Why U.S. Must Stay Involved in European Affairs, June 17, 1919

From the editorial page of the Hickory Daily Record, June 17, 1919

America and the World

A Record subscriber expressed our sentiments the other day when he said he wanted our troops to come home and let ‘em run things in Europe without us. That’s the way most of us feel about it. But the stability of Europe is important to us in many ways. For one thing, another big war would hit us again. For another thing, our industry is in part dependent on a world that is behaving itself. We are no longer living alone. We cannot think in terms of the United States any more. Fate has decreed that we must think in larger terms. We are nearer Europe today than the states were each other 75 years ago. American influence will have to be exerted throughout the world in the interest of peace, and we must be reconciled to that fact. It is destiny.