This Nation in the past two years has become an active partner in the world's greatest war against human slavery. We have joined with like-minded people in order to defend ourselves in a world that has been gravely threatened with gangster rule. But I do not think that any of us Americans can be content with mere survival. Sacrifices that we and our allies are making impose upon us all a sacred obligation to see to it that out of this war we and our children will gain something better than mere survival. We are united in determination that this war shall not be followed by another interim which leads to new disaster- that we shall not repeat the tragic errors of ostrich isolationism—that we shall not repeat the excesses of the wild twenties when this Nation went for a joy ride on a roller coaster which ended in a tragic crash. When Mr. Hull went to Moscow in October, and when I went to Cairo and Teheran in November, we knew that we were in agreement with our allies in our common determination to fight and win this war. But there were many vital questions concerning the future peace, and they were discussed in an atmosphere of complete candor and harmony. In the last war such discussions, such meetings, did not even begin until the shooting had stopped and the delegates began to assemble at the peace table. There had been no previous opportunities for man-to-man discussions which lead to meetings of minds. The result was a peace which was not a peace. That was a mistake which we are not repeating in this war. And right here I want to address a word or two to some suspicious souls who are fearful that Mr. Hull or I have made "commitments" for the future which might pledge this Nation to secret treaties, or to enacting the role of Santa Claus. To such suspicious souls—using a polite terminology—I wish to say that Mr. Churchill, and Marshal Stalin, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek are all thoroughly conversant with the provisions of our Constitution. And so is Mr. Hull. And so am I. Of course we made some commitments. We most certainly committed ourselves to very large and very specific military plans which require the use of all Allied forces to bring about the defeat of our enemies at the earliest possible time. But there were no secret treaties or political or financial commitments. The one supreme objective for the future, which we discussed for each Nation individually, and for all the United Nations, can be summed up in one word: Security. And that means not only physical security which provides safety from attacks by aggressors. It means also economic security, social security, moral security—in a family of Nations. In the plain down-to-earth talks that I had with the Generalissimo and Marshal Stalin and Prime Minister Churchill, it was abundantly clear that they are all most deeply interested in the resumption of peaceful progress by their own peoples—progress toward a better life. All our allies want freedom to develop their lands and resources, to build up industry, to increase education and individual opportunity, and to raise standards of living. All our allies have learned by bitter experience that real development will not be possible if they are to be diverted from their purpose by repeated wars—or even threats of war. China and Russia are truly united with Britain and America in recognition of this essential fact: The best interests of each Nation, large and small, demand that all freedom-loving Nations shall join together in a just and durable system of peace. In the present world situation, evidenced by the actions of Germany, Italy, and Japan, unquestioned military control over disturbers of the peace is as necessary among Nations as it is among citizens in a community. And an equally basic essential to peace is a decent standard of living for all individual men and women and children in all Nations. Freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want. There are people who burrow through our Nation like unseeing moles, and attempt to spread the suspicion that if other Nations are encouraged to raise their standards of living, our own American standard of living must of necessity be depressed. The fact is the very contrary. It has been shown time and again that if the standard of living of any country goes up, so does its purchasing power- and that such a rise encourages a better standard of living in neighboring countries with whom it trades. That is just plain common sense—and it is the kind of plain common sense that provided the basis for our discussions at Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran. Returning from my journeyings, I must confess to a sense of "let-down" when I found many evidences of faulty perspective here in Washington. The faulty perspective consists in overemphasizing lesser problems and thereby underemphasizing the first and greatest problem. The overwhelming majority of our people have met the demands of this war with magnificent courage and understanding. They have accepted inconveniences; they have accepted hardships; they have accepted tragic sacrifices. And they are ready and eager to make whatever further contributions are needed to win the war as quickly as possible- if only they are given the chance to know what is required of them. However, while the majority goes on about its great work without complaint, a noisy minority maintains an uproar of demands for special favors for special groups. There are pests who swarm through the lobbies of the Congress and the cocktail bars of Washington, representing these special groups as opposed to the basic interests of the Nation as a whole. They have come to look upon the war primarily as a chance to make profits for themselves at the expense of their neighbors- profits in money or in terms of political or social preferment. Such selfish agitation can be highly dangerous in wartime. It creates confusion. It damages morale. It hampers our national effort. It muddies the waters and therefore prolongs the war. If we analyze American history impartially, we cannot escape the fact that in our past we have not always forgotten individual and selfish and partisan interests in time of war—we have not always been united in purpose and direction. We cannot overlook the serious dissensions and the lack of unity in our war of the Revolution, in our War of 1812, or in our War Between the States, when the survival of the Union itself was at stake. In the first World War we came closer to national unity than in any previous war. But that war lasted only a year and a half, and increasing signs of disunity began to appear during the final months of the conflict. In this war, we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each other are all groups and sections of the population of America. Increased food costs, for example, will bring new demands for wage increases from all war workers, which will in turn raise all prices of all things including those things which the farmers themselves have to buy. Increased wages or prices will each in turn produce the same results. They all have a particularly disastrous result on all fixed income groups. And I hope you will remember that all of us in this Government represent the fixed income group just as much as we represent business owners, workers, and farmers. This group of fixed income people includes: teachers, clergy, policemen, firemen, widows and minors on fixed incomes, wives and dependents of our soldiers and sailors, and old-age pensioners. They and their families add up to one-quarter of our one hundred and thirty million people. They have few or no high pressure representatives at the Capitol. In a period of gross inflation they would be the worst sufferers. If ever there was a time to subordinate individual or group selfishness to the national good, that time is now. Disunity at home—bickerings, self-seeking partisanship, stoppages of work, inflation, business as usual, politics as usual, luxury as usual these are the influences which can undermine the morale of the brave men ready to die at the front for us here. Those who are doing most of the complaining are not deliberately striving to sabotage the national war effort. They are laboring under the delusion that the time is past when we must make prodigious sacrifices- that the war is already won and we can begin to slacken off. But the dangerous folly of that point of view can be measured by the distance that separates our troops from their ultimate objectives in Berlin and Tokyo—and by the sum of all the perils that lie along the way. Overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies. Last spring—after notable victories at Stalingrad and in Tunisia and against the U-boats on the high seas—overconfidence became so pronounced that war production fell off. In two months, June and July, 1943, more than a thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were not made. Those who failed to make them were not on strike. They were merely saying, "The war's in the bag- so let's relax." That attitude on the part of anyone—Government or management or labor—can lengthen this war. It can kill American boys. Let us remember the lessons of 1918. In the summer of that year the tide turned in favor of the allies. But this Government did not relax. In fact, our national effort was stepped up. In August, 1918, the draft age limits were broadened from 21-31 to 18-45. The President called for "force to the utmost," and his call was heeded. And in November, only three months later, Germany surrendered. That is the way to fight and win a war—all out—and not with half-an-eye on the battlefronts abroad and the other eye-and-a-half on personal, selfish, or political interests here at home. Therefore, in order to concentrate all our energies and resources on winning the war, and to maintain a fair and stable economy at home, I recommend that the Congress adopt: (1) A realistic tax law—which will tax all unreasonable profits, both individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our sons and daughters. The tax bill now under consideration by the Congress does not begin to meet this test. (2) A continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts—which will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government. For two long years I have pleaded with the Congress to take undue profits