mr. vice president, mr. speaker, members of the senate, and of the house of representatives: yesterday, december th, -- a date which will live in infamy -- the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of japan. the united states was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the pacific. indeed, one hour after japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the american island of oahu, the japanese ambassador to the united states and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent american message. and while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. it will be recorded that the distance of hawaii from japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. during the intervening time, the japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the united states by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. the attack yesterday on the hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to american naval and military forces. i regret to tell you that very many american lives have been lost. in addition, american ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between san francisco and honolulu. yesterday, the japanese government also launched an attack against malaya. last night, japanese forces attacked hong kong. last night, japanese forces attacked guam. last night, japanese forces attacked the philippine islands. last night, the japanese attacked wake island. and this morning, the japanese attacked midway island. japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the pacific area. the facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. the people of the united states have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. as commander in chief of the army and navy, i have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. but always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. no matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the american people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. i believe that i interpret the will of the congress and of the people when i assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. hostilities exist. there is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. with confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us god. i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by japan on sunday, december th, , a state of war has existed between the united states and the japanese empire. state of the union addresses of franklin d. roosevelt the addresses are separated by three asterisks: *** dates of addresses by franklin d. roosevelt in this ebook: january , january , january , january , january , january , january , january , january , january , january , january , *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. president, mr. speaker, senators and representatives in congress: i come before you at the opening of the regular session of the d congress, not to make requests for special or detailed items of legislation; i come, rather, to counsel with you, who, like myself, have been selected to carry out a mandate of the whole people, in order that without partisanship you and i may cooperate to continue the restoration of our national wellbeing and, equally important, to build on the ruins of the past a new structure designed better to meet the present problems of modern civilization. such a structure includes not only the relations of industry and agriculture and finance to each other but also the effect which all of these three have on our individual citizens and on the whole people as a nation. now that we are definitely in the process of recovery, lines have been rightly drawn between those to whom this recovery means a return to old methods--and the number of these people is small--and those for whom recovery means a reform of many old methods, a permanent readjustment of many of our ways of thinking and therefore of many of our social and economic arrangements. . . . . civilization cannot go back; civilization must not stand still. we have undertaken new methods. it is our task to perfect, to improve, to alter when necessary, but in all cases to go forward. to consolidate what we are doing, to make our economic and social structure capable of dealing with modern life is the joint task of the legislative, the judicial, and the executive branches of the national government. without regard to party, the overwhelming majority of our people seek a greater opportunity for humanity to prosper and find happiness. they recognize that human welfare has not increased and does not increase through mere materialism and luxury, but that it does progress through integrity, unselfishness, responsibility and justice. in the past few months, as a result of our action, we have demanded of many citizens that they surrender certain licenses to do as they please in their business relationships; but we have asked this in exchange for the protection which the state can give against exploitation by their fellow men or by combinations of their fellow men. i congratulate this congress upon the courage, the earnestness and the efficiency with which you met the crisis at the special session. it was your fine understanding of the national problem that furnished the example which the country has so splendidly followed. i venture to say that the task confronting the first congress of was no greater than your own. i shall not attempt to set forth either the many phases of the crisis which we experienced last march, or the many measures which you and i undertook during the special session that we might initiate recovery and reform. it is sufficient that i should speak in broad terms of the results of our common counsel. the credit of the government has been fortified by drastic reduction in the cost of its permanent agencies through the economy act. with the twofold purpose of strengthening the whole financial structure and of arriving eventually at a medium of exchange which over the years will have less variable purchasing and debt paying power for our people than that of the past, i have used the authority granted me to purchase all american-produced gold and silver and to buy additional gold in the world markets. careful investigation and constant study prove that in the matter of foreign exchange rates certain of our sister nations find themselves so handicapped by internal and other conditions that they feel unable at this time to enter into stabilization discussion based on permanent and world-wide objectives. the overwhelming majority of the banks, both national and state, which reopened last spring, are in sound condition and have been brought within the protection of federal insurance. in the case of those banks which were not permitted to reopen, nearly six hundred million dollars of frozen deposits are being restored to the depositors through the assistance of the national government. we have made great strides toward the objectives of the national industrial recovery act, for not only have several millions of our unemployed been restored to work, but industry is organizing itself with a greater understanding that reasonable profits can be earned while at the same time protection can be assured to guarantee to labor adequate pay and proper conditions of work. child labor is abolished. uniform standards of hours and wages apply today to percent of industrial employment within the field of the national industrial recovery act. we seek the definite end of preventing combinations in furtherance of monopoly and in restraint of trade, while at the same time we seek to prevent ruinous rivalries within industrial groups which in many cases resemble the gang wars of the underworld and in which the real victim in every case is the public itself. under the authority of this congress, we have brought the component parts of each industry together around a common table, just as we have brought problems affecting labor to a common meeting ground. though the machinery, hurriedly devised, may need readjustment from time to time, nevertheless i think you will agree with me that we have created a permanent feature of our modernized industrial structure and that it will continue under the supervision but not the arbitrary dictation of government itself. you recognized last spring that the most serious part of the debt burden affected those who stood in danger of losing their farms and their homes. i am glad to tell you that refinancing in both of these cases is proceeding with good success and in all probability within the financial limits set by the congress. but agriculture had suffered from more than its debts. actual experience with the operation of the agricultural adjustment act leads to my belief that thus far the experiment of seeking a balance between production and consumption is succeeding and has made progress entirely in line with reasonable expectations toward the restoration of farm prices to parity. i continue in my conviction that industrial progress and prosperity can only be attained by bringing the purchasing power of that portion of our population which in one form or another is dependent upon agriculture up to a level which will restore a proper balance between every section of the country and between every form of work. in this field, through carefully planned flood control, power development and land-use policies in the tennessee valley and in other, great watersheds, we are seeking the elimination of waste, the removal of poor lands from agriculture and the encouragement of small local industries, thus furthering this principle of a better balanced national life. we recognize the great ultimate cost of the application of this rounded policy to every part off the union. today we are creating heavy obligations to start the work because of the great unemployment needs of the moment. i look forward, however, to the time in the not distant future, when annual appropriations, wholly covered by current revenue, will enable the work to proceed under a national plan. such a national plan will, in a generation or two, return many times the money spent on it; more important, it will eliminate the use of inefficient tools, conserve and increase natural resources, prevent waste, and enable millions of our people to take better advantage of the opportunities which god has given our country. i cannot, unfortunately, present to you a picture of complete optimism regarding world affairs. the delegation representing the united states has worked in close cooperation with the other american republics assembled at montevideo to make that conference an outstanding success. we have, i hope, made it clear to our neighbors that we seek with them future avoidance of territorial expansion and of interference by one nation in the internal affairs of another. furthermore, all of us are seeking the restoration of commerce in ways which will preclude the building up of large favorable trade balances by any one nation at the expense of trade debits on the part of other nations. in other parts of the world, however, fear of immediate or future aggression and with it the spending of vast sums on armament and the continued building up of defensive trade barriers prevent any great progress in peace or trade agreements. i have made it clear that the united states cannot take part in political arrangements in europe but that we stand ready to cooperate at any time in practicable measures on a world basis looking to immediate reduction of armaments and the lowering of the barriers against commerce. i expect to report to you later in regard to debts owed the government and people of this country by the governments and peoples of other countries. several nations, acknowledging the debt, have paid in small part; other nations have failed to pay. one nation--finland--has paid the installments due this country in full. returning to home problems, we have been shocked by many notorious examples of injuries done our citizens by persons or groups who have been living off their neighbors by the use of methods either unethical or criminal. in the first category--a field which does not involve violations of the letter of our laws--practices have been brought to light which have shocked those who believed that we were in the past generation raising the ethical standards of business. they call for stringent preventive or regulatory measures. i am speaking of those individuals who have evaded the spirit and purpose of our tax laws, of those high officials of banks or corporations who have grown rich at the expense of their stockholders or the public, of those reckless speculators with their own or other people's money whose operations have injured the values of the farmers' crops and the savings of the poor. in the other category, crimes of organized banditry, coldblooded shooting, lynching and kidnapping have threatened our security. these violations of ethics and these violations of law call on the strong arm of government for their immediate suppression; they call also on the country for an aroused public opinion. the adoption of the twenty-first amendment should give material aid to the elimination of those new forms of crime which came from the illegal traffic in liquor. i shall continue to regard it as my duty to use whatever means may be necessary to supplement state, local and private agencies for the relief of suffering caused by unemployment. with respect to this question, i have recognized the dangers inherent in the direct giving of relief and have sought the means to provide not mere relief, but the opportunity for useful and remunerative work. we shall, in the process of recovery, seek to move as rapidly as possible from direct relief to publicly supported work and from that to the rapid restoration of private employment. it is to the eternal credit of the american people that this tremendous readjustment of our national life is being accomplished peacefully, without serious dislocation, with only a minimum of injustice and with a great, willing spirit of cooperation throughout the country. disorder is not an american habit. self-help and self-control are the essence of the american tradition--not of necessity the form of that tradition, but its spirit. the program itself comes from the american people. it is an integrated program, national in scope. viewed in the large, it is designed to save from destruction and to keep for the future the genuinely important values created by modern society. the vicious and wasteful parts of that society we could not save if we wished; they have chosen the way of self-destruction. we would save useful mechanical invention, machine production, industrial efficiency, modern means of communication, broad education. we would save and encourage the slowly growing impulse among consumers to enter the industrial market place equipped with sufficient organization to insist upon fair prices and honest sales. but the unnecessary expansion of industrial plants, the waste of natural resources, the exploitation of the consumers of natural monopolies, the accumulation of stagnant surpluses, child labor, and the ruthless exploitation of all labor, the encouragement of speculation with other people's money, these were consumed in the fires that they themselves kindled; we must make sure that as we reconstruct our life there be no soil in which such weeds can grow again. we have plowed the furrow and planted the good seed; the hard beginning is over. if we would reap the full harvest, we must cultivate the soil where this good seed is sprouting and the plant is reaching up to mature growth. a final personal word. i know that each of you will appreciate that. i am speaking no mere politeness when i assure you how much i value the fine relationship that we have shared during these months of hard and incessant work. out of these friendly contacts we are, fortunately, building a strong and permanent tie between the legislative and executive branches of the government. the letter of the constitution wisely declared a separation, but the impulse of common purpose declares a union. in this spirit we join once more in serving the american people. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. president, mr. speaker, members of the senate and of the house of representatives: the constitution wisely provides that the chief executive shall report to the congress on the state of the union, for through you, the chosen legislative representatives, our citizens everywhere may fairly judge the progress of our governing. i am confident that today, in the light of the events of the past two years, you do not consider it merely a trite phrase when i tell you that i am truly glad to greet you and that i look forward to common counsel, to useful cooperation, and to genuine friendships between us. we have undertaken a new order of things; yet we progress to it under the framework and in the spirit and intent of the american constitution. we have proceeded throughout the nation a measurable distance on the road toward this new order. materially, i can report to you substantial benefits to our agricultural population, increased industrial activity, and profits to our merchants. of equal moment, there is evident a restoration of that spirit of confidence and faith which marks the american character. let him, who, for speculative profit or partisan purpose, without just warrant would seek to disturb or dispel this assurance, take heed before he assumes responsibility for any act which slows our onward steps. throughout the world, change is the order of the day. in every nation economic problems, long in the making, have brought crises of many kinds for which the masters of old practice and theory were unprepared. in most nations social justice, no longer a distant ideal, has become a definite goal, and ancient governments are beginning to heed the call. thus, the american people do not stand alone in the world in their desire for change. we seek it through tested liberal traditions, through processes which retain all of the deep essentials of that republican form of representative government first given to a troubled world by the united states. as the various parts in the program begun in the extraordinary session of the rd congress shape themselves in practical administration, the unity of our program reveals itself to the nation. the outlines of the new economic order, rising from the disintegration of the old, are apparent. we test what we have done as our measures take root in the living texture of life. we see where we have built wisely and where we can do still better. the attempt to make a distinction between recovery and reform is a narrowly conceived effort to substitute the appearance of reality for reality itself. when a man is convalescing from illness, wisdom dictates not only cure of the symptoms, but also removal of their cause. it is important to recognize that while we seek to outlaw specific abuses, the american objective of today has an infinitely deeper, finer and more lasting purpose than mere repression. thinking people in almost every country of the world have come to realize certain fundamental difficulties with which civilization must reckon. rapid changes--the machine age, the advent of universal and rapid communication and many other new factors--have brought new problems. succeeding generations have attempted to keep pace by reforming in piecemeal fashion this or that attendant abuse. as a result, evils overlap and reform becomes confused and frustrated. we lose sight, from time to time, of our ultimate human objectives. let us, for a moment, strip from our simple purpose the confusion that results from a multiplicity of detail and from millions of written and spoken words. we find our population suffering from old inequalities, little changed by vast sporadic remedies. in spite of our efforts and in spite of our talk, we have not weeded out the over privileged and we have not effectively lifted up the underprivileged. both of these manifestations of injustice have retarded happiness. no wise man has any intention of destroying what is known as the profit motive; because by the profit motive we mean the right by work to earn a decent livelihood for ourselves and for our families. we have, however, a clear mandate from the people, that americans must forswear that conception of the acquisition of wealth which, through excessive profits, creates undue private power over private affairs and, to our misfortune, over public affairs as well. in building toward this end we do not destroy ambition, nor do we seek to divide our wealth into equal shares on stated occasions. we continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. but we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him and his a proper security, a reasonable leisure, and a decent living throughout life, is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power. i recall to your attention my message to the congress last june in which i said: "among our objectives i place the security of the men, women and children of the nation first." that remains our first and continuing task; and in a very real sense every major legislative enactment of this congress should be a component part of it. in defining immediate factors which enter into our quest, i have spoken to the congress and the people of three great divisions: . the security of a livelihood through the better use of the national resources of the land in which we live. . the security against the major hazards and vicissitudes of life. . the security of decent homes. i am now ready to submit to the congress a broad program designed ultimately to establish all three of these factors of security--a program which because of many lost years will take many future years to fulfill. a study of our national resources, more comprehensive than any previously made, shows the vast amount of necessary and practicable work which needs to be done for the development and preservation of our natural wealth for the enjoyment and advantage of our people in generations to come. the sound use of land and water is far more comprehensive than the mere planting of trees, building of dams, distributing of electricity or retirement of sub-marginal land. it recognizes that stranded populations, either in the country or the city, cannot have security under the conditions that now surround them. to this end we are ready to begin to meet this problem--the intelligent care of population throughout our nation, in accordance with an intelligent distribution of the means of livelihood for that population. a definite program for putting people to work, of which i shall speak in a moment, is a component part of this greater program of security of livelihood through the better use of our national resources. closely related to the broad problem of livelihood is that of security against the major hazards of life. here also, a comprehensive survey of what has been attempted or accomplished in many nations and in many states proves to me that the time has come for action by the national government. i shall send to you, in a few days, definite recommendations based on these studies. these recommendations will cover the broad subjects of unemployment insurance and old age insurance, of benefits for children, form others, for the handicapped, for maternity care and for other aspects of dependency and illness where a beginning can now be made. the third factor--better homes for our people--has also been the subject of experimentation and study. here, too, the first practical steps can be made through the proposals which i shall suggest in relation to giving work to the unemployed. whatever we plan and whatever we do should be in the light of these three clear objectives of security. we cannot afford to lose valuable time in haphazard public policies which cannot find a place in the broad outlines of these major purposes. in that spirit i come to an immediate issue made for us by hard and inescapable circumstance--the task of putting people to work. in the spring of the issue of destitution seemed to stand apart; today, in the light of our experience and our new national policy, we find we can put people to work in ways which conform to, initiate and carry forward the broad principles of that policy. the first objectives of emergency legislation of were to relieve destitution, to make it possible for industry to operate in a more rational and orderly fashion, and to put behind industrial recovery the impulse of large expenditures in government undertakings. the purpose of the national industrial recovery act to provide work for more people succeeded in a substantial manner within the first few months of its life, and the act has continued to maintain employment gains and greatly improved working conditions in industry. the program of public works provided for in the recovery act launched the federal government into a task for which there was little time to make preparation and little american experience to follow. great employment has been given and is being given by these works. more than two billions of dollars have also been expended in direct relief to the destitute. local agencies of necessity determined the recipients of this form of relief. with inevitable exceptions the funds were spent by them with reasonable efficiency and as a result actual want of food and clothing in the great majority of cases has been overcome. but the stark fact before us is that great numbers still remain unemployed. a large proportion of these unemployed and their dependents have been forced on the relief rolls. the burden on the federal government has grown with great rapidity. we have here a human as well as an economic problem. when humane considerations are concerned, americans give them precedence. the lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. to dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit. it is inimical to the dictates of sound policy. it is in violation of the traditions of america. work must be found for able-bodied but destitute workers. the federal government must and shall quit this business of relief. i am not willing that the vitality of our people be further sapped by the giving of cash, of market baskets, of a few hours of weekly work cutting grass, raking leaves or picking up .papers in the public parks. we must preserve not only the bodies of the unemployed from destitution but also their self-respect, their self-reliance and courage and determination. this decision brings me to the problem of what the government should do with approximately five million unemployed now on the relief rolls. about one million and a half of these belong to the group which in the past was dependent upon local welfare efforts. most of them are unable for one reason or another to maintain themselves independently--for the most part, through no fault of their own. such people, in the days before the great depression, were cared for by local efforts--by states, by counties, by towns, by cities, by churches and by private welfare agencies. it is my thought that in the future they must be cared for as they were before. i stand ready through my own personal efforts, and through the public influence of the office that i hold, to help these local agencies to get the means necessary to assume this burden. the security legislation which i shall propose to the congress will, i am confident, be of assistance to local effort in the care of this type of cases. local responsibility can and will be resumed, for, after all, common sense tells us that the wealth necessary for this task existed and still exists in the local community, and the dictates of sound administration require that this responsibility be in the first instance a local one. there are, however, an additional three and one half million employable people who are on relief. with them the problem is different and the responsibility is different. this group was the victim of a nation-wide depression caused by conditions which were not local but national. the federal government is the only governmental agency with sufficient power and credit to meet this situation. we have assumed this task and we shall not shrink from it in the future. it is a duty dictated by every intelligent consideration of national policy to ask you to make it possible for the united states to give employment to all of these three and one half million employable people now on relief, pending their absorption in a rising tide of private employment. it is my thought that with the exception of certain of the normal public building operations of the government, all emergency public works shall be united in a single new and greatly enlarged plan. with the establishment of this new system we can supersede the federal emergency relief administration with a coordinated authority which will be charged with the orderly liquidation of our present relief activities and the substitution of a national chart for the giving of work. this new program of emergency public employment should be governed by a number of practical principles. ( ) all work undertaken should be useful--not just for a day, or a year, but useful in the sense that it affords permanent improvement in living conditions or that it creates future new wealth for the nation. ( ) compensation on emergency