Remarks in New York City at the Dedication of Idlewild International Airport

Mr. Chairman, Governor Dewey, Mayor O'Dwyer, Mr. Cullman, and distinguished guests:

It is a great pleasure for me to take part in the dedication of this splendid airfield here in the city chosen by the United Nations to be its permanent home.

I am happy also to be present for the review of the United States Air Force--the first review since the Air Force became an independent arm of our National Military Establishment. The demonstration of air power held here today consisting of planes of the Air Force and the United States Navy is convincing evidence of our determination to remain strong in the cause of peace.

The New York International Airport is a sign of confidence of the American people that we shall have lasting peace in the years ahead. This is a field built in the conviction that peaceful air travel and air commerce will expand in volume and in importance. But the kind of peace--the peace of free men--which this field represents will not come easily. We must work for it.

Three requirements must be met before we can have world peace with liberty for all. The first of these is confidence--confidence together with firmness and courage among the peoples of the world who are striving toward peace.

A good many people in the world today seem to have lost their hope for peace and their courage to work for it. They seem to have forgotten that courage and the determination to stand up for what is right are essential if peace and liberty are to prevail. When they look around them, they see only trouble and danger. It is our job-the job of the American people--to help restore confidence all over the world that peace is not only possible but inevitable if the peoples of the world work together. It is our job to restore the courage of those who are so worried about today that they have lost the heart to work for tomorrow.

The basis of our national effort to restore confidence and courage must be unwavering support of the United Nations. We are proud of the fact that we played an active part in founding the United Nations. We are glad that the United Nations has chosen New York as its permanent home. Now we must search constantly for ways to strengthen the United Nations and build it into a world organization which can maintain permanent peace with liberty, under a system of world justice. I am convinced that the United Nations can become--and will become--the instrument for the peaceful settlement of all international disputes.

This airport can aid directly in the work of the United Nations. It will be the front door of the United Nations. Men and women from the far corners of the earth will land here in their search for peaceful solutions to their countries' difficulties. Representatives of the United Nations will take off from here for troubled areas to make peaceful, "on-the-spot" settlements. We welcome the dedication of this field for the contribution it will make to the success of the United Nations.

A second requirement for world peace is mutual trust and understanding among the plain people of the world. We in the United States believe that the way to get along with your neighbor is to know him well. We want to know our neighbors all over the world. We want them to know us. We welcome full exchange of information and ideas. We favor the greatest possible freedom in international travel and communication, because we know that knowledge leads to understanding. There never has been and never can be war between nations when their peoples have known and understand each other.

This airfield will help us to know our neighbors better. Planes will land here, bringing newspapers printed only a few hours earlier in Rome, or Paris, or London. Papers printed in the morning in New York will be on the streets of European cities that night.

Of course, the best way to get to know our neighbors is to meet them. We all know how the airplane has made it easier for us to travel, and how quickly we can go great distances. When I was a boy it would have taken President Grover Cleveland nearly 3 weeks to go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But I was able to fly down to Rio last year in 18 hours of actual travel time. I am only one of many thousands of Americans who have become acquainted with other countries because of the airplane. Every year more and more world travelers come to the United States to find out what we Americans are like. Because Idlewild Airport will encourage foreign travel, it will promote the international understanding which makes for peace. We welcome this field for that important reason too.

The third requirement for peace is world economic recovery. The American people are doing their best to bring about recovery by sharing the products of our factories and fields, and by lending the money necessary to revive industry and agriculture in other countries.

We welcome Idlewild Airport because it will help so greatly in the free and rapid exchange of goods. This is the essence of international trade and prosperity.

Once the devastation of war has been repaired, the countries of the world can produce enough for everybody. With the knowledge we now have about medicine, and agriculture, and the many other sciences, the danger of war which comes froth mass poverty should vanish forever.

In all these ways--in restoring confidence, in encouraging mutual trust and understanding, and in promoting economic recovery-the American people are meeting the requirements for lasting peace. In all these ways, the New York International Airport is both a symbol of our faith that we shall have peace, and a contribution toward achieving peace.

The Statue of Liberty, only a few miles from here, has long symbolized the liberty of our democracy to all who come by sea. I hope that this field will symbolize our devotion to peace to all who come by air.