out of war. (3) A cost of food law—which will enable the Government (a) to place a reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production; and (b) to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for the food he buys. This should apply to necessities only; and will require public funds to carry out. It will cost in appropriations about one percent of the present annual cost of the war. (4) Early reenactment of the stabilization statute of October, 1942. This expires June 30, 1944, and if it is not extended well in advance, the country might just as well expect price chaos by summer. We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking. We must take positive action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar. (5) A national service law- which, for the duration of the war, will prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make available for war production or for any other essential services every able-bodied adult in this Nation. These five measures together form a just and equitable whole. I would not recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits. The Federal Government already has the basic power to draft capital and property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation. As you know, I have for three years hesitated to recommend a national service act. Today, however, I am convinced of its necessity. Although I believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure, I am certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory, and reduce the toll of suffering and sorrow and blood. I have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the War Department, the Navy Department, and the Maritime Commission. These are the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms and equipment, and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field. They say: "When the very life of the Nation is in peril the responsibility for service is common to all men and women. In such a time there can be no discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the Government to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations. A prompt enactment of a National Service Law would be merely an expression of the universality of this responsibility." I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn truth. National service is the most democratic way to wage a war. Like selective service for the armed forces, it rests on the obligation of each citizen to serve his Nation to his utmost where he is best qualified. It does not mean reduction in wages. It does not mean loss of retirement and seniority rights and benefits. It does not mean that any substantial numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs. Let these facts be wholly clear. Experience in other democratic Nations at war—Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand- has shown that the very existence of national service makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power. National service has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive legal obligation of all people in a Nation at war. There are millions of American men and women who are not in this war at all. It is not because they do not want to be in it. But they want to know where they can best do their share. National service provides that direction. It will be a means by which every man and woman can find that inner satisfaction which comes from making the fullest possible contribution to victory. I know that all civilian war workers will be glad to be able to say many years hence to their grandchildren: "Yes, I, too, was in service in the great war. I was on duty in an airplane factory, and I helped make hundreds of fighting planes. The Government told me that in doing that I was performing my most useful work in the service of my country." It is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national service is necessary. But our soldiers and sailors know that this is not true. We are going forward on a long, rough road- and, in all journeys, the last miles are the hardest. And it is for that final effort—for the total defeat of our enemies-that we must mobilize our total resources. The national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than in 1943. It is my conviction that the American people will welcome this win-the-war measure which is based on the eternally just principle of "fair for one, fair for all." It will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing four-square behind our soldiers and sailors. And it will give our enemies demoralizing assurance that we mean business -that we, 130,000,000 Americans, are on the march to Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. I hope that the Congress will recognize that, although this is a political year, national service is an issue which transcends politics. Great power must be used for great purposes. As to the machinery for this measure, the Congress itself should determine its nature—but it should be wholly nonpartisan in its make-up. Our armed forces are valiantly fulfilling their responsibilities to our country and our people. Now the Congress faces the responsibility for taking those measures which are essential to national security in this the most decisive phase of the Nation's greatest war. Several alleged reasons have prevented the enactment of legislation which would preserve for our soldiers and sailors and marines the fundamental prerogative of citizenship—the right to vote. No amount of legalistic argument can becloud this issue in the eyes of these ten million American citizens. Surely the signers of the Constitution did not intend a document which, even in wartime, would be construed to take away the franchise of any of those who are fighting to preserve the Constitution itself. Our soldiers and sailors and marines know that the overwhelming majority of them will be deprived of the opportunity to vote, if the voting machinery is left exclusively to the States under existing State laws—and that there is no likelihood of these laws being changed in time to enable them to vote at the next election. The Army and Navy have reported that it will be impossible effectively to administer forty-eight different soldier voting laws. It is the duty of the Congress to remove this unjustifiable discrimination against the men and women in our armed forces- and to do it as quickly as possible. It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth- is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill housed, and insecure. This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty. As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness. We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are: The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education. All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world. One of the great American industrialists of our day—a man who has rendered yeoman service to his country in this crisis-recently emphasized the grave dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop—if history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called "normalcy" of the 1920's—then it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirit of Fascism here at home. I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill of rights- for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the Nation will be conscious of the fact. Our fighting men abroad- and their families at home- expect such a program and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are dying. The foreign policy that we have been following—the policy that guided us at Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran—is based on the common sense principle which was best expressed by Benjamin Franklin on July 4, 1776: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." I have often said that there are no two fronts for America in this war. There is only one front. There is one line of unity which extends from the hearts of the people at home to the men of our attacking forces in our farthest outposts. When we speak of our total effort, we speak of the factory and the field, and the mine as well as of the battleground -- we speak of the soldier and the civilian, the citizen and his Government. Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this Nation in its most critical hour—to keep this Nation great -- to make this Nation greater in a better world.
This Nation in the past two years has become an active partner in the world's greatest war against human slavery. We have joined with like-minded people in order to defend ourselves in a world that has been gravely threatened with gangster rule. But I do not think that any of us Americans can be content with mere survival. Sacrifices that we and our allies are making impose upon us all a sacred obligation to see to it that out of this war we and our children will gain something better than mere survival. We are united in determination that this war shall not be followed by another interim which leads to new disaster- that we shall not repeat the tragic errors of ostrich isolationism—that we shall not repeat the excesses of the wild twenties when this Nation went for a joy ride on a roller coaster which ended in a tragic crash. When Mr. Hull went to Moscow in October, and when I went to Cairo and Teheran in November, we knew that we were in agreement with our allies in our common determination to fight and win this war. But there were many vital questions concerning the future peace, and they were discussed in an atmosphere of complete candor and harmony. In the last war such discussions, such meetings, did not even begin until the shooting had stopped and the delegates began to assemble at the peace table. There had been no previous opportunities for man-to-man discussions which lead to meetings of minds. The result was a peace which was not a peace. That was a mistake which we are not repeating in this war. And right here I want to address a word or two to some suspicious souls who are fearful that Mr. Hull or I have made "commitments" for the future which might pledge this Nation to secret treaties, or to enacting the role of Santa Claus. To such suspicious souls—using a polite terminology—I wish to say that Mr. Churchill, and Marshal Stalin, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek are all