Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "321497608",
    "label": "Draft of Speech by President Harry S. Truman at Baylor University",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/321497608"
}

{
    "id": "321497608",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/321497608",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Draft of Speech by President Harry S. Truman at Baylor University",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/321497608",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Speech Files"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/201505/735124/735124-11-001.tif",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/201505/735124/735124-11-001.tif",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/201505/735124/735124-11-001.tif",
    "imageCount": 28,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/321497608",
    "naId": 321497608,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "dateQualifier": "ca.",
            "logicalDate": "1947-03-01",
            "month": 3,
            "year": 1947
        }
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 28,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/201505/735124/735124-11.pdf",
    "mediaId": "4747d9aa1bcb2385",
    "ocrText": "3-6-47\nEARRY U.S. & ARCHIVES \"NATIONAL SERVICE\" GOVERNMENT RECORDS TROMAN AND UNITED\nIt is with a real sense of gratification that\nI meet with you today on the beautiful campus of Baylor\nUniversity in Waco. I congratulate you on the outstanding\nachievements of this great university during the one hundred\nand one years of its existence. I am sincerely grateful\nfor the degree of Doctor of Laws that you have bestowed upon me,\nand I am honored to become a fellow alumnus of the\ndistinguished men and women of this institution who have\ncontributed so much to make our country great.\n- 2 -\nOn this occasion, and at this particular time,\n\\\nI believe it will be appropriate if I direct my remarks\nto three subjects of vital concern, not only to every person here,\naN\nbut to every person in the world.\nBARRY as ARCHIVER AND TRUEST RECORDS CREAT\nU.S.\nSERVICE\"\nBOYERF UTST\nThese subjects are peace - freedom - and world trade.\nIt may not seem that these three subjects are\nclosely related, but the grave lessons of the past prove that\nthey are inseparable.\nMany of our people, here in America,\nused to think\nonce thought that we could escape the troubles of the world\nsimply\nby staying within our own borders. Two terrible wars\nhave shown us how wrong they were. We know, today,\nthat we cannot find security in isolation. If we are to live at peace,\nwe must join with other nations in a continuing effort to organize\nthe world for peace. Science and invention have left us\nno alternative.\n- 3-\nAfter the First World War, the United States\nproposed a League of Nations, an organization to maintain\norder in the world. But when our proposal was accepted\nand the League was established, this country failed to\nTROMAN\nbecome a member.\nCan any thoughtful thinking person fail to realize, today,\nSARITY & ANDIVIONAL RECORDS LIBTAT\nwhat that mistake cost this nation and cost the world?\nThis time we are taking a different course.\nOur country has participated fully in building the United Nations,\ntaken a leading part\nin setting up its councils, its committees and commissions,\nand in putting them to work. We are doing everything within\nour power to foster international cooperation.\nWe have dedicated ourselves to its success.\n- 4 -\nThis is not, and it must never be, the policy\nof a single administration or a single party. It is the policy\nof all the people of the United States. We, in America,\nare unanimous\ndo not want another war. And in our determination to prevent\nanother war, WE have been, and we still are, unanimous.\nAREA E.E. 0 V ARCHIVES \"NATIONAL REGORDS SERVICE\" AND LITTER\nBut we shall have to admit that some among us\nROVERNMENT\nwhat\ndo not fully realize the things that we must do to carry out\nthis policy. There - still are those who seem to believe\nthat we can confine our cooperation with other countries\nto political relationships; that we need not cooperate\nwhere economic questions are involved.\nThis small,\nbut vocal, minority would be willing, for instance,\nout\nthat we agree on such matters as trusteeships, security forces,\narmaments, and the control of atomic energy. They might consent\nto our participation in activities concerned with relief and refugees,\nwith health and welfare, and with cultural interchange.\n- 5 -\nBut they would not have us come to agreement --\nout\nor even enter into discussion -- with other nations on\nproblems affecting trade.\nTRUMAN FLORADS TREAT\nD.S. 0\nSERVICE GOVERNMENT\nThis attitude has sometimes led to the assertion\nthat there should be bipartisan support for the foreign policy\nof the United States, but that there need not be bipartisan\nsupport for the foreign economic policy of the United States.