public projects should be in the form of security payments which should be larger than the amount now received as a relief dole, but at the same time not so large as to encourage the rejection of opportunities for private employment or the leaving of private employment to engage in government work. ( ) projects should be undertaken on which a large percentage of direct labor can be used. ( ) preference should be given to those projects which will be self-liquidating in the sense that there is a reasonable expectation that the government will get its money back at some future time. ( ) the projects undertaken should be selected and planned so as to compete as little as possible with private enterprises. this suggests that if it were not for the necessity of giving useful work to the unemployed now on relief, these projects in most instances would not now be undertaken. ( ) the planning of projects would seek to assure work during the coming fiscal year to the individuals now on relief, or until such time as private employment is available. in order to make adjustment to increasing private employment, work should be planned with a view to tapering it off in proportion to the speed with which the emergency workers are offered positions with private employers. ( ) effort should be made to locate projects where they will serve the greatest unemployment needs as shown by present relief rolls, and the broad program of the national resources board should be freely used for guidance in selection. our ultimate objective being the enrichment of human lives, the government has the primary duty to use its emergency expenditures as much as possible to serve those who cannot secure the advantages of private capital. ever since the adjournment of the d congress, the administration has been studying from every angle the possibility and the practicability of new forms of employment. as a result of these studies i have arrived at certain very definite convictions as to the amount of money that will be necessary for the sort of public projects that i have described. i shall submit these figures in my budget message. i assure you now they will be within the sound credit of the government. the work itself will cover a wide field including clearance of slums, which for adequate reasons cannot be undertaken by private capital; in rural housing of several kinds, where, again, private capital is unable to function; in rural electrification; in the reforestation of the great watersheds of the nation; in an intensified program to prevent soil erosion and to reclaim blighted areas; in improving existing road systems and in constructing national highways designed to handle modern traffic; in the elimination of grade crossings; in the extension and enlargement of the successful work of the civilian conservation corps; in non-federal works, mostly self-liquidating and highly useful to local divisions of government; and on many other projects which the nation needs and cannot afford to neglect. this is the method which i propose to you in order that we may better meet this present-day problem of unemployment. its greatest advantage is that it fits logically and usefully into the long-range permanent policy of providing the three types of security which constitute as a whole an american plan for the betterment of the future of the american people. i shall consult with you from time to time concerning other measures of national importance. among the subjects that lie immediately before us are the consolidation of federal regulatory administration over all forms of transportation, the renewal and clarification of the general purposes of the national industrial recovery act, the strengthening of our facilities for the prevention, detection and treatment of crime and criminals, the restoration of sound conditions in the public utilities field through abolition of the evil features of holding companies, the gradual tapering off of the emergency credit activities of government, and improvement in our taxation forms and methods. we have already begun to feel the bracing effect upon our economic system of a restored agriculture. the hundreds of millions of additional income that farmers are receiving are finding their way into the channels of trade. the farmers' share of the national income is slowly rising. the economic facts justify the widespread opinion of those engaged in agriculture that our provisions for maintaining a balanced production give at this time the most adequate remedy for an old and vexing problem. for the present, and especially in view of abnormal world conditions, agricultural adjustment with certain necessary improvements in methods should continue. it seems appropriate to call attention at this time to the fine spirit shown during the past year by our public servants. i cannot praise too highly the cheerful work of the civil service employees, and of those temporarily working for the government. as for those thousands in our various public agencies spread throughout the country who, without compensation, agreed to take over heavy responsibilities in connection with our various loan agencies and particularly in direct relief work, i cannot say too much. i do not think any country could show a higher average of cheerful and even enthusiastic team-work than has been shown by these men and women. i cannot with candor tell you that general international relationships outside the borders of the united states are improved. on the surface of things many old jealousies are resurrected, old passions aroused; new strivings for armament and power, in more than one land, rear their ugly heads. i hope that calm counsel and constructive leadership will provide the steadying influence and the time necessary for the coming of new and more practical forms of representative government throughout the world wherein privilege and power will occupy a lesser place and world welfare a greater. i believe, however, that our own peaceful and neighborly attitude toward other nations is coming to be understood and appreciated. the maintenance of international peace is a matter in which we are deeply and unselfishly concerned. evidence of our persistent and undeniable desire to prevent armed conflict has recently been more than once afforded. there is no ground for apprehension that our relations with any nation will be otherwise than peaceful. nor is there ground for doubt that the people of most nations seek relief from the threat and burden attaching to the false theory that extravagant armament cannot be reduced and limited by international accord. the ledger of the past year shows many more gains than losses. let us not forget that, in addition to saving millions from utter destitution, child labor has been for the moment outlawed, thousands of homes saved to their owners and most important of all, the morale of the nation has been restored. viewing the year as a whole, you and i can agree that we have a generous measure of reasons for giving thanks. it is not empty optimism that moves me to a strong hope in the coming year. we can, if we will, make a genuine period of good feeling, sustained by a sense of purposeful progress. beyond the material recovery, i sense a spiritual recovery as well. the people of america are turning as never before to those permanent values that are not limited to the physical objectives of life. there are growing signs of this on every hand. in the face of these spiritual impulses we are sensible of the divine providence to which nations turn now, as always, for guidance and fostering care. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. president, mr. speaker, members of the senate and of the house of representatives: we are about to enter upon another year of the responsibility which the electorate of the united states has placed in our hands. having come so far, it is fitting that we should pause to survey the ground which we have covered and the path which lies ahead. on the fourth day of march, , on the occasion of taking the oath of office as president of the united states, i addressed the people of our country. need i recall either the scene or the national circumstances attending the occasion? the crisis of that moment was almost exclusively a national one. in recognition of that fact, so obvious to the millions in the streets and in the homes of america, i devoted by far the greater part of that address to what i called, and the nation called, critical days within our own borders. you will remember that on that fourth of march, , the world picture was an image of substantial peace. international consultation and widespread hope for the bettering of relations between the nations gave to all of us a reasonable expectation that the barriers to mutual confidence, to increased trade, and to the peaceful settlement of disputes could be progressively removed. in fact, my only reference to the field of world policy in that address was in these words: "i would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor--the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others--a neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors." in the years that have followed, that sentiment has remained the dedication of this nation. among the nations of the great western hemisphere the policy of the good neighbor has happily prevailed. at no time in the four and a half centuries of modern civilization in the americas has there existed--in any year, in any decade, in any generation in all that time--a greater spirit of mutual understanding, of common helpfulness, and of devotion to the ideals of serf-government than exists today in the twenty-one american republics and their neighbor, the dominion of canada. this policy of the good neighbor among the americas is no longer a hope, no longer an objective remaining to be accomplished. it is a fact, active, present, pertinent and effective. in this achievement, every american nation takes an understanding part. there is neither war, nor rumor of war, nor desire for war. the inhabitants of this vast area, two hundred and fifty million strong, spreading more than eight thousand miles from the arctic to the antarctic, believe in, and propose to follow, the policy of the good neighbor. they wish with all their heart that the rest of the world might do likewise. the rest of the world--ah! there is the rub. were i today to deliver an inaugural address to the people of the united states, i could not limit my comments on world affairs to one paragraph. with much regret i should be compelled to devote the greater part to world affairs. since the summer of that same year of , the temper and the purposes of the rulers of many of the great populations in europe and in asia have not pointed the way either to peace or to good-will among men. not only have peace and good-will among men grown more remote in those areas of the earth during this period, but a point has been reached where the people of the americas must take cognizance of growing ill-will, of marked trends toward aggression, of increasing armaments, of shortening tempers--a situation which has in it many of the elements that lead to the tragedy of general war. on those other continents many nations, principally the smaller peoples, if left to themselves, would be content with their boundaries and willing to solve within themselves and in cooperation with their neighbors their individual problems, both economic and social. the rulers of those nations, deep in their hearts, follow these peaceful and reasonable aspirations of their peoples. these rulers must remain ever vigilant against the possibility today or tomorrow of invasion or attack by the rulers of other peoples who fail to subscribe to the principles of bettering the human race by peaceful means. within those other nations--those which today must bear the primary, definite responsibility for jeopardizing world peace--what hope lies? to say the least, there are grounds for pessimism. it is idle for us or for others to preach that the masses of the people who constitute those nations which are dominated by the twin spirits of autocracy and aggression, are out of sympathy with their rulers, that they are allowed no opportunity to express themselves, that they would change things if they could. that, unfortunately, is not so clear. it might be true that the masses of the people in those nations would change the policies of their governments if they could be allowed full freedom and full access to the processes of democratic government as we understand them. but they do not have that access; lacking it they follow blindly and fervently the lead of those who seek autocratic power. nations seeking expansion, seeking the rectification of injustices springing from former wars, or seeking outlets for trade, for population or even for their own peaceful contributions to the progress of civilization, fail to demonstrate that patience necessary to attain reasonable and legitimate objectives by peaceful negotiation or by an appeal to the finer instincts of world justice. they have therefore impatiently reverted to the old belief in the law of the sword, or to the fantastic conception that they, and they alone, are chosen to fulfill a mission and that all the others among the billion and a half of human beings in the world must and shall learn from and be subject to them. i recognize and you will recognize that these words which i have chosen with deliberation will not prove popular in any nation that chooses to fit this shoe to its foot. such sentiments, however, will find sympathy and understanding in those nations where the people themselves are honestly desirous of peace but must constantly align themselves on one side or the other in the kaleidoscopic jockeying for position which is characteristic of european and asiatic relations today. for the peace-loving nations, and there are many of them, find that their very identity depends on their moving and moving again on the chess board of international politics. i suggested in the spring of that or percent of all the people in the world were content with the territorial limits of their respective nations and were willing further to reduce their armed forces if every other nation in the world would agree to do likewise. that is equally true today, and it is even more true today that world peace and world good-will are blocked by only or percent of the world's population. that is why efforts to reduce armies have thus far not only failed, but have been met by vastly increased armaments on land and in the air. that is why even efforts to continue the existing limits on naval armaments into the years to come show such little current success. but the policy of the united states has been clear and consistent. we have sought with earnestness in every possible way to limit world armaments and to attain the peaceful solution of disputes among all nations. we have sought by every legitimate means to exert our moral influence against repression, against intolerance, against autocracy and in favor of freedom of expression, equality before the law, religious tolerance and popular rule. in the field of commerce we have undertaken to encourage a more reasonable interchange of the world's goods. in the field of international finance we have, so far as we are concerned, put an end to dollar diplomacy, to money grabbing, to speculation for the benefit of the powerful and the rich, at the expense of the small and the poor. as a consistent part of a clear policy, the united states is following a twofold neutrality toward any and all nations which engage in wars that are not of immediate concern to the americas. first, we decline to encourage the prosecution of war by permitting belligerents to obtain arms, ammunition or implements of war from the united states. second, we seek to discourage the use by belligerent nations of any and all american products calculated to facilitate the prosecution of a war in quantities over and above our normal exports of them in time of peace. i trust that these objectives thus clearly and unequivocally stated will be carried forward by cooperation between this congress and the president. i realize that i have emphasized to you the gravity of the situation which confronts the people of the world. this emphasis is justified because of its importance to civilization and therefore to the united states. peace is jeopardized by the few and not by the many. peace is threatened by those who seek selfish power. the world has witnessed similar eras--as in the days when petty kings and feudal barons were changing the map of europe every fortnight, or when great emperors and great kings were engaged in a mad scramble for colonial empire. we hope that we are not again at the threshold of such an era. but if face it we must, then the united states and the rest of the americas can play but one role: through a well-ordered neutrality to do naught to encourage the contest, through adequate defense to save ourselves from embroilment and attack, and through example and all legitimate encouragement and assistance to persuade other nations to return to the ways of peace and good-will. the evidence before us clearly proves that autocracy in world affairs endangers peace and that such threats do not spring from those nations devoted to the democratic ideal. if this be true in world affairs, it should have the greatest weight in the determination of domestic policies. within democratic nations the chief concern of the people is to prevent the continuance or the rise of autocratic institutions that beget slavery at home and aggression abroad. within our borders, as in the world at large, popular opinion is at war with a power-seeking minority. that is no new thing. it was fought out in the constitutional convention of . from time to time since then, the battle has been continued, under thomas jefferson, andrew jackson, theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson. in these latter years we have witnessed the domination of government by financial and industrial groups, numerically small but politically dominant in the twelve years that succeeded the world war. the present group of which i speak is indeed numerically small and, while it exercises a large influence and has much to say in the world of business, it does not, i am confident, speak the true sentiments of the less articulate but more important elements that constitute real american business. in march, , i appealed to the congress of the united states and to the people of the united states in a new effort to restore power to those to whom it rightfully belonged. the response to that appeal resulted in the writing of a new chapter in the history of popular government. you, the members of the legislative branch, and i, the executive, contended for and established a new relationship between government and people. what were the terms of that new relationship? they were an appeal from the clamor of many private and selfish interests, yes, an appeal from the clamor of partisan interest, to the ideal of the public interest. government became the representative and the trustee of the public interest. our aim was to build upon essentially democratic institutions, seeking all the while the adjustment of burdens, the help of the needy, the protection of the weak, the liberation of the exploited and the genuine protection of the people's property. it goes without saying that to create such an economic constitutional order, more than a single legislative enactment was called for. we, you in the congress and i as the executive, had to build upon a broad base. now, after thirty-four months of work, we contemplate a fairly rounded whole. we have returned the control of the federal government to the city of washington. to be sure, in so doing, we have invited battle. we have earned the hatred of entrenched greed. the very nature of the problem that we faced made it necessary to drive some people from power and strictly to regulate others. i made that plain when i took the oath of office in march, . i spoke of the practices of the unscrupulous money-changers who stood indicted in the court of public opinion. i spoke of the rulers of the exchanges of mankind's goods, who failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence. i said that they had admitted their failure and had abdicated. abdicated? yes, in , but now with the passing of danger they forget their damaging admissions and withdraw their abdication. they seek the restoration of their selfish power. they offer to lead us back round the same old corner into the same old dreary street. yes, there are still determined groups that are intent upon that very thing. rigorously held up to popular examination, their true character presents itself. they steal the livery of great national constitutional ideals to serve discredited special interests. as guardians and trustees for great groups of individual stockholders they wrongfully seek to carry the property and the interests entrusted to them into the arena of partisan politics. they seek--this minority in business and industry--to control and often do control and use for their own purposes legitimate and highly honored business associations; they engage in vast propaganda to spread fear and discord among the people--they would "gang up" against the people's liberties. the principle that they would instill into government if they succeed in seizing power is well shown by the principles which many of them have instilled into their own affairs: autocracy toward labor, toward stockholders, toward consumers, toward public sentiment. autocrats in smaller things, they seek autocracy in bigger things. "by their fruits ye shall know them." if these gentlemen believe, as they say they believe, that the measures adopted by this congress and its predecessor, and carried out by this administration, have hindered rather than promoted recovery, let them be consistent. let them propose to this congress the complete repeal of these measures. the way is open to such a proposal. let action be positive and not negative. the way is open in the congress of the united states for an expression of opinion by yeas and nays. shall we say that values are restored and that the congress will, therefore, repeal the laws under which we have been bringing them back? shall we say that because national income has grown with rising prosperity, we shall repeal existing taxes and thereby put off the day of approaching a balanced budget and of starting to reduce the national debt? shall we abandon the reasonable support and regulation of banking? shall we restore the dollar to its former gold content? shall we say to the farmer, "the prices for your products are in part restored. now go and hoe your own row?" shall we say to the home owners, "we have reduced your rates of interest. we have no further concern with how you keep your home or what you pay for your money. that is your affair?" shall we say to the several millions of unemployed citizens who face the very problem of existence, of getting enough to eat, "we will withdraw from giving you work. we will turn you back to the charity of your communities and those men of selfish power who tell you that perhaps they will employ you if the government leaves them strictly alone?" shall we say to the needy unemployed, "your problem is a local one except that perhaps the federal government, as an act of mere generosity, will be willing to pay to your city or to your county a few grudging dollars to help maintain your soup kitchens?" shall we say to the children who have worked all day in the factories, "child labor is a local issue and so are your starvation wages; something to be solved or left unsolved by the jurisdiction of forty-eight states?" shall we say to the laborer, "your right to organize, your relations with your employer have nothing to do with the public interest; if your employer will not even meet with you to discuss your problems and his, that is none of our affair?" shall we say to the unemployed and the aged, "social security lies not within the province of the federal government; you must seek relief elsewhere?" shall we say to the men and women who live in conditions of squalor in country and in city, "the health and the happiness of you and your children are no concern of ours?" shall we expose our population once more by the repeal of laws which protect them against the loss of their honest investments and against the manipulations of dishonest speculators? shall we abandon the splendid efforts of the federal government to raise the health standards of the nation and to give youth a decent opportunity through such means as the civilian conservation corps? members of the congress, let these challenges be met. if this is what these gentlemen want, let them say so to the congress of the united states. let them no longer hide their dissent in a cowardly cloak of generality. let them define the issue. we have been specific in our affirmative action. let them be specific in their negative attack. but the challenge faced by this congress is more menacing than merely a return to the past--bad as that would be. our resplendent economic autocracy does not want to return to that individualism of which they prate, even though the advantages under that system went to the ruthless and the strong. they realize that in thirty-four months we have built up new instruments of public power. in the hands of a people's government this power is wholesome and proper. but in the hands of political puppets of an economic autocracy such power would provide shackles for the liberties of the people. give them their way and they will take the course of every autocracy of the past--power for themselves, enslavement for the public. their weapon is the weapon of fear. i have said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." that is as true today as it was in . but such fear as they instill today is not a natural fear, a normal fear; it is a synthetic, manufactured, poisonous fear that is being spread subtly, expensively and cleverly by the same people who cried in those other days, "save us, save us, lest we perish." i am confident that the congress of the united states well understands the facts and is ready to wage unceasing warfare against those who seek a continuation of that spirit of fear. the carrying out of the laws of the land as enacted by the congress requires protection until final adjudication by the highest tribunal of the land. the congress has the right and can find the means to protect its own prerogatives. we are justified in our present confidence. restoration of national income, which shows continuing gains for the third successive year, supports the normal and logical policies under which agriculture and industry are returning to full activity. under these policies we approach a balance of the national budget. national income increases; tax receipts, based on that income, increase without the levying of new taxes. that is why i am able to say to this, the second session of the th congress, that it is my belief based on existing laws that no new taxes, over and above the present taxes, are either advisable or necessary. national income increases; employment increases. therefore, we can look forward to a reduction in the number of those citizens who are in need. therefore, also, we can anticipate a reduction in our appropriations for relief. in the light of our substantial material progress, in the light of the increasing effectiveness of the restoration of popular rule, i recommend to the congress that we advance; that we do not retreat. i have confidence that you will not fail the people of the nation whose mandate you have already so faithfully fulfilled. i repeat, with the same faith and the same determination, my words of march , : "we face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with a clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with a clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. we aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life. we do not distrust the future of essential democracy." i cannot better end this message on the state of the union than by repeating the words of a wise philosopher at whose feet i sat many, many years ago. "what great crises teach all men whom the example and counsel of the brave inspire is the lesson: fear not, view all the tasks of life as sacred, have faith in the triumph of the ideal, give daily all that you have to give, be loyal and rejoice whenever you find yourselves part of a great ideal enterprise. you, at this moment, have the honor to belong to a generation whose lips are touched by fire. you live in a land that now enjoys the blessings of peace. but let nothing human be wholly alien to you. the human race now passes through one of its great crises. new ideas, new issues--a new call for men to carry on the work of righteousness, of charity, of courage, of patience, and of loyalty. . . . however memory bring back this moment to your minds, let it be able to say to you: that was a great moment. it was the beginning of a new era. . . . this world in its crisis called for volunteers, for men of faith in life, of patience in service, of charity and of insight. i responded to the call however i could. i volunteered to give myself to my master--the cause