thoroughly conversant with the provisions of our Constitution. And so is Mr. Hull. And so am I. Of course we made some commitments. We most certainly committed ourselves to very large and very specific military plans which require the use of all Allied forces to bring about the defeat of our enemies at the earliest possible time. But there were no secret treaties or political or financial commitments. The one supreme objective for the future, which we discussed for each Nation individually, and for all the United Nations, can be summed up in one word: Security. And that means not only physical security which provides safety from attacks by aggressors. It means also economic security, social security, moral security—in a family of Nations. In the plain down-to-earth talks that I had with the Generalissimo and Marshal Stalin and Prime Minister Churchill, it was abundantly clear that they are all most deeply interested in the resumption of peaceful progress by their own peoples—progress toward a better life. All our allies want freedom to develop their lands and resources, to build up industry, to increase education and individual opportunity, and to raise standards of living. All our allies have learned by bitter experience that real development will not be possible if they are to be diverted from their purpose by repeated wars—or even threats of war. China and Russia are truly united with Britain and America in recognition of this essential fact: The best interests of each Nation, large and small, demand that all freedom-loving Nations shall join together in a just and durable system of peace. In the present world situation, evidenced by the actions of Germany, Italy, and Japan, unquestioned military control over disturbers of the peace is as necessary among Nations as it is among citizens in a community. And an equally basic essential to peace is a decent standard of living for all individual men and women and children in all Nations. Freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want. There are people who burrow through our Nation like unseeing moles, and attempt to spread the suspicion that if other Nations are encouraged to raise their standards of living, our own American standard of living must of necessity be depressed. The fact is the very contrary. It has been shown time and again that if the standard of living of any country goes up, so does its purchasing power- and that such a rise encourages a better standard of living in neighboring countries with whom it trades. That is just plain common sense—and it is the kind of plain common sense that provided the basis for our discussions at Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran. Returning from my journeyings, I must confess to a sense of "let-down" when I found many evidences of faulty perspective here in Washington. The faulty perspective consists in overemphasizing lesser problems and thereby underemphasizing the first and greatest problem. The overwhelming majority of our people have met the demands of this war with magnificent courage and understanding. They have accepted inconveniences; they have accepted hardships; they have accepted tragic sacrifices. And they are ready and eager to make whatever further contributions are needed to win the war as quickly as possible- if only they are given the chance to know what is required of them. However, while the majority goes on about its great work without complaint, a noisy minority maintains an uproar of demands for special favors for special groups. There are pests who swarm through the lobbies of the Congress and the cocktail bars of Washington, representing these special groups as opposed to the basic interests of the Nation as a whole. They have come to look upon the war primarily as a chance to make profits for themselves at the expense of their neighbors- profits in money or in terms of political or social preferment. Such selfish agitation can be highly dangerous in wartime. It creates confusion. It damages morale. It hampers our national effort. It muddies the waters and therefore prolongs the war. If we analyze American history impartially, we cannot escape the fact that in our past we have not always forgotten individual and selfish and partisan interests in time of war—we have not always been united in purpose and direction. We cannot overlook the serious dissensions and the lack of unity in our war of the Revolution, in our War of 1812, or in our War Between the States, when the survival of the Union itself was at stake. In the first World War we came closer to national unity than in any previous war. But that war lasted only a year and a half, and increasing signs of disunity began to appear during the final months of the conflict. In this war, we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each other are all groups and sections of the population of America. Increased food costs, for example, will bring new demands for wage increases from all war workers, which will in turn raise all prices of all things including those things which the farmers themselves have to buy. Increased wages or prices will each in turn produce the same results. They all have a particularly disastrous result on all fixed income groups. And I hope you will remember that all of us in this Government represent the fixed income group just as much as we represent business owners, workers, and farmers. This group of fixed income people includes: teachers, clergy, policemen, firemen, widows and minors on fixed incomes, wives and dependents of our soldiers and sailors, and old-age pensioners. They and their families add up to one-quarter of our one hundred and thirty million people. They have few or no high pressure representatives at the Capitol. In a period of gross inflation they would be the worst sufferers. If ever there was a time to subordinate individual or group selfishness to the national good, that time is now. Disunity at home—bickerings, self-seeking partisanship, stoppages of work, inflation, business as usual, politics as usual, luxury as usual these are the influences which can undermine the morale of the brave men ready to die at the front for us here. Those who are doing most of the complaining are not deliberately striving to sabotage the national war effort. They are laboring under the delusion that the time is past when we must make prodigious sacrifices- that the war is already won and we can begin to slacken off. But the dangerous folly of that point of view can be measured by the distance that separates our troops from their ultimate objectives in Berlin and Tokyo—and by the sum of all the perils that lie along the way. Overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies. Last spring—after notable victories at Stalingrad and in Tunisia and against the YOU-boats on the high seas—overconfidence became so pronounced that war production fell off. In two months, June and July, 1943, more than a thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were not made. Those who failed to make them were not on strike. They were merely saying, "The war's in the bag- so let us relax." That attitude on the part of anyone—Government or management or labor—can lengthen this war. It can kill American boys. Let us remember the lessons of 1918. In the summer of that year the tide turned in favor of the allies. But this Government did not relax. In fact, our national effort was stepped up. In August, 1918, the draft age limits were broadened from 21-31 to 18-45. The President called for "force to the utmost," and his call was heeded. And in November, only three months later, Germany surrendered. That is the way to fight and win a war—all out—and not with half-an-eye on the battlefronts abroad and the other eye-and-a-half on personal, selfish, or political interests here at home. Therefore, in order to concentrate all our energies and resources on winning the war, and to maintain a fair and stable economy at home, I recommend that the Congress adopt: (1) A realistic tax law—which will tax all unreasonable profits, both individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our sons and daughters. The tax bill now under consideration by the Congress does not begin to meet this test. (2) A continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts—which will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government. For two long years I have pleaded with the Congress to take undue profits out of war. (3) A cost of food law—which will enable the Government (a) to place a reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production; and (b) to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for the food he buys. This should apply to necessities only; and will require public funds to carry out. It will cost in appropriations about one percent of the present annual cost of the war. (4) Early reenactment of the stabilization statute of October, 1942. This expires June 30, 1944, and if it is not extended well in advance, the country might just as well expect price chaos by summer. We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking. We must take positive action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar. (5) A national service law- which, for the duration of the war, will prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make available for war production or for any other essential services every able-bodied adult in this Nation. These five measures together form a just and equitable whole. I would not recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits. The Federal Government already has the basic power to draft capital and property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation. As you know, I have for three years hesitated to recommend a national service act. Today, however, I am convinced of its necessity. Although I believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure, I am certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory, and reduce the toll of suffering and sorrow and blood. I have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the War Department, the Navy Department, and the Maritime Commission. These are the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms and equipment, and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field. They say: "When the very life of the Nation is in peril the responsibility