Show THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS 1 I hope the united states will keep heep out of this war I 1 believe it will and I 1 give you assurance that every effort of your government will be directed toward that end As long as it remains within my power to prevent it there will be no blackout of peace in the united states with these statements president roosevelt closed an address to the american people sunday evening concluding a day in which a prayer for peace had gone forth from churches throughout the land the presidents address was essentially senti ally an address to a free people a people with uncensored radio press spee speech ch or thought it was an appeal for straight t thinking calm judgment unity and and nonpartisanship in preservation of american ideals it came in simplicity to calm but not to curtail thought or speech and in this light it may well be accepted and cherished by the american people striking in their appeal are the following paragraphs from the address in spite of spreading wars 1 ij think that we have every right and every reason to maintain as a na dional policy the fundamental moralities rali ties the teachings of religion and the continuation of efforts to restore peace for some day though the time may be distant we can be of even greater help to a crippled humanity it is right too to point out that the unfortunate events of these recent years have been based on the use of force or the threat of offeree force and it seems to me clear even at the outbreak of this great war that the influence of america should be consistent in seeking for humanity a final peace which will eliminate as far as it is possible to do so the continued use of force between nations 1 I hope that the people of this country will discriminate most carefully between news and rumor you must master at the outset a simple but unalterable fa fact t in 0 modern foreign relations when nhe peace has broken anywhere peace of all countries everywhere is in danger let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of america sending its armies to european fields at this moment there is being prepared a proclamation of american neutrality this would have been done even if there had abeen been no neutrality statute on the books for tills this proclamation is in accordance with international law and with american policy this will be followed by a proclamation cla clar mation nation required by the ex existing neutrality act I 1 trust that in the days to come our neutrality can be made a true neutrality it is of the utmost importance that hat the people of this country with the best information in the world think things through the most dangerous enemies of american peace are those who without well rounded information on the whole broad subject of the past the present and the future under take to speak with authority to talk in terms of glittering generalities ali alIt ties les to give to the nation assurances su or prophecies which are arc of little present or future value 1 I myself cannot and do not prophesy the course of events abroad and the reason is because I 1 have of necessity such a complete picture of what is going on in every part of the world I 1 do not dare to do so and the reason is that I 1 think it is honest for me to be honest with the people of the united states 1 I cannot prophesy the immediate economic effect of this new war on our nation but I 1 do say that no american has the moral right to profiteer at the expense either of his fellow citizens or of the men women and children who are living and dying in the midst of war in europe |