Evening star., 1943-09-18
A Timely Message


the reconvening Congress, while
leaving much unsaid. will be regard
ed nevertheless as an excellent re-
view of the progress of the war. to
this date and well-balanced sum-
mary of the enormous task that lies
ahead.
Mr.. Roosevelt had two main pur-
poses in mind. One was to present
a reasonably comprehensive and
considered appraisal of the very
substantial progress that has been
made toward defeating the Axis.
And this was done extremely well.
There was no disposition on his part
to disclaim legitimate responsibility
for mistakes that have been made;
no tendency to seek any partisan
advantage in the ALLEGATION OF credit
for this countrys truly remarkable
achievements, and no effort to stig-
Matte those who from time to time
may have entertained honest diff
ferences of opinion as to specific
phases of the conduct of the war.
For all Of these reasons it was a mes
sage which should tend to unite the
country and the Congress behind his
conduct Of our military effort, and
the greater our unity in this respect
the sooner we may expect the war
to be over.
The Presidents second principal
objective, however, was to discourage
excessive optimism concerning the
probable duration Of the conflict.
Nothing we can do will be more
costly In lives," he said, than to
adopt the attitude that the war has
been won-or nearly won. That
would mean letdown in the great
tempo Of production which we have
reached, and would mean that our
men who are now fighting all over
the world will not have that over
whelming superiority of power which
has dealt so much death and de-
struction to the enemy and at the
same time has saved so many Amer
lean lives" This is a point which
cannot be too strongly emphasized.
To greater extent than any other
war in history, this is war of pro-
duction, and we are capable of pro-
ducing for war on a scale that can
not be matched by any or all OF our
enemies. How foolish we would be,
and how unfaithful to the men at
the combat fronts, to let this advan-
tage, or any part of it, slip away
through rash overconfidence, or for
any other reason.
Mr.. Roosevelt did not touch di-
rectly on some of our current
troubles of the home front. There
was no mention, for instance, of
manpower wastage or of national
service legislation. Nor did he COM
ment on the current dispute with
regard to the drafting of fathers.
With respect to the former, however,
he did say that changes in meth
ods and changes in legislation" may
be necessary, and he indicated that
he would take these matters up with
Congress If he should decide that
legislative action is necessary. The
draft issue, apparently, is being left
to his military subordinates. and it
may be doubted that this Is the time
for any direct expression from the
President. There is little doubt that
he will make his views known in ex-
rlicit terms if it appears that draft
restrictions are threatening to in
terfere with the conduct of the war
Finally, the President avoided all
but the most generalized comment
on what role this country should
play in collaborating with other ma
tions after the war to maintain peace
and promote economic stability
throughout the world. He neither
Endorsed nor repudiated any of the
several programs that have been ad-
vanced, apparently preferring to
wait until the discussion stage is
pa ssed and public sentiment has be-
gun to take more definite form. And,
after all. he has a great deal to
occupy his time without entering
prematurely into this controversy.
September automatically takes
care OF a shortage of raw material