Washington, Sept, 18, A spirited attack upon dictatorships was the feature of a speech by President Roosevelt to-day on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the American Constitution.
"It takes foresight, intelligence and patience," declared the- President, "to meet the subtle attack which the spreading ot- dictatorship makes upon the morale of democracy.
"Lately, there has been a clear challenge in various parts of the world to the Democratic idea of representative government, The chal-longers, whether they be called communistic, dictatorial or military, laugh at constitutions, predict the copying of their own methods, and prophesy the early end of democracy throughout the world."
Both that attitude and prediction were denied by those who still believed in democracy, asserted President Roosevelt, and democracy represented the overwhelming majority of nations in the world. That denial, he proceeded, was based on the fact that modern men and women would not tamely submit to one man or one group and would, eventually, insist on the right to choose who should govern.
The state of world affairs brought about by these new fort of government, the Chief Exeòķțive said, threatened civilization. Armaments and deficits piled up, trade barriers multiplied, and merchant ships were threatened on the high seas, Fear was spread throughout the world—fear of revolution, invasion and death, The American people, the President concluded, were rightly determined to keep that growing menace from their shores,—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.