Date: September 11, 1930
Location: Saranac Inn, NY
(Original document available here)
From the time when President Washington negotiated the Jay treaty with England up to the present hour, almost every important agreement ratified with a foreign power has been accompanied in this country by bitter criticism of our own government and wholesale assaults upon the other contracting country. Yet in the light of history, it would be hard to find such an agreement that has not been fairly justified by results. After the bad temper of the period has been dissipated by time and reason, the mutual advantages have been apparent. Our diplomacy has not been inferior. Our statesmen have been able to be just to ourselves and fair to others.
Rancor of such nature not only does not pay but it is not right. We want to live on friendly terms with all the world. Instead of catering to the instinct of the barbarian who considered every stranger an enemy, we shall make more progress if we follow the dictates of religious enlightenment which teaches that all men are brothers. The breadth of our civilization is measured in no small part by the attitude of our people toward foreign people.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge Says: Dispatches Written by Former-President Coolidge and Syndicated to Newspapers in 1930-1931 (Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation)
The Coolidge Foundation gratefully acknowledges the volunteer efforts of Robert Manchester who prepared this document for digital publication.