BEARD CLAIMS U.S. ABLE TO BE SELF-SUFFICING

"The fundamental purpose of American diplomacy at the present time is the promotion, advancement, and defense of national interest," said Charles A. Beard, famous Columbia professor, at a combined meeting of the History and Politics clubs held in Winthrop House Senior Common Room last night. Stating that it was impossible to find out what national interests are by any empirical study Mr. Beard went on to show what different statesmen have conceived them to be and what they might be.

Statesmen he says "have included in their concept of national interests the loaning of money to foreign governments and corporations, the selling of American goods abroad, the establishment of branch factories abroad, and the tangible property owned by Americans in foreign countries." Admiral Mahan, he said, widened the concept of national defense to include the defense of these national interests. The difficulty with these however, is that they are often contradictory, and the national government makes no attempt as a private merchant would do to draw up some balance sheet and weigh the advantages and disadvantages. It is this idea of a balance sheet that Mr. Beard laid great stress upon.

After setting forth certain pertinent facts, Mr. Beard ventured into the realm of opinion, which he defined as "a valued judgment to be tested by the merciless court of history that is to be made." "A nation," he said, "is a collection of people capable of self-government and cooperative enterprise in the national geographical theatre. It is not in the national interest to bring into the United States races that cannot fit into the pattern of national life and cooperate in discharging the necessary economic obligations. There is no advantage economic or otherwise by the sale of American goods abroad. The nation is enriched only by imports. Nationalism, quotas, and bounties are not perverse and ignorant concepts but come out of the delusion that selling goods enriches one. The study of past history cannot solve the present dilemna for how can you learn from the study of defeat the tactics of victory? It will have to be solved by the exertion of will. Find out first what the people need for a high standard of living and if the internal resources of men, nature, and machines cannot supply them, then find out what must be imported. National interest will then be acquiring what we need with the best possible advantage." In closing Mr. Beard said with some fervor that "I expect to see American blood spilled on Manchukuo soil in order to sell American cigarettes and kerosene to Chinese coolies.