc blo item, but that , after all , is a sordidv yof puttingsit end of mi nor considera tion compared to the grant moral principleat stake .The United States l ovec pea ce , but che lovee her honormore.Her honor ie pledged.It ie pledged in the great nationalonpurnosa f or which we threw ourselves as a nation into the f i ghtLpril 6 , 1917 .- rioane ,It 1e pledgod in the e:rfort of a hundred million ofmen and women , in the prepar atio 8 f or and i n the conductof that great et ruggle .of the fl ower of youngf or o1v1li zat i on .It ia pledged in the he r oism of thone&nda orleanmanhood who gave t hei r lif e-bloodI t is pledged in t he eplondid reoord of the meneea .in khaki and in blue who served ln our armed forces on l and and
'1-It is pledged in the saorifices of the c others of the nation whosaw in those sacrificea a purpose bigger than the winning of battlee,.\re thoee pledgee to re!llllin unflllfille dT Are theeeeacrifioes to go unrowarded ?Are we to stop short of the oompletefulfilment of that goal to which our eyes were lifted? !0!I amvery confident we will see this thing through without allowing oursel'l'es to be deceived b;; thoco "'ho quibble over words, by those whospread whispered inuendoes , who would neve you believe the Leacuois just what it is not .lf you want the possibility ot a repetition of anotherwar ag.oinst civilization , then lot1914.1l:lgo bllok to the conditions ofIf you want tile p ossl bill ty of sondlng onco more our troopsand navies to foreign l ands , then stay out of the League - then ncoeptthe wild suggestion s wo hove heard of attempting to form come nowkind of agreooent between nations along lines whi ch have neverb endefined.On the other side of the picture, the De11corat1o Part7offers something def1nite - an immediate rat1f1oat1 on of the treat7
8-the Lengua of l:otiona, with enry hllerioon right aafesuard ed,and!hat is keeping fai thwi htho roat of the world , inoluding &laolatel;v f onght.the peoploa of Garman)' aod tha other powers 11i th whom weDonot f orget thot the Contr ol r or ors of Buropo entered into tbethotJrmistioo on ovember 11 , 1918, with the oxpross understan dingtho princi ple of tho .oague of llationa uo outlined bybo embodied in tho torco of finAlorioe. wouldpo co .I foul ooilfidou t that, ii the Lemoornt io nocineo forthoresidency is oJ.ooen 1n t ovomber, the treaty and tho League ofllationa will be ratified 1'1ithin s ixty days.the Amorioanpe o lebelieve that this 11will speruc so 01:1phot103J.lJ 1f a vor of theLe willof 'lati ons that epubl1oan s in the !;onate of tho United statesjoin with the J8mocrats in immediAte rati fica tion.1he oppooltio n to tho :Oaguo and to the TTeaty of Poaoeno , moatcomes pr imaril;v from thst littlo group of roaotiona r,r Republioaof tbom tho Tory mon who in 1912 foroed tho f orward l ooking membersof the Part y i nto the i'rogresai vo l'arty.These somo men d0011nated ,
9as you know , the platform and the aoleotion of the oand14atea attha Chicago convention.The i re is a I Olioy o! vaguen ae.The;yaeak to cover up the fact that thay are tho enme wolve& in sheep ' sclothing who tried to deooive the American peoplo on ao .an,. oooaeionaithe p at.fow. hoira i a a theory of Government by the fow and for theIt is only through a complete robuke of theoe men that thetreditiona of the ileo ublioan Part;y can over again bo restored.
Civilized commun ities have p olioe orcas , . of any nation in tho rl rld , shall throw ita splendid moral fo rce into tho Longue a nd beoome keystone thereof, then the first p r a otioal . clothing who tried to de
