We have had to make it possible for the Italians to raise and use
their own local crops. We have to help them cleanse their schools
of Fascist trappings.
I think the American people as a whole approve the salvage of these
human beings, who are only now learning to walk in a new atmosphere
of freedom.
Some of us may let our thoughts run to the financial cost of it.
Essentially it is what we can call a form of relief. And at the
same time, we hope that this relief will be an investment for the
future--an investment that will pay dividends by eliminating
Fascism, by ending any Italian desires to start another war of
aggression in the future. And that means that they are dividends
which justify such an investment, because they are additional
supports for world peace.
The Italian people are capable of self-government. We do not lose
sight of their virtues as a peace-loving nation.
We remember the many centuries in which the Italians were leaders
in the arts and sciences, enriching the lives of all mankind.
We remember the great sons of the Italian people--Galileo and
Marconi, Michelangelo and Dante--and incidentally that fearless
discoverer who typifies the courage of Italy--Christopher Columbus.
Italy cannot grow in stature by seeking to build up a great
militaristic empire. Italians have been overcrowded within their
own territories, but they do not need to try to conquer the lands
of other peoples in order to find the breath of life.
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