Marlborough High School - Marlborough High Yearbook (Marlborough, MA)

Page 23 text:

When President Monroe declared his policy of no-outside inter¬ ference from the countries of the Eastern Hemisphere, ' the situation was far different from that of the present day. Then, the United States stood alone in the Western Hemisphere, a bulwark of defense and protection for all the smaller countries in South America, Today, the United States doos not stand alone, With hor are all the Pan-American countries—big and small. They have their Monroe Doctrine also. In a way they are protecting these. United States from possible invasion. But more than that, the small South American countries—small in population but large in value—have a wealth of raw materials in their natural resources which have not been even half exhausted. 4 In the last World War, the United States was called The Arsenal of Democracy.” In this war, the country has been doing much the same kind of work on a greater scale. ' This arsenal” could not exist without the raw rubber, nitrate, and other products of South America. The relation between the United States and the South American ' countries can be illustrated by a simple example. Picture a large, well developed, intelligent man who is angry with another person for a serious injustice done to him. Because of this, he challenges that man to a fight. The man he challenges comes to the place of combat equipped with a baseball bat—taking an unfair advantage over his opponent. Standing over to the side, watching every¬ thing, is a boy. He is not big, nor very strong, but he does own a baseball bat. He lets the man without a bet take his and that man proceeds to fight on even terms with his opponent—end wins. The United States is the large man who did not have a bat— or the necessary materials for war. The South American democracies signify the small boy with the bat—the resources for an all-out conflict. The man who brought c bat depicts the totalitarian governments of the world. They were prepared for this war, for’ they planned it, but they did not count on the boy with the bat In standing by the United States, the people of South America give courage and fortitude to our workers and soldiers. The people here feel that now they are not fighting clone. They know that whatever happens, our back door will always be closed and defended The Pcn-Anoriocn people love ' their individual countries as we Americans love our native land, end they have reason for this love just cs we ; hcve for - ours. Our continents ere somewhat dif¬ ferent in climate, natural resources, and customs; but our purpose is the sene: to defect the forces opposing us end trying to des¬ troy our way of life. Let our continents unite so that we ncy be colled The United States of these Americas, Nicholas Koffc