Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman at Larchmont, New York

SPEECH DELIVERED BY SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN LARCHMONT, NEW YORK, NARA APRIL 20, 1937. It is a very great pleasure to be with you this evening, and I appreciate the privilege. I am going, to discuss wit th you, for a few minutes, national de- fense and its relationship to peace. We are a peace-loving nation, and all of us hate the very thought of war. None of us wants to see another World War in which we are likely to be involved; particularly those of us were in the last one. But we must not close our eyes to the possibility of another war, because conditions in Europe have developed to a point likely to cause an explosion at any time. We celebrated the twentieth anniversary of our entrance into the last war, preaching against another war, and hoping for continued peace. L was at: the White House for dinner, that evening, as was Admiral Byrd. He and the First Lady made addresses over the radio, which were broadcast: from the White House in the interest of peace and our staying out of war. We all-want peace, and we all want to stay out of war, but we must go about it intelligently We refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles, did not accept our responsibility as a world power, and tried, by tariff walls, to reap the benefits of worldtrade vithout giving anything in return. It would not work. So, in the last Congress, we adopted a new policy of neutrality. We virtually labandoned our century old "freedom of the seas" and authorized the President, in his discretion, to declare embargoes against warring nations, and to warn our citizens to stay off the vessels of belligerents. All this has been brought about by present world conditions. The intent' of this. activity is very laudable, and I hope it will help to keep us at peace. But, my friends, we are living in a world of realities we are the richest nation in the world. We have more privileges, and a higher standard of living than any other nation. We can come nearer being self- contained than any other country. Now, no man can ke ep his property, or guard his wealth, without defending it. That is why we have courts and police forces. In the eoming struggle between Democracy and Dictatorship, Democracy must be prepared to, defend its principles and its wealth. Washingtor said, "To be prepared for war is 'one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." The country was so tired of fighting and sudden death, after the World War, that it went rather ysterical on disarmament. We entered into a disarmament agreement with Britain, France and Japan. When Japan decided that she had reaped all the benefits possible from that Treaty, she abrogated it, and we woke up to find the world an armed camp, and our Navy not even up to treaty strength. Our real naval policy started in 1915, when the General Naval Board announced a plan for our Navy to equal any other navy in the world. The Secretary of the Navy has said that if the naval building program inaugurated in 1916 had been completed, instead of just started, we'd have never entered the World War. I believe that statement. An adequate Navy is the best peace insurance we can have, and I want one capable of defending our shores. We should also have an air force second to none. We are now sixth in air defense. France, Hussia, Italy, Great Britain and Germany all have larger forces than we, according to recent reports. The air force is a vital necessity to national defense. It is the eyes of the Navy and the land forces. We have the greatest civil aviation plant in existence, It reaches into all parts of the world. To maintain and (OVER)