47.03.02 (633w)
SPEECH TO THE AMERICAN RED CROSS1 March 2, 1947
[Washington, DC]
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am glad tonight to be able to pay tribute to the work of the American Red Cross.
Without detracting in any way from the importance of the Red Cross domestic program I wish to draw special attention to the Red Cross activities in the field of international good will and peace.
No one, I think, aware of world conditions today will deny the necessity of multiplying many fold the activities of voluntary relief agencies. We have a very sick world, which needs not only material assistance but moral encouragement. Evidence of brotherly concern and compassionate action are necessary to a peaceful society for the future.
It is becoming increasingly evident that our security as a people will depend more and more upon the personal initiative of the individual.
There are spiritual values and human dignities for which each individual must fight. The responsibility for maintenance of these values should not be delegated entirely to any government, no matter how representative. Americans individually can influence world relationships through voluntary acts of compassion extended to the oppressed, the hungry and the homeless, wherever and whoever these may be.
This world of ours is an imperfect one at best, and for the people of the old world life is a grim affair. We in the Americas are fortunate people. The problems that vex us in this hemisphere are not easy of solution but we are largely spared the bitter suffering that is a daily ordeal of the people of Europe and Asia.
The needs of the peoples of the world are our concern. Many of them are dependent upon external aid to keep alive the shreds of hope remaining to them. We must not permit this hope to die. Individual desperations can easily merge into a general desperation with consequences fatal to a lasting peace.
The United Nations Organization is, of course, the rock upon which this nation has built its hopes for a stable world order. But for a time something more is needed. We cannot divest ourselves of our individual responsibilities. We are still our brothers’ keepers. Voluntary as well as governmental aid is essential during this period of readjustment. The necessity is grave and action should conform to the emergency.
Voluntary relief organizations have a special role to play. They are designed for emergency operation, to meet emergency situations. Their aims are well known to be purely humanitarian and political purposes cannot easily be ascribed to them. They are purveyors not only of material aid but of moral encouragement and international good will. As a link between peoples they help to promote that understanding among peoples which is so necessary a factor in relationships between nations.
The American Red Cross is peculiarly fitted to meet the challenge presented to it. Operating under a formal mandate from the American people and in close cooperation with the Red Cross Societies of other nations, it should play the leading part in a wide popular movement of voluntary aid. In so doing, it would not only supplement the activities of governmental and inter-governmental agencies but would also perform a service which it alone can do. I can imagine no project more in keeping with the traditions of the Society. I know that the American people will support it.
GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers (Secretary of State, Speeches)
1. Marshall was the featured speaker at the launch of the American Red Cross's 1947 Fund Campaign at 8:30 p.m. in the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall in downtown Washington, DC. The audience consisted of some four thousand active volunteers. The copy text is Marshall's heavily edited version of an Office of Public Affairs draft; the editors have not found a reading copy.
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