The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1941-03-27
Economic . F..
~A9hA9hA
Happenings That Affect the Dinner
Pals, Dividend Checks and Tax
Bills of Every Individual. National
and international Problems Insep-
arabic from Local Welfare.

If vestige of doubt remained il
any mind as to this country's position
in the current world struggle fol
power, the Presidents speech at tht
white House Correspondents Associ
|ation dinner should have dissipated it
There was no humor in the Presi
dents voice. There were no light
touches. He had grave words to say
land he said them gravely.
That speech, coming hard on the
heels of Congress- approval of the
lend-lease bill, made our policy clear
as crystal-we are out to destroy die.
satorship, and the entire resources OF
this nation will be spent freely tc
that end. He denounced the Nazis
by name. He accused them of seek.
ing the destruction of elective systems
Of government on every continent, in
cludlng our own. He accused them of
seeking to stir up controversies and
to create disunion within all democ-
racies, including our own. And he said
that they would fail-that the would
be conquerors will find that the forces
Of democracy, though they may move
slowly, will in the end be supreme.
That speech was obviously designed
for more than American ears. I'm
mediately after it was made, it was
broadcast to the far corners of the
world, in ID different languages. 1t
went, by short wave, to Germany, to
the occupied nations, to Africa, to
South America. For this government
feels, as do the British, that the moral
effect Of 100 per cent support of the
democracies' was is almost as import
ant in some ways as will be it's ma
terial effect. 1t is no secret that
Britain expects that revolts in the
conquered nations will eventually be
a major factor contributing to Hitler's
collapse. The fact that the United
States has actually interviewed in the
war, even though only as nom
belligerent, is expected to give new
hope to the millions of people who
now live as virtual prisoners of the
nazi-fascist system.
1t is significant that the President
had little to say concerning the world
after the war; The whole emphasis,
here and in England, is now being
placed upon victory. That dominates
all official thinking and planning.
There is little time for discussion
about the world order of the future.
That must wait.
Highly importans were the ,Presi-
dents words to industry and labor.
He definitely took the stand that some
have wanted him to take for months
he said that all must work harder
and longer, that all must expect small
er profits. He said, in effect, that all
must sacrifice, and that nothing will
be permitted to stand in the, way of
the swiftest possible consummation of
the aid-to-the-democracies program.
So the policy has been finally es-
tablished. The debate is over, and
even the opponents of the lend-lease
plan admit that public sentiment is
overwhelmingly behind it. Now the
real job begins-to make and supply
the weapons Britain and Greece and
China must have. That calls for
greater industrial productivity than
we have so far obtained. 1t calls for
a ship-building drive of unprecedented
Further, it may very like
ly call for use of the American navy
to convey merchant ships to England
it is obvious that our weapons will
be Of no use if the ships bearing them
are sunk by the dozens in the At
lantiC.
The Presidents request for a
81 7COO,0OO,0O0 appropriation to put the
lend-leasc plan into effect, was un-
qucstionabIy designed as "A dramatic
gesture, 1t is known that at least
two years must pass before it will be
possible for our factories to produce
that value of goods for England
some think the war will be over be-
fore the appropriation is exhausted.
The President apparently preferred
to ask for tremendous appropriation
at once, rather than to request small
cr sums at intervals over period
Of time, in order to show the dcta-
tors that we really mean business.
The tide is moving swiftly now.
Watch for crackdowns on labor.
Pressure Of the strongest kind will
be applied to organizations
or industries which are still thinking
in terms Of business as usual, and
are not troubling themselves to give
all-out effort. Even the Administra-
tion'S strongest critics believe that it
really means that sacrifices, financial
and otherwise, must be shared by all.
The President made significant
statement when he said, at press
conference, that the lend-lease bill
does not restrict aid to any particular
group of countries, but can be eX
tended to cover other nations if the
need arises.
Obvious tactic in this was to assure
the small Balkan powers that America
would help them too if they resisted
NaZl invasion. England is moving
Heaven and earth in an effort to i'm