April 1940

It is necessary, therefore, to speak with directness, to indicate the inherent dangers of the present situation, to present its amazing opportunity to bring about needed changes, and to point out the lines of demarcation between the right and the wrong ways of living, between a vision of the new world order and the retrograde plans of the so-called "new order" with which the totalitarian powers seek to bewilder humanity.

We start with the premise that two opposing world visions confront humanity and that two world orders are presented to mankind. Between these man must choose, and his choice will determine the future.

The years 1941 and 1942 will be years of crisis and of tension. Those who perceive the risks, the opportunity, and the important decision to be made are struggling with almost frantic haste to awaken the masses to the uniqueness of this moment. What mankind decides during the next twelve months will condition the future as no other human decision has ever before done in the history of mankind.

There is the setting up of barriers in a futile effort to keep out of trouble and avoid war; dominant groups are swinging many nations under their banners so that they are either associated with the totalitarian powers or with those nations which are opposing them. The nations which are not actually belligerents are equally active in the task of endeavoring to preserve their national integrity.

The conflict today is a world conflict. The following groups of people are involved:

1. The fighting aggressor nations, ruled by ambitious dictators.
2. The nations which are seeking to defend themselves and the liberties of humanity.
3. The neutral nations, seeing the issues involved and faced with the immediate necessity to take sides.

The momentum of this struggle is gaining daily. Fresh areas of the world are being swept into the conflict every week. The real issues, the impending economic results and the political implications are emerging with growing clarity in every land and - make no mistake - even in those lands which lie numbed and suffering under the heel of the conqueror. Among them there is a silent and at present voiceless revolt. The inner speechless revolt in itself constitutes a menace to world peace and, if evoked into full expression, may plunge the world still deeper into conflict.

Today, there are no more than two parties in the world - those who are on the side of right human relations and those who are on the side of selfish and cruel power politics. The totalitarian powers are on the march - ruthless, selfish, cruel and aggressive; the powers which are battling for human liberty and for the rights of the defenceless little nations are standing with their backs to the wall, facing the strongest display of human might that the world has ever seen. The nations which are not yet physically involved are preparing for some form of action and for defence - defence against the dictator powers but not against the fighting democracies.

The battle today is being fought out on the land, on the sea, and in the air. From the economic standpoint, every country is involved, and ruin stalks in the wake of war; the stopping of imports or of exports in many lands is bringing about the financial ruin of thousands; the pressure of economic disaster, the fear of famine and pestilence and the constant risk of becoming actively a part of the war faces every country not yet actually in the fighting line. The fear of defeat, of death and injury, and of the loss of all possessions is added to these problems, where the nations at war are concerned.