Progress in reaching our domestic goals is closely related to our conduct
of foreign affairs. All that I have said about maintaining a sound and
prosperous economy and improving the welfare of our people has greater
meaning because of the world leadership of the United States. What we do,
or fail to do, at home affects not only ourselves but millions throughout
the world. If we are to fulfill our responsibilities to ourselves and to
other peoples, we must make sure that the United States is sound
economically, socially, and politically. Only then will we be able to help
bring about the elements of peace in other countries--political stability,
economic advancement, and social progress.
Peace treaties for Italy, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Hungary have finally been
prepared. Following the signing of these treaties next month in Paris, they
will be submitted to the Senate for ratification. This Government does not
regard the treaties as completely satisfactory. Whatever their defects,
however, I am convinced that they are as good as we can hope to obtain by
agreement among the principal wartime Allies. Further dispute and delay
would gravely jeopardize political stability in the countries concerned for
many years.
During the long months of debate on these treaties, we have made it clear
to all nations that the United States will not consent to settlements at
the expense of principles we regard as vital to a just and enduring peace.
We have made it equally dear that we will not retreat to isolationism. Our
policies will be the same during the forthcoming negotiations in Moscow on
the German and Austrian treaties, and during the future conferences on the
Japanese treaty.
The delay in arriving at the first peace settlements is due partly to the
difficulty of reaching agreement with the Soviet Union on the terms of
settlement. Whatever differences there may have been between us and the
Soviet Union, however, should not be allowed to obscure the fact that the
basic interests of both nations lie in the early making of a peace under
which the peoples of all countries may return, as free men and women, to
the essential tasks of production and reconstruction. The major concern of
each of us should be the promotion of collective security, not the
advancement of individual security.
Our policy toward the Soviet Union is guided by the same principles which
determine our policies toward all nations. We seek only to uphold the
principles of international justice which have been embodied in the Charter
of the United Nations.
We must now get on with the peace settlements. The occupying powers should
recognize the independence of Austria and withdraw their troops. The
Germans and the Japanese cannot be left in doubt and fear as to their
future; they must know their national boundaries, their resources, and what
reparations they must pay. Without trying to manage their internal affairs,
we can insure that these countries do not re-arm.