\nSuch a statement simply does not make sense.\nOur foreign relations, whether political of economic,\nare indivisible. We cannot say that we are willing to cooperate\nare\nin the one field and unwilling to cooperate in the other.\nI am glad to note that leaders in both parties have recognized\nthat fact.\n- 6 -\nThe members of the United Nations have renounced\naggression as a method of settling their political differences.\nInstead of putting armies on the march, they have now agreed\nto sit down around a table and talk things out. In any dispute,\neach party will present its case, The interests of all\nwill be considered, and a fair and just solution will be found.\nThis is the way of international order. It is the way of a\ncivilized community. it applies, with equal logic,\nBARRI NATIONAL TRUMAN TOTAL\nto the settlement of economic differences.\nU.S.\nthe eardy stages.\nEconomic conflict is not spectacular -- at least\nat first. But it is always serious. One nation may take action\nin behalf of its own producers, without notifying other nations,\nor consulting them, or even considering how they may be affected.\n- 7 -\nIt may cut down its purchases of another country's goods,\nby raising its tariffor imposing an embargo or a system\nof quotas on imports. And when it does this, some producer,\nin the other country, will find the door to his market suddenly\nslammed and bolted in his face.\nOr a nation may subsidize its exports,\nBARITY 8.5. % NATIONAL TRUBAN STATES\nselling its goods abroad below their cost. - W When indoos this\nis done,\na producer in some other country will find his market flooded\nwith the goods that have been dumped.\nIn either case, the producer gets angry,\njust as you or I would get angry if such a thing were done to us.\nProfits - disappeared workers are dismissed.\nThe producer feels that he has been wronged, without warning\nand without reason. He appeals to his government for action.\n- 8 -\nHis government retaliates, and another round of tariff boosts,\nembargoes, quotas, and subsidies is under way.\nThis is economic war. And, in the end, everyone loses.\non sucha war nobody\nwins\nUAREY ARCHIVED \"NATIONAL REGURDS TRUMAN AND AMERICA\nCertainly, nobody won the last economic war.\n$5 SERVICE\" GOVERNMENT\nAs each battle of the economic war of the 'thirties was fought,\nthe tragic result became more inevitable.\nFrom the tariff policy\n& more apparent\nof Hawley and Smoot, the world went on to Ottawa and the\nkind of\nsystem of imperial preferences, from Ottawa to the elaborate\nand detailed restrictions developed-for Nazi Germany -\nadapted by\nDoctor Schaeht, Nov did it stop there. Nations strangled\nnormal trade and discriminated against their neighbors,\nall around the world.\nwho among their peoples were the gainers?\nNot the depositors who lost their savings in the failure\nof the banks. Not the farmers who lost their farms.\n- 9 -\nNot the millions who walked the streets looking for work.\nI do not mean to say that economic conflict was the sole cause\nof the depression. But I do say that it was a major cause.\nthe year\nNow, as in nineteen hundred and twenty,\nAROHIVES A NATIONAL TREMAN LIVELY\n8.5.\nREVENUEST\nwe have reached a turning point in history. National economies\nhave been disrupted by the war. The future is uncertain\neverywhere. Economic policies are in a state of flux.\nin this atmosphere of doubt and hesitation, the decisive\nfactor will be the type of leadership that the United States\ngives to the world.\nWe are the giant of the economic world.\nWhether we like it or not, the future pattern of economic\nrelations depends NA on us. The world is waiting and watching\nto see what we shall do. The choice is ours.\n- 10 -\nWe can lead the nations to economic peace or we can plunge\nthem into economic war. There must be no question\nas to 1 our course shall We must not go through\nthe 'thirties case again.\nThere is abundant evidence, I think, that these\nearlier mistakes will not be repeated. We have already\nmade a good start. Our Government has participated fully\nTRUMAN\nin setting up, under the United Nations, agencies of\ninternational cooperation for dealing with relief and refugees,\nGARET $.5. - \" ARCHIVERAL REDDRDS SERVICE ROVERTMENT\nwith food and agriculture, with shipping and aviation,\nwith loans for reconstruction and development and with the\nstabilization of currencies. And now, se that there may be\nin order toraid\nno need and no excuse for economic warfare, our government\nhas proposed, and others have agreed, that there be set up,\nwith in the United Nations, another agency of would ocoperation\nwhich is to be concerned with problems and policies affecting world\ntrade. This is the International Trade Organization.