National Affairs: Tom in the Fight

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Above all, said Dewey, the U.S. must have a Pacific defense treaty (a project which the State Department considers premature). The individual treaties the U.S. now has with Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand are, by themselves, "either too little or too much . . . We are bound to defend these widely separated, isolated areas . . . but each is likely to turn out indefensible as an isolated spot . . . We should view the Free Pacific as a whole." The U.S. and its allies, said Dewey, are already carrying most of the burdens of a Pacific defense treaty, but are getting none of the benefits. Concluded Dewey: "We should stop allowing these vacuums of power to exist, because they invite wars . . . The greatest force on our side ... is moral leadership. If we abandon our friends and our moral leadership, we shall deserve the fate which will most surely be visited upon us . . ."