of humane and brave living. i studied, i loved, i labored, unsparingly and hopefully, to be worthy of my generation." *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. president, mr. speaker, members of the congress of the united states: for the first time in our national history a president delivers his annual message to a new congress within a fortnight of the expiration of his term of office. while there is no change in the presidency this year, change will occur in future years. it is my belief that under this new constitutional practice, the president should in every fourth year, in so far as seems reasonable, review the existing state of our national affairs and outline broad future problems, leaving specific recommendations for future legislation to be made by the president about to be inaugurated. at this time, however, circumstances of the moment compel me to ask your immediate consideration of: first, measures extending the life of certain authorizations and powers which, under present statutes, expire within a few weeks; second, an addition to the existing neutrality act to cover specific points raised by the unfortunate civil strife in spain; and, third, a deficiency appropriation bill for which i shall submit estimates this week. in march, , the problems which faced our nation and which only our national government had the resources to meet were more serious even than appeared on the surface. it was not only that the visible mechanism of economic life had broken down. more disturbing was the fact that long neglect of the needs of the underprivileged had brought too many of our people to the verge of doubt as to the successful adaptation of our historic traditions to the complex modern world. in that lay a challenge to our democratic form of government itself. ours was the task to prove that democracy could be made to function in the world of today as effectively as in the simpler world of a hundred years ago. ours was the task to do more than to argue a theory. the times required the confident answer of performance to those whose instinctive faith in humanity made them want to believe that in the long run democracy would prove superior to more extreme forms of government as a process of getting action when action was wisdom, without the spiritual sacrifices which those other forms of government exact. that challenge we met. to meet it required unprecedented activities under federal leadership to end abuses, to restore a large measure of material prosperity, to give new faith to millions of our citizens who had been traditionally taught to expect that democracy would provide continuously wider opportunity and continuously greater security in a world where science was continuously making material riches more available to man. in the many methods of attack with which we met these problems, you and i, by mutual understanding and by determination to cooperate, helped to make democracy succeed by refusing to permit unnecessary disagreement to arise between two of our branches of government. that spirit of cooperation was able to solve difficulties of extraordinary magnitude and ramification with few important errors, and at a cost cheap when measured by the immediate necessities and the eventual results. i look forward to a continuance of that cooperation in the next four years. i look forward also to a continuance of the basis of that cooperation-- mutual respect for each other's proper sphere of functioning in a democracy which is working well, and a common-sense realization of the need for play in the joints of the machine. on that basis, it is within the right of the congress to determine which of the many new activities shall be continued or abandoned, increased or curtailed. on that same basis, the president alone has the responsibility for their administration. i find that this task of executive management has reached the point where our administrative machinery needs comprehensive overhauling. i shall, therefore, shortly address the congress more fully in regard to modernizing and improving the executive branch of the government. that cooperation of the past four years between the congress and the president has aimed at the fulfillment of a twofold policy: first, economic recovery through many kinds of assistance to agriculture, industry and banking; and, second, deliberate improvement in the personal security and opportunity of the great mass of our people. the recovery we sought was not to be merely temporary. it was to be a recovery protected from the causes of previous disasters. with that aim in view--to prevent a future similar crisis--you and i joined in a series of enactments--safe banking and sound currency, the guarantee of bank deposits, protection for the investor in securities, the removal of the threat of agricultural surpluses, insistence on collective bargaining, the outlawing of sweat shops, child labor and unfair trade practices, and the beginnings of security for the aged and the worker. nor was the recovery we sought merely a purposeless whirring of machinery. it is important, of course, that every man and woman in the country be able to find work, that every factory run, that business and farming as a whole earn profits. but government in a democratic nation does not exist solely, or even primarily, for that purpose. it is not enough that the wheels turn. they must carry us in the direction of a greater satisfaction in life for the average man. the deeper purpose of democratic government is to assist as many of its citizens as possible, especially those who need it most, to improve their conditions of life, to retain all personal liberty which does not adversely affect their neighbors, and to pursue the happiness which comes with security and an opportunity for recreation and culture. even with our present recovery we are far from the goal of that deeper purpose. there are far-reaching problems still with us for which democracy must find solutions if it is to consider itself successful. for example, many millions of americans still live in habitations which not only fail to provide the physical benefits of modern civilization but breed disease and impair the health of future generations. the menace exists not only in the slum areas of the very large cities, but in many smaller cities as well. it exists on tens of thousands of farms, in varying degrees, in every part of the country. another example is the prevalence of an un-american type of tenant farming. i do not suggest that every farm family has the capacity to earn a satisfactory living on its own farm. but many thousands of tenant farmers, indeed most of them, with some financial assistance and with some advice and training, can be made self-supporting on land which can eventually belong to them. the nation would be wise to offer them that chance instead of permitting them to go along as they do now, year after year, with neither future security as tenants nor hope of ownership of their homes nor expectation of bettering the lot of their children. another national problem is the intelligent development of our social security system, the broadening of the services it renders, and practical improvement in its operation. in many nations where such laws are in effect, success in meeting the expectations of the community has come through frequent amendment of the original statute. and, of course, the most far-reaching and the most inclusive problem of all is that of unemployment and the lack of economic balance of which unemployment is at once the result and the symptom. the immediate question of adequate relief for the needy unemployed who are capable of performing useful work, i shall discuss with the congress during the coming months. the broader task of preventing unemployment is a matter of long-range evolutionary policy. to that we must continue to give our best thought and effort. we cannot assume that immediate industrial and commercial activity which mitigates present pressures justifies the national government at this time in placing the unemployment problem in a filing cabinet of finished business. fluctuations in employment are tied to all other wasteful fluctuations in our mechanism of production and distribution. one of these wastes is speculation. in securities or commodities, the larger the volume of speculation, the wider become the upward and downward swings and the more certain the result that in the long run there will be more losses than gains in the underlying wealth of the community. and, as is now well known to all of us, the same net loss to society comes from reckless overproduction and monopolistic underproduction of natural and manufactured commodities. overproduction, underproduction and speculation are three evil sisters who distill the troubles of unsound inflation and disastrous deflation. it is to the interest of the nation to have government help private enterprise to gain sound general price levels and to protect those levels from wide perilous fluctuations. we know now that if early in government had taken the steps which were taken two and three years later, the depression would never have reached the depths of the beginning of . sober second thought confirms most of us in the belief that the broad objectives of the national recovery act were sound. we know now that its difficulties arose from the fact that it tried to do too much. for example, it was unwise to expect the same agency to regulate the length of working hours, minimum wages, child labor and collective bargaining on the one hand and the complicated questions of unfair trade practices and business controls on the other. the statute of n.r.a. has been outlawed. the problems have not. they are still with us. that decent conditions and adequate pay for labor, and just return for agriculture, can be secured through parallel and simultaneous action by forty-eight states is a proven impossibility. it is equally impossible to obtain curbs on monopoly, unfair trade practices and speculation by state action alone. there are those who, sincerely or insincerely, still cling to state action as a theoretical hope. but experience with actualities makes it clear that federal laws supplementing state laws are needed to help solve the problems which result from modern invention applied in an industrialized nation which conducts its business with scant regard to state lines. during the past year there has been a growing belief that there is little fault to be found with the constitution of the united states as it stands today. the vital need is not an alteration of our fundamental law, but an increasingly enlightened view with reference to it. difficulties have grown out of its interpretation; but rightly considered, it can be used as an instrument of progress, and not as a device for prevention of action. it is worth our while to read and reread the preamble of the constitution, and article i thereof which confers the legislative powers upon the congress of the united states. it is also worth our while to read again the debates in the constitutional convention of one hundred and fifty years ago. from such reading, i obtain the very definite thought that the members of that convention were fully aware that civilization would raise problems for the proposed new federal government, which they themselves could not even surmise; and that it was their definite intent and expectation that a liberal interpretation in the years to come would give to the congress the same relative powers over new national problems as they themselves gave to the congress over the national problems of their day. in presenting to the convention the first basic draft of the constitution, edmund randolph explained that it was the purpose "to insert essential principles only, lest the operation of government should be clogged by rendering those provisions permanent and unalterable which ought to be accommodated to times and events." with a better understanding of our purposes, and a more intelligent recognition of our needs as a nation, it is not to be assumed that there will be prolonged failure to bring legislative and judicial action into closer harmony. means must be found to adapt our legal forms and our judicial interpretation to the actual present national needs of the largest progressive democracy in the modern world. that thought leads to a consideration of world problems. to go no further back than the beginning of this century, men and women everywhere were seeking conditions of life very different from those which were customary before modern invention and modern industry and modern communications had come into being. the world war, for all of its tragedy, encouraged these demands, and stimulated action to fulfill these new desires. many national governments seemed unable adequately to respond; and, often with the improvident assent of the masses of the people themselves, new forms of government were set up with oligarchy taking the place of democracy. in oligarchies, militarism has leapt forward, while in those nations which have retained democracy, militarism has waned. i have recently visited three of our sister republics in south america. the very cordial receptions with which i was greeted were in tribute to democracy. to me the outstanding observation of that visit was that the masses of the peoples of all the americas are convinced that the democratic form of government can be made to succeed and do not wish to substitute for it any other form of government. they believe that democracies are best able to cope with the changing problems of modern civilization within themselves, and that democracies are best able to maintain peace among themselves. the inter-american conference, operating on these fundamental principles of democracy, did much to assure peace in this hemisphere. existing peace machinery was improved. new instruments to maintain peace and eliminate causes of war were adopted. wider protection of the interests of the american republics in the event of war outside the western hemisphere was provided. respect for, and observance of, international treaties and international law were strengthened. principles of liberal trade policies, as effective aids to the maintenance of peace, were reaffirmed. the intellectual and cultural relationships among american republics were broadened as a part of the general peace program. in a world unhappily thinking in terms of war, the representatives of twenty-one nations sat around a table, in an atmosphere of complete confidence and understanding, sincerely discussing measures for maintaining peace. here was a great and a permanent achievement directly affecting the lives and security of the two hundred and fifty million human beings who dwell in this western hemisphere. here was an example which must have a wholesome effect upon the rest of the world. in a very real sense, the conference in buenos aires sent forth a message on behalf of all the democracies of the world to those nations which live otherwise. because such other governments are perhaps more spectacular, it was high time for democracy to assert itself. because all of us believe that our democratic form of government can cope adequately with modern problems as they arise, it is patriotic as well as logical for us to prove that we can meet new national needs with new laws consistent with an historic constitutional framework clearly intended to receive liberal and not narrow interpretation. the united states of america, within itself, must continue the task of making democracy succeed. in that task the legislative branch of our government will, i am confident, continue to meet the demands of democracy whether they relate to the curbing of abuses, the extension of help to those who need help, or the better balancing of our interdependent economies. so, too, the executive branch of the government must move forward in this task, and, at the same time, provide better management for administrative action of all kinds. the judicial branch also is asked by the people to do its part in making democracy successful. we do not ask the courts to call non-existent powers into being, but we have a right to expect that conceded powers or those legitimately implied shall be made effective instruments for the common good. the process of our democracy must not be imperiled by the denial of essential powers of free government. your task and mine is not ending with the end of the depression. the people of the united states have made it clear that they expect us to continue our active efforts in behalf of their peaceful advancement. in that spirit of endeavor and service i greet the th congress at the beginning of this auspicious new year. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. president, mr. speaker, members of the senate and of the house of representatives: in addressing the congress on the state of the union present facts and future hazards demand that i speak clearly and earnestly of the causes which underlie events of profound concern to all. in spite of the determination of this nation for peace, it has become clear that acts and policies of nations in other parts of the world have far-reaching effects not only upon their immediate neighbors but also on us. i am thankful that i can tell you that our nation is at peace. it has been kept at peace despite provocations which in other days, because of their seriousness, could well have engendered war. the people of the united states and the government of the united states have shown capacity for restraint and a civilized approach to the purposes of peace, while at the same time we maintain the integrity inherent in the sovereignty of , , people, lest we weaken or destroy our influence for peace and jeopardize the sovereignty itself. it is our traditional policy to live at peace with other nations. more than that, we have been among the leaders in advocating the use of pacific methods of discussion and conciliation in international differences. we have striven for the reduction of military forces. but in a world of high tension and disorder, in a world where stable civilization is actually threatened, it becomes the responsibility of each nation which strives for peace at home and peace with and among others to be strong enough to assure the observance of those fundamentals of peaceful solution of conflicts which are the only ultimate basis for orderly existence. resolute in our determination to respect the rights of others, and to command respect for the rights of ourselves, we must keep ourselves adequately strong in self-defense. there is a trend in the world away from the observance both of the letter and the spirit of treaties. we propose to observe, as we have in the past, our own treaty obligations to the limit; but we cannot be certain of reciprocity on the part of others. disregard for treaty obligations seems to have followed the surface trend away from the democratic representative form of government. it would seem, therefore, that world peace through international agreements is most safe in the hands of democratic representative governments--or, in other words, peace is most greatly jeopardized in and by those nations where democracy has been discarded or has never developed. i have used the words "surface trend," for i still believe that civilized man increasingly insists and in the long run will insist on genuine participation in his own government. our people believe that over the years democracies of the world will survive, and that democracy will be restored or established in those nations which today know it not. in that faith lies the future peace of mankind. at home, conditions call for my equal candor. events of recent months are new proof that we cannot conduct a national government after the practice of , or or , for the obvious reason that human needs and human desires are infinitely greater, infinitely more difficult to meet than in any previous period in the life of our republic. hitherto it has been an acknowledged duty of government to meet these desires and needs: nothing has occurred of late to absolve the congress, the courts or the president from that task. it faces us as squarely, as insistently, as in march, . much of trouble in our own lifetime has sprung from a long period of inaction--from ignoring what fundamentally was happening to us, and from a time-serving unwillingness to face facts as they forced themselves upon us. our national life rests on two nearly equal producing forces, agriculture and industry, each employing about one-third of our citizens. the other third transports and distributes the products of the first two, or performs special services for the whole. the first great force, agriculture--and with it the production of timber, minerals and other natural resources--went forward feverishly and thoughtlessly until nature rebelled and we saw deserts encroach, floods destroy, trees disappear and soil exhausted. at the same time we have been discovering that vast numbers of our farming population live in a poverty more abject than that of many of the farmers of europe whom we are wont to call peasants; that the prices of our products of agriculture are too often dependent on speculation by non-farming groups; and that foreign nations, eager to become self-sustaining or ready to put virgin land under the plough are no longer buying our surpluses of cotton and wheat and lard and tobacco and fruit as they had before. since we have knowingly faced a choice of three remedies. first, to cut our cost of farm production below that of other nations--an obvious impossibility in many crops today unless we revert to human slavery or its equivalent. second, to make the government the guarantor of farm prices and the underwriter of excess farm production without limit--a course which would bankrupt the strongest government in the world in a decade. third, to place the primary responsibility directly on the farmers themselves, under the principle of majority rule, so that they may decide, with full knowledge of the facts of surpluses, scarcities, world markets and domestic needs, what the planting of each crop should be in order to maintain a reasonably adequate supply which will assure a minimum adequate price under the normal processes of the law of supply and demand. that means adequacy of supply but not glut. it means adequate reserves against the day of drought. it is shameless misrepresentation to call this a policy of scarcity. it is in truth insurance before the fact, instead of government subsidy after the fact. any such plan for the control of excessive surpluses and the speculation they bring has two enemies. there are those well meaning theorists who harp on the inherent right of every free born american to do with his land what he wants--to cultivate it well--or badly; to conserve his timber by cutting only the annual increment thereof--or to strip it clean, let fire burn the slash, and erosion complete the ruin; to raise only one crop--and if that crop fails, to look for food and support from his neighbors or his government. that, i assert is not an inherent right of citizenship. for if a man farms his land to the waste of the soil or the trees, he destroys not only his own assets but the nation's assets as well. or if by his methods he makes himself, year after year, a financial hazard of the community and the government, he becomes not only a social problem but an economic menace. the day has gone by when it could be claimed that government has no interest in such ill-considered practices and no right through representative methods to stop them. the other group of enemies is perhaps less well-meaning. it includes those who for partisan purposes oppose each and every practical effort to help the situation, and also those who make money from undue fluctuations in crop prices. i gladly note that measures which seek to initiate a government program for a balanced agriculture are now in conference between the two houses of the congress. in their final consideration, i hope for a sound consistent measure which will keep the cost of its administration within the figure of current government expenditures in aid of agriculture. the farmers of this nation know that a balanced output can be put into effect without excessive cost and with the cooperation of the great majority of them. if this balance can be created by an all-weather farm program, our farm population will soon be assured of relatively constant purchasing power. from this will flow two other practical results: the consuming public will be protected against excessive food and textile prices, and the industries of the nation and their workers will find a steadier demand for wares sold to the agricultural third of our people. to raise the purchasing power of the farmer is, however, not enough. it will not stay raised if we do not also raise the purchasing power of that third of the nation which receives its income from industrial employment. millions of industrial workers receive pay so low that they have little buying power. aside from the undoubted fact that they thereby suffer great human hardship, they are unable to buy adequate food and shelter, to maintain health or to buy their share of manufactured goods. we have not only seen minimum wage and maximum hour provisions prove their worth economically and socially under government auspices in , and , but the people of this country, by an overwhelming vote, are in favor of having the congress--this congress--put a floor below which industrial wages shall not fall, and a ceiling beyond which the hours of industrial labor shall not rise. here again let us analyze the opposition. a part of it is sincere in believing that an effort thus to raise the purchasing power of lowest paid industrial workers is not the business of the federal government. others give "lip service" to a general objective, but do not like any specific measure that is proposed. in both cases it is worth our while to wonder whether some of these opponents are not at heart opposed to any program for raising the wages of the underpaid or reducing the hours of the overworked. another group opposes legislation of this type on the ground that cheap labor will help their locality to acquire industries and outside capital, or to retain industries which today are surviving only because of existing low wages and long hours. it has been my thought that, especially during these past five years, this nation has grown away from local or sectional selfishness and toward national patriotism and unity. i am disappointed by some recent actions and by some recent utterances which sound like the philosophy of half a century ago. there are many communities in the united states where the average family income is pitifully low. it is in those communities that we find the poorest educational facilities and the worst conditions of health. why? it is not because they are satisfied to live as they do. it is because those communities have the lowest per capita wealth and income; therefore, the lowest ability to pay taxes; and, therefore, inadequate functioning of local government. such communities exist in the east, in the middle west, in the far west, and in the south. those who represent such areas in every part of the country do their constituents ill service by blocking efforts to raise their incomes, their property values and, therefore, their whole scale of living. in the long run, the profits from child labor, low pay and overwork enure not to the locality or region where they exist but to the absentee owners who have sent their capital into these exploited communities to gather larger profits for themselves. indeed, new enterprises and new industries which bring permanent wealth will come more readily to those communities which insist on good pay and reasonable hours, for the simple reason that there they will find a greater industrial efficiency and happier workers. no reasonable person seeks a complete uniformity in wages in every part of the united states; nor does any reasonable person seek an immediate and drastic change from the lowest pay to the highest pay. we are seeking, of course, only legislation to end starvation wages and intolerable hours; more desirable wages are and should continue to be the product of collective bargaining. many of those who represent great cities have shown their understanding of the necessity of helping the agricultural third of the nation. i hope that those who represent constituencies primarily agricultural will not underestimate the importance of extending like aid to the industrial third. wage and hour legislation, therefore, is a problem which is definitely before this congress for action. it is an essential part of economic recovery. it has the support of an overwhelming majority of our people in every walk of life. they have expressed themselves through the ballot box. again i revert to the increase of national purchasing power as an underlying necessity of the day. if you increase that purchasing power for the farmers and for the industrial workers, especially for those in both groups who have least of it today, you will increase the purchasing power of the final third of our population--those who transport and distribute the products of farm and factory, and those of the professions who serve all groups. i have tried to make clear to you, and