The Wilmington morning star., 1947-08-11
URGES PEOPLE
CONTINUED From Page One)

work from some, changes Of jobs
for many, harder work Cor all
His speech was almost totally
lacking in dramatics. In fact, he
seemed to have said the w.<jle
thing more forcibly to the house
of commons last Thursday, wher
he proposed his super-austerity
program and called it a new bat.
tie OF Britain.
II have no easy words for you
tonight" he said at the opening
OF his 15-minute speech. g. i
have heavy responsibility upon
me, but you have too. the
problem that Faces US can only
be solved if everyone shares in
the sacrifices necessary and joins
in the work required for success.
e.. The way out Of our diff
ficulties is hard, but there is no
alternative. We cannot rest upon
the help which our fellow mem
bers Of the commonwealth have
been and are giving generously.
And even though plans may be
put forward by our friends in
America to help bring prosperity
to Europe, We must stand or our
own feet"
He explained the economic sit
uation Of the home islands. Trade,
he said, had been it's likelihood.
Britain imported food and raw
materials and paid for them with
coal and manufactured goods, and
by the earnings Of shippings and
foreign investments. .
But he said the first World War
hurt the nations position serious
ly. In the second World War.
when We stood alone, Britain
sold its foreign assets, reduced
production Of civilian goods to a
minimum, lost nearly all of its
export trade and much Of its ship
ping.
When the U. S. entered the war.
he said, lend-lease started and
that supplied Britain with essen
tials. But when the war ended, 50
did l%end-lease and Britain was LETT
to its own resources, with thou.
sands of homes and factories
blitzed out, factories not recon-
verted from war production and
thousands of workers, badly need
ed at home, in the armed forces
Nevertheless, he said, Britain
had made a good start toward
recovery and the volume Of ex-
ports in 1916 was greater than in
1888, the last previous peacetime
year. But he said this progress
was set back at the turn Of the
year by insufficient coal and cleo
trical power and last winter, the
worst in so years, had hit industry
and agriculture alike.
He said that Britain had Dor.
rowed So, $50, 600, 900 from the US.
and 1850, 600, 900 from Canada.
hoping these loans would be
enough to carry the country
through until at least 1949. Blu:
because of the world food short
age and the fact that British in
dustry was hampered he said.
they had been largely dissipated.
Attlee did not mention two sub.
jects about which he is being
criticized in his own party - his
reported decision to delay the ma
tionalization Of iron and steel and
the size Of his proposed cuts in
the armed forces to provide in
dustrial manpower. But he devot-
ed one paragraph to answering
conservative party charges that
his bill to give the cabinet die
tatorial powers over industry and
individual was "totalitarian."
Il believe that nearly all will
willingly put their shoulders to the
wheel but there may be some who
will not" he said in this respect.
"It is for this reason that the
government has introduced a bill
which, while it gives no greater
powers than were given to the
present government in 1945, en-
ables them to be applied to the
present crisis. The government is
determined that nothing shall
stand in the way of III eco
cry"