NEWS OF THE WEEK
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S address to Congress on Wednesday may justly be termed a historic utterance, for it stated the issues facing the United States in the inter- national field with a force, a clarity and a candour which no American President since Woodrow Wilson could command. Mr. Roosevelt's thesis was admirably simple ; over large areas of the world, he declared, the downfall of democracy, the repudiation of religion and the destruction of international good faith have gone hand in hand. " The United States rejects such an order, and retains its ancient faith." From that starting-point the President advanced significantly far. He spoke of a situation in which men must prepare to defend not only their homes but the tenets of faith and humanity whereby they stand, and he observed pointedly that there were other methods than war of bringing pressure to bear on aggressors. The speech embodied at once a warning, an invitation—the offer of an international conference on peaceful settlement, arms limitation and freedom of commerce was renewed—and a resolve, which will be given concrete shape when the President makes his request next week for large appropriations. for, naval expansion and fortifications in the Pacific. In domestic affairs Mr. Roosevelt will still have to face strong opposition, but it looks as if in its present temper a united country would support his foreign policy. He has been educating his countrymen diligently and wisely, and the process is not completed yet.
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