through you to the people of the united states, that this is an urgency which must be met by complete and not by partial action. if it is met, if the purchasing power of the nation as a whole--in other words, the total of the nation's income--can be still further increased, other happy results will flow from such increase. we have raised the nation's income from thirty-eight billion dollars in the year to about sixty-eight billion dollars in the year . our goal, our objective is to raise it to ninety or one hundred billion dollars. we have heard much about a balanced budget, and it is interesting to note that many of those who have pleaded for a balanced budget as the sole need now come to me to plead for additional government expenditures at the expense of unbalancing the budget. as the congress is fully aware, the annual deficit, large for several years, has been declining the last fiscal year and this. the proposed budget for , which i shall shortly send to the congress, will exhibit a further decrease in the deficit, though not a balance between income and outgo. to many who have pleaded with me for an immediate balancing of the budget, by a sharp curtailment or even elimination of government functions, i have asked the question: "what present expenditures would you reduce or eliminate?" and the invariable answer has been "that is not my business--i know nothing of the details, but i am sure that it could be done." that is not what you or i would call helpful citizenship. on only one point do most of them have a suggestion. they think that relief for the unemployed by the giving of work is wasteful, and when i pin them down i discover that at heart they are actually in favor of substituting a dole in place of useful work. to that neither i nor, i am confident, the senators and representatives in the congress will ever consent. i am as anxious as any banker or industrialist or business man or investor or economist that the budget of the united states government be brought into balance as quickly as possible. but i lay down certain conditions which seem reasonable and which i believe all should accept. the first condition is that we continue the policy of not permitting any needy american who can and is willing to work to starve because the federal government does not provide the work. the second is that the congress and the executive join hands in eliminating or curtailing any federal activity which can be eliminated or curtailed or even postponed without harming necessary government functions or the safety of the nation from a national point of view. the third is to raise the purchasing power of the nation to the point that the taxes on this purchasing power--or, in other words, on the nation's income--will be sufficient to meet the necessary expenditures of the national government. i have hitherto stated that, in my judgment, the expenditures of the national government cannot be cut much below seven billion dollars a year without destroying essential functions or letting people starve. that sum can be raised and will be cheerfully provided by the american people, if we can increase the nation's income to a point well beyond the present level. this does not mean that as the nation's income goes up the federal expenditures should rise in proportion. on the contrary, the congress and the executive should use every effort to hold the normal federal expenditures to approximately the present level, thus making it possible, with an increase in the nation's income and the resulting increase in tax receipts, not only to balance future budgets but to reduce the debt. in line with this policy fall my former recommendations for the reorganization and improvement of the administrative structure of the government, both for immediate executive needs and for the planning of future national needs. i renew those recommendations. in relation to tax changes, three things should be kept in mind. first, the total sum to be derived by the federal treasury must not be decreased as a result of any changes in schedules. second, abuses by individuals or corporations designed to escape tax-paying by using various methods of doing business, corporate and otherwise--abuses which we have sought, with great success, to end--must not be restored. third, we should rightly change certain provisions where they are proven to work definite hardship, especially on the small business men of the nation. but, speculative income should not be favored over earned income. it is human nature to argue that this or that tax is responsible for every ill. it is human nature on the part of those who pay graduated taxes to attack all taxes based on the principle of ability to pay. these are the same complainants who for a generation blocked the imposition of a graduated income tax. they are the same complainants who would impose the type of flat sales tax which places the burden of government more on those least able to pay and less on those most able to pay. our conclusion must be that while proven hardships should be corrected, they should not be corrected in such a way as to restore abuses already terminated or to shift a greater burden to the less fortunate. this subject leads naturally into the wider field of the public attitude toward business. the objective of increasing the purchasing power of the farming third, the industrial third and the service third of our population presupposes the cooperation of what we call capital and labor. capital is essential; reasonable earnings on capital are essential; but misuse of the powers of capital or selfish suspension of the employment of capital must be ended, or the capitalistic system will destroy itself through its own abuses. the overwhelming majority of business men and bankers intend to be good citizens. only a small minority have displayed poor citizenship by engaging in practices which are dishonest or definitely harmful to society. this statement is straightforward and true. no person in any responsible place in the government of the united states today has ever taken any position contrary to it. but, unfortunately for the country, when attention is called to, or attack is made on specific misuses of capital, there has been a deliberate purpose on the part of the condemned minority to distort the criticism into an attack on all capital. that is wilful deception but it does not long deceive. if attention is called to, or attack made on, certain wrongful business practices, there are those who are eager to call it "an attack on all business." that, too, is wilful deception that will not long deceive. let us consider certain facts: there are practices today which most people believe should be ended. they include tax avoidance through corporate and other methods, which i have previously mentioned; excessive capitalization, investment write-ups and security manipulations; price rigging and collusive bidding in defiance of the spirit of the antitrust laws by methods which baffle prosecution under the present statutes. they include high-pressure salesmanship which creates cycles of overproduction within given industries and consequent recessions in production until such time as the surplus is consumed; the use of patent laws to enable larger corporations to maintain high prices and withhold from the public the advantages of the progress of science; unfair competition which drives the smaller producer out of business locally, regionally or even on a national scale; intimidation of local or state government to prevent the enactment of laws for the protection of labor by threatening to move elsewhere; the shifting of actual production from one locality or region to another in pursuit of the cheapest wage scale. the enumeration of these abuses does not mean that business as a whole is guilty of them. again, it is deception that will not long deceive to tell the country that an attack on these abuses is an attack on business. another group of problems affecting business, which cannot be termed specific abuses, gives us food for grave thought about the future. generically such problems arise out of the concentration of economic control to the detriment of the body politic--control of other people's money, other people's labor, other people's lives. in many instances such concentrations cannot be justified on the ground of operating efficiency, but have been created for the sake of securities profits, financial control, the suppression of competition and the ambition for power over others. in some lines of industry a very small numerical group is in such a position of influence that its actions are of necessity followed by the other units operating in the same field. that such influences operate to control banking and finance is equally true, in spite of the many efforts, through federal legislation, to take such control out of the hands of a small group. we have but to talk with hundreds of small bankers throughout the united states to realize that irrespective of local conditions, they are compelled in practice to accept the policies laid down by a small number of the larger banks in the nation. the work undertaken by andrew jackson and woodrow wilson is not finished yet. the ownership of vast properties or the organization of thousands of workers creates a heavy obligation of public service. the power should not be sought or sanctioned unless the responsibility is accepted as well. the man who seeks freedom from such responsibility in the name of individual liberty is either fooling himself or trying to cheat his fellow men. he wants to eat the fruits of orderly society without paying for them. as a nation we have rejected any radical revolutionary program. for a permanent correction of grave weaknesses in our economic system we have relied on new applications of old democratic processes. it is not necessary to recount what has been accomplished in preserving the homes and livelihood of millions of workers on farms and in cities, in reconstructing a sound banking and credit system, in reviving trade and industry, in reestablishing security of life and property. all we need today is to look upon the fundamental, sound economic conditions to know that this business recession causes more perplexity than fear on the part of most people and to contrast our prevailing mental attitude with the terror and despair of five years ago. furthermore, we have a new moral climate in america. that means that we ask business and finance to recognize that fact, to cure such inequalities as they can cure without legislation but to join their government in the enactment of legislation where the ending of abuses and the steady functioning of our economic system calls for government assistance. the nation has no obligation to make america safe either for incompetent business men or for business men who fail to note the trend of the times and continue the use of machinery of economics and practices of finance as outworn as the cotton spindle of . government can be expected to cooperate in every way with the business of the nation provided the component parts of business abandon practices which do not belong to this day and age, and adopt price and production policies appropriate to the times. in regard to the relationship of government to certain processes of business, to which i have referred, it seems clear to me that existing laws undoubtedly require reconstruction. i expect, therefore, to address the congress in a special message on this subject, and i hope to have the help of business in the efforts of government to help business. i have spoken of labor as another essential in the three great groups of the population in raising the nation's income. definite strides in collective bargaining have been made and the right of labor to organize has been nationally accepted. nevertheless in the evolution of the process difficult situations have arisen in localities and among groups. unfortunate divisions relating to jurisdiction among the workers themselves have retarded production within given industries and have, therefore, affected related industries. the construction of homes and other buildings has been hindered in some localities not only by unnecessarily high prices for materials but also by certain hourly wage scales. for economic and social reasons our principal interest for the near future lies along two lines: first, the immediate desirability of increasing the wages of the lowest paid groups in all industry; and, second, in thinking in terms of regularizing the work of the individual worker more greatly through the year--in other words, in thinking more in terms of the worker's total pay for a period of a whole year rather than in terms of his remuneration by the hour or by the day. in the case of labor as in the case of capital, misrepresentation of the policy of the government of the united states is deception which will not long deceive. in both cases we seek cooperation. in every case power and responsibility must go hand in hand. i have spoken of economic causes which throw the nation's income out of balance; i have spoken of practices and abuses which demand correction through the cooperation of capital and labor with the government. but no government can help the destinies of people who insist in putting sectional and class consciousness ahead of general weal. there must be proof that sectional and class interests are prepared more greatly than they are today to be national in outlook. a government can punish specific acts of spoliation; but no government can conscript cooperation. we have improved some matters by way of remedial legislation. but where in some particulars that legislation has failed we cannot be sure whether it fails because some of its details are unwise or because it is being sabotaged. at any rate, we hold our objectives and our principles to be sound. we will never go back on them. government has a final responsibility for the well-being of its citizenship. if private cooperative endeavor fails to provide work for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering hardship from no fault of their own have a right to call upon the government for aid; and a government worthy of its name must make fitting response. it is the opportunity and the duty of all those who have faith in democratic methods as applied in industry, in agriculture and in business, as well as in the field of politics, to do their utmost to cooperate with government--without regard to political affiliation, special interests or economic prejudices--in whatever program may be sanctioned by the chosen representatives of the people. that presupposes on the part of the representatives of the people, a program, its enactment and its administration. not because of the pledges of party programs alone, not because of the clear policies of the past five years, but chiefly because of the need of national unity in ending mistakes of the past and meeting the necessities of today, we must carry on. i do not propose to let the people down. i am sure the congress of the united states will not let the people down. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. vice president, mr. speaker, members of the senate and the congress: in reporting on the state of the nation, i have felt it necessary on previous occasions to advise the congress of disturbance abroad and of the need of putting our own house in order in the face of storm signals from across the seas. as this seventy-sixth congress opens there is need for further warning. a war which threatened to envelop the world in flames has been averted; but it has become increasingly clear that world peace is not assured. all about us rage undeclared wars--military and economic. all about us grow more deadly armaments--military and economic. all about us are threats of new aggression military and economic. storms from abroad directly challenge three institutions indispensable to americans, now as always. the first is religion. it is the source of the other two--democracy and international good faith. religion, by teaching man his relationship to god, gives the individual a sense of his own dignity and teaches him to respect himself by respecting his neighbors. democracy, the practice of self-government, is a covenant among free men to respect the rights and liberties of their fellows. international good faith, a sister of democracy, springs from the will of civilized nations of men to respect the rights and liberties of other nations of men. in a modern civilization, all three--religion, democracy and international good faith--complement and support each other. where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attack has come from sources opposed to democracy. where democracy has been overthrown, the spirit of free worship has disappeared. and where religion and democracy have vanished, good faith and reason in international affairs have given way to strident ambition and brute force. an ordering of society which relegates religion, democracy and good faith among nations to the background can find no place within it for the ideals of the prince of peace. the united states rejects such an ordering, and retains its ancient faith. there comes a time in the affairs of men when they must prepare to defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity on which their churches, their governments and their very civilization are founded. the defense of religion, of democracy and of good faith among nations is all the same fight. to save one we must now make up our minds to save all. we know what might happen to us of the united states if the new philosophies of force were to encompass the other continents and invade our own. we, no more than other nations, can afford to be surrounded by the enemies of our faith and our humanity. fortunate it is, therefore, that in this western hemisphere we have, under a common ideal of democratic government, a rich diversity of resources and of peoples functioning together in mutual respect and peace. that hemisphere, that peace, and that ideal we propose to do our share in protecting against storms from any quarter. our people and our resources are pledged to secure that protection. from that determination no american flinches. this by no means implies that the american republics disassociate themselves from the nations of other continents. it does not mean the americas against the rest of the world. we as one of the republics reiterate our willingness to help the cause of world peace. we stand on our historic offer to take counsel with all other nations of the world to the end that aggression among them be terminated, that the race of armaments cease and that commerce be renewed. but the world has grown so small and weapons of attack so swift that no nation can be safe in its will to peace so long as any other powerful nation refuses to settle its grievances at the council table. for if any government bristling with implements of war insists on policies of force, weapons of defense give the only safety. in our foreign relations we have learned from the past what not to do. from new wars we have learned what we must do. we have learned that effective timing of defense, and the distant points from which attacks may be launched are completely different from what they were twenty years ago. we have learned that survival cannot be guaranteed by arming after the attack begins--for there is new range and speed to offense. we have learned that long before any overt military act, aggression begins with preliminaries of propaganda, subsidized penetration, the loosening of ties of good will, the stirring of prejudice and the incitement to disunion. we have learned that god-fearing democracies of the world which observe the sanctity of treaties and good faith in their dealings with other nations cannot safely be indifferent to international lawlessness anywhere. they cannot forever let pass, without effective protest, acts of aggression against sister nations--acts which automatically undermine all of us. obviously they must proceed along practical, peaceful lines. but the mere fact that we rightly decline to intervene with arms to prevent acts of aggression does not mean that we must act as if there were no aggression at all. words may be futile, but war is not the only means of commanding a decent respect for the opinions of mankind. there are many methods short of war, but stronger and more effective than mere words, of bringing home to aggressor governments the aggregate sentiments of our own people. at the very least, we can and should avoid any action, or any lack of action, which will encourage, assist or build up an aggressor. we have learned that when we deliberately try to legislate neutrality, our neutrality laws may operate unevenly and unfairly--may actually give aid to an aggressor and deny it to the victim. the instinct of self-preservation should warn us that we ought not to let that happen any more. and we have learned something else--the old, old lesson that probability of attack is mightily decreased by the assurance of an ever ready defense. since , nearly eight years ago, world events of thunderous import have moved with lightning speed. during these eight years many of our people clung to the hope that the innate decency of mankind would protect the unprepared who showed their innate trust in mankind. today we are all wiser--and sadder. under modern conditions what we mean by "adequate defense"--a policy subscribed to by all of us--must be divided into three elements. first, we must have armed forces and defenses strong enough to ward off sudden attack against strategic positions and key facilities essential to ensure sustained resistance and ultimate victory. secondly, we must have the organization and location of those key facilities so that they may be immediately utilized and rapidly expanded to meet all needs without danger of serious interruption by enemy attack. in the course of a few days i shall send you a special message making recommendations for those two essentials of defense against danger which we cannot safely assume will not come. if these first two essentials are reasonably provided for, we must be able confidently to invoke the third element, the underlying strength of citizenship--the self-confidence, the ability, the imagination and the devotion that give the staying power to see things through. a strong and united nation may be destroyed if it is unprepared against sudden attack. but even a nation well armed and well organized from a strictly military standpoint may, after a period of time, meet defeat if it is unnerved by self-distrust, endangered by class prejudice, by dissension between capital and labor, by false economy and by other unsolved social problems at home. in meeting the troubles of the world we must meet them as one people--with a unity born of the fact that for generations those who have come to our shores, representing many kindreds and tongues, have been welded by common opportunity into a united patriotism. if another form of government can present a united front in its attack on a democracy, the attack must and will be met by a united democracy. such a democracy can and must exist in the united states. a dictatorship may command the full strength of a regimented nation. but the united strength of a democratic nation can be mustered only when its people, educated by modern standards to know what is going on and where they are going, have conviction that they are receiving as large a share of opportunity for development, as large a share of material success and of human dignity, as they have a right to receive. our nation's program of social and economic reform is therefore a part of defense, as basic as armaments themselves. against the background of events in europe, in africa and in asia during these recent years, the pattern of what we have accomplished since appears in even clearer focus. for the first time we have moved upon deep-seated problems affecting our national strength and have forged national instruments adequate to meet them. consider what the seemingly piecemeal struggles of these six years add up to in terms of realistic national preparedness. we are conserving and developing natural resources--land, water power, forests. we are trying to provide necessary food, shelter and medical care for the health of our population. we are putting agriculture--our system of food and fibre supply--on a sounder basis. we are strengthening the weakest spot in our system of industrial supply-- its long smouldering labor difficulties. we have cleaned up our credit system so that depositor and investor alike may more readily and willingly make their capital available for peace or war. we are giving to our youth new opportunities for work and education. we have sustained the morale of all the population by the dignified recognition of our obligations to the aged, the helpless and the needy. above all, we have made the american people conscious of their interrelationship and their interdependence. they sense a common destiny and a common need of each other. differences of occupation, geography, race and religion no longer obscure the nation's fundamental unity in thought and in action. we have our difficulties, true--but we are a wiser and a tougher nation than we were in , or in . never have there been six years of such far-flung internal preparedness in our history. and this has been done without any dictator's power to command, without conscription of labor or confiscation of capital, without concentration camps and without a scratch on freedom of speech, freedom of the press or the rest of the bill of rights. we see things now that we could not see along the way. the tools of government which we had in are outmoded. we have had to forge new tools for a new role of government operating in a democracy--a role of new responsibility for new needs and increased responsibility for old needs, long neglected. some of these tools had to be roughly shaped and still need some machining down. many of those who fought bitterly against the forging of these new tools welcome their use today. the american people, as a whole, have accepted them. the nation looks to the congress to improve the new machinery which we have permanently installed, provided that in the process the social usefulness of the machinery is not destroyed or impaired. all of us agree that we should simplify and improve laws if experience and operation clearly demonstrate the need. for instance, all of us want better provision for our older people under our social security legislation. for the medically needy we must provide better care. most of us agree that for the sake of employer and employee alike we must find ways to end factional labor strife and employer-employee disputes. most of us recognize that none of these tools can be put to maximum effectiveness unless the executive processes of government are revamped--reorganized, if you will--into more effective combination. and even after such reorganization it will take time to develop administrative personnel and experience in order to use our new tools with a minimum of mistakes. the congress, of course, needs no further information on this. with this exception of legislation to provide greater government efficiency, and with the exception of legislation to ameliorate our railroad and other transportation problems, the past three congresses have met in part or in whole the pressing needs of the new order of things. we have now passed the period of internal conflict in the launching of our program of social reform. our full energies may now be released to invigorate the processes of recovery in order to preserve our reforms, and to give every man and woman who wants to work a real job at a living wage. but time is of paramount importance. the deadline of danger from within and from without is not within our control. the hour-glass may be in the hands of other nations. our own hour-glass tells us that we are off on a race to make democracy work, so that we may be efficient in peace and therefore secure in national defense. this time element forces us to still greater efforts to attain the full employment of our labor and our capital. the first duty of our statesmanship is to bring capital and man-power together. dictatorships do this by main force. by using main force they apparently succeed at it--for the moment. however we abhor their methods, we are compelled to admit that they have obtained substantial utilization of all their material and human resources. like it or not, they have solved, for a time at least, the problem of idle men and idle capital. can we compete with them by boldly seeking methods of putting idle men and idle capital together and, at the same time, remain within our american way of life, within the bill of rights, and within the bounds of what is, from our point of view, civilization itself? we suffer from a great unemployment of capital. many people have the idea that as a nation we are overburdened with debt and are spending more than we can afford. that is not so. despite our federal government expenditures the entire debt of our national economic system, public and private together, is no larger today than it was in , and the interest thereon is far less than it was in . the object is to put capital--private as well as public--to work. we want