Justice, Backed by Force in World War II

Princeton, in re-dedicating herself to the nation’s service during her 196^th academic year, does so with pride in the fact that under the vigorous and wise leadership of Dr. Dodds, she has already gone far toward complete conversion of men and equipment to war.

           Three thousand of her sons are in the armed forces of the country and the University community is assembled today to pay tribute to them. Scattered to the far corners of the globe, these men are joined by links of spirit and will to the common cause. Wherever and at whatever posts Princeton men serve their flag today, we, here in the shadow of Nassau Hall, salute them. In many lands and over many seas they pursue the tasks of war, tasks they will not relinquish until once again the nation has emerged from the dark shadows of danger.

           To the memory of sixteen who have died in line of duty we reverently and proudly pay homage, knowing that the bright record of their deeds and their devotion need no eulogy.

           Young men who make up the Princeton undergraduate community face heavy responsibilities — responsibilities not only in the present but also for the world of the future in which they will live. While I question the wisdom of present discussions dealing with world reconstruction after the war because it seems to me they are based upon unwarranted assumptions, I should like to charge you with the task of seeing to it that never again shall this nation be permitted to discard its arms and to rely upon protocols of good faith and general statements of good will.

           We have been and are a powerful country. We have tried to be just, understanding and generous and it is not our intention to turn our backs upon the beliefs that gave us those aspirations; but let us remember that as long as there are murderers in the world we must have the means to restrain murder and punish the guilty; that justice, without power to enforce it, is an empty word.

           If you wish to get reinforcement for these views, I commend you to a reading or a rereading of the speeches at the conclusion of the Disarmament Conference in Washington in 1922. From these one might believe that, as of that date, all wolves had become lambs and sin had forever left the hearts of men and the policies of nations. It is a reading that adds nothing to one’s comfort of mind today. 

           The nation is going to a hard school — the school of war. It is learning, somewhat belatedly, the truth of what a great President of Princeton and a great President of the United States, said to Philip Kerr, later Lord Lothian, just before his death in 1924: “The great tragedy of the last six years is the fact that American failure to accept world responsibility means that the job will have to be done over again within twenty years and at ten times the cost.” I have just returned from one of the areas of war and I have no doubt that the cost of doing the job again is going to eb even heavier than Mr. Wilson’s estimate.

           I pray that you, the makers of the future, will see to it that in the future at all times we have the means, whenever the hand of aggression is raised against us, to sever that hand before it has a chance to strike. If you do, I am confident no Princeton gathering twenty-five years hence will face the long and hard task now facing us, a task that will tax every resource we have to its furthest limit. 

This was originally published in the October 2, 1942 issue of PAW.