852.00/7584
Statement Issued by the Secretary of State on March 21, 1938
Reports from Barcelona leave no doubt of the appalling loss of life among civilians, men, women and children, as a result of the recent air raids.
I have on several occasions stated the position of this Government with respect to the bombing of civilian populations from the air. This position is based first on considerations of humanity and secondly on the consideration that no theory of war can justify such conduct.
On this occasion, when the loss of life among innocent non-combatants is perhaps greater than ever before in history, I feel that I am speaking for the whole American people when I voice a sense of horror at what has taken place at Barcelona, and when I express the [Page 166] earnest hope that in future civilian centers of population will not be made the objectives of military bombardment from the air.
[For text of a letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Raymond Leslie Buell of the Foreign Policy Association, dated March 21, 1938, regarding the revoking of the Proclamation of May 1, 1937, relating to the export of arms, etc., to Spain, see Department of State, Press Releases, March 26, 1938, page 398.]