to get enough capital and labor at work to give us a total turnover of business, a total national income, of at least eighty billion dollars a year. at that figure we shall have a substantial reduction of unemployment; and the federal revenues will be sufficient to balance the current level of cash expenditures on the basis of the existing tax structure. that figure can be attained, working within the framework of our traditional profit system. the factors in attaining and maintaining that amount of national income are many and complicated. they include more widespread understanding among business men of many changes which world conditions and technological improvements have brought to our economy over the last twenty years--changes in the interrelationship of price and volume and employment, for example--changes of the kind in which business men are now educating themselves through excellent opportunities like the so-called "monopoly investigation." they include a perfecting of our farm program to protect farmers' income and consumers' purchasing power from alternate risks of crop gluts and crop shortages. they include wholehearted acceptance of new standards of honesty in our financial markets. they include reconcilement of enormous, antagonistic interests--some of them long in litigation--in the railroad and general transportation field. they include the working out of new techniques--private, state and federal--to protect the public interest in and to develop wider markets for electric power. they include a revamping of the tax relationships between federal, state and local units of government, and consideration of relatively small tax increases to adjust inequalities without interfering with the aggregate income of the american people. they include the perfecting of labor organization and a universal ungrudging attitude by employers toward the labor movement, until there is a minimum of interruption of production and employment because of disputes, and acceptance by labor of the truth that the welfare of labor itself depends on increased balanced out-put of goods. to be immediately practical, while proceeding with a steady evolution in the solving of these and like problems, we must wisely use instrumentalities, like federal investment, which are immediately available to us. here, as elsewhere, time is the deciding factor in our choice of remedies. therefore, it does not seem logical to me, at the moment we seek to increase production and consumption, for the federal government to consider a drastic curtailment of its own investments. the whole subject of government investing and government income is one which may be approached in two different ways. the first calls for the elimination of enough activities of government to bring the expenses of government immediately into balance with income of government. this school of thought maintains that because our national income this year is only sixty billion dollars, ours is only a sixty billion dollar country; that government must treat it as such; and that without the help of government, it may some day, somehow, happen to become an eighty billion dollar country. if the congress decides to accept this point of view, it will logically have to reduce the present functions or activities of government by one-third. not only will the congress have to accept the responsibility for such reduction; but the congress will have to determine which activities are to be reduced. certain expenditures we cannot possibly reduce at this session, such as the interest on the public debt. a few million dollars saved here or there in the normal or in curtailed work of the old departments and commissions will make no great saving in the federal budget. therefore, the congress would have to reduce drastically some of certain large items, very large items, such as aids to agriculture and soil conservation, veterans' pensions, flood control, highways, waterways and other public works, grants for social and health security, civilian conservation corps activities, relief for the unemployed, or national defense itself. the congress alone has the power to do all this, as it is the appropriating branch of the government. the other approach to the question of government spending takes the position that this nation ought not to be and need not be only a sixty billion dollar nation; that at this moment it has the men and the resources sufficient to make it at least an eighty billion dollar nation. this school of thought does not believe that it can become an eighty billion dollar nation in the near future if government cuts its operations by one-third. it is convinced that if we were to try it, we would invite disaster--and that we would not long remain even a sixty billion dollar nation. there are many complicated factors with which we have to deal, but we have learned that it is unsafe to make abrupt reductions at any time in our net expenditure program. by our common sense action of resuming government activities last spring, we have reversed a recession and started the new rising tide of prosperity and national income which we are now just beginning to enjoy. if government activities are fully maintained, there is a good prospect of our becoming an eighty billion dollar country in a very short time. with such a national income, present tax laws will yield enough each year to balance each year's expenses. it is my conviction that down in their hearts the american public--industry, agriculture, finance--want this congress to do whatever needs to be done to raise our national income to eighty billion dollars a year. investing soundly must preclude spending wastefully. to guard against opportunist appropriations, i have on several occasions addressed the congress on the importance of permanent long-range planning. i hope, therefore, that following my recommendation of last year, a permanent agency will be set up and authorized to report on the urgency and desirability of the various types of government investment. investment for prosperity can be made in a democracy. i hear some people say, "this is all so complicated. there are certain advantages in a dictatorship. it gets rid of labor trouble, of unemployment, of wasted motion and of having to do your own thinking." my answer is, "yes, but it also gets rid of some other things which we americans intend very definitely to keep--and we still intend to do our own thinking." it will cost us taxes and the voluntary risk of capital to attain some of the practical advantages which other forms of government have acquired. dictatorship, however, involves costs which the american people will never pay: the cost of our spiritual values. the cost of the blessed right of being able to say what we please. the cost of freedom of religion. the cost of seeing our capital confiscated. the cost of being cast into a concentration camp. the cost of being afraid to walk down the street with the wrong neighbor. the cost of having our children brought up, not as free and dignified human beings, but as pawns molded and enslaved by a machine. if the avoidance of these costs means taxes on my income; if avoiding these costs means taxes on my estate at death, i would bear those taxes willingly as the price of my breathing and my children breathing the free air of a free country, as the price of a living and not a dead world. events abroad have made it increasingly clear to the american people that dangers within are less to be feared than dangers from without. if, therefore, a solution of this problem of idle men and idle capital is the price of preserving our liberty, no formless selfish fears can stand in the way. once i prophesied that this generation of americans had a rendezvous with destiny. that prophecy comes true. to us much is given; more is expected. this generation will "nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. . . . the way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and god must forever bless." *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. vice president, mr. speaker, members of the senate and the house of representatives: i wish each and every one of you a very happy new year. as the congress reassembles, the impact of war abroad makes it natural to approach "the state of the union" through a discussion of foreign affairs. but it is important that those who hear and read this message should in no way confuse that approach with any thought that our government is abandoning, or even overlooking, the great significance of its domestic policies. the social and economic forces which have been mismanaged abroad until they have resulted in revolution, dictatorship and war are the same as those which we here are struggling to adjust peacefully at home. you are well aware that dictatorships--and the philosophy of force that justifies and accompanies dictatorships--have originated in almost every case in the necessity for drastic action to improve internal conditions in places where democratic action for one reason or another has failed to respond to modern needs and modern demands. it was with far-sighted wisdom that the framers of our constitution brought together in one magnificent phrase three great concepts--"common defense," "general welfare" and "domestic tranquility." more than a century and a half later we, who are here today, still believe with them that our best defense is the promotion of our general welfare and domestic tranquillity. in previous messages to the congress i have repeatedly warned that, whether we like it or not, the daily lives of american citizens will, of necessity, feel the shock of events on other continents. this is no longer mere theory; because it has been definitely proved to us by the facts of yesterday and today. to say that the domestic well-being of one hundred and thirty million americans is deeply affected by the well-being or the ill-being of the populations of other nations is only to recognize in world affairs the truth that we all accept in home affairs. if in any local unit--a city, county, state or region--low standards of living are permitted to continue, the level of the civilization of the entire nation will be pulled downward. the identical principle extends to the rest of the civilized world. but there are those who wishfully insist, in innocence or ignorance or both, that the united states of america as a self-contained unit can live happily and prosperously, its future secure, inside a high wall of isolation while, outside, the rest of civilization and the commerce and culture of mankind are shattered. i can understand the feelings of those who warn the nation that they will never again consent to the sending of american youth to fight on the soil of europe. but, as i remember, nobody has asked them to consent--for nobody expects such an undertaking. the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens do not abandon in the slightest their hope and their expectation that the united states will not become involved in military participation in these wars. i can also understand the wishfulness of those who oversimplify the whole situation by repeating that all we have to do is to mind our own business and keep the nation out of war. but there is a vast difference between keeping out of war and pretending that this war is none of our business. we do not have to go to war with other nations, but at least we can strive with other nations to encourage the kind of peace that will lighten the troubles of the world, and by so doing help our own nation as well. i ask that all of us everywhere think things through with the single aim of how best to serve the future of our own nation. i do not mean merely its future relationship with the outside world. i mean its domestic future as well--the work, the security, the prosperity, the happiness, the life of all the boys and girls in the united states, as they are inevitably affected by such world relationships. for it becomes clearer and clearer that the future world will be a shabby and dangerous place to live in--yes, even for americans to live in--if it is ruled by force in the hands of a few. already the crash of swiftly moving events over the earth has made us all think with a longer view. fortunately, that thinking cannot be controlled by partisanship. the time is long past when any political party or any particular group can curry or capture public favor by labeling itself the "peace party" or the "peace bloc." that label belongs to the whole united states and to every right thinking man, woman and child within it. for out of all the military and diplomatic turmoil, out of all the propaganda, and counter-propaganda of the present conflicts, there are two facts which stand out, and which the whole world acknowledges. the first is that never before has the government of the united states of america done so much as in our recent past to establish and maintain the policy of the good neighbor with its sister nations. the second is that in almost every nation in the world today there is a true public belief that the united states has been, and will continue to be, a potent and active factor in seeking the reestablishment of world peace. in these recent years we have had a clean record of peace and good-will. it is an open book that cannot be twisted or defamed. it is a record that must be continued and enlarged. so i hope that americans everywhere will work out for themselves the several alternatives which lie before world civilization, which necessarily includes our own. we must look ahead and see the possibilities for our children if the rest of the world comes to be dominated by concentrated force alone--even though today we are a very great and a very powerful nation. we must look ahead and see the effect on our own future if all the small nations of the world have their independence snatched from them or become mere appendages to relatively vast and powerful military systems. we must look ahead and see the kind of lives our children would have to lead if a large part of the rest of the world were compelled to worship a god imposed by a military ruler, or were forbidden to worship god at all; if the rest of the world were forbidden to read and hear the facts--the daily news of their own and other nations--if they were deprived of the truth that makes men free. we must look ahead and see the effect on our future generations if world trade is controlled by any nation or group of nations which sets up that control through military force. it is, of course, true that the record of past centuries includes destruction of many small nations, the enslavement of peoples, and the building of empires on the foundation of force. but wholly apart from the greater international morality which we seek today, we recognize the practical fact that with modern weapons and modern conditions, modern man can no longer lead a civilized life if we are to go back to the practice of wars and conquests of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. summing up this need of looking ahead, and in words of common sense and good american citizenship. i hope that we shall have fewer american ostriches in our midst. it is not good for the ultimate health of ostriches to bury their heads in the sand. only an ostrich would look upon these wars through the eyes of cynicism or ridicule. of course, the peoples of other nations have the right to choose their own form of government. but we in this nation still believe that such choice should be predicated on certain freedoms which we think are essential everywhere. we know that we ourselves shall never be wholly safe at home unless other governments recognize such freedoms. twenty-one american republics, expressing the will of two hundred and fifty million people to preserve peace and freedom in this hemisphere, are displaying a unanimity of ideals and practical relationships which gives hope that what is being done here can be done on other continents. we in all the americas are coming to the realization that we can retain our respective nationalities without, at the same time, threatening the national existence of our neighbors. such truly friendly relationships, for example, permit us to follow our own domestic policies with reference to our agricultural products, while at the same time we have the privilege of trying to work out mutual assistance arrangements for a world distribution of world agricultural surpluses. and we have been able to apply the same simple principle to many manufactured products--surpluses of which must be sold in the world export markets if we intend to continue a high level of production and employment. for many years after the world war blind economic selfishness in most countries, including our own, resulted in a destructive mine-field of trade restrictions which blocked the channels of commerce among nations. indeed, this policy was one of the contributing causes of existing wars. it dammed up vast unsalable surpluses, helping to bring about unemployment and suffering in the united states and everywhere else. to point the way to break up that log-jam our trade agreements act was passed--based upon a policy of equality of treatment among nations and of mutually profitable arrangements of trade. it is not correct to infer that legislative powers have been transferred from the congress to the executive branch of the government. everyone recognizes that general tariff legislation is a congressional function; but we know that, because of the stupendous task involved in the fashioning and the passing of a general tariff law, it is advisable to provide at times of emergency some flexibility to make the general law adjustable to quickly changing conditions. we are in such a time today. our present trade agreement method provides a temporary flexibility and is, therefore, practical in the best sense. it should be kept alive to serve our trade interests--agricultural and industrial--in many valuable ways during the existing wars. but what is more important, the trade agreements act should be extended as an indispensable part of the foundation of any stable and enduring peace. the old conditions of world trade made for no enduring peace; and when the time comes, the united states must use its influence to open up the trade channels of the world, in all nations, in order that no one nation need feel compelled in later days to seek by force of arms what it can well gain by peaceful conference. for that purpose, too, we need the trade agreements act even more today than when it was passed. i emphasize the leadership which this nation can take when the time comes for a renewal of world peace. such an influence will be greatly weakened if this government becomes a dog in the manger of trade selfishness. the first president of the united states warned us against entangling foreign alliances. the present president of the united states subscribes to and follows that precept. i hope that most of you will agree that trade cooperation with the rest of the world does not violate that precept in any way. even as through these trade agreements we prepare to cooperate in a world that wants peace, we must likewise be prepared to take care of ourselves if the world cannot attain peace. for several years past we have been compelled to strengthen our own national defense. that has created a very large portion of our treasury deficits. this year in the light of continuing world uncertainty, i am asking the congress for army and navy increases which are based not on panic but on common sense. they are not as great as enthusiastic alarmists seek. they are not as small as unrealistic persons claiming superior private information would demand. as will appear in the annual budget tomorrow, the only important increase in any part of the budget is the estimate for national defense. practically all other important items show a reduction. but you know, you can't eat your cake and have it too. therefore, in the hope that we can continue in these days of increasing economic prosperity to reduce the federal deficit, i am asking the congress to levy sufficient additional taxes to meet the emergency spending for national defense. behind the army and navy, of course, lies our ultimate line of defense--"the general welfare" of our people. we cannot report, despite all the progress that we have made in our domestic problems--despite the fact that production is back to levels--that all our problems are solved. the fact of unemployment of millions of men and women remains a symptom of a number of difficulties in our economic system not yet adjusted. while the number of the unemployed has decreased very greatly, while their immediate needs for food and clothing--as far as the federal government is concerned--have been largely met, while their morale has been kept alive by giving them useful public work, we have not yet found a way to employ the surplus of our labor which the efficiency of our industrial processes has created. we refuse the european solution of using the unemployed to build up excessive armaments which eventually result in dictatorships and war. we encourage an american way--through an increase of national income which is the only way we can be sure will take up the slack. much progress has been made; much remains to be done. we recognize that we must find an answer in terms of work and opportunity. the unemployment problem today has become very definitely a problem of youth as well as of age. as each year has gone by hundreds of thousands of boys and girls have come of working age. they now form an army of unused youth. they must be an especial concern of democratic government. we must continue, above all things, to look for a solution of their special problem. for they, looking ahead to life, are entitled to action on our part and not merely to admonitions of optimism or lectures on economic laws. some in our midst have sought to instill a feeling of fear and defeatism in the minds of the american people about this problem. to face the task of finding jobs faster than invention can take them away--is not defeatism. to warble easy platitudes that if we would only go back to ways that have failed, everything would be all right--is not courage. in we met a problem of real fear and real defeatism. we faced the facts--with action and not with words alone. the american people will reject the doctrine of fear, confident that in the 'thirties we have been building soundly a new order of things, different from the order of the 'twenties. in this dawn of the decade of the 'forties, with our program of social improvement started, we will continue to carry on the processes of recovery, so as to preserve our gains and provide jobs at living wages. there are, of course, many other items of great public interest which could be enumerated in this message--the continued conservation of our natural resources, the improvement of health and of education, the extension of social security to larger groups, the freeing of large areas from restricted transportation discriminations, the extension of the merit system and many others. our continued progress in the social and economic field is important not only for the significance of each part of it but for the total effect which our program of domestic betterment has upon that most valuable asset of a nation in dangerous times--its national unity. the permanent security of america in the present crisis does not lie in armed force alone. what we face is a set of world-wide forces of disintegration--vicious, ruthless, destructive of all the moral, religious and political standards which mankind, after centuries of struggle, has come to cherish most. in these moral values, in these forces which have made our nation great, we must actively and practically reassert our faith. these words--"national unity"--must not be allowed to be come merely a high-sounding phrase, a vague generality, a pious hope, to which everyone can give lip-service. they must be made to have real meaning in terms of the daily thoughts and acts of every man, woman and child in our land during the coming year and during the years that lie ahead. for national unity is, in a very real and a very deep sense, the fundamental safeguard of all democracy. doctrines that set group against group, faith against faith, race against race, class against class, fanning the fires of hatred in men too despondent, too desperate to think for themselves, were used as rabble-rousing slogans on which dictators could ride to power. and once in power they could saddle their tyrannies on whole nations and on their weaker neighbors. this is the danger to which we in america must begin to be more alert. for the apologists for foreign aggressors, and equally those selfish and partisan groups at home who wrap themselves in a false mantle of americanism to promote their own economic, financial or political advantage, are now trying european tricks upon us, seeking to muddy the stream of our national thinking, weakening us in the face of danger, by trying to set our own people to fighting among themselves. such tactics are what have helped to plunge europe into war. we must combat them, as we would the plague, if american integrity and american security are to be preserved. we cannot afford to face the future as a disunited people. we must as a united people keep ablaze on this continent the flames of human liberty, of reason, of democracy and of fair play as living things to be preserved for the better world that is to come. overstatement, bitterness, vituperation, and the beating of drums have contributed mightily to ill-feeling and wars between nations. if these unnecessary and unpleasant actions are harmful in the international field, if they have hurt in other parts of the world, they are also harmful in the domestic scene. peace among ourselves would seem to have some of the advantage of peace between us and other nations. in the long run history amply demonstrates that angry controversy surely wins less than calm discussion. in the spirit, therefore, of a greater unselfishness, recognizing that the world--including the united states of america--passes through perilous times, i am very hopeful that the closing session of the seventy-sixth congress will consider the needs of the nation and of humanity with calmness, with tolerance and with cooperative wisdom. may the year be pointed to by our children as another period when democracy justified its existence as the best instrument of government yet devised by mankind. