Washington, Feb. 15.
The President in his national de-
The United States has become intensely interested in questions of foreign polley. The general atmosphere presents a complete contrast to that of the early days of the New Deal when domestic affairs were of such absorbing interest that the rest of the world might have been situated on another planet. There was too much excitement at home, for the American public to shed tears over the failure of the world economic conference or the chaotic conditions Of the international exchanges. Even Herr Hitler's rise to power in Germany was less important than the establishment of yet another Blue Eagle code.
But now the first fine fury of the New Deal has burned out. The cour try is suffering from another recess sion. Nobody has the same faith or confidence in new experiments, even assuming that there was anything new left to try. The President talks with big business, with labour and with small business. Congress talks The word "talk" appears in every second newspaper headline. But no clear policy emerges from the mist of words, fence message had previously laid down a similar principle—"adequate defence means that for the protection not only of our coasts but also of Our communities far removed from the coast, we must keep any potential enemy many hundreds of miles away from our continental limits,"
Contemporaneous German Change The United States, as has already been suggested, was so busy placing itself beneath the sign of the Blue Eagle in 1933 that it failed at the time to appreciate the full significance Of contemporaneous movement in Germany where the people were being placed under the sign of the Swastika. But five years later it has been realized that the event created a change in the world situation which the United States must recognize.
But for the resurgence of a military Germany, President Roosevelt would hardly have been found stating in his national defence message, "We cannot assume that-our defences would be limited to one ocean and one coast. and that the other ocean and the other coast would with certainty be safe. We cannot be certain that the of some nations for raw materials. and is seeking to build a modest navy of her own."
A hint that European aggression could not be ruled out of account could scarcely have been given in clearer terms by a responsible minister of state. Mr. Hull added, "if the governments of other American countries find it necessary to turn to foreign governments for assistance....it is preferable that such assistance should be extended by the United States."
At that time German commercial penetration was worrying the State The net result of all these developments is to change the world conditions upon which Congressmen have been wont to base their views of foreign policy. Adjustments in American traditional policy must be made to meet new conditions. The Administration are making these adjustments and at the same time carrying on an educational campaign to explain to the public (and Congress) what the new conditions are and why the United States must steer her course a little further away from isolation while still avoiding collective action or advance committments.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.