Georgetown University - Ye Domesday Booke Yearbook (Georgetown, DC)

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P ■ Fl W M H 1 V mf ft mI 1 9 fu I m 1 jj JKI i m K; Km mm Tj ■■a M-.. -si M FAIHER RECnOR GREETS HONORABLE WU.LIAM C. BULLITT AND THO i S A. DEAN HOODING THE HARD WAY 187

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Commencement 9[ddress By HONORABLE WILLIAM C. BULLITT, A.B., LL.D. (FORMER AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE AND RUSSIA) i r EVEREND PRESIDENT, first let mc I — thank you tor your kindness in conferring II W Lipon me the degree of Doctor of Laws, uch a degree from a uni ersity founded on the eternal principles, which guide men to salvation, is an honor that I do not deser ' e, hut for which I am profoundly grateful. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Graduating Classes: ' ou step today onto a field of battle . . . There is w ar and famine in China . . . star ation ani.1 the threat of ci il war in India . , . murder in the Hol - Land . . . fear of invasion in Turke -, and hunger and fear in Greece. Undernourished Ital - is trembling on the erge of ci il w ar. Germany is famished . . . Hungary is being crushed .Austria is starving. Exhausted France is living in dread of her Communists. Great Britain is grimly bearing privation. In all the once-independent countries, which the Soviet Union now controls, there is hunger and terror . . . Day and night, the war potential of the So iet Union is being raised by a Five Year Plan that emphasizes, not the production of consumer goods, but the production of machines useful in war. Stalin and his associates . . . ha e chosen to declare themselves the enemies of all people, w ho li e in freedom. ithout the slightest moral scruple, they use to achieve their aims of conquest, the vast physical force they control, w henever the - judge that they can use it with impunity. . t the moment, they do not dare to make war against us . , , because for the moment the United States is far stronger than the Soviet Union and all its satellites. But, if e er they believe that they are the stronger, they will attack. Meanwhile ... by Fifth Columns, they are attempting to break down the resistance of all democratic peoples. Their spies and agents, fellow travellers and dupes, are acti e in all countries, including our own — in our great cities, in our labor unions, e en in our go ernment offices in Washington. Therefore, whether ' ou like it or not, you step today onto a field of battle. On the issue of that battle depends the sur i al of Christian civilization. It has been your pri ilege, in this great Uni -ersity, to be taught by masters, who understand what things are true, honest, just, pure, lo el and of good report, ou understand that truth is an exerflowing river proceeding from the eternity before the world w as made to the eternity beyond the bounds of time . . . ' ou know that the ethical teach- ings of religion have played the major part in lifting men from savagery to civilization, and that our Chris- tian civilization has been based on the doctrine that man as a son of God is of infinite alue, an end in him- self; that the state exists for man, not man for the state. . . . Just thirty ears ago, the Bolshevik revolu- tion in Russia brought into action against our world of Christian civilization a concept of man and state that was the exact opposite of the Christian concept . . . This idolatry of the state has produced, not inereK ' savage attacks on religion, and the extinction of per- sonal liberty and democracy in the areas controlled b - the Soviet Union, but also total immorality in inter- national relations . . Faced with these facts, what shall we do? First, remember the way to peace is in Christ ' s words ; Seek ye first the kingdom of God . . . and all things shall be added unto you. ' Second . . we must make the Russian people comprehend that we stand for their freedom no less than our own . . . they must be our final allies. Thirul , , . in the meantime keep the Soviet Union constantly confronted by our superior force. Fourth, carrv ' out in effective action our announced policy of helping democratic states to resist the assaults of Soviet imperialism. Fifth ... the Gov- ernment of the United States should persuade the British and French Governments to join it in action to create a European Federation ... At Christmas, 1Q45, the Holy Father, Pius XII, wrote these words: The American people have a genius for splendid and unselfish action, and into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of afflicted humanity. ' The hands of America, Gentlemen, are your hands. Whether order or death w ill come out of the moral and physical chaos, in which mankind is reeling, w ill depend in large measure on your generation . . ' ou will need the courage that comes to those w ho have made their peace vv ith God . , . you will need to follow, wherever it may lead, the eternal light that has come to you through the lile and teachings of Christ. . . . : bbrevialed