for service is common to all men and women. In such a time there can be no discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the Government to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations. A prompt enactment of a National Service Law would be merely an expression of the universality of this responsibility." I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn truth. National service is the most democratic way to wage a war. Like selective service for the armed forces, it rests on the obligation of each citizen to serve his Nation to his utmost where he is best qualified. It does not mean reduction in wages. It does not mean loss of retirement and seniority rights and benefits. It does not mean that any substantial numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs. Let these facts be wholly clear. Experience in other democratic Nations at war—Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand- has shown that the very existence of national service makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power. National service has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive legal obligation of all people in a Nation at war. There are millions of American men and women who are not in this war at all. It is not because they do not want to be in it. But they want to know where they can best do their share. National service provides that direction. It will be a means by which every man and woman can find that inner satisfaction which comes from making the fullest possible contribution to victory. I know that all civilian war workers will be glad to be able to say many years hence to their grandchildren: "Yes, I, too, was in service in the great war. I was on duty in an airplane factory, and I helped make hundreds of fighting planes. The Government told me that in doing that I was performing my most useful work in the service of my country." It is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national service is necessary. But our soldiers and sailors know that this is not true. We are going forward on a long, rough road- and, in all journeys, the last miles are the hardest. And it is for that final effort—for the total defeat of our enemies-that we must mobilize our total resources. The national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than in 1943. It is my conviction that the American people will welcome this win-the-war measure which is based on the eternally just principle of "fair for one, fair for all." It will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing four-square behind our soldiers and sailors. And it will give our enemies demoralizing assurance that we mean business -that we, 130,000,000 Americans, are on the march to Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. I hope that the Congress will recognize that, although this is a political year, national service is an issue which transcends politics. Great power must be used for great purposes. As to the machinery for this measure, the Congress itself should determine its nature—but it should be wholly nonpartisan in its make-up. Our armed forces are valiantly fulfilling their responsibilities to our country and our people. Now the Congress faces the responsibility for taking those measures which are essential to national security in this the most decisive phase of the Nation's greatest war. Several alleged reasons have prevented the enactment of legislation which would preserve for our soldiers and sailors and marines the fundamental prerogative of citizenship—the right to vote. No amount of legalistic argument can becloud this issue in the eyes of these ten million American citizens. Surely the signers of the Constitution did not intend a document which, even in wartime, would be construed to take away the franchise of any of those who are fighting to preserve the Constitution itself. Our soldiers and sailors and marines know that the overwhelming majority of them will be deprived of the opportunity to vote, if the voting machinery is left exclusively to the States under existing State laws—and that there is no likelihood of these laws being changed in time to enable them to vote at the next election. The Army and Navy have reported that it will be impossible effectively to administer forty-eight different soldier voting laws. It is the duty of the Congress to remove this unjustifiable discrimination against the men and women in our armed forces- and to do it as quickly as possible. It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth- is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill housed, and insecure. This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty. As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness. We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are: The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education. All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world. One of the great American industrialists of our day—a man who has rendered yeoman service to his country in this crisis-recently emphasized the grave dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop—if history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called "normalcy" of the 1920's—then it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirit of Fascism here at home. I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill of rights- for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the Nation will be conscious of the fact. Our fighting men abroad- and their families at home- expect such a program and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are dying. The foreign policy that we have been following—the policy that guided us at Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran—is based on the common sense principle which was best expressed by Benjamin Franklin on July 4, 1776: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." I have often said that there are no two fronts for America in this war. There is only one front. There is one line of unity which extends from the hearts of the people at home to the men of our attacking forces in our farthest outposts. When we speak of our total effort, we speak of the factory and the field, and the mine as well as of the battleground -- we speak of the soldier and the civilian, the citizen and his Government. Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this Nation in its most critical hour—to keep this Nation great -- to make this Nation greater in a better world.
this nation in the past two years has become an active partner in the world greatest war against human slavery we have joined with people in order to defend ourselves in a world that has been gravely threatened with gangster rule but i do not think that any of us americans can be content with mere survival sacrifices that we and our allies are making impose upon us all a sacred obligation to see to it that out of this war we and our children will gain something better than mere survival we are united in determination that this war shall not be followed by another interim which leads to new that we shall not repeat the tragic errors of ostrich we shall not repeat the excesses of the wild twenties when this nation went for a joy ride on a roller coaster which ended in a tragic crash when mr hull went to moscow in october and when i went to cairo and teheran in november we knew that we were in agreement with our allies in our common determination to fight and win this war but there were many vital questions concerning the future peace and they were discussed in an atmosphere of complete candor and harmony in the last war such discussions such meetings did not even begin until the shooting had stopped and the delegates began to assemble at the peace table there had been no previous opportunities for discussions which lead to meetings of minds the result was a peace which was not a peace that was a mistake which we are not repeating in this war and right here i want to address a word or two to some suspicious souls who are fearful that mr hull or i have made commitments for the future which might pledge this nation to secret treaties or to enacting the role of santa claus to such suspicious a polite wish to say that churchill and marshal stalin and generalissimo chiang are all thoroughly conversant with the provisions of our constitution and so is mr hull and so am i of course we made some commitments we most certainly committed ourselves to very large and very specific military plans which require the use of all allied forces to bring about the defeat of our enemies at the earliest possible time but there were no secret treaties or political or financial commitments the one supreme objective for the future which we discussed for each nation individually and for all the united nations can be summed up in one word security and that means not only physical security which provides safety from attacks by aggressors it means also economic security social security moral a family of nations in the plain talks that i had with the generalissimo and marshal stalin and prime minister churchill it was abundantly clear that they are all most deeply interested in the resumption of peaceful progress by their own toward a better life all our allies want freedom to develop their lands and resources to build up industry to increase education and individual opportunity and to raise standards of living all our allies have learned by bitter experience that real development will not be possible if they are to be diverted from their purpose by repeated even threats of war china and russia are truly united with britain and america in recognition of this essential fact the best interests of each nation large and small demand that all nations shall join together in a just and durable system of peace in the present world situation evidenced by the actions of germany italy and japan unquestioned military control over disturbers of the peace is as necessary among nations as it is among citizens in a community and an equally basic essential to peace is a decent standard of living for all individual men and women and children in all nations freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want there are people who burrow through our nation like unseeing moles and attempt to spread the suspicion that if other nations are encouraged to raise