The daily monitor. (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1940-1942, 1942-02-24
President
Continued from Page II

heavy toll of the enemy every
day that goes by"
Specifically, he said, "to date
an including Pearl Harbor-
we have destroyed considerably
more Japanese planes than they
have destroyed of ours"
Moreover, Mr.. Roosevelt dis
closed, American forces in the
southwest Pacific battle theatre
were steadily growing.
Transportation difficulties had
been immense, he said, "but /
can tell you that in two and a
half months we already have a
large number of bombers and
pursuit planes, manned by
American pilots, which are now
in daily contact with the enemy
in the southwest Pacific.
and thousands of American
troops are today in that area
engaged in operations not only
in the air but on the ground as
WE'LL"
FIRST HINT
This was the first official in
timation that sizeable vanguard
of an A. E. F. was on the scene
of action.
Turning to the debit side, Mr..
Roosevelt discussed the situation
of the Philippines in terms that
left no room for optimism on the
possibilities of reinforcing or re-
lieving General Macarthur.
The turn of events there, he
said, had long been anticipated.
For forty years it has been
our strategy-a strategy born of
necessity-that in event of a full
scale attack lon the islands by
Japan, we should fight a delay
ing action, attempting to retire
slowly into Bataan peninsula and
Corregidor.
1--WE knew that the war as a
whole would have TO be fought
and won by a process of at
triton against Japan itself. -
we knew that, to obtain our OBJ
jective, many varieties of opera
tons would be necessary in areas
other than the Philippines.
Nothing that has occurred in
the past two months has caused
us to revise this basic strategy
Of necessity-except that the de-
Tense put up by General Mac
Arthur has magnificently ex-
ceeded the previous estimates of
endurance; and he and his men
are gaining eternal glory there
for"
The President paid tribute not
only to MacArthur's men, but to
the fighting forces of the united
nations in China, in Burma and
in the Indies.
TERRIBLE PRICE
"They are making Japan pay
an increasingly terrible price for
her ambitious attempts to seize
control of the whole Asiatic
world. Every japanese trans
port sunk off Java is one less
transport that they can use to
carry endorsements to the ar
my opposing General MacArt-
hur in Luzon.'
The President administered
stern rcproof 10 1.-The rumOr
mongers and poison pcddlers in
our midst" for "damnable mis-
statements on American war
losses, and he called attention to
the promptnesS with which Axis
propaganda seized on such ma
terial to encourage defcatism.
Mr.. Roosevelt said that the
consequences of the attack on
Pearl Harbor had been wildly
exaggerated in weird rumors'
OF staggering losses.
Cautioning the p cop ] c
against placing stock in UNI
founded gossip of this character,
the Chief Executive promised
that the country would be kept
informed ON the trend of the
war.
Your government" he declar
cd. has unmistakable conf
dence in your ability to hear the
worst, without flinching or los
ing heart. You must, in turn,
have complete confidence that
your government is keeping
nothing from you except infor-
nation that will help the enemy
in his attempt to destroy U.S."
While acknowledging the re-
verses suffered to date, Mr.
Roosevelt had this to say "Once
and for all to the people OF the
world"
1--WE Americans lave been