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fee enc). AMERICAN FOREIGN POLI ; not in dealing with our domestic problems. It will be a long time, I venture to .. ms eS a believe, before there will be any necessity or any justification for the United ~ ° uo States engaging in a foréign war. But the questions at home are imminent, they a le are upon us, not only those which have to do with the depression, but many ve -_ which are even of a graver and more permanent nature, problems which have re : pee’ " ".* their roots deep down in our whole social and political structure. You would not expect a discussion of these questions this evening. It is sufficient for the purposes of the evening to merely indicate some of them. Our stupendous debt burden, public and private, some two hundred and twenty billion dol- — lars, our constantly increasing tax burden, city, county, state and national, the «” ~ chronic waste of public money, the utilities problem, conservation and proper ~ use of our natural resources, the banking question, the money question, the - ~ question of the more equitable distribution of wealth. These, and many more a problems, push now for consideration. No scheme on earth can give us perma- -. --- nent contentment or permanent prosperity until they are solved. Indeed, they -- were contributing causes of the depression. 2 9° > 7° The guarantee of our national efficiency, prestige and strength, notwith- standing the many problems with which we must deal, and certain tendencies which seem to threaten our institutions, is to be found, not alone in wise leaders but even more in a united and a wise people — united not only by constitu- tional forms and one flag, but united in spirit and exaltation of purpose. After all, the source of power in this country under our government is the people. If |... =~ += at that source there is wanting poise and judgment and devotion and wisdom, | ~ this will inevitably be reflected in unstable policies and unwise laws — the people “must nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.” Our foreign policy therefore should be one best calculated to unite our own people, morally, spiritually and economically, to inspire them with a sense of national fidelity and personal responsibility. 7 ve . This country has within her boundary people from almost every land under the sun, still conscious under certain conditions of the “mystic chords of memory.” Every civilization has made its contribution to the American civilization. How easy to transfer the racial antipathies and political views and controversies of the Old World into our very midst. Once abandon our policy of aloofness from European controversies, and we bring these European con- troversies into the American home and into our national life. We are constantly warned how persistently that transfer even now takes place. Only recently the bitterness, the intensity, of a European controversy, nerved the arm and guided _ the hand which grasped the dagger of the assassin, not only in our very midst but under the most sacred and solemn surroundings. Eschewing policies, therefore, which tend to keep alive former attachments and the political controversies of the Old World, we should exert to our utmost the healing, cementing power of patriotism and mold one hundred and twenty million people into one invincible, intellectual, economic and political force for the enactment and administration of just and equal laws. In the years immediately ahead, believing that I was laying the foundation for the adjustment of all our problems, believing that I was engaged not only in saving government but in saving souls, not only preserving institutions but preserving human liberty, like Peter the Hermit with his tongue of fire, I