their standards of living our own american standard of living must of necessity be depressed the fact is the very contrary it has been shown time and again that if the standard of living of any country goes up so does its purchasing and that such a rise encourages a better standard of living in neighboring countries with whom it trades that is just plain common it is the kind of plain common sense that provided the basis for our discussions at moscow cairo and teheran returning from my journeyings i must confess to a sense of when i found many evidences of faulty perspective here in washington the faulty perspective consists in overemphasizing lesser problems and thereby underemphasizing the first and greatest problem the overwhelming majority of our people have met the demands of this war with magnificent courage and understanding they have accepted inconveniences they have accepted hardships they have accepted tragic sacrifices and they are ready and eager to make whatever further contributions are needed to win the war as quickly as if only they are given the chance to know what is required of them however while the majority goes on about its great work without complaint a noisy minority maintains an uproar of demands for special favors for special groups there are pests who swarm through the lobbies of the congress and the cocktail bars of washington representing these special groups as opposed to the basic interests of the nation as a whole they have come to look upon the war primarily as a chance to make profits for themselves at the expense of their profits in money or in terms of political or social preferment such selfish agitation can be highly dangerous in wartime it creates confusion it damages morale it hampers our national effort it muddies the waters and therefore prolongs the war if we analyze american history impartially we can not escape the fact that in our past we have not always forgotten individual and selfish and partisan interests in time of have not always been united in purpose and direction we can not overlook the serious dissensions and the lack of unity in our war of the revolution in our war of 1812 or in our war between the states when the survival of the union itself was at stake in the first world war we came closer to national unity than in any previous war but that war lasted only a year and a half and increasing signs of disunity began to appear during the final months of the conflict in this war we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each other are all groups and sections of the population of america increased food costs for example will bring new demands for wage increases from all war workers which will in turn raise all prices of all things including those things which the farmers themselves have to buy increased wages or prices will each in turn produce the same results they all have a particularly disastrous result on all fixed income groups and i hope you will remember that all of us in this government represent the fixed income group just as much as we represent business owners workers and farmers this group of fixed income people includes teachers clergy policemen firemen widows and minors on fixed incomes wives and dependents of our soldiers and sailors and pensioners they and their families add up to of our one hundred and thirty million people they have few or no high pressure representatives at the capitol in a period of gross inflation they would be the worst sufferers if ever there was a time to subordinate individual or group selfishness to the national good that time is now disunity at partisanship stoppages of work inflation business as usual politics as usual luxury as usual these are the influences which can undermine the morale of the brave men ready to die at the front for us here those who are doing most of the complaining are not deliberately striving to sabotage the national war effort they are laboring under the delusion that the time is past when we must make prodigious that the war is already won and we can begin to slacken off but the dangerous folly of that point of view can be measured by the distance that separates our troops from their ultimate objectives in berlin and by the sum of all the perils that lie along the way overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies last notable victories at stalingrad and in tunisia and against the on the high became so pronounced that war production fell off in two months june and july 1943 more than a thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were not made those who failed to make them were not on strike they were merely saying the war in the so let us relax that attitude on the part of or management or lengthen this war it can kill american boys let us remember the lessons of 1918 in the summer of that year the tide turned in favor of the allies but this government did not relax in fact our national effort was stepped up in august 1918 the draft age limits were broadened from to the president called for force to the utmost and his call was heeded and in november only three months later germany surrendered that is the way to fight and win a not with on the battlefronts abroad and the other on personal selfish or political interests here at home therefore in order to concentrate all our energies and resources on winning the war and to maintain a fair and stable economy at home i recommend that the congress adopt 1 a realistic tax will tax all unreasonable profits both individual and corporate and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our sons and daughters the tax bill now under consideration by the congress does not begin to meet this test 2 a continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the government for two long years i have pleaded with the congress to take undue profits out of war 3 a cost of food will enable the government a to place a reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production and b to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for the food he buys this should apply to necessities only and will require public funds to carry out it will cost in appropriations about one percent of the present annual cost of the war 4 early reenactment of the stabilization statute of october 1942 this expires june 30 1944 and if it is not extended well in advance the country might just as well expect price chaos by summer we can not have stabilization by wishful thinking we must take positive action to maintain the integrity of the american dollar 5 a national service which for the duration of the war will prevent strikes and with certain appropriate exceptions will make available for war production or for any other essential services every adult in this nation these five measures together form a just and equitable whole i would not recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep down the cost of living to share equitably the burdens of taxation to hold the stabilization line and to prevent undue profits the federal government already has the basic power to draft capital and property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation as you know i have for three years hesitated to recommend a national service act today however i am convinced of its necessity although i believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure i am certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory and reduce the toll of suffering and sorrow and blood i have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the war department the navy department and the maritime commission these are the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms and equipment and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field they say when the very life of the nation is in peril the responsibility for service is common to all men and women in such a time there can be no discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the government to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations a prompt enactment of a national service law would be merely an expression of the universality of this responsibility i believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn truth national service is the most democratic way to wage a war like selective service for the armed forces it rests on the obligation of each citizen to serve his nation to his utmost where he is best qualified it does not mean reduction in wages it does not mean loss of retirement and seniority rights and benefits it does not mean that any substantial numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs let these facts be wholly clear experience in other democratic nations at canada australia and new has shown that the very existence of national service makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power national service has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive legal obligation of all people in a nation at war there are millions of american men and women who are not in this war at all it is not because they do not want to be in it but they want to know where they can best do their share national service provides that direction it will be a means by which every man and woman can find that inner satisfaction which comes from making the fullest possible contribution to victory i know that all civilian war workers will be glad to be able to say many years hence to their grandchildren yes i too was in service in the great war i was on duty in an airplane factory and i helped make hundreds of fighting planes the government told me that in doing that i was performing my most useful work in the service of my country it is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national service is necessary but our soldiers and sailors know that this is not true we are going forward on a long rough and in all journeys the last miles are the hardest and it is for that final the total defeat of our we must mobilize our total resources the national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than in 1943 it is my conviction that the american people will welcome this measure which is based on the eternally just principle of fair for one fair for all it will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing behind our soldiers and sailors and it will give our enemies demoralizing assurance that we mean business we americans are