Evening star., 1940-05-17
Mrs. Roosevelt
Hits Critics Of
Defense Fund
U. S. Must Prepare,
She Says, Citing
Other Nations Fute


Speakers ut . meeting last night
to promote membership In the
Workers' Alliance Of the District Of
Columbia who attacked the Pred.
dents national defense program
were assailed BY Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt. billed as their principal
speaker. She lashed back at them
by telling members Of tho audience
that they should have the other
side Of the picture, and then out:
lined the dangers she said were con-
fronting the country.
Although discussing the relief sit
uation here, she devoted most Of her
address to telling Of the need for
material preparedness, without
which, she said, there would be no
need for . standard Of living as advo-
Gated by other speakers. She told
her audience the fundamental need
Is for the District Of Columbia to
get voting privileges. adding that
it Is the one thing the people here
ought to have, and while getting the
vote would not provide everything
the people want, 1t would remove
one Of the excuses for not getting
some Of them. It would serve the
way Of calling the responsible ON
cials to account, she said, declaring
1t would remove the excuse for not
paying higher taxes In the District.
She said the District does have the
lowest tax rate In the country.
Mrs. Roosevelt urged those who
knew others with Representatives in
Congress to plead with them to do
something for relief in the District,
adding that there is no place In the
country where there Is as much
passing Of the buck" as here.
Favors Welfare Program.
Declaring the program Of the
Board Of Public Welfare should be
put before Congress, Mrs. Roose-
welt urged the establishment Of .
central bureau for registration Of
applications for relief. 50 those In
need would not have to go from
place to place oriiy to be told they
were 1t the wrong ONCE.
Mrs. Roosevelt, IN discussing in
ternational conditions, said u very
serious" situation is confronting the
world through what Germany is
doing today. She said Germany had
set up . Dictatorship and prepared
herself for war by q method which
the people accepted because they
found they could eat that way. In
history, she said, Germany had al
ways been 4 disturber nation. Ger
man books. Mrs, Roosevelt said, are
full Of statements that the nation
was ordained by God to rlle the
world and through these writings
had been able to build up q psy-
chology to which the people have
submitted.
mo one is urging you to 60 to
Flanders fields, but in the last few
months you have seen nation after
nation brought down because it had
not prepared to resist the German
military machine" Mrs. Roosevelt
asserted. you can't build war ma
chimes overnight. It takes q long
time and lots Of money and do not
like to. spend"
Faces Sinister Power.
She said she is for peace and has
talked peace, but the world Is facing
. sinister power that has no
scruples and no ethical or moral
standards" But. Mrs. Roosevelt
said, she would rather spend to keen
up the war machines to be able to
meet whatever is shaped against us.
She added: This is as serious as
life or death. Every time there Il
an indication that the people Of the
United States are not united. 1t
causes . laugh in Germany, which
has contempt for any nation that
cannot meet them on their own
ground. The reason the people will
vote for national defense is that
they see the danger ahead. We are
much more likely to be shot down
by other peoples guns II We don't
have the guns to stop them"
It Is true, she said, that there l.
need for q standard Of living, and
this may be provided by the defense
program which will create more
jobs. She held no belief that If the
war should end, stopping the ma
tional defense preparations, there
would be q more serious economic
situation. She said the same cry
was raised when the housing pro-
gram was fostered.
Other speakers on the program
referred to the Presidents national
defense fund requests and contended
that 1t was useless to starve those
who could not get work or even re-
lief and then "send them onto the
battlefiehs TO- have their stomachs
1illed with bullets" It was remarks
along these lines which drew fire
from Mrs. Roosevelt.