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Press Releases, vol. XX, p. 221
Statement by the Acting
Secretary of State (Welles), March l7, 1939
The Government of the United States has on
frequent occasions stated its conviction that only through international
support of a program of order based upon law can world peace be assured.
This Government, founded upon and dedicated
to the principles of human liberty and of democracy, cannot refrain from making
known this country's condemnation of the acts which have resulted in the
temporary extinguishment of the liberties of a free and inde-
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pendent people with whom, from the day when the Republic of
Czechoslovakia attained its independence, the people of the United States have
maintained specially close and friendly relations.
The position of the Government of the United
States has been made consistently clear. It has emphasized the need for respect
for the sanctity of treaties and of the pledged word, and for nonintervention
by any nation in the domestic affairs of other nations; and it has on repeated
occasions expressed its condemnation of a policy of military aggression.
It is manifest that acts of wanton
lawlessness and of arbitrary force are threatening world peace and the very
structure of modern civilization. The imperative need for the observance of the
principles advocated by this Government has been clearly demonstrated by the
developments which have taken place during the past 3 days.