on the march to rome berlin and tokyo i hope that the congress will recognize that although this is a political year national service is an issue which transcends politics great power must be used for great purposes as to the machinery for this measure the congress itself should determine its it should be wholly nonpartisan in its our armed forces are valiantly fulfilling their responsibilities to our country and our people now the congress faces the responsibility for taking those measures which are essential to national security in this the most decisive phase of the nation greatest war several alleged reasons have prevented the enactment of legislation which would preserve for our soldiers and sailors and marines the fundamental prerogative of right to vote no amount of legalistic argument can becloud this issue in the eyes of these ten million american citizens surely the signers of the constitution did not intend a document which even in wartime would be construed to take away the franchise of any of those who are fighting to preserve the constitution itself our soldiers and sailors and marines know that the overwhelming majority of them will be deprived of the opportunity to vote if the voting machinery is left exclusively to the states under existing state that there is no likelihood of these laws being changed in time to enable them to vote at the next election the army and navy have reported that it will be impossible effectively to administer different soldier voting laws it is the duty of the congress to remove this unjustifiable discrimination against the men and women in our armed and to do it as quickly as possible it is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an american standard of living higher than ever before known we can not be content no matter how high that general standard of living may be if some fraction of our it be or or is ill housed and insecure this republic had its beginning and grew to its present strength under the protection of certain inalienable political them the right of free speech free press free worship trial by jury freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures they were our rights to life and liberty as our nation has grown in size and stature our industrial economy political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness we have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom can not exist without economic security and independence necessitous men are not free men people who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made in our day these economic truths have become accepted as we have accepted so to speak a second bill of rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station race or creed among these are the right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living the right of every businessman large and small to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad the right of every family to a decent home the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age sickness accident and unemployment the right to a good education all of these rights spell security and after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward in the implementation of these rights to new goals of human happiness and america own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens for unless there is security here at home there can not be lasting peace in the world one of the great american industrialists of our man who has rendered yeoman service to his country in this emphasized the grave dangers of rightist reaction in this nation all businessmen share his concern indeed if such reaction should history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the normalcy of the it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad we shall have yielded to the spirit of fascism here at home i ask the congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill of for it is definitely the responsibility of the congress so to do many of these problems are already before committees of the congress in the form of proposed legislation i shall from time to time communicate with the congress with respect to these and further proposals in the event that no adequate program of progress is evolved i am certain that the nation will be conscious of the fact our fighting men and their families at expect such a program and have the right to insist upon it it is to their demands that this government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young americans are dying the foreign policy that we have been policy that guided us at moscow cairo and based on the common sense principle which was best expressed by benjamin franklin on july 4 1776 we must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately i have often said that there are no two fronts for america in this war there is only one front there is one line of unity which extends from the hearts of the people at home to the men of our attacking forces in our farthest outposts when we speak of our total effort we speak of the factory and the field and the mine as well as of the battleground we speak of the soldier and the civilian the citizen and his government each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under god to serve this nation in its most critical keep this nation great to make this nation greater in a better world
nation past two years become active partner world greatest war human slavery joined people order defend world gravely threatened gangster rule think us americans content mere survival sacrifices allies making impose upon us sacred obligation see war children gain something better mere survival united determination war shall followed another interim leads new shall repeat tragic errors ostrich shall repeat excesses wild twenties nation went joy ride roller coaster ended tragic crash mr hull went moscow october went cairo teheran november knew agreement allies common determination fight win war many vital questions concerning future peace discussed atmosphere complete candor harmony last war discussions meetings even begin shooting stopped delegates began assemble peace table previous opportunities discussions lead meetings minds result peace peace mistake repeating war right want address word two suspicious souls fearful mr hull made commitments future might pledge nation secret treaties enacting role santa claus suspicious polite wish say churchill marshal stalin generalissimo chiang thoroughly conversant provisions constitution mr hull course made commitments certainly committed large specific military plans require use allied forces bring defeat enemies earliest possible time secret treaties political financial commitments one supreme objective future discussed nation individually united nations summed one word security means physical security provides safety attacks aggressors means also economic security social security moral family nations plain talks generalissimo marshal stalin prime minister churchill abundantly clear deeply interested resumption peaceful progress toward better life allies want freedom develop lands resources build industry increase education individual opportunity raise standards living allies learned bitter experience real development possible diverted purpose repeated even threats war china russia truly united britain america recognition essential fact best interests nation large small demand nations shall join together durable system peace present world situation evidenced actions germany italy japan unquestioned military control disturbers peace necessary among nations among citizens community equally basic essential peace decent standard living individual men women children nations freedom fear eternally linked freedom want people burrow nation like unseeing moles attempt spread suspicion nations encouraged raise standards living american standard living must necessity depressed fact contrary shown time standard living country goes purchasing rise encourages better standard living neighboring countries trades plain common kind plain common sense provided basis discussions moscow cairo teheran returning journeyings must confess sense found many evidences faulty perspective washington faulty perspective consists overemphasizing lesser problems thereby underemphasizing first greatest problem overwhelming majority people met demands war magnificent courage understanding accepted inconveniences accepted hardships accepted tragic sacrifices ready eager make whatever contributions needed win war quickly given chance know required however majority goes great work without complaint noisy minority maintains uproar demands special favors special groups pests swarm lobbies congress cocktail bars washington representing special groups opposed basic interests nation whole come look upon war primarily chance make profits expense profits money terms political social preferment selfish agitation highly dangerous wartime creates confusion damages morale hampers national effort muddies waters therefore prolongs war analyze american history impartially escape fact past always forgotten individual selfish partisan interests time always united purpose direction overlook serious dissensions lack unity war revolution war 1812 war states survival union stake first world war came closer national unity previous war war lasted year half increasing signs disunity began appear final months conflict war compelled learn interdependent upon groups sections population america increased food costs example bring new demands wage increases war workers turn raise prices things including things farmers buy increased wages prices turn produce results particularly disastrous result fixed income groups hope remember us government represent fixed income group much represent business owners workers farmers group fixed income people includes teachers clergy policemen firemen widows minors fixed incomes wives dependents soldiers sailors pensioners families add one hundred thirty million people high pressure representatives capitol period gross inflation would worst sufferers ever time subordinate individual group selfishness national good time disunity partisanship stoppages work inflation business usual politics usual luxury usual influences undermine morale brave men ready die front us complaining deliberately striving sabotage national war effort laboring