Evening star., 1942-03-06
On the Record
US. Urged to Give All the People
Some Task in War Effort


the way the fifth column works
and how to discover its agents.
and in every war industry factory
there should be an anti-sabotage
council charged to watch out for
suspicious persons as well as for
laxities in general. Such coun-
ellis would be more than anti
sabotage groups; their mere ex-
istence would prevent sabotage
in most cases, and they would be
q powerful agency for morale in
general.
or course. the argument
against any effective way of deal
ing with the fifth column will be
that we shall institute vigilant-
ism. Organized vigilance on the
part Of the people, and the vici-
lantism are not the same thing.
People Can do the Job"
The Governments attitude is
that the State must be protected,
through its agencies. against sab
otage. But 1t Is not merely the
State, it Is the Nation that must
be protected, and only the Ma
tion-the organized people-can
protect the Nation. The Gov
ernment must give advice. But
the organized people alone can
do the job. The job is not only
the Job Of protecting loyal work.
ers against diSloyal. 1t is the job
of protecting loyal Germans and
Italians against suspicion attend
ing their nationals.
If a burglar breaks into my
house, I will certainly. If I can,
call cop. But meanwhile will
defend myself. But in defending
society, We expect to leave 1t all
to the cops.
The Government Is trying to
organize the country. But the
country Is already organized-in
tens Of thousands OF groups, each
with its own hobby or purpose,
and each with its own natural
leaders.
The problem of mobilizing the
Nation is to give every one Of
these groups something to do,
right where it is, under its own
leadership. without drawing OF
the leadership to the state, and
trying to reorganize everything.
For to do the latter means to de-
mobilize the creative, already
functioning groups in society In
stead Of using them.
Do we need home guard? Let
the American Legion organize it.
Give them advice, check what
they are doing, but let them do
1t and let them have the honor OF
doing some one thing well. Do we
need more doctors for the Army?
Turn the Job over to the medical
societies, who have all the in
formation on every one Of their
members right at hand.
bureaucratic Octopus"
I have said it before and I say
It again: The secret Of efficiency
lies in the integration Of free en-
ergies under their natural and
self-selected leadership. There is
no other way totally to mobilize
nation. And it is also the only
protection against the growth OF
an enormous bureaucratic octo-
pus. the demobilization OF which
will be a major problem once this
war is over.
The Government Is spending
hundreds of millions of dollars to
accomplish things that 1t could
get done for next to nothing and
get done better, If it would make
this a peoples war instead OF an
administration war.
And, incidentally, this Is the old
American way of doing things, in
which the Americans have dem
onstrated their genius over and
over again. Wars are not won by
card catalogues and paper work
and press agents and memoranda
in quadruplicate. They are won
by people, acting. Doing is the
basis of morale.
(Released by the Bell Syndicate. Inc)