Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-23

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liveries, and that there is an alarm
ing bottleneck in the machine tool
industry.
There are some who say that pri-
vate business and private industry
may not be able to do the job. They
point out that it didn't work in
France and that France fell; that
it didn't work in England and that
England was brought face to face
with catastrophe before she made
the shift from business as usual
to total defense" and that Ger
many and Italy started out with the
assumption that private enterprise
for profit would not work in a war
economy.
I do not know whether the same
holds true of American business.
I do not know whether we shall find
that we must accept total reform
of our social and economic life as
the price of total defense. But I
do know that those who are clamor-
ing for radical change in the
American business system, in the
name of defense, seem to have lost
faith in private enterprise, indi-
vidual initiative and the profit mo-
tive as the key to economic activity.
Sees Need to Draft Capital.
Now these critics of the American
way of business may be right in as
Stunning that private enterprise is in
competent to do the job. have no
final conviction on that point. I
agree that there is no way of making
machine gun or an airplane which
is, by definition, nobler than any
other way of producing weapons.
The noblest way to manufacture the
means of defense is the quickest
way. but I also believe that we shall
be paying too big price for the
weapons if we forfeit the faith and
loyalty of the mass of our working
people. Defense which drafts men
and does not draft capital is too
expensive for any democracy.
Since Hitler and Mussolini also
are writing the specifications it is
impossible to prepare a blueprint
for defense, but 1 submit the fol-
lowing concrete proposals for speed
ing UP adequate, flexible defense:
l. That We realize that our best
and quickest form of defense is aid
to England, who is fighting our bat
ties for her own reasons.
2. That we get rid of the silly
idea that we cannot afford total
defense. What we cannot afford is
the defeat of democracy and the
destruction of the world order.
Plea to Release Auto Labor.
3. That we begin total defense
now by establishing priorities for
labor and material, and above all by
causing the automobile industry to
release the skilled machine-tool
labor now being held in idleness
against next years models for pleas
ure cars
4. That We begin the revolution
Of freedom by not mucking about
with the pennies of the Workers-to
quote Mr. Bevin of England-and
by recognizing that the welfare Of
labor-and not the welfare of money
10 UI1C MY W 11dllOIldi sui NlNdl.
President Roosevelt is today the
effective chairman of the National
Defensive Commission. 1t is GER
tain that he will be held personally
and politically responsible for the
work of the commission. It is equal
ly certain that he is the trusted
leader of the ajority of the Amer
lean voters, the commander in chief
of the Army and Navy and the one
public official who represents all of
the people and all of the interests
of our country.
So I suggest another point. Let's
stand behind the President and
help him do his job by accepting
the verdict of the American people
last November in good faith and
by abandoning the belief that
somehow or other, in the name of
defense, we can repeal the goth
century.
(Released by Consolidated News Features,
Incl