The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1942-03-05
By STAFF CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON, D. C.-Presi-
dent Roosevelt, his cabinet mem
bers and other leading government
officials seem to be through
mollycodd1ing the people of the
nation.
Until recently messages to the
public have carried more or less
of a victory is sure" theme -
with accompanying qualifications
vaguely citing the need for sacri-
flee, hard>work and unity.
Now the theme has become
more frightening "a defeat is
possible theme accompanied by
explanations of the power of the
enemy and the absolute necessity
of our performing that miracle
of production if we hope to win.
Government officials are still
unanimous in the conviction that
the war will be won by the Uni
ted Nations, but they realize it is
going to call for a lot more effort
by the people than has been dem
onstrated so far. They are no
longer in a mood to tolerate la
Dor troubles, selfcentered activi-
ties of pressure groups, etc., which
slow up production. And they
will no longer give consumer in
terests much consideration when
they conflict with the interests of
the war program.
To impress the public with the
size of the job we have to do, the
fact is being stressed that we
must think of winning the war in
terms of offensive action and not
defense. This was made clear
when, in reply to criticism that
our coast lines are not well pro-
tected, Secretary of War Stimson
said:
"The only way to end the war is
to take it as vigorously as pos
sible. We are building an often
sive force on the land and in the
air, and we shall seize every OPP
portunity for attack, and utilize
every opportunity for surprise.
eve have got to be prepared
also," he said, 'for thoughtless
pressure by our public to string
out our defenses - pressure
which if yielded to would be the
surest way of losing the war that
I know of.
eve have got to be prepared to
take sporadic attacks, and the
only way to end them is to mass
our forces to take effective action
against the enemy.
"You must remember that in
this war we have not got any
body in Europe holding Germany
behind a front line. We cannot
produce our way out Of the war.
We cannot buy our way out. We
can only fight out by hard, intel
ligent fighting.
'This does not mean that de-
fensive efforts will not be made
to protect the country as far as
they can be made without
destroying our striking forces"
BY shifting our thinking toward
offensive action-and by empha-
sizing that we may have to take
sporadic attacts'' until such action
is effective, Mr.. Stimson, n d
other government spokesman are
believed to have done much to
give the public a new realization
of the task that lies before us.
In addition to showing us the
absolute need for faster and faster
production, it has also been made
clear that there is going to be no
more fooling about the sacrifices
which the people of this country
will have to make in the near
future.
Last year an effort was being
made to do two jobs-fulfill con-
sumer needs and produce quantl-
ties Of war supplies. That didn't
work. This year all possible pro-
duction facilities are being turned
over to war production-and the
production of consumer goods will
quickly be cut to bare necessities.
Well probably get plenty of the
foods necessary for health-but
imported foods like tea, coffee and
and cocoa will probably be cut
and there will be great changes
in the packaging of our domestic
foods. Example: Baked bean cam
ners won't get any tin cans. House.
wives will buy dried beans instead
and bake them themselves.)
Clothing will be supplied, but
the production of clothes will be
greatly decreased, styles will be
limited, materials will be reduced
in weight and quality. Most luxu-
ries will be sidetracked and deliv-
cred to the consumer only in cases
where they don't interfere with
war transportation and VIII er e