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. president, mr. speaker, members of the seventy-seventh congress: i address you, the members of the seventy-seventh congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the union. i use the word "unprecedented," because at no previous time has american security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today. since the permanent formation of our government under the constitution, in , most of the periods of crisis in our history have related to our domestic affairs. fortunately, only one of these--the four-year war between the states--ever threatened our national unity. today, thank god, one hundred and thirty million americans, in forty-eight states, have forgotten points of the compass in our national unity. it is true that prior to the united states often had been disturbed by events in other continents. we had even engaged in two wars with european nations and in a number of undeclared wars in the west indies, in the mediterranean and in the pacific for the maintenance of american rights and for the principles of peaceful commerce. but in no case had a serious threat been raised against our national safety or our continued independence. what i seek to convey is the historic truth that the united states as a nation has at all times maintained clear, definite opposition, to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient chinese wall while the procession of civilization went past. today, thinking of our children and of their children, we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the americas. that determination of ours, extending over all these years, was proved, for example, during the quarter century of wars following the french revolution. while the napoleonic struggles did threaten interests of the united states because of the french foothold in the west indies and in louisiana, and while we engaged in the war of to vindicate our right to peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear that neither france nor great britain, nor any other nation, was aiming at domination of the whole world. in like fashion from to --ninety-nine years--no single war in europe or in asia constituted a real threat against our future or against the future of any other american nation. except in the maximilian interlude in mexico, no foreign power sought to establish itself in this hemisphere; and the strength of the british fleet in the atlantic has been a friendly strength. it is still a friendly strength. even when the world war broke out in , it seemed to contain only small threat of danger to our own american future. but, as time went on, the american people began to visualize what the downfall of democratic nations might mean to our own democracy. we need not overemphasize imperfections in the peace of versailles. we need not harp on failure of the democracies to deal with problems of world reconstruction. we should remember that the peace of was far less unjust than the kind of "pacification" which began even before munich, and which is being carried on under the new order of tyranny that seeks to spread over every continent today. the american people have unalterably set their faces against that tyranny. every realist knows that the democratic way of life is at this moment being directly assailed in every part of the world--assailed either by arms, or by secret spreading of poisonous propaganda by those who seek to destroy unity and promote discord in nations that are still at peace. during sixteen long months this assault has blotted out the whole pattern of democratic life in an appalling number of independent nations, great and small. the assailants are still on the march, threatening other nations, great and small. therefore, as your president, performing my constitutional duty to "give to the congress information of the state of the union," i find it, unhappily, necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders. armed defense of democratic existence is now being gallantly waged in four continents. if that defense fails, all the population and all the resources of europe, asia, africa and australasia will be dominated by the conquerors. let us remember that the total of those populations and their resources in those four continents greatly exceeds the sum total of the population and the resources of the whole of the western hemisphere--many times over. in times like these it is immature--and incidentally, untrue--for anybody to brag that an unprepared america, single-handed, and with one hand tied behind its back, can hold off the whole world. no realistic american can expect from a dictator's peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion--or even good business. such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. "those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." as a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed. we must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal preach the "ism" of appeasement. we must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the american eagle in order to feather their own nests. i have recently pointed out how quickly the tempo of modern warfare could bring into our very midst the physical attack which we must eventually expect if the dictator nations win this war. there is much loose talk of our immunity from immediate and direct invasion from across the seas. obviously, as long as the british navy retains its power, no such danger exists. even if there were no british navy, it is not probable that any enemy would be stupid enough to attack us by landing troops in the united states from across thousands of miles of ocean, until it had acquired strategic bases from which to operate. but we learn much from the lessons of the past years in europe--particularly the lesson of norway, whose essential seaports were captured by treachery and surprise built up over a series of years. the first phase of the invasion of this hemisphere would not be the landing of regular troops. the necessary strategic points would be occupied by secret agents and their dupes--and great numbers of them are already here, and in latin america. as long as the aggressor nations maintain the offensive, they--not we--will choose the time and the place and the method of their attack. that is why the future of all the american republics is today in serious danger. that is why this annual message to the congress is unique in our history. that is why every member of the executive branch of the government and every member of the congress faces great responsibility and great accountability. the need of the moment is that our actions and our policy should be devoted primarily--almost exclusively--to meeting this foreign peril. for all our domestic problems are now a part of the great emergency. just as our national policy in internal affairs has been based upon a decent respect for the rights and the dignity of all our fellow men within our gates, so our national policy in foreign affairs has been based on a decent respect for the rights and dignity of all nations, large and small. and the justice of morality must and will win in the end. our national policy is this: first, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense. second, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to full support of all those resolute peoples, everywhere, who are resisting aggression and are thereby keeping war away from our hemisphere. by this support, we express our determination that the democratic cause shall prevail; and we strengthen the defense and the security of our own nation. third, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to the proposition that principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. we know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom. in the recent national election there was no substantial difference between the two great parties in respect to that national policy. no issue was fought out on this line before the american electorate. today it is abundantly evident that american citizens everywhere are demanding and supporting speedy and complete action in recognition of obvious danger. therefore, the immediate need is a swift and driving increase in our armament production. leaders of industry and labor have responded to our summons. goals of speed have been set. in some cases these goals are being reached ahead of time; in some cases we are on schedule; in other cases there are slight but not serious delays; and in some cases--and i am sorry to say very important cases--we are all concerned by the slowness of the accomplishment of our plans. the army and navy, however, have made substantial progress during the past year. actual experience is improving and speeding up our methods of production with every passing day. and today's best is not good enough for tomorrow. i am not satisfied with the progress thus far made. the men in charge of the program represent the best in training, in ability, and in patriotism. they are not satisfied with the progress thus far made. none of us will be satisfied until the job is done. no matter whether the original goal was set too high or too low, our objective is quicker and better results. to give you two illustrations: we are behind schedule in turning out finished airplanes; we are working day and night to solve the innumerable problems and to catch up. we are ahead of schedule in building warships but we are working to get even further ahead of that schedule. to change a whole nation from a basis of peacetime production of implements of peace to a basis of wartime production of implements of war is no small task. and the greatest difficulty comes at the beginning of the program, when new tools, new plant facilities, new assembly lines, and new ship ways must first be constructed before the actual materiel begins to flow steadily and speedily from them. the congress, of course, must rightly keep itself informed at all times of the progress of the program. however, there is certain information, as the congress itself will readily recognize, which, in the interests of our own security and those of the nations that we are supporting, must of needs be kept in confidence. new circumstances are constantly begetting new needs for our safety. i shall ask this congress for greatly increased new appropriations and authorizations to carry on what we have begun. i also ask this congress for authority and for funds sufficient to manufacture additional munitions and war supplies of many kinds, to be turned over to those nations which are now in actual war with aggressor nations. our most useful and immediate role is to act as an arsenal for them as well as for ourselves. they do not need man power, but they do need billions of dollars worth of the weapons of defense. the time is near when they will not be able to pay for them all in ready cash. we cannot, and we will not, tell them that they must surrender, merely because of present inability to pay for the weapons which we know they must have. i do not recommend that we make them a loan of dollars with which to pay for these weapons--a loan to be repaid in dollars. i recommend that we make it possible for those nations to continue to obtain war materials in the united states, fitting their orders into our own program. nearly all their materiel would, if the time ever came, be useful for our own defense. taking counsel of expert military and naval authorities, considering what is best for our own security, we are free to decide how much should be kept here and how much should be sent abroad to our friends who by their determined and heroic resistance are giving us time in which to make ready our own defense. for what we send abroad, we shall be repaid within a reasonable time following the close of hostilities, in similar materials, or, at our option, in other goods of many kinds, which they can produce and which we need. let us say to the democracies: "we americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. we are putting forth our energies, our resources and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world. we shall send you, in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. this is our purpose and our pledge." in fulfillment of this purpose we will not be intimidated by the threats of dictators that they will regard as a breach of international law or as an act of war our aid to the democracies which dare to resist their aggression. such aid is not an act of war, even if a dictator should unilaterally proclaim it so to be. when the dictators, if the dictators, are ready to make war upon us, they will not wait for an act of war on our part. they did not wait for norway or belgium or the netherlands to commit an act of war. their only interest is in a new one-way international law, which lacks mutuality in its observance, and, therefore, becomes an instrument of oppression. the happiness of future generations of americans may well depend upon how effective and how immediate we can make our aid felt. no one can tell the exact character of the emergency situations that we may be called upon to meet. the nation's hands must not be tied when the nation's life is in danger. we must all prepare to make the sacrifices that the emergency--almost as serious as war itself--demands. whatever stands in the way of speed and efficiency in defense preparations must give way to the national need. a free nation has the right to expect full cooperation from all groups. a free nation has the right to look to the leaders of business, of labor, and of agriculture to take the lead in stimulating effort, not among other groups but within their own groups. the best way of dealing with the few slackers or trouble makers in our midst is, first, to shame them by patriotic example, and, if that fails, to use the sovereignty of government to save government. as men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by armaments alone. those who man our defenses, and those behind them who build our defenses, must have the stamina and the courage which come from unshakable belief in the manner of life which they are defending. the mighty action that we are calling for cannot be based on a disregard of all things worth fighting for. the nation takes great satisfaction and much strength from the things which have been done to make its people conscious of their individual stake in the preservation of democratic life in america. those things have toughened the fibre of our people, have renewed their faith and strengthened their devotion to the institutions we make ready to protect. certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems which are the root cause of the social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the world. for there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. the basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. they are: equality of opportunity for youth and for others. jobs for those who can work. security for those who need it. the ending of special privilege for the few. the preservation of civil liberties for all. the enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living. these are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. the inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations. many subjects connected with our social economy call for immediate improvement. as examples: we should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance. we should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care. we should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it. i have called for personal sacrifice. i am assured of the willingness of almost all americans to respond to that call. a part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. in my budget message i shall recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program be paid for from taxation than we are paying today. no person should try, or be allowed, to get rich out of this program; and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation. if the congress maintains these principles, the voters, putting patriotism ahead of pocketbooks, will give you their applause. in the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. the first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. the second is freedom of every person to worship god in his own way--everywhere in the world. the third is freedom from want--which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants--everywhere in the world. the fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world. that is no vision of a distant millennium. it is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. that kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb. to that new order we oppose the greater conception--the moral order. a good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear. since the beginning of our american history, we have been engaged in change--in a perpetual peaceful revolution--a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions--without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. the world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society. this nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of god. freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. our strength is our unity of purpose. to that high concept there can be no end save victory. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , in fulfilling my duty to report upon the state of the union, i am proud to say to you that the spirit of the american people was never higher than it is today--the union was never more closely knit together--this country was never more deeply determined to face the solemn tasks before it. the response of the american people has been instantaneous, and it will be sustained until our security is assured. exactly one year ago today i said to this congress: "when the dictators. . . are ready to make war upon us, they will not wait for an act of war on our part. . . . they--not we--will choose the time and the place and the method of their attack." we now know their choice of the time: a peaceful sunday morning--december , . we know their choice of the place: an american outpost in the pacific. we know their choice of the method: the method of hitler himself. japan's scheme of conquest goes back half a century. it was not merely a policy of seeking living room: it was a plan which included the subjugation of all the peoples in the far east and in the islands of the pacific, and the domination of that ocean by japanese military and naval control of the western coasts of north, central, and south america. the development of this ambitious conspiracy was marked by the war against china in ; the subsequent occupation of korea; the war against russia in ; the illegal fortification of the mandated pacific islands following ; the seizure of manchuria in ; and the invasion of china in . a similar policy of criminal conquest was adopted by italy. the fascists first revealed their imperial designs in libya and tripoli. in they seized abyssinia. their goal was the domination of all north africa, egypt, parts of france, and the entire mediterranean world. but the dreams of empire of the japanese and fascist leaders were modest in comparison with the gargantuan aspirations of hitler and his nazis. even before they came to power in , their plans for that conquest had been drawn. those plans provided for ultimate domination, not of any one section of the world, but of the whole earth and all the oceans on it. when hitler organized his berlin-rome-tokyo alliance, all these plans of conquest became a single plan. under this, in addition to her own schemes of conquest, japan's role was obviously to cut off our supply of weapons of war to britain, and russia and china--weapons which increasingly were speeding the day of hitler's doom. the act of japan at pearl harbor was intended to stun us--to terrify us to such an extent that we would divert our industrial and military strength to the pacific area, or even to our own continental defense. the plan has failed in its purpose. we have not been stunned. we have not been terrified or confused. this very reassembling of the seventy-seventh congress today is proof of that; for the mood of quiet, grim resolution which here prevails bodes ill for those who conspired and collaborated to murder world peace. that mood is stronger than any mere desire for revenge. it expresses the will of the american people to make very certain that the world will never so suffer again. admittedly, we have been faced with hard choices. it was bitter, for example, not to be able to relieve the heroic and historic defenders of wake island. it was bitter for us not to be able to land a million men in a thousand ships in the philippine islands. but this adds only to our determination to see to it that the stars and stripes will fly again over wake and guam. yes, see to it that the brave people of the philippines will be rid of japanese imperialism; and will live in freedom, security, and independence. powerful and offensive actions must and will be taken in proper time. the consolidation of the united nations' total war effort against our common enemies is being achieved. that was and is the purpose of conferences which have been held during the past two weeks in washington, and moscow and chungking. that is the primary objective of the declaration of solidarity signed in washington on january , , by nations united against the axis powers. difficult choices may have to be made in the months to come. we do not shrink from such decisions. we and those united with us will make those decisions with courage and determination. plans have been laid here and in the other capitals for coordinated and cooperative action by all the united nations--military action and economic action. already we have established, as you know, unified command of land, sea, and air forces in the southwestern pacific theater of war. there will be a continuation of conferences and consultations among military staffs, so that the plans and operations of each will fit into the general strategy designed to crush the enemy. we shall not fight isolated wars--each nation going its own way. these nations are united--not in spirit and determination alone, but in the broad conduct of the war in all its phases. for the first time since the japanese and the fascists and the nazis started along their blood-stained course of conquest they now face the fact that superior forces are assembling against them. gone forever are the days when the aggressors could attack and destroy their victims one by one without unity of resistance. we of the united nations will so dispose our forces that we can strike at the common enemy wherever the greatest damage can be done him. the militarists of berlin and tokyo started this war. but the massed, angered forces of common humanity will finish it. destruction of the material and spiritual centers of civilization--this has been and still is the purpose of hitler and his italian and japanese chessmen. they would wreck the power of the british commonwealth and russia and china and the netherlands--and then combine all their forces to achieve their ultimate goal, the conquest of the united states. they know that victory for us means victory for freedom. they know that victory for us means victory for the institution of democracy--the ideal of the family, the simple principles of common decency and humanity. they know that victory for us means victory for religion. and they could not tolerate that. the world is too small to provide adequate "living room" for both hitler and god. in proof of that, the nazis have now announced their plan for enforcing their new german, pagan religion all over the world--a plan by which the holy bible and the cross of mercy would be displaced by mein kampf and the swastika and the naked sword. our own objectives are clear; the objective of smashing the militarism imposed by war lords upon their enslaved peoples the objective of liberating the subjugated nations--the objective of establishing and securing freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear everywhere in the world. we shall not stop short of these objectives--nor shall we be satisfied merely to gain them and then call it a day. i know that i speak for the american people--and i have good reason to believe that i speak also for all the other peoples who fight with us--when i say that this time we are determined not only to win the war, but also to maintain the security of the peace that will follow. but we know that modern methods of warfare make it a task, not only of shooting and fighting, but an even more urgent one of working and producing. victory requires the actual weapons of war and the means of transporting them to a dozen points of combat. it will not be sufficient for us and the other united nations to produce a slightly superior supply of munitions to that of germany, japan, italy, and the stolen industries in the countries which they have overrun. the superiority of the united nations in munitions and ships must be overwhelming--so overwhelming that the axis nations can never hope to catch up with it. and so, in order to attain this overwhelming superiority the united states must build planes and tanks and guns and ships to the utmost limit of our national capacity. we have the ability and capacity to produce arms not only for our own forces, but also for the armies, navies, and air forces fighting on our side. and our overwhelming superiority of armament must be adequate to put weapons of war at the proper time into the hands of those men in the conquered nations who stand ready to seize the first opportunity to revolt against their german and japanese oppressors, and against the traitors in their own ranks, known by the already infamous name of "quislings." and i think that it is a fair prophecy to say that, as we get guns to the patriots in those lands, they too will fire shots heard 'round the world. this production of ours in the united states must be raised far above present levels, even though it will mean the dislocation of the lives and occupations of millions of our own people. we must raise our sights all along the production line. let no man say it cannot be done. it must be done--and we have undertaken to do it. i have just sent a letter of directive to the appropriate departments and agencies of our government, ordering that immediate steps be taken: first, to increase our production rate of airplanes so rapidly that in this year, , we shall produce , planes, , more than the goal that we set a year and a half ago. this includes , combat planes--bombers, dive bombers, pursuit planes. the rate of increase will be maintained and continued so that next year, , we shall produce , airplanes, including , combat planes. second, to increase our production rate of tanks so rapidly that in this year, , we shall produce , tanks; and to continue that increase so that next year, , we shall produce , tanks. third, to increase our production rate of anti-aircraft guns so rapidly that in this year, , we shall produce , of them; and to continue that increase so that next year, , we shall produce , anti-aircraft guns. and fourth, to increase our production rate of merchant ships so rapidly that in this year, , we shall build , , deadweight tons as compared with a completed production of , , . and finally, we shall continue that increase so that next year, , we shall build , , tons of shipping. these figures and similar figures for a multitude of other implements of war will give the japanese and the nazis a little idea of just what they accomplished in the attack at pearl harbor. and i rather hope that all these figures which i have given will become common knowledge in germany and japan. our task is hard--our task is unprecedented--and the time is short. we must strain every existing armament-producing facility to the utmost. we must convert every available plant and tool to war production. that goes all the way from the greatest plants to the smallest--from the huge automobile industry to the village machine shop. production for war is based on men and women--the human hands and brains which collectively we call labor. our workers stand ready to work long hours; to turn out more in a day's work; to keep the wheels turning and the fires burning twenty-four hours a day, and seven days a week. they realize well that on the speed and efficiency of their work depend the lives of their sons and their brothers on the fighting fronts. production for war is based on metals and raw materials--steel, copper, rubber, aluminum, zinc, tin. greater and greater quantities of them will have to be diverted to war purposes. civilian use of them will have to be cut further and still further--and, in many cases, completely eliminated. war costs money. so far, we have hardly even begun to pay for it. we have devoted only percent of our national income to national defense. as will appear in my budget message tomorrow, our war program for the coming fiscal year will cost billion dollars or, in other words, more than half of the estimated annual national income. that means taxes and bonds and bonds and taxes. it means cutting luxuries and other non-essentials. in a word, it means an "all-out" war by individual effort and family effort in a united country. only this all-out scale of production will hasten the ultimate all-out victory. speed will count. lost ground can always be regained--lost time never. speed will save lives; speed will save this nation which is in peril; speed will save our freedom and our civilization--and slowness has never been an american characteristic. as the united states goes into its full stride, we must always be on guard against misconceptions which will arise, some of them naturally, or which will be planted among us by our enemies. we must guard against complacency. we must not underrate the enemy. he is powerful and cunning--and cruel and ruthless. he will stop at nothing that gives him a chance to kill and to destroy. he has trained his people to believe that their highest perfection is achieved by waging war. for many years he has prepared for this very conflict--planning, and plotting, and training, arming, and fighting. we have already tasted defeat. we may suffer further setbacks. we must face the fact of a hard war, a long war, a bloody war, a costly war. we must, on the other hand, guard against defeatism. that has been one of the chief weapons of hitler's propaganda machine--used time and again with deadly results. it will not be used successfully on the american people. we must guard against divisions among ourselves and among all the other united nations. we must be particularly vigilant against racial discrimination in any of its ugly forms. hitler will try again to breed mistrust and suspicion between one individual and another, one group and another, one race and another, one government and another. he will try to use the same technique of falsehood and rumor-mongering with which he divided france from britain. he is trying to do this with us even now. but he will find a unity of will and purpose against him, which will persevere until the destruction of all his black designs upon the freedom and safety of the people of the world. we cannot wage this war in a defensive spirit. as our power and our resources are fully mobilized, we shall carry the attack against the enemy--we shall hit him and hit him again wherever and whenever we can reach him. we must keep him far from our shores, for we intend to bring this battle to him on his own home grounds. american armed forces must be used at any place in all the world where it seems advisable to engage the forces of the enemy. in some cases these operations will be defensive, in order to protect key positions. in other cases, these operations will be offensive, in order to strike at the common enemy, with a view to his complete encirclement and eventual total defeat. american armed forces will operate at many points in the far east. american armed forces will be on all the oceans--helping to guard the essential communications