- 6 -
16
We who have seen the catastrophe of war do not wish
other nations involved. We ask no nation to fight for us.
We ask sympathy and material help, if possible, from nations
who once called themselves Christian. We ask at the very
least what you in America call a square deal. We can defeat
Japan, if we have only to fight Japan alone. We can defeat
an Imperial Japan, even helped materially by her fascist
allies, Germany and Italy. But remember that we have on
our side only numbers and space, and that Japan in every technical way is our superior. If you deprive us of even
these factors on our side, by continuing to give Japan unrestricted access to the resources produced by the great numbers and space of America and Europe, that is not a
square deal.
But I, who have lived long in America, and learned to
love the American people for their generosity and sense of
fair play, know that it is not true that America lives for
gold alone. I know that great and powerful America, once aroused to its responsibility, will not hesitate, out of fear or cowardice or the lust for profits, to speak boldly against international bandits and criminals, and will act on the side
of human justice. Therefore I believe your sympathy for China will finally be expressed not merely by a square deal, but by a New Deal a new deal in foreign affairs,
particularly in extending to the Far East through American policy toward China those principles of progressive American democracy which the New Deal now symbolizes in the United
States.
And so I say to you frankly: since real neutrality in