Evening star., 1940-05-27
Fireside Talk

President Roosevelt's tireside talk
OF last evening, his first since the
terrible implications of Europe's war
nave become apparent to the
majority of the people of this coun-
try, was designed primarily to strike
= reassuring note, to forestall
unreasonable apprehensions by re-
counting the strength of our armed
forces In the most favorable terms
: that facts and hopes will permit.
The President said that some ele-
ments OF our population are sue
cumbing to fear bordering on
panic" If that assumption was cor
rect, and it may have been. there
was ample justification for the effort
on Mr.. Roosevelt's part to get the
record Strengthened out and to allay
apprehensions which are more
Imaginary than real
But II exaggerated fears are dan
gerous in our present situation, so.
too, Is unwarranted optimism. Only
at our peril can we ignore certain
harsh facts of the world as we find it
today, and it is disappointing that
the President, to whom the Nation
must look for guidance, did not see
1T to discuss them.
1t is no doubt true, as Mr.. Roosevelt
said, that the weakness of our mill
tary establishment has been over
stated by some of the critics of his
administration. But the fact remains
that we are sadly unprepared in a
military sense for the vast RESPONSE
bilities we will have to assume if the
Allies are defeated in Europe. Nor
can we hope to overcome these
deflclencies at our leisure. Time is
the all-important factor now, and If
MIR. Roosevelt has any comprehen-
sive and definite program for cutting
through political obstacles to make
the most prompt and effective use of
our industrial resources in this rear
mament effort, he failed to disclose
such plans last night.
The President also refrained from
getting down to realities in another
respect. Qualifying his remarks to
the extent of making it clear that he
was discussing only the present
emergency" Mr.. Roosevelt said he
saw no reason for modifying any of
the social gains or objectives of the
New Deal. In brief, he proposes to
maintain wage and hour standards
and, If possible, to extend the cover
age OF old age pensions and unem-
ployment insurance. Nor does he
contemplate any retreat from other
objectives- conservation of resources.
assistance to agriculture, housing and
help to the underprivileged.
That is an ambitious program, one
calculated to tax the resources of a
nation at peace in peaceful world.
Its accomplishment, under the most
favorable circumstances, would be
expensive in the extreme, and if we
must add to that outlay the billions
Va NoAAoAo W111S11 VIC dlC kOiIlS 10
spend and must spend on arms, the
financial burden will be staggering
one. And yet, in the face of that
inescapable fact, the President said
that he contemplates no economies
affecting social expenditures, and he
did not so much as mention the new
and heavy taxes which will have to
be imposed.
This limited present emergency of
which the President speaks will dis
appear If the Germans win the war in
Europe. Our planning is shaped to
conform to that possibility, and, if
1t materializes, the people of America
will have to make very heavy sacri-
fees indeed. France and Britain
as we are doing-tried to find an easy
way to national security against a
hard and relentless foe, and they
are paying an appalling penalty now
for their early refusal to come to
grips with reality. There is every
reason why we should learn the les
son implicit in their tragic mistake,
and the President could render no
greater service than to point the way
while there is yet time.