Secretary of State Cordell Hull today reiterated the United States Government’s doctrine of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of foreign nations while a resolution was introduced in the house calling for severance of diplomatic relations with Rumania if persecution of minorities continues.
After having stated yesterday that developments had not yet reached the stage where anything could be done, Secretary Hull said at a press conference today that his Government could not act except where the treaty rights of American citizens were involved.
The United States is not unmindful of developments in every part of the world as they relate to the treatment of minorities and observes with close interest in the instant situation, Mr. Hull said today. This Government, standing as it does for the doctrine of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other nations, except where the treaty rights of its nationals are involved, is not in a position to violate that principle in any case, notwithstanding its policy of supporting such doctrines as freedom of religion and equal treatment of different religions as well as races, the Secretary of state said.
The House resolution, introduced by William Sirovich (Dem.,N.Y.), calls upon President Roosevelt to intercede “in the name of humanity against the shameful treatment” by Rumania of religious and racial minorities, and provides for severance of diplomatic relations if negotiations fail.
The resolution asks the President to request Rumania to “cease the viciously unjust discrimination against racial and religious minorities, and above all to put an end to the cruel and barbarous mistreatment of innocent Jewish citizens, and protect their lives and property.”
The alternative, if Rumania “fails to comply fully with humanitarian representations,” would be to sever diplomatic relations. The resolution holds that “appalling onslaughts upon the life, liberty and property of minorities, in contemptuous defiance of organized humanity, are but another recurrence of those pernicious policies of Rumania which in the past have shocked the conscience of the civilized world.”
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