\n- 11 -\nThis organization would apply to commercial\nrelationships the same principle of fair dealing that the\nUnited Nations is applying to political affairs. Instead\nof retaining unlimited freedom to commit acts of economic\naggression, its members would adopt a code of economic\nconduct\nYORKAN\nethics and agree to live according to its rules. Instead of\nSTATE E.S. OF ARCHIVES \"NATIONAL SERVICE\" REGARDS saw LISTED\nadopting measures that might be harmful to others,\nwithout warning and without consultation, countries would\nsit down around the table and talk things out. In any dispute,\neach party would present its case, The interest of all\nwould be considered, and a fair and just solution would be found.\nIn economics, as in international politics, this is the way to peace.\nThe work of drafting a world trade charter\nwas begun by the United States. It was carried forward by a\nPreparatory Committee of eighteen nations meeting in London\nlast fall. It should be completed at a second meeting of this\nCommittee in Geneva, beginning on April tenth,\n- 12 -\nThe progress that has already been made\non this project is one of the most heartening developments\nsince the war.\nIf the nations can agree to observe a code of\ngood conduct in international trade, they will cooperate\nmore readily in other international affairs. Such agreement\nwill prevent the bitterness that is engendered by an economic\nwar. It will provide an atmosphere congenial to the\npreservation of the peace.\nAs a part of this program, we have asked the\nother nations of the world to join us in reducing barriers\nto trade. We have not asked them to remove all barriers.\nNor have weloffered to do so ourselves. But we have\nproposed negotiations directed toward the reduction of tariffs,\nhere and abroad, toward the elimination of other restrictive\nmeasures and the abandonment of discriminatory practices.\n- 13 -\nThese negotiations are to be undertaken at the meeting\nwhich opens in Geneva next month. The success of this program project\nis essential to the establishment of the International Trade\nOrganization, to the effective operation of the International\nBank and the Monetary Fund, and to the strength of the whole\nUnited Nations structure of cooperation in economic and\npolitical affairs.\nMIXA of Eg. ARCHIVES NATIONAL RECORDS SERVICE TROMAN AND\nE.S.\nThe negotiations at Geneva must not fail.\nThere is one thing that Americans value even\nmore than peace. It is freedom. Freedom of worship --\nfreedom of speech -- and freedom of enterprise.\nIt must be true that the first two of these freedoms are related\nto the third. For, throughout history, freedom of worship\nand freedom of speech have been most frequently enjoyed\nin those societies that have accorded a considerable measure\nof freedom to individual enterprise.\n- 14 -\nFreedom has flourished where power has been dispersed.\nIt has languished where power has been too highly centralized.\nSo our devotion to freedom of enterprise, in the United States,\nhas deeper roots than a desire to protect the profits of ownership.\nIt is part and parcel of what we call - American.\nAREA OF ARCHIVES \"NATIONAL RECORDS THOMAS AKD\n5.5.\nOF\nSERVICE\"\nThe pattern of international trade that is most\nGOVERNMENT\nconducive to freedom of enterprise is one in which the\nPrfer9\nnot by governmentable\nmajor decisions are made by private buyers and sellers,\nunder conditions of active competition, and not\nof with by governments. proper safeguards\nagainst Under such a the establishment 4 menspolies\nsystem, buyers make their purchases, +cantels T\nand sellers make their sales, at whatever time and place and\nin whatever quantities they choose, relying for guidance on\nwhatever prices the market may afford. Goods move from\ncountry to country in response to economic opportunities.\nGovernments may impose tariffs, but they do not dictate\nthe quantity of trade, the sources of imports, or the\ndestination of exports.\n- 15 -\nIndividual transactions are a matter of private choice,\nThis is the essence of free enterprise.\nThe pattern of trade that is least conducive\nto freedom of enterprise is one in which decisions are made\nby governments. Under such a system, the quantity of purchases\nand sales, the sources of imports, and the destination of exports\nare dictated by public officials. In some cases, trade may be\nconducted by the state. In others, part or all of it may be left\nin private hands. But, even so, the trader is not free.\nGovernments make all the important choices and he adjusts\nhimself to them as best he can.\nThis was the pattern of the seventeenth and\neighteenth centuries. Unless we act, and act decisively,\nit will be the pattern of the next century.\n- 16 -\nEverywhere on earth, nations are under\neconomic pressure. Countries that were devastated by the war\nare seeking to reconstruct their industries. Their need\nBARRY U.S. . & ARCHDIONAL REQRADA YOURSH\nto import, in the months that lie ahead, will exceed\ntheir capacity to export. And so they feel that imports must\nP\nbe rigidly controlled. Countries that have lagged in their\ndevelopment are seeking to industrialize. In order that\nnew industries may be established, they, too, feel that\ncompeting imports must be rigidly controlled. P Nor is this all.