delusion time past must make prodigious war already begin slacken dangerous folly point view measured distance separates troops ultimate objectives berlin sum perils lie along way overconfidence complacency among deadliest enemies last notable victories stalingrad tunisia high became pronounced war production fell two months june july 1943 thousand airplanes could made made made failed make strike merely saying war let us relax attitude part management lengthen war kill american boys let us remember lessons 1918 summer year tide turned favor allies government relax fact national effort stepped august 1918 draft age limits broadened president called force utmost call heeded november three months later germany surrendered way fight win battlefronts abroad personal selfish political interests home therefore order concentrate energies resources winning war maintain fair stable economy home recommend congress adopt 1 realistic tax tax unreasonable profits individual corporate reduce ultimate cost war sons daughters tax bill consideration congress begin meet test 2 continuation law renegotiation war prevent exorbitant profits assure fair prices government two long years pleaded congress take undue profits war 3 cost food enable government place reasonable floor prices farmer may expect production b place ceiling prices consumer pay food buys apply necessities require public funds carry cost appropriations one percent present annual cost war 4 early reenactment stabilization statute october 1942 expires june 30 1944 extended well advance country might well expect price chaos summer stabilization wishful thinking must take positive action maintain integrity american dollar 5 national service duration war prevent strikes certain appropriate exceptions make available war production essential services every adult nation five measures together form equitable whole would recommend national service law unless laws passed keep cost living share equitably burdens taxation hold stabilization line prevent undue profits federal government already basic power draft capital property kinds war purposes basis compensation know three years hesitated recommend national service act today however convinced necessity although believe allies win war without measure certain nothing less total mobilization resources manpower capital guarantee earlier victory reduce toll suffering sorrow blood received joint recommendation law heads war department navy department maritime commission men bear responsibility procurement necessary arms equipment successful prosecution war field say life nation peril responsibility service common men women time discrimination men women assigned government defense battlefront men women assigned producing vital materials essential successful military operations prompt enactment national service law would merely expression universality responsibility believe country agree statements solemn truth national service democratic way wage war like selective service armed forces rests obligation citizen serve nation utmost best qualified mean reduction wages mean loss retirement seniority rights benefits mean substantial numbers war workers disturbed present jobs let facts wholly clear experience democratic nations canada australia new shown existence national service makes unnecessary widespread use compulsory power national service proven unifying moral force based equal comprehensive legal obligation people nation war millions american men women war want want know best share national service provides direction means every man woman find inner satisfaction comes making fullest possible contribution victory know civilian war workers glad able say many years hence grandchildren yes service great war duty airplane factory helped make hundreds fighting planes government told performing useful work service country argued passed stage war national service necessary soldiers sailors know true going forward long rough journeys last miles hardest final total defeat must mobilize total resources national war program calls employment people 1944 1943 conviction american people welcome measure based eternally principle fair one fair give people home assurance standing behind soldiers sailors give enemies demoralizing assurance mean business americans march rome berlin tokyo hope congress recognize although political year national service issue transcends politics great power must used great purposes machinery measure congress determine wholly nonpartisan armed forces valiantly fulfilling responsibilities country people congress faces responsibility taking measures essential national security decisive phase nation greatest war several alleged reasons prevented enactment legislation would preserve soldiers sailors marines fundamental prerogative right vote amount legalistic argument becloud issue eyes ten million american citizens surely signers constitution intend document even wartime would construed take away franchise fighting preserve constitution soldiers sailors marines know overwhelming majority deprived opportunity vote voting machinery left exclusively states existing state likelihood laws changed time enable vote next election army navy reported impossible effectively administer different soldier voting laws duty congress remove unjustifiable discrimination men women armed quickly possible duty begin lay plans determine strategy winning lasting peace establishment american standard living higher ever known content matter high general standard living may fraction ill housed insecure republic beginning grew present strength protection certain inalienable political right free speech free press free worship trial jury freedom unreasonable searches seizures rights life liberty nation grown size stature industrial economy political rights proved inadequate assure us equality pursuit happiness come clear realization fact true individual freedom exist without economic security independence necessitous men free men people hungry job stuff dictatorships made day economic truths become accepted accepted speak second bill rights new basis security prosperity established regardless station race creed among right useful remunerative job industries shops farms mines nation right earn enough provide adequate food clothing recreation right every farmer raise sell products return give family decent living right every businessman large small trade atmosphere freedom unfair competition domination monopolies home abroad right every family decent home right adequate medical care opportunity achieve enjoy good health right adequate protection economic fears old age sickness accident unemployment right good education rights spell security war must prepared move forward implementation rights new goals human happiness america rightful place world depends large part upon fully similar rights carried practice citizens unless security home lasting peace world one great american industrialists man rendered yeoman service country emphasized grave dangers rightist reaction nation businessmen share concern indeed reaction history repeat return normalcy certain even though shall conquered enemies battlefields abroad shall yielded spirit fascism home ask congress explore means implementing economic bill definitely responsibility congress many problems already committees congress form proposed legislation shall time time communicate congress respect proposals event adequate program progress evolved certain nation conscious fact fighting men families expect program right insist upon demands government pay heed rather whining demands selfish pressure groups seek feather nests young americans dying foreign policy policy guided us moscow cairo based common sense principle best expressed benjamin franklin july 4 1776 must hang together assuredly shall hang separately often said two fronts america war one front one line unity extends hearts people home men attacking forces farthest outposts speak total effort speak factory field mine well battleground speak soldier civilian citizen government every one us solemn obligation god serve nation critical keep nation great make nation greater better world
nation past two year become active partner world great war human slavery join people order defend world gravely threaten gangster rule think u americans content mere survival sacrifice ally make impose upon u sacred obligation see war child gain something well mere survival united determination war shall follow another interim lead new shall repeat tragic error ostrich shall repeat excess wild twenty nation go joy ride roller coaster end tragic crash mr hull go moscow october go cairo teheran november knew agreement ally common determination fight win war many vital question concern future peace discuss atmosphere complete candor harmony last war discussion meeting even begin shoot stop delegate begin assemble peace table previous opportunity discussion lead meeting mind result peace peace mistake repeat war right want address word two suspicious soul fearful mr hull make commitment future might pledge nation secret treaty enact role santa claus suspicious polite wish say churchill marshal stalin generalissimo chiang thoroughly conversant provision constitution mr hull course make commitment certainly commit large specific military plan require use allied force bring defeat enemy early possible time secret treaty political financial commitment one supreme objective future discuss nation individually united nation sum one word security mean physical security provide safety attack aggressor mean also economic security social security moral family nation plain talk generalissimo marshal stalin prime minister churchill abundantly clear deeply interested resumption peaceful progress toward good life ally want freedom develop lands resource build industry increase education individual opportunity raise standard live ally learn bitter experience real development possible divert purpose repeat even threat war china russia truly united britain america recognition essential fact best interest nation large small demand nation shall join together durable system peace present world situation evidence action germany italy japan unquestioned military control disturber peace necessary among nation among citizen community equally basic essential peace decent standard live individual men woman child nation