which are vital to the united nations. american land and air and sea forces will take stations in the british isles--which constitute an essential fortress in this great world struggle. american armed forces will help to protect this hemisphere--and also help to protect bases outside this hemisphere, which could be used for an attack on the americas. if any of our enemies, from europe or from asia, attempt long-range raids by "suicide" squadrons of bombing planes, they will do so only in the hope of terrorizing our people and disrupting our morale. our people are not afraid of that. we know that we may have to pay a heavy price for freedom. we will pay this price with a will. whatever the price, it is a thousand times worth it. no matter what our enemies, in their desperation, may attempt to do to us--we will say, as the people of london have said, "we can take it." and what's more we can give it back and we will give it back--with compound interest. when our enemies challenged our country to stand up and fight, they challenged each and every one of us. and each and every one of us has accepted the challenge--for himself and for his nation. there were only some united states marines who in the heroic and historic defense of wake island inflicted such great losses on the enemy. some of those men were killed in action; and others are now prisoners of war. when the survivors of that great fight are liberated and restored to their homes, they will learn that a hundred and thirty million of their fellow citizens have been inspired to render their own full share of service and sacrifice. we can well say that our men on the fighting fronts have already proved that americans today are just as rugged and just as tough as any of the heroes whose exploits we celebrate on the fourth of july. many people ask, "when will this war end?" there is only one answer to that. it will end just as soon as we make it end, by our combined efforts, our combined strength, our combined determination to fight through and work through until the end--the end of militarism in germany and italy and japan. most certainly we shall not settle for less. that is the spirit in which discussions have been conducted during the visit of the british prime minister to washington. mr. churchill and i understand each other, our motives and our purposes. together, during the past two weeks, we have faced squarely the major military and economic problems of this greatest world war. all in our nation have been cheered by mr. churchill's visit. we have been deeply stirred by his great message to us. he is welcome in our midst, and we unite in wishing him a safe return to his home. for we are fighting on the same side with the british people, who fought alone for long, terrible months, and withstood the enemy with fortitude and tenacity and skill. we are fighting on the same side with the russian people who have seen the nazi hordes swarm up to the very gates of moscow, and who with almost superhuman will and courage have forced the invaders back into retreat. we are fighting on the same side as the brave people of china--those millions who for four and a half long years have withstood bombs and starvation and have whipped the invaders time and again in spite of the superior japanese equipment and arms. yes, we are fighting on the same side as the indomitable dutch. we are fighting on the same side as all the other governments in exile, whom hitler and all his armies and all his gestapo have not been able to conquer. but we of the united nations are not making all this sacrifice of human effort and human lives to return to the kind of world we had after the last world war. we are fighting today for security, for progress, and for peace, not only for ourselves but for all men, not only for one generation but for all generations. we are fighting to cleanse the world of ancient evils, ancient ills. our enemies are guided by brutal cynicism, by unholy contempt for the human race. we are inspired by a faith that goes back through all the years to the first chapter of the book of genesis: "god created man in his own image." we on our side are striving to be true to that divine heritage. we are fighting, as our fathers have fought, to uphold the doctrine that all men are equal in the sight of god. those on the other side are striving to destroy this deep belief and to create a world in their own image--a world of tyranny and cruelty and serfdom. that is the conflict that day and night now pervades our lives. no compromise can end that conflict. there never has been--there never can be--successful compromise between good and evil. only total victory can reward the champions of tolerance, and decency, and freedom, and faith. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , mr. vice president, mr. speaker, members of the seventy-eighth congress: this seventy-eighth congress assembles in one of the great moments in the history of the nation. the past year was perhaps the most crucial for modern civilization; the coming year will be filled with violent conflicts-- yet with high promise of better things. we must appraise the events of according to their relative importance; we must exercise a sense of proportion. first in importance in the american scene has been the inspiring proof of the great qualities of our fighting men. they have demonstrated these qualities in adversity as well as in victory. as long as our flag flies over this capitol, americans will honor the soldiers, sailors, and marines who fought our first battles of this war against overwhelming odds the heroes, living and dead, of wake and bataan and guadalcanal, of the java sea and midway and the north atlantic convoys. their unconquerable spirit will live forever. by far the largest and most important developments in the whole world-wide strategic picture of were the events of the long fronts in russia: first, the implacable defense of stalingrad; and, second, the offensives by the russian armies at various points that started in the latter part of november and which still roll on with great force and effectiveness. the other major events of the year were: the series of japanese advances in the philippines, the east indies, malaya, and burma; the stopping of that japanese advance in the mid-pacific, the south pacific, and the indian oceans; the successful defense of the near east by the british counterattack through egypt and libya; the american-british occupation of north africa. of continuing importance in the year were the unending and bitterly contested battles of the convoy routes, and the gradual passing of air superiority from the axis to the united nations. the axis powers knew that they must win the war in --or eventually lose everything. i do not need to tell you that our enemies did not win the war in . in the pacific area, our most important victory in was the air and naval battle off midway island. that action is historically important because it secured for our use communication lines stretching thousands of miles in every direction. in placing this emphasis on the battle of midway, i am not unmindful of other successful actions in the pacific, in the air and on land and afloat--especially those on the coral sea and new guinea and in the solomon islands. but these actions were essentially defensive. they were part of the delaying strategy that characterized this phase of the war. during this period we inflicted steady losses upon the enemy--great losses of japanese planes and naval vessels, transports and cargo ships. as early as one year ago, we set as a primary task in the war of the pacific a day-by-day and week-by-week and month-by-month destruction of more japanese war materials than japanese industry could replace. most certainly, that task has been and is being performed by our fighting ships and planes. and a large part of this task has been accomplished by the gallant crews of our american submarines who strike on the other side of the pacific at japanese ships--right up at the very mouth of the harbor of yokohama. we know that as each day goes by, japanese strength in ships and planes is going down and down, and american strength in ships and planes is going up and up. and so i sometimes feel that the eventual outcome can now be put on a mathematical basis. that will become evident to the japanese people themselves when we strike at their own home islands, and bomb them constantly from the air. and in the attacks against japan, we shall be joined with the heroic people of china--that great people whose ideals of peace are so closely akin to our own. even today we are flying as much lend-lease material into china as ever traversed the burma road, flying it over mountains , feet high, flying blind through sleet and snow. we shall overcome all the formidable obstacles, and get the battle equipment into china to shatter the power of our common enemy. from this war, china will realize the security, the prosperity and the dignity, which japan has sought so ruthlessly to destroy. the period of our defensive attrition in the pacific is drawing to a close. now our aim is to force the japanese to fight. last year, we stopped them. this year, we intend to advance. turning now to the european theater of war, during this past year it was clear that our first task was to lessen the concentrated pressure on the russian front by compelling germany to divert part of her manpower and equipment to another theater of war. after months of secret planning and preparation in the utmost detail, an enormous amphibious expedition was embarked for french north africa from the united states and the united kingdom in literally hundreds of ships. it reached its objectives with very small losses, and has already produced an important effect upon the whole situation of the war. it has opened to attack what mr. churchill well described as "the under-belly of the axis," and it has removed the always dangerous threat of an axis attack through west africa against the south atlantic ocean and the continent of south america itself. the well-timed and splendidly executed offensive from egypt by the british eighth army was a part of the same major strategy of the united nations. great rains and appalling mud and very limited communications have delayed the final battles of tunisia. the axis is reinforcing its strong positions. but i am confident that though the fighting will be tough, when the final allied assault is made, the last vestige of axis power will be driven from the whole of the south shores of the mediterranean. any review of the year must emphasize the magnitude and the diversity of the military activities in which this nation has become engaged. as i speak to you, approximately one and a half million of our soldiers, sailors, marines, and fliers are in service outside of our continental limits, all through the world. our merchant seamen, in addition, are carrying supplies to them and to our allies over every sea lane. few americans realize the amazing growth of our air strength, though i am sure our enemy does. day in and day out our forces are bombing the enemy and meeting him in combat on many different fronts in every part of the world. and for those who question the quality of our aircraft and the ability of our fliers, i point to the fact that, in africa, we are shooting down two enemy planes to every one we lose, and in the pacific and the southwest pacific we are shooting them down four to one. we pay great tribute--the tribute of the united states of america--to the fighting men of russia and china and britain and the various members of the british commonwealth--the millions of men who through the years of this war have fought our common enemies, and have denied to them the world conquest which they sought. we pay tribute to the soldiers and fliers and seamen of others of the united nations whose countries have been overrun by axis hordes. as a result of the allied occupation of north africa, powerful units of the french army and navy are going into action. they are in action with the united nations forces. we welcome them as allies and as friends. they join with those frenchmen who, since the dark days of june, , have been fighting valiantly for the liberation of their stricken country. we pay tribute to the fighting leaders of our allies, to winston churchill, to joseph stalin, and to the generalissimo chiang kai-shek. yes, there is a very great unanimity between the leaders of the united nations. this unity is effective in planning and carrying out the major strategy of this war and in building up and in maintaining the lines of supplies. i cannot prophesy. i cannot tell you when or where the united nations are going to strike next in europe. but we are going to strike--and strike hard. i cannot tell you whether we are going to hit them in norway, or through the low countries, or in france, or through sardinia or sicily, or through the balkans, or through poland--or at several points simultaneously. but i can tell you that no matter where and when we strike by land, we and the british and the russians will hit them from the air heavily and relentlessly. day in and day out we shall heap tons upon tons of high explosives on their war factories and utilities and seaports. hitler and mussolini will understand now the enormity of their miscalculations--that the nazis would always have the advantage of superior air power as they did when they bombed warsaw, and rotterdam, and london and coventry. that superiority has gone--forever. yes, the nazis and the fascists have asked for it--and they are going to get it. our forward progress in this war has depended upon our progress on the production front. there has been criticism of the management and conduct of our war production. much of this self-criticism has had a healthy effect. it has spurred us on. it has reflected a normal american impatience to get on with the job. we are the kind of people who are never quite satisfied with anything short of miracles. but there has been some criticism based on guesswork and even on malicious falsification of fact. such criticism creates doubts and creates fears, and weakens our total effort. i do not wish to suggest that we should be completely satisfied with our production progress today, or next month, or ever. but i can report to you with genuine pride on what has been accomplished in . a year ago we set certain production goals for and for . some people, including some experts, thought that we had pulled some big figures out of a hat just to frighten the axis. but we had confidence in the ability of our people to establish new records. and that confidence has been justified. of course, we realized that some production objectives would have to be changed--some of them adjusted upward, and others downward; some items would be taken out of the program altogether, and others added. this was inevitable as we gained battle experience, and as technological improvements were made. our airplane production and tank production fell short, numerically--stress the word numerically of the goals set a year ago. nevertheless, we have plenty of reason to be proud of our record for . we produced , military planes--more than the airplane production of germany, italy, and japan put together. last month, in december, we produced , military planes and the rate is rapidly rising. furthermore, we must remember that as each month passes by, the averages of our types weigh more, take more man-hours to make, and have more striking power. in tank production, we revised our schedule--and for good and sufficient reasons. as a result of hard experience in battle, we have diverted a portion of our tank-producing capacity to a stepped-up production of new, deadly field weapons, especially self-propelled artillery. here are some other production figures: in , we produced , combat vehicles, such as tanks and self-propelled artillery. in , we produced , machine guns, six times greater than our production in and three times greater than our total production during the year and a half of our participation in the first world war. we produced , anti-tank guns, six times greater than our production. we produced ten and a quarter billion rounds of small-arms ammunition, five times greater than our production and three times greater than our total production in the first world war. we produced million rounds of artillery ammunition, twelve times greater than our production and ten times greater than our total production in the first world war. i think the arsenal of democracy is making good. these facts and figures that i have given will give no great aid and comfort to the enemy. on the contrary, i can imagine that they will give him considerable discomfort. i suspect that hitler and tojo will find it difficult to explain to the german and japanese people just why it is that "decadent, inefficient democracy" can produce such phenomenal quantities of weapons and munitions--and fighting men. we have given the lie to certain misconceptions--which is an extremely polite word--especially the one which holds that the various blocs or groups within a free country cannot forego their political and economic differences in time of crisis and work together toward a common goal. while we have been achieving this miracle of production, during the past year our armed forces have grown from a little over , , to , , . in other words, we have withdrawn from the labor force and the farms some , , of our younger workers. and in spite of this, our farmers have contributed their share to the common effort by producing the greatest quantity of food ever made available during a single year in all our history. i wonder is there any person among us so simple as to believe that all this could have been done without creating some dislocations in our normal national life, some inconveniences, and even some hardships? who can have hoped to have done this without burdensome government regulations which are a nuisance to everyone--including those who have the thankless task of administering them? we all know that there have been mistakes--mistakes due to the inevitable process of trial and error inherent in doing big things for the first time. we all know that there have been too many complicated forms and questionnaires. i know about that. i have had to fill some of them out myself. but we are determined to see to it that our supplies of food and other essential civilian goods are distributed on a fair and just basis--to rich and poor, management and labor, farmer and city dweller alike. we are determined to keep the cost of living at a stable level. all this has required much information. these forms and questionnaires represent an honest and sincere attempt by honest and sincere officials to obtain this information. we have learned by the mistakes that we have made. our experience will enable us during the coming year to improve the necessary mechanisms of wartime economic controls, and to simplify administrative procedures. but we do not intend to leave things so lax that loopholes will be left for cheaters, for chiselers, or for the manipulators of the black market. of course, there have been disturbances and inconveniences--and even hardships. and there will be many, many more before we finally win. yes, will not be an easy year for us on the home front. we shall feel in many ways in our daily lives the sharp pinch of total war. fortunately, there are only a few americans who place appetite above patriotism. the overwhelming majority realize that the food we send abroad is for essential military purposes, for our own and allied fighting forces, and for necessary help in areas that we occupy. we americans intend to do this great job together. in our common labors we must build and fortify the very foundation of national unity--confidence in one another. it is often amusing, and it is sometimes politically profitable, to picture the city of washington as a madhouse, with the congress and the administration disrupted with confusion and indecision and general incompetence. however--what matters most in war is results. and the one pertinent fact is that after only a few years of preparation and only one year of warfare, we are able to engage, spiritually as well as physically, in the total waging of a total war. washington may be a madhouse--but only in the sense that it is the capital city of a nation which is fighting mad. and i think that berlin and rome and tokyo, which had such contempt for the obsolete methods of democracy, would now gladly use all they could get of that same brand of madness. and we must not forget that our achievements in production have been relatively no greater than those of the russians and the british and the chinese who have developed their own war industries under the incredible difficulties of battle conditions. they have had to continue work through bombings and blackouts. and they have never quit. we americans are in good, brave company in this war, and we are playing our own, honorable part in the vast common effort. as spokesmen for the united states government, you and i take off our hats to those responsible for our american production--to the owners, managers, and supervisors, to the draftsmen and the engineers, and to the workers-- men and women--in factories and arsenals and shipyards and mines and mills and forests--and railroads and on highways. we take off our hats to the farmers who have faced an unprecedented task of feeding not only a great nation but a great part of the world. we take off our hats to all the loyal, anonymous, untiring men and women who have worked in private employment and in government and who have endured rationing and other stringencies with good humor and good will. yes, we take off our hats to all americans who have contributed so magnificently to our common cause. i have sought to emphasize a sense of proportion in this review of the events of the war and the needs of the war. we should never forget the things we are fighting for. but, at this critical period of the war, we should confine ourselves to the larger objectives and not get bogged down in argument over methods and details. we, and all the united nations, want a decent peace and a durable peace. in the years between the end of the first world war and the beginning of the second world war, we were not living under a decent or a durable peace. i have reason to know that our boys at the front are concerned with two broad aims beyond the winning of the war; and their thinking and their opinion coincide with what most americans here back home are mulling over. they know, and we know, that it would be inconceivable--it would, indeed, be sacrilegious--if this nation and the world did not attain some real, lasting good out of all these efforts and sufferings and bloodshed and death. the men in our armed forces want a lasting peace, and, equally, they want permanent employment for themselves, their families, and their neighbors when they are mustered out at the end of the war. two years ago i spoke in my annual message of four freedoms. the blessings of two of them--freedom of speech and freedom of religion--are an essential part of the very life of this nation; and we hope that these blessings will be granted to all men everywhere. 'the people at home, and the people at the front, are wondering a little about the third freedom--freedom from want. to them it means that when they are mustered out, when war production is converted to the economy of peace, they will have the right to expect full employment--full employment for themselves and for all able-bodied men and women in america who want to work. they expect the opportunity to work, to run their farms, their stores, to earn decent wages. they are eager to face the risks inherent in our system of free enterprise. they do not want a postwar america which suffers from undernourishment or slums--or the dole. they want no get-rich-quick era of bogus "prosperity" which will end for them in selling apples on a street corner, as happened after the bursting of the boom in . when you talk with our young men and our young women, you will find they want to work for themselves and for their families; they consider that they have the right to work; and they know that after the last war their fathers did not gain that right. when you talk with our young men and women, you will find that with the opportunity for employment they want assurance against the evils of all major economic hazards--assurance that will extend from the cradle to the grave. and this great government can and must provide this assurance. i have been told that this is no time to speak of a better america after the war. i am told it is a grave error on my part. i dissent. and if the security of the individual citizen, or the family, should become a subject of national debate, the country knows where i stand. i say this now to this seventy-eighth congress, because it is wholly possible that freedom from want--the right of employment, the right of assurance against life's hazards--will loom very large as a task of america during the coming two years. i trust it will not be regarded as an issue--but rather as a task for all of us to study sympathetically, to work out with a constant regard for the attainment of the objective, with fairness to all and with injustice to none. in this war of survival we must keep before our minds not only the evil things we fight against but the good things we are fighting for. we fight to retain a great past--and we fight to gain a greater future. let us remember, too, that economic safety for the america of the future is threatened unless a greater economic stability comes to the rest of the world. we cannot make america an island in either a military or an economic sense. hitlerism, like any other form of crime or disease, can grow from the evil seeds of economic as well as military feudalism. victory in this war is the first and greatest goal before us. victory in the peace is the next. that means striving toward the enlargement of the security of man here and throughout the world--and, finally, striving for the fourth freedom--freedom from fear. it is of little account for any of us to talk of essential human needs, of attaining security, if we run the risk of another world war in ten or twenty or fifty years. that is just plain common sense. wars grow in size, in death and destruction, and in the inevitability of engulfing all nations, in inverse ratio to the shrinking size of the world as a result of the conquest of the air. i shudder to think of what will happen to humanity, including ourselves, if this war ends in an inconclusive peace, and another war breaks out when the babies of today have grown to fighting age. every normal american prays that neither he nor his sons nor his grandsons will be compelled to go through this horror again. undoubtedly a few americans, even now, think that this nation can end this war comfortably and then climb back into an american hole and pull the hole in after them. but we have learned that we can never dig a hole so deep that it would be safe against predatory animals. we have also learned that if we do not pull the fangs of the predatory animals of this world, they will multiply and grow in strength--and they will be at our throats again once more in a short generation. most americans realize more clearly than ever before that modern war equipment in the hands of aggressor nations can bring danger overnight to our own national existence or to that of any other nation--or island--or continent. it is clear to us that if germany and italy and japan--or any one of them-- remain armed at the end of this war, or are permitted to rearm, they will again, and inevitably, embark upon an ambitious career of world conquest. they must be disarmed and kept disarmed, and they must abandon the philosophy, and the teaching of that philosophy, which has brought so much suffering to the world. after the first world war we tried to achieve a formula for permanent peace, based on a magnificent idealism. we failed. but, by our failure, we have learned that we cannot maintain peace at this stage of human development by good intentions alone. today the united nations are the mightiest military coalition in all history. they represent an overwhelming majority of the population of the world. bound together in solemn agreement that they themselves will not commit acts of aggression or conquest against any of their neighbors, the united nations can and must remain united for the maintenance of peace by preventing any attempt to rearm in germany, in japan, in italy, or in any other nation which seeks to violate the tenth commandment--"thou shalt not covet." there are cynics, there are skeptics who say it cannot be done. the american people and all the freedom-loving peoples of this earth are now demanding that it must be done. and the will of these people shall prevail. the very philosophy of the axis powers is based on a profound contempt for the human race. if, in the formation of our future policy, we were guided by the same cynical contempt, then we should be surrendering to the philosophy of our enemies, and our victory would turn to defeat. the issue of this war is the basic issue between those who believe in mankind and those who do not--the ancient issue between those who put their faith in the people and those who put their faith in dictators and tyrants. there have always been those who did not believe in the people, who attempted to block their forward movement across history, to force them back to servility and suffering and silence. the people have now gathered their strength. they are moving forward in their might and power--and no force, no combination of forces, no trickery, deceit, or violence, can stop them now. they see before them the hope of the world--a decent, secure, peaceful life for men everywhere. i do not prophesy when this war will end. but i do believe that this year of will give to the united nations a very substantial advance along the roads that lead to berlin and rome and tokyo. i tell you it is within the realm of possibility that this seventy-eighth congress may have the historic privilege of helping greatly to save the world from future fear. therefore, let us all have confidence, let us redouble our efforts. a tremendous, costly, long-enduring task in peace as well as in war is still ahead of us. but, as we face that continuing task, we may know that the state of this nation is good--the heart of this nation is sound--the spirit of this nation is strong--the faith of this nation is eternal. