Аннотация: The Short Story about the memories of Elliott Roosevelt
The Short Story about the memories of Elliott Roosevelt
Elliott Roosevelt, the son of the President Franklin Roosevelt, the commander of the Third Photographic Reconnaissance Group, the lieutenant colonel, who has become for some time the President's aide, carried out orders of the father.
In the temporary residence of the President Franklin Roosevelt organized during his foreign trip there were many events.
Choosing free minutes, his son, Elliott Roosevelt, wrote memoirs about the father. They were called: "As He Saw It".
""The British Empire is at stake here. It"s something that"s not generally known, but British bankers and German bankers have had world trade pretty well sewn up in their pockets for a long time. Despite the fact that Germany lost, in the last war. Well, now, that"s not so good for American trade, is it?"
He cocked an eyebrow at me.
"If in the past German and British economic interests have operated to exclude us from world trade, kept our merchant shipping down, closed us out of this or that market, and now Germany and Britain are at war, what should we do?
One thing we know right off. That is, we can"t afford to be greedy, and pick sides only from the standpoint of what will profit us most greatly"".
""The United States I will have to lead," he said. "Lead and use our good offices always to conciliate, help to solve the differences which win arise between the others - between Russia and England, in Europe; between the British Empire and China and between China and Russia, in the Far East. We will be able to do that," he went on, " because we"re big, and we"re strong, and we"re self-sufficient. Britain is on the decline, China - still in the eighteenth century. Russia - suspicious of us, and making us suspicious of her. America is the only great power that can make peace in the world stick.
It"s a tremendous responsibility"".
"I am firmly of the belief that if we are to arrive at a stable peace it must involve the development of backward countries. Backward peoples. How can this be reach? It can"t be done, obviously, by eighteenth century methods".
"... Takes wealth in raw materials out of a colonial country, but ... returns nothing to the people of that country in consideration. Twentieth-century methods involve bringing industry to these colonies. Twentieth-century methods include increasing the wealth of a people by increasing their standard of living by educating them, by bringing them sanitation - by making sure that they get a return for the raw wealth of their community."
"It"s all tied up in the one package: the Dutch East Indies, French Indo-China, India, British extraterritorial rights in China. We"re going to be able to make this the twentieth century after all, you watch and see!"
""The peace," said Father firmly, "cannot include any continued despotism. The structure of the peace demands and will get equality of peoples. Equality of peoples involves the utmost freedom of competitive trade"".
"Chiang"s conditions were two: first, that Father should obtain from the Soviet government full assurance that Manchuria would be returned to Chinese sovereignty and full assurance that the future Chinese boundary would be respected...; second, that the United States should back the Chinese in their postwar refusal of extraterritorial rights to the British in Hong Kong, Canton, and Shanghai... ".
"Exploit the resources of an India, a Burma, a Java; take all the wealth out of those countries, but never put anything back into them, things like education, decent standards of living, minimum health requirements - all you"re doing is storing up the kind of trouble that leads to war. All you"re doing is negating the value of any kind of organizational structure for peace before it begins...
India should be made a commonwealth at once. After a certain number of years - five perhaps, or ten - she should be able to choose whether she wants to remain in the Empire or have complete independence.
As a commonwealth, she would be entitled to a modern form of government, an adequate health and educational standard".
"...In India the British should be made content to maintain economic preferential treatment while granting political independence..."
"I want you to do something for me, Elliott. Go find Pat Hurley, and tell him to get to work drawing up a draft memorandum guaranteeing Iran"s independence...".
"... We"re the ones that are freeing France..."
"... Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores would revert to China, and that Korea would once more after many years be free..."
"... This one fact is that when Franklin Roosevelt died, the force for progress in the modern world lost its most influential and most persuasive advocate. With his death, the most articulate voice for integrity among the nations and the peoples of the world was stilled. More than that, for people everywhere in the world, he had been the symbol of America, and of freedom, on whom they had pinned their hope of liberation and a new world of peace and plenty; when he died, some of their hope died with him, and their faith. ".
Having made the next record, Elliott Roosevelt has decided to examine books in the library belonging to the unfamiliar hostess of the house which has become the temporary foreign residence of the President Franklin Roosevelt. Elliott Roosevelt has found the book in a paper cover, - Franklin Roosevelt's biography by Andre Maurois. Elliott Roosevelt pulled the book off the shelf and ran to his father, who at that time was eating in the bedroom belated Breakfast.
""He crowed delightedly.
"Get me a pen, Elliott. There.... on the dressing table."
And in his most florid French he inscribed a full-blown autograph, complete with grateful sentiments for the pleasant hours we had spent in this book"s owner"s home, addressing it to her with all the formal, high-blown phrases he could muster.
"Now stick it back on the shelf, Elliott"".
Creation of the United Nations was on the agenda.
""When," said Father, firmly. "When we"ve won the war, the four great powers will be responsible for the peace. It"s already high time for us to be thinking of the future building for it. France, for example. France will have to take its rightful place in that organization. These great powers will have to assume the task of bringing education, raising the standards of living, improving the health conditions - of all the backward, depressed colonial areas of the world. And when they"ve had a chance to reach maturity, they must have the opportunity extended them of independence. After the United Nations as a whole have decided that they are prepared for it."".
Day came to the end. Elliott Roosevelt has decided to have a rest till next morning. "... It"ll be a matter, - for each of you, - to wrestle out with your own conscience".
August 4, 2018 11:12
Translation from Russian into English: August 5, 2018 18:49.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Рассказ о воспоминаниях Эллиота Рузвельта".