\nThe products of some countries are in great demand.\nBut buyers outside their borders do not hold the money of\nthese countries in quantities large enough to enable them to pay\nfor the goods they want. And they find these monies difficult\n&\nto earn. Importing countries, when they make their purchases,\ntherefore seek to discriminate against countries whose currencies\nthey do not process\nare scarce Here, again, they feel that imports must be\nrigidly controlled.\n- 17 -\nOne way to cut down on imports is by curtailing\nthe freedom of traders to use foreign money to pay for\nimported goods. But recourse to this device is now limited\nby the terms of the British loan agreement and the rules of\nthe International Monetary Fund. Another way to cut down\non imports is by raising tariffs. But if controls over trade\nare really to be tight, tariffs are not enough. Drastic\ncan he used\nEven more HARRY 8.2. ARCHIVERAL RECURDS SERVICE TRUMAN ADMINIS\nmeasures are still at hand. Quotas can be imposed on imports,\nproduct by product, country by country, and month by month.\nImporters can be forbidden to buy abroad without obtaining\nlicenses. Those who buy more than is permitted can be fined\nor jailed. Everything that comes into a country can be kept\nwithin the limits determined by a central plan.\nThis is regimentation. And this is the direction in which\nmuch of the world is headed at the present time.\nIf this trend is not reversed, the Government\nof the United States will be under pressure, sooner or later,\n- 18 -\nto use these same devices in the fight for markets and for raw\nmaterials. And if the Government were to yield to this pressure,\nit would shortly find itself in the business of allocating\nforeign goods among importers and foreign markets among\nexporters and telling every trader what he could buy or sell,\nand how much, and when, and where. This is precisely what\nwe have been trying to get away from, as rapidly as possible,\never since the war. It is not the American way.\nIt is not the way to peace.\nFortunately, an alternative has been offered to\nthe world in The Charter of the International Trade\nOrganization that is to be considered at Geneva in the coming\nmonth. The Charter would limit the present freedom of\ngovernments to impose detailed administrative regulations\non their foreign trade.\n- 19 -\nThe International Trade Organization would require\nits member nations to confine such controls to exceptional\ncases, in the immediate future, and to abandon them entirely\nas soon as they can.\nBART U.S. ARCHIVES S \"NATIONA SERVICE RESUROS THUMAN AND THE\nThe trade-agreement negotiations that will\naccompany consideration of the Charter, should enable countries\nthat are now in difficulty to work their way out of it\nby affording them readier access to the markets of the world.\nThis program is designed to restore and preserve a trading\nsystem that is consistent with continuing freedom of enterprise\nin every country that chooses freedom for its own economy.\nIt is a program that will serve the interests of other nations\nas well as those of the United States.\nIf these negotiations are to be successful,\nwe ourselves must make the same commitments that we ask\nof all the other nations of the world.\n- 20 -\nWe must be prepared to make concessions if we are\nto obtain concessions from others in return.\nshould\nIf these negotiations were to fail, our hope of an early\nrestoration of an international order in which private trade\ncan flourish would be lost, I say again, they must not fail.\nThe program that we have been discussing\nHARIY MATIONAL ARCHIVES AM TRUMAN\nwill make our foreign trade larger than it otherwise\nU.S. -\nwould be. This means that exports will be larger.\nIt also means that imports will be larger. 1 P many people it is true,\nare afraid of imports. They are afraid because they have\nassumed that we cannot take more products from abroad\nunless we produce just that much less at home.\nFortunately, this is not the case. The size\nof our market is not forever fixed. It is smaller when\nwe attempt to isolate ourselves from the other countries\nof the world. It is larger when we have a thriving foreign trade,\n- 21 -\nOur imports were down to a billion dollars in nineteen hundred\nand thirty-two; they were up to five billion in nineteen hundred\nno one\nand forty-six, But few would contend that nineteen hundred\nand thirty-two was a better year than nineteen hundred and\nforty-six for selling goods, or making profits, or finding jobs.\nBusiness is poor when markets are small,\nBusiness is good when markets are big.\nIt is the purpose of the coming negotiations to lower existing\nbarriers to trade so that markets, everywhere, may grow.