Evening star., 1940-05-27


Some Of Opposition.
And, finally, there are q few
among us who have deliberately
and consciously closed their eyes
because they were determined to
be opposed to their Governments
foreign policy, to be partisan, and
to believe that anything that the
Government did was wholly
wrong.
To those who have closed their
eyes for any of these many rea-
sons, to those who would not ad-
NIT the possibility of the ap-
preaching storm-to all of them
the past two weeks have meant
the shattering of many illusions.
They have lost the illusion that
we are remote and isolated and,
therefore, secure against the
dangers from which no other land
Is free.
In some quarters, with this rude
awakening has come fear bor-
dering on panic. 1t is said that
we are defenseless. 1t Is whis-
.pered by some that, only by
abandoning our freedom, our
ideals, our way of life, can we
build our defenses adequately,
can we match the strength of the
aggressors.
I did not share those Illusions.
I do not share these fears.
Have Done With Fears
And Illusions as Well.
We are now more realistic. But
let us not be calamity -howlers
and discount our strength. Let
us have done with both fears and
illusions. On this Sabbath eve
ming, in our homes in the midst
OF our American families, let us
calmly consider what we have
done and what we must do.
In the past two or three weeks
all kinds of stories have been
handed out to the American pub
lie about our lack Of preparedness.
1t has even been charged that the
money we have spent on our mill
tary and naval forces during the
last few years has gone down the
rat-hole. I think that 1t is a
matter of fairness to the Nation
that you hear the facts.
We have spent large sums of
money on the national defense.
This money has been used to
make our Army and Navy today
the largest, the best equipped
and the best trained peacetime
military establishment in the
history of this country.
Let me tell you just few of
the many things accomplished
during the last few years.
I do not propose to go into
every detail. 1t is a known fact,
however, that in 1893, when this
administration came into office,
the United States Navy had
fallen in standing among the
navies Of the world, in power of
ships and in efficiency, to a rela-
lively low ebb. The relative
fighting power of the Navy had
been greatly diminished by fall
ure to replace ships and equip
ment, which had become out of
date.
Money Spent on Navy,
And What it Bought.
Between 1888 and 194O-seven
fiscal years-your Government
will have spent 81 l,487 900 900
more than 1t spent on the Navy
during the seven years before
1898.
What did we, get for this
money?
The fighting personnel of the
Navy rose from 10000 to 145 900.
During this period 215 ships
for the fighting feet have been
laid down or commissioned, prac-
tically seven times the number
in the preceding similar period.
OF these we have commits
stoned IL cruisers. So destroyers,
26 submarines, 3 aircraft car
riers, 2 gunboats, 7 auxiliaries
and many smaller craft. Among
the many ships now being built
and paid for are eight new bat
tleships.
Ship construction costs mil
lions of dollars-more in the
United States than anywhere
else in the world, but it is a
fact that we cannot have ade-
quate naval defense for all Amer
ican waters without ships-ships
that sail the surface of the
ocean, ships that move under the
surface and ships that move
through the air. And, speaking
of airplanes that work with the
Navy, in 1888 we had 1,127 USE
full aircraft and today we have
1892 on hand and on order.
Nearly all of the 1888 planes have
been replaced by new planes be-
cause they became obsolete or
worn out.
Navy at Record Peak
OF Efficiency, Strength.
The Navy is far stronger today
than at any peacetime period in
the whole long history of the
Nation. In hitting power and in
efficiency, I would even make the
assertion that it is stronger today
than it was during the World
War.
The Army Of the United States
in 1888 consisted of $4,000
enlisted men. In 1910 that has
been practically doubled. The
Army of 1888 had been given
few new implements of war
since 1919, and had been COM
PEELED to draw on old reserve
stocks left over from the World
War.
The net result of all this was
that our Army by 1888 had very
greatly declined in It's ratio of
strength with the armies of Eu-
rope and the Far East.
That was the situation I found.
Since then great changes have
taken place.
Army Expenditures
And the Results.
snnn ann