The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1941-09-04
Today
Tomorrow
Frank Parker StOckridge

| ENGLAND dHAdACU
eve in England simply can't
understand the near defeat of ex-
tension of the selective service act
by the congress of the United
States wrote friend of mine
from England. eve felt sure" he
continued, "that America was
about to go into the war with us
lock, stock and barrel, but the
passage of that law by only one
vote would indicate that we have
been barking up the wrong tree.
What is the real feeling over
there? How much help can we
actually expect from American"
1t is natural that an English
man, if he gets the same news re-
ports as we do over the radio,
would think America is on the
verge of war. When Mr.. Church.
i'll and Mr.. Roosevelt held their
dramatic meeting at sea, most
Englishmen and a lot of Ameri-
cans thought the conference
would conclude with plans for
us to declare war.
But actually, as Mr.. Roosevelt
knows, the majority of people in
this country are still opposed to
sending an expeditionary force to
Europe. They are in favor of Civ
ing all help possible to Britain,
so far as equipment goes, but they
continue to draw the line at ''all
aid short of war"
The answer to my English
friend is: Americans know it is
necessary to see Hitler beaten.
They want to help you beat him.
But if they can do the job by CIV
ing you guns instead of shooting
the guns themselves, that's what
they want to do. That may seem
selfish, when we consider Hitler
common enemy, but there are
still lot of people in our coun-
try who think it is a lot more
your war than ours-Who think
there is a lot of difference be-
tween a 2O-mile channel and a g.
OOO-mile ocean separating them
from the enemy.
OPINION polls
l was discussing the war sltua-
ton with Well-knoWn congress
man the other day and men
toned the letter l had received
from my friend in England. He
turned to his desk and dug out
clipping from a newspaper which
he handed to me. 1t was the latest
report on the Gallup poll of pub
lie opinion.
The report showed that, accord
ing to DR.. Gallup's figures, 80 per
cent of the people of the United
States are opposed to our sending
an expeditionary force out of this
country. The congressman pointed
to that figure and said: "Thats
why a lot of us voted against the
extension of selective service.
That's why the great majority OF
us would vote against a declara-
ton of war.
"Those figures" he went on,
''show that people we represent
are against our entrance into the
war. Even if we felt differently
about it, we would be violating
our duty if we considered voting
! in opposition to the will of such a
large majority of the people we
are here to speak for. I'd tell your
British friend to keep an eye on
the Gallup poll"
How many congressman are IN
fluenced by the Gallup poll and
other similar polls is a debatable
question, but there is no doubt
! that polls of public opinion are
playing a bigger part in govern
ment policy today than any meth
cd ever used before for taking the
nations pulse.
p, GALLUP accuracy
DR.. George Gallup, head of the
American Institute of Public
Opinion, broke into the headlines
in 1886 when, based on his sclen-
tific methods of checking public
opinion, he issued an amazingly
accurate prediction of the nation
al vote in the presidential cleo
ton.
Since that election DR.. Gallup
has continued to predict many
other elections with uncanny &C
curacy so that each year there
are thousands of new converts
who look to DR.. Gallup for
clear picture Of public opinion.
But there are still many who
still refuse to believe that public
opinion can be measured by the
iGallup sampling method.
DANGER representation
DR.. Gallup doesn't know, him
self. how much influence his polls
lmay have on the votes of con-
qressmen. But he told me recent