freedom fear eternally link freedom want people burrow nation like unseeing mole attempt spread suspicion nation encourage raise standard live american standard living must necessity depressed fact contrary show time standard living country go purchase rise encourages well standard live neighboring country trade plain common kind plain common sense provide basis discussion moscow cairo teheran return journeying must confess sense find many evidence faulty perspective washington faulty perspective consist overemphasize less problem thereby underemphasizing first great problem overwhelm majority people meet demand war magnificent courage understanding accept inconvenience accept hardship accept tragic sacrifice ready eager make whatever contribution need win war quickly give chance know require however majority go great work without complaint noisy minority maintain uproar demand special favor special group pest swarm lobby congress cocktail bar washington represent special group oppose basic interest nation whole come look upon war primarily chance make profit expense profit money term political social preferment selfish agitation highly dangerous wartime create confusion damage morale hamper national effort muddies water therefore prolongs war analyze american history impartially escape fact past always forget individual selfish partisan interest time always unite purpose direction overlook serious dissension lack unity war revolution war 1812 war state survival union stake first world war come closer national unity previous war war last year half increase sign disunity begin appear final month conflict war compel learn interdependent upon group section population america increase food cost example bring new demand wage increase war worker turn raise price thing include thing farmer buy increased wage price turn produce result particularly disastrous result fix income group hope remember u government represent fix income group much represent business owner worker farmer group fix income people include teacher clergy policeman fireman widow minor fix income wive dependent soldier sailor pensioner family add one hundred thirty million people high pressure representative capitol period gross inflation would worst sufferer ever time subordinate individual group selfishness national good time disunity partisanship stoppages work inflation business usual politics usual luxury usual influence undermine morale brave men ready die front u complain deliberately strive sabotage national war effort labor delusion time past must make prodigious war already begin slacken dangerous folly point view measure distance separate troop ultimate objective berlin sum peril lie along way overconfidence complacency among deadly enemy last notable victory stalingrad tunisia high become pronounced war production fell two month june july 1943 thousand airplane could make make made failed make strike merely say war let u relax attitude part management lengthen war kill american boy let u remember lesson 1918 summer year tide turn favor ally government relax fact national effort step august 1918 draft age limit broaden president call force utmost call heed november three month later germany surrendered way fight win battlefront abroad personal selfish political interest home therefore order concentrate energy resource win war maintain fair stable economy home recommend congress adopt 1 realistic tax tax unreasonable profit individual corporate reduce ultimate cost war son daughter tax bill consideration congress begin meet test 2 continuation law renegotiation war prevent exorbitant profit assure fair price government two long year plead congress take undue profit war 3 cost food enable government place reasonable floor price farmer may expect production b place ceiling price consumer pay food buy apply necessity require public fund carry cost appropriation one percent present annual cost war 4 early reenactment stabilization statute october 1942 expire june 30 1944 extend well advance country might well expect price chaos summer stabilization wishful thinking must take positive action maintain integrity american dollar 5 national service duration war prevent strike certain appropriate exception make available war production essential service every adult nation five measure together form equitable whole would recommend national service law unless law pass keep cost living share equitably burden taxation hold stabilization line prevent undue profit federal government already basic power draft capital property kind war purpose basis compensation know three year hesitate recommend national service act today however convinced necessity although believe ally win war without measure certain nothing less total mobilization resource manpower capital guarantee earlier victory reduce toll suffer sorrow blood receive joint recommendation law head war department navy department maritime commission men bear responsibility procurement necessary arm equipment successful prosecution war field say life nation peril responsibility service common men woman time discrimination men woman assign government defense battlefront men woman assign produce vital material essential successful military operation prompt enactment national service law would merely expression universality responsibility believe country agree statement solemn truth national service democratic way wage war like selective service arm force rest obligation citizen serve nation utmost best qualified mean reduction wage mean loss retirement seniority right benefit mean substantial number war worker disturb present job let fact wholly clear experience democratic nation canada australia new show existence national service make unnecessary widespread use compulsory power national service proven unifying moral force base equal comprehensive legal obligation people nation war million american men woman war want want know best share national service provide direction mean every man woman find inner satisfaction come make full possible contribution victory know civilian war worker glad able say many year hence grandchildren yes service great war duty airplane factory help make hundred fight plane government tell perform useful work service country argue passed stage war national service necessary soldier sailor know true go forward long rough journey last mile hardest final total defeat must mobilize total resource national war program call employment people 1944 1943 conviction american people welcome measure base eternally principle fair one fair give people home assurance stand behind soldier sailor give enemy demoralize assurance mean business american march rome berlin tokyo hope congress recognize although political year national service issue transcend politics great power must use great purpose machinery measure congress determine wholly nonpartisan arm force valiantly fulfil responsibility country people congress face responsibility take measure essential national security decisive phase nation great war several allege reason prevent enactment legislation would preserve soldier sailor marine fundamental prerogative right vote amount legalistic argument becloud issue eye ten million american citizen surely signer constitution intend document even wartime would construe take away franchise fight preserve constitution soldier sailors marine know overwhelm majority deprive opportunity vote vote machinery leave exclusively states exist state likelihood law change time enable vote next election army navy report impossible effectively administer different soldier vote law duty congress remove unjustifiable discrimination men woman arm quickly possible duty begin lay plan determine strategy win last peace establishment american standard living high ever know content matter high general standard living may fraction ill house insecure republic begin grow present strength protection certain inalienable political right free speech free press free worship trial jury freedom unreasonable search seizures right life liberty nation grow size stature industrial economy political right prove inadequate assure u equality pursuit happiness come clear realization fact true individual freedom exist without economic security independence necessitous men free men people hungry job stuff dictatorship make day economic truth become accepted accepted speak second bill right new basis security prosperity establish regardless station race creed among right useful remunerative job industry shop farm mine nation right earn enough provide adequate food clothing recreation right every farmer raise sell product return give family decent living right every businessman large small trade atmosphere freedom unfair competition domination monopoly home abroad right every family decent home right adequate medical care opportunity achieve enjoy good health right adequate protection economic fear old age sickness accident unemployment right good education right spell security war must prepare move forward implementation right new goal human happiness america rightful place world depend large part upon fully similar right carry practice citizen unless security home last peace world one great american industrialist man render yeoman service country emphasize grave danger rightist reaction nation businessmen share concern indeed reaction history repeat return normalcy certain even though shall conquer enemy battlefield abroad shall yield spirit fascism home ask congress explore mean implementing economic bill definitely responsibility congress many problem already committees congress form propose legislation shall time time communicate congress respect proposal event adequate program progress evolve certain nation conscious fact fight men family expect program right insist upon demand government pay heed rather whine demand selfish pressure group seek feather nest young american die foreign policy policy guide u moscow cairo base common sense principle best express benjamin franklin july 4 1776 must hang together assuredly shall hang separately often say two front america war one front one line unity extend heart people home men attack force farthest outpost speak total effort speak factory field mine well battleground speak soldier civilian citizen government every one u solemn obligation god serve nation critical keep nation great make nation great well world