Evening star., 1943-08-17
An Able Spokesman

In the opinion of this newspaper,
War Mobilization Director James F.
sByrnes was at his best last night in
his address to the American people
The message which he conveyed was
not only of first Importance; 1t also
was balanced and restrained. The
result is a well-drawn picture of the
war, both at home and abroad, which
should bring the people of this coun-
try back to realization of the essen
|, tial fact that, with all our successes,
we have not yet got beyond the
beginning of the end.
MIR. Byrnes devoted a major part
Of his talk to the factors tending to
refute the popular notion that we
have all but won the war. The
President, Mr.. Byrnes said, had
authorized him to say that in his
tthe President's) judgment, as of to-
day, "the major battles lie ahead of
us, not behind u.s.. Continuing, Mr..
Byrnes declared: There is nothing
to justify the hope of unconditional
surrender by the Axis powers in the
near future. No full-scale of
fensive against Japan has yet COM
menced. No Allied army has
crossed the borders of Germany.
Before that is done thousands of
American soldiers will make the
supreme sacrifice"
On the basis of available informa-
ton this appeals to ones reason as
an accurate appraisal of the military
outlook. And If experience should
prove that 1t errs on the side of
conservatism, 1t is far better, GER
tainly, to prepare for a war which
may end before the expected date
than to bank on an early victory and
then have to re-equip ourselves
spiritually and materially for long
drawn-out struggle.
Mr.. Byrnes was no less realistic in
his treatment of conditions on the
home front. Warning that we must
look forward to increasingly severe
shortages, he defended rationing and
price control as the only methods by
which the hardships could be equi-
tably distributed. Addressing himself
directly to labor, he took a stand
squarely against the demand for
higher wages, and pointed out that
since this country went to war the
weekly wages of factory workers as
a whole have gone up 347 per cent
while the cost of living in the same
period increased by only IL per cent.
This admonition to organized labor,
along with the equally pertinent re-
marks that he directed to the farmers
and businessmen, should be taken to
heart. In essence, Mr.. Byrnes was
saying that war like this one cannot
be won without economic sacrifices
all along the line, and it is the effort
to evade these sacrifices which has
been at the bottom of much of our
domestic trouble.
Finally, Mr. Byrnes offered a few
suggestions to those individuals who
seem bent upon stirring up a pre-
mature political fight. But he did
not fall into the error made by Vice
President Wallace, who has been
going about the country making
speeches which impute all political
offenses to the opposition while pro-
claiming his own eagerness to get
the political battle under way. Mr..
Byrnes conceded that destructive
critics are not confined to any polit-
ical party" This is nothing more
than statement of the obvious fact
that there are Democrats as we'll as
Republicans who are trying to stir
up hurtful political squabbles long in
advance Of the national elections,
and II the administration really de-
sires to curb these activities, Mr..
Byrnes has chosen the best way to 90
1t. He has been in the game long
time, and he knows that a man who
is throwing rocks is not going to get
very far in calling upon the other
fellow to behave himself.
L