\nI said to the Congress, when it last considered\nthe extension of the Trade Agreements Act, and I now reiterate,\nthat domestic interests will be safeguarded in this process\nof expanding trade. But there still are those who sincerely\nfear that the trade agreement negotiations will prove disastrous\nto the interests of particular producing groups.\n- 22 -\nIam surethat\nCheir misgivings are not well founded.\nI should like to reassure them by explaining the situation\nas simply and as briefly as I is this!\n(1) The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act\nTERMAN LISTED 1 SANDAY\n8.8.\nhas been on the books since nineteen hundred and\nthirty-four. It has been administered with painstaking\ncare and striet impartiality. Some thirty agreements\nwith other countries have been made. And trade has grown,\nto the great benefit of our economy.\n(2) This Government does not intend, in the\ncoming negotiations, to eliminate tariffs or establish\nfree trade. All that is contemplated is the reduction\nof tariffs, the removal of discriminations, and\nthe achievement, not of free trade, but of freer trade.\n(3) In the process of negotiation, tariffs will not be cut\nacross the board. Action will be selective; some rates may\nbe cut substantially, others moderately, and others not at all.\n- 23 -\n(4) In return for these concessions, we shall\nseek and obtain concessions from other countries\nto benefit our export trade.\n(5) It should be remembered that millions of Americans --\non farms, in factories, on the railroads, in export and import\nbusinesses, in shipping, aviation, banking and insurance,\nGREAT SARITY SW NATIONAL TRUMAN SERVICE\" LIMIT\nin wholesale establishments and in retail stores --\n8.5.\ndepend on foreign trade for some portion of their livelihood.\nIf we are to protect the interests of these people, in their\ninvestments and their employment, we must see to it that,\nlluse\nour trade does not decline. For example we exported in\nnineteen hundred and forty-six over three billion dollars\nas\nworth of agricultural products alone, mostly grain, cotton,\ntobacco, dairy products and eggs. If we should lose a\nsubstantial part of this foreign market, the incomes of over\nsix million farm families would be materially reduced\nand their buying power for the products of our factories\ngreatly curtailed.\n- 24 -\n(6) There is, however, no intention to sacrifice\none group to benefit another group. Negotiations will be\ndirected toward obtaining larger markets, both foreign\nand domestic, for the benefit of all.\n(7) No tariff rate will be reduced until an exhaustive\nstudy has been made, until every person who wishes a\nhearing has been heard, and careful consideration given to\nhis case.\n(8) In every future agreement, there will be a clause\nthat permits this Government - or any other government --\nto modify or withdraw a concession if it should result,\nor threaten to result, in serious injury to a domestic industry.\nThis is now required by the Executive Order which I issued\non February twenty-fifth, following extensive conferences\nbetween officials in the Department of State and majority\nleaders in the Senate.\n- 25 -\nAll these points - the history of trade-agreement operations,\nthe way in which negotiations are conducted, the protection\nafforded by the safeguarding clause - should provide assurance,\nif assurance is needed, that domestic interests will not\nbe injured.\nSARRY for ARCHIVERGE, TRUMAN NATIONAL GOVERNITY AND THEY\nB.\nBut we have other interests also at stake.\nout\nWe are concerned with peace. We are concerned with freedom.\nThese are the vital interests of all the people of the\nUnited States.\nThe policy of reducing barriers to trade is a settled\npolicy of this Government. It is embodied in the Reciprocal\nTrade Agreements Act, fathered and administered\nfor many years by Cordell Hull. It is reflected in the\nCharter of the International Trade Organization. It is one\nof the cornerstones of our plans for peace, It is a policy\nfrom which we cannot - and must not - turn aside.\n- 26 -\nTo those among us - and there are still a few -\nPopela\nundermine\nwho would seek to pervert this policy to partisan political\nfor\nadvantage,\nI can say only this: Take care!\nTimes have changed. Our position in the world has changed.\nThe temper of our people has changed. The slogans of\nHARRY TO\neighteen hundred and ninety-six are sadly out of date.\n8.5.\nIsolationism, after two world wars, is not a political asset,\nis a confession of mental and moral bankruptcy.\nHappily, our foreign economic policy does not\nnow rest upon a base of narrow partisanship. Leaders\nin both parties have expressed their faith in its essential\npurposes. Here, as elsewhere in our foreign relations,\nI shall welcome a continuation of bipartisan support.\n- 27 -\nOur people are united. They have come to a\nrealization of their responsibilities. They are ready\nto assume their role of leadership. They are determined\nupon an international order in which peace and freedom shall\nendure.\n------"
}