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , to the congress: 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 , 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, , 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 . 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, , 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 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: ( ) 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. ( ) 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. ( ) 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. ( ) early reenactment of the stabilization statute of october, . this expires june , , 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. ( ) 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 than in . 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, , , 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 '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 , : "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. *** state of the union address franklin d. roosevelt january , to the congress: in considering the state of the union, the war and the peace that is to follow are naturally uppermost in the minds of all of us. this war must be waged--it is being waged--with the greatest and most persistent intensity. everything we are and have is at stake. everything we are and have will be given. american men, fighting far from home, have already won victories which the world will never forget. we have no question of the ultimate victory. we have no question of the cost. our losses will be heavy. we and our allies will go on fighting together to ultimate total victory. we have seen a year marked, on the whole, by substantial progress toward victory, even though the year ended with a setback for our arms, when the germans launched a ferocious counter-attack into luxembourg and belgium with the obvious objective of cutting our line in the center. our men have fought with indescribable and unforgettable gallantry under most difficult conditions, and our german enemies have sustained considerable losses while failing to obtain their objectives. the high tide of this german effort was reached two days after christmas. since then we have reassumed the offensive, rescued the isolated garrison at bastogne, and forced a german withdrawal along the whole line of the salient. the speed with which we recovered from this savage attack was largely possible because we have one supreme commander in complete control of all the allied armies in france. general eisenhower has faced this period of trial with admirable calm and resolution and with steadily increasing success. he has my complete confidence. further desperate attempts may well be made to break our lines, to slow our progress. we must never make the mistake of assuming that the germans are beaten until the last nazi has surrendered. and i would express another most serious warning against the poisonous effects of enemy propaganda. the wedge that the germans attempted to drive in western europe was less dangerous in actual terms of winning the war than the wedges which they are continually attempting to drive between ourselves and our allies. every little rumor which is intended to weaken our faith in our allies is like an actual enemy agent in our midst--seeking to sabotage our war effort. there are, here and there, evil and baseless rumors against the russians--rumors against the british--rumors against our own american commanders in the field. when you examine these rumors closely, you will observe that every one of them bears the same trade-mark--"made in germany." we must resist this divisive propaganda--we must destroy it--with the same strength and the same determination that our fighting men are displaying as they resist and destroy the panzer divisions. in europe, we shall resume the attack and--despite temporary setbacks here or there--we shall continue the attack relentlessly until germany is completely defeated. it is appropriate at this time to review the basic strategy which has guided us through three years of war, and which will lead, eventually, to total victory. the tremendous effort of the first years of this war was directed toward the concentration of men and supplies in the various theaters of action at the points where they could hurt our enemies most. it was an effort--in the language of the military men--of deployment of our forces. many battles--essential battles--were fought; many victories--vital victories--were won. but these battles and these victories were fought and won to hold back the attacking enemy, and to put us in positions from which we and our allies could deliver the final, decisive blows. in the beginning our most important military task was to prevent our enemies--the strongest and most violently aggressive powers that ever have threatened civilization--from winning decisive victories. but even while we were conducting defensive, delaying actions, we were looking forward to the time when we could wrest the initiative from our enemies and place our superior resources of men and materials into direct competition with them. it was plain then that the defeat of either enemy would require the massing of overwhelming forces--ground, sea, and air--in positions from which we and our allies could strike directly against the enemy homelands and destroy the nazi and japanese war machines. in the case of japan, we had to await the completion of extensive preliminary operations--operations designed to establish secure supply lines through the japanese outer-zone defenses. this called for overwhelming sea power and air power--supported by ground forces strategically employed against isolated outpost garrisons. always--from the very day we were attacked--it was right militarily as well as morally to reject the arguments of those shortsighted people who would have had us throw britain and russia to the nazi wolves and concentrate against the japanese. such people urged that we fight a purely defensive war against japan while allowing the domination of all the rest of the world by nazism and fascism. in the european theater the necessary bases for the massing of ground and air power against germany were already available in great britain. in the mediterranean area we could begin ground operations against major elements of the german army as rapidly as we could put troops in the field, first in north africa and then in italy. therefore, our decision was made to concentrate the bulk of our ground and air forces against germany until her utter defeat. that decision was based on all these factors; and it was also based on the realization that, of our two enemies, germany would be more able to digest quickly her conquests, the more able quickly to convert the manpower and resources of her conquered territory into a war potential. we had in europe two active and indomitable allies--britain and the soviet union--and there were also the heroic resistance movements in the occupied countries, constantly engaging and harassing the germans. we cannot forget how britain held the line, alone, in and ; and at the same time, despite ferocious bombardment from the air, built up a tremendous armaments industry which enabled her to take the offensive at el alamein in . we cannot forget the heroic defense of moscow and leningrad and stalingrad, or the tremendous russian offensives of and which destroyed formidable german armies. nor can we forget how, for more than seven long years, the chinese people have been sustaining the barbarous attacks of the japanese and containing large enemy forces on the vast areas of the asiatic mainland. in the future we must never forget the lesson that we have learned--that we must have friends who will work with us in peace as they have fought at our side in war. as a result of the combined effort of the allied forces, great military victories were achieved in : the liberation of france, belgium, greece, and parts of the netherlands, norway, poland, yugoslavia, and czechoslovakia; the surrender of rumania and bulgaria; the invasion of germany itself and hungary; the steady march through the pacific islands to the philippines, guam, and saipan; and the beginnings of a mighty air offensive against the japanese islands. now, as this seventy-ninth congress meets, we have reached the most critical phase of the war. the greatest victory of the last year was, of course, the successful breach on june , , of the german "impregnable" seawall of europe and the victorious sweep of the allied forces through france and belgium and luxembourg--almost to the rhine itself. the cross-channel invasion of the allied armies was the greatest amphibious operation in the history of the world. it overshadowed all other operations in this or any other war in its immensity. its success is a tribute to the fighting courage of the soldiers who stormed the beaches--to the sailors and merchant seamen who put the soldiers ashore and kept them supplied--and to the military and naval leaders who achieved a real miracle of planning and execution. and it is also a tribute to the ability of two nations, britain and america, to plan together, and work together, and fight together in perfect cooperation and perfect harmony. this cross-channel invasion was followed in august by a second great amphibious operation, landing troops in southern france. in this, the same cooperation and the same harmony existed between the american, french, and other allied forces based in north africa and italy. the success of the two invasions is a tribute also to the ability of many men and women to maintain silence, when a few careless words would have imperiled the lives of hundreds of thousands, and would have jeopardized the whole vast undertakings. these two great operations were made possible by success in the battle of the atlantic. without this success over german submarines, we could not have built up our invasion forces or air forces in great britain, nor could we have kept a steady stream of supplies flowing to them after they had landed in france. the nazis, however, may succeed in improving their submarines and their crews. they have recently increased their u-boat activity. the battle of the atlantic--like all campaigns in this war--demands eternal vigilance. but the british, canadian, and other allied navies, together with our own, are constantly on the alert. the tremendous operations in western europe have overshadowed in the public mind the less spectacular but vitally important italian front. its place in the strategic conduct of the war in europe has been obscured, and--by some people unfortunately--underrated. it is important that any misconception on that score be corrected--now. what the allied forces in italy are doing is a well-considered part in our strategy in europe, now aimed at only one objective--the total defeat of the germans. these valiant forces in italy are continuing to keep a substantial portion of the german army under constant pressure--including some first-line german divisions and the necessary supply and transport and replacement troops--all of which our enemies need so badly elsewhere. over very difficult terrain and through adverse weather conditions, our fifth army and the british eighth army--reinforced by units from other united nations, including a brave and well equipped unit of the brazilian army--have, in the past year, pushed north through bloody cassino and the anzio beachhead, and through rome until now they occupy heights overlooking the valley of the po. the greatest tribute which can be paid to the courage and fighting ability of these splendid soldiers in italy is to point out that although their strength is about equal to that of the germans they oppose, the allies have been continuously on the offensive. that pressure, that offensive, by our troops in italy will continue. the american people--and every soldier now fighting in the apennines--should remember that the italian front has not lost any of the importance which it had in the days when it was the only allied front in europe. in the pacific during the past year, we have conducted the fastest-moving offensive in the history of modern warfare. we have driven the enemy back more than , miles across the central pacific. a year ago, our conquest of tarawa was a little more than a month old. a year ago, we were preparing for our invasion of kwajalein, the second of our great strides across the central pacific to the philippines. a year ago, general macarthur was still fighting in new guinea almost , miles from his present position in the philippine islands. we now have firmly established bases in the mariana islands, from which our super fortresses bomb tokyo itself--and will continue to blast japan in ever-increasing numbers. japanese forces in the philippines have been cut in two. there is still hard fighting ahead--costly fighting. but the liberation of the philippines will mean that japan has been largely cut off from her conquests in the east indies. the landing of our troops on leyte was the largest amphibious operation thus far conducted in the pacific. moreover, these landings drew the japanese fleet into the first great sea battle which japan has risked in almost two years. not since the night engagements around guadalcanal in november-december, , had our navy been able to come to grips with major units of the japanese fleet. we had brushed against their fleet in the first battle of the philippine sea in june, , but not until last october were we able really to engage a major portion of the japanese navy in actual combat. the naval engagement which raged for three days was the heaviest blow ever struck against japanese sea power. as a result of that battle, much of what is left of the japanese fleet has been driven behind the screen of islands that separates the yellow sea, the china sea, and the sea of japan from the pacific. our navy looks forward to any opportunity which the lords of the japanese navy will give us to fight them again. the people of this nation have a right to be proud of the courage and fighting ability of the men in the armed forces--on all fronts. they also have a right to be proud of american leadership which has guided their sons into battle. the history of the generalship of this war has been a history of teamwork and cooperation, of skill and daring. let me give you one example out of last year's operations in the pacific. last september admiral halsey led american naval task forces into philippine waters and north to the east china sea, and struck heavy blows at japanese air and sea power. at that time it was our plan to approach the philippines by further stages, taking islands which we may call a, c, and e. however, admiral halsey reported that a direct attack on leyte appeared feasible. when general macarthur received the reports from admiral halsey's task forces, he also concluded that it might be possible to attack the japanese in the philippines directly--bypassing islands a, c, and e. admiral nimitz thereupon offered to make available to general macarthur several divisions which had been scheduled to take the intermediate objectives. these discussions, conducted at great distances, all took place in one day. general macarthur immediately informed the joint chiefs of staff here in washington that he was prepared to initiate plans for an attack on leyte in october. approval of the change in plan was given on the same day. thus, within the space of hours, a major change of plans was accomplished which involved army and navy forces from two different theaters of operations--a change which hastened the liberation of the philippines and the final day of victory--a change which saved lives which would have been expended in the capture of islands which are now neutralized far behind our lines. our over-all strategy has not neglected the important task of rendering all possible aid to china. despite almost insuperable difficulties, we increased this aid during . at present our aid to china must be accomplished by air transport--there is no other way. by the end of , the air transport command was carrying into china a tonnage of supplies three times as great as that delivered a year ago, and much more, each month, than the burma road ever delivered at its peak. despite the loss of important bases in china, the tonnage delivered by air transport has enabled general chennault's fourteenth air force, which includes many chinese flyers, to wage an effective and aggressive campaign against the japanese. in aircraft of the fourteenth air force flew more than , sorties against the japanese and sank enormous tonnage of enemy shipping, greatly diminishing the usefulness of the china sea lanes. british, dominion, and chinese forces together with our own have not only held the line in burma against determined japanese attacks but have gained bases of considerable importance to the supply line into china. the burma campaigns have involved incredible hardship, and have demanded exceptional fortitude and determination. the officers and men who have served with so much devotion in these far distant jungles and mountains deserve high honor from their countrymen. in all of the far-flung operations of our own armed forces--on land, and sea and in the air--the final job, the toughest job, has been performed by the average, easy-going, hard-fighting young american, who carries the weight of battle on his own shoulders. it is to him that we and all future generations of americans must pay grateful tribute. but--it is of small satisfaction to him to know that monuments will be raised to him in the future. he wants, he needs, and he is entitled to insist upon, our full and active support--now. although unprecedented production figures have made possible our victories, we shall have to increase our goals even more in certain items. peak deliveries of supplies were made to the war department in december, . due in part to cutbacks, we have not produced as much since then. deliveries of army supplies were down by percent by july, , before the upward trend was once more resumed. because of increased demands from overseas, the army service forces in the month of october, , had to increase its estimate of required production by percent. but in november, one month later, the requirements for had to be increased another percent, sending the production goal well above anything we have yet attained. our armed forces in combat have steadily increased their expenditure of medium and heavy artillery ammunition. as we continue the decisive phases of this war, the munitions that we expend will mount day by day. in october, , while some were saying the war in europe was over, the army was shipping more men to europe than in any previous month of the war. one of the most urgent immediate requirements of the armed forces is more nurses. last april the army requirement for nurses was set at , . actual strength in nurses was then , . since that time the army has tried to raise the additional , . active recruiting has been carried on, but the net gain in eight months has been only , . there are now , nurses in the army. recent estimates have increased the total number needed to , . that means that , more nurses must be obtained for the army alone and the navy now requires , additional nurses. the present shortage of army nurses is reflected in undue strain on the existing force. more than a thousand nurses are now hospitalized, and part of this is due to overwork. the shortage is also indicated by the fact that army hospital units have been sent overseas without their complement of nurses. at army hospitals in the united states there is only nurse to beds, instead of the recommended to beds. it is tragic that the gallant women who have volunteered for service as nurses should be so overworked. it is tragic that our wounded men should ever want for the best possible nursing care. the inability to get the needed nurses for the army is not due to any shortage of nurses; , registered nurses are now practicing in this country. it has been estimated by the war manpower commission that , additional nurses could be made available to the armed forces without interfering too seriously with the needs of the civilian population for nurses. since volunteering has not produced the number of nurses required, i urge that the selective service act be amended to provide for the induction of nurses into the armed forces. the need is too pressing to await the outcome of further efforts at recruiting. the care and treatment given to our wounded and sick soldiers have been the best known to medical science. those standards must be maintained at all costs. we cannot tolerate a lowering of them by failure to provide adequate nursing for the brave men who stand desperately in need of it. in the continuing progress of this war we have constant need for new types of weapons, for we cannot afford to fight the war of today or tomorrow with the weapons of yesterday. for example, the american army now has developed a new tank with a gun more powerful than any yet mounted on a fast-moving vehicle. the army will need many thousands of these new tanks in . almost every month finds some new development in electronics which must be put into production in order to maintain our technical superiority--and in order to save lives. we have to work every day to keep ahead of the enemy in radar. on d-day, in france, with our superior new equipment, we located and then put out of operation every warning set which the germans had along the french coast. if we do not keep constantly ahead of our enemies in the development of new weapons, we pay for our backwardness with the life's blood of our sons. the only way to meet these increased needs for new weapons and more of them is for every american engaged in war work to stay on his war job--for additional american civilians, men and women, not engaged in essential work, to go out and get a war job. workers who are released because their production is cut back should get another job where production is being increased. this is no time to quit or change to less essential jobs. there is an old and true saying that the lord hates a quitter. and this nation must pay for all those who leave their essential jobs--or all those who lay down on their essential jobs for nonessential reasons. and--again--that payment must be made with the life's blood of our sons. many critical production programs with sharply rising needs are now seriously hampered by manpower shortages. the most important army needs are artillery ammunition, cotton duck, bombs, tires, tanks, heavy trucks, and even b- 's. in each of these vital programs, present production is behind requirements. navy production of bombardment ammunition is hampered by manpower shortages; so is production for its huge rocket program. labor shortages have also delayed its cruiser and carrier programs, and production of certain types of aircraft. there is critical need for more repair workers and repair parts; this jack delays the return of damaged fighting ships to their places in the fleet, and prevents ships now in the fighting line from getting needed overhauling. the pool of young men under classified as i-a is almost depleted. increased replacements for the armed forces will take men now deferred who are at work in war industry. the armed forces must have an assurance of a steady flow of young men for replacements. meeting this paramount need will be difficult, and will also make it progressively more difficult to attain the production goals. last year, after much consideration, i recommended that the congress adopt a national service act as the most efficient and democratic way of insuring full production for our war requirements. this recommendation was not adopted. i now again call upon the congress to enact this measure for the total mobilization of all our human resources for the prosecution of the war. i urge that this be done at the earliest possible moment. it is not too late in the war. in fact, bitter experience has shown that in this kind of mechanized warfare where new weapons are constantly being created by our enemies and by ourselves, the closer we come to the end of the war, the more pressing becomes the need for sustained war production with which to deliver the final blow to the enemy. there are three basic arguments for a national service law: first, it would assure that we have the right numbers of workers in the right places at the right times. second, it would provide supreme proof to all our fighting men that we are giving them what they are entitled to, which is nothing less than our total effort. and, third, it would be the final, unequivocal answer to the hopes of the nazis and the japanese that we may become halfhearted about this war and that they can get from us a negotiated peace. national service legislation would make it possible to put ourselves in a position to assure certain and speedy action in meeting our manpower needs. it would be used only to the extent absolutely required by military necessities. in fact, experience in great britain and in other nations at war indicates that use of the compulsory powers of national service is necessary only in rare instances. this proposed legislation would provide against loss of retirement and seniority rights and benefits. it would not mean reduction in wages. in adopting such legislation, it is not necessary to discard the voluntary and cooperative processes which have prevailed up to this time. this cooperation has already produced great results. the contribution of our workers to the war effort has been beyond measure. we must build on the foundations that have already been laid and supplement the measures now in operation, in order to guarantee the production that may be necessary in the critical period that lies ahead. at the present time we are using the inadequate tools at hand to do the best we can by such expedients as manpower ceilings, and the use of priority and other powers, to induce men and women to shift from non-essential to essential war jobs. i am in receipt of a joint letter from the secretary of war and the secretary of the navy, dated january , , which says: "with the experience of three years of war and after the most thorough consideration, we are convinced that it is now necessary to carry out the statement made by the congress in the joint resolutions declaring that a state of war existed with japan and germany: that 'to bring the conflict to a successful conclusion, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the congress of the united states.' "in our considered judgment, which is supported by general marshall and admiral king, this requires total mobilization of our manpower by the passage of a national war service law. the armed forces need this legislation to hasten the day of final victory, and to keep to a minimum the cost in lives. "national war service, the recognition by law of the duty of every citizen to do his or her part in winning the war, will give complete assurance that the need for war equipment will be filled. in the coming year we must increase the output of many weapons and supplies on short notice. otherwise we shall not keep our production abreast of the swiftly changing needs of war. at the same time it will be necessary to draw progressively many men now engaged in war production to serve with the armed forces, and their places in war production must be filled promptly. these developments will require the addition of hundreds of thousands to those already working in war industry. we do not believe that these needs can be met effectively under present methods. "the record made by management and labor in war industry has been a notable testimony to the resourcefulness and power of america. the needs are so great, nevertheless, that in many instances we have been forced to recall soldiers and sailors from military duty to do work of a civilian character in war production, because of the urgency of the need for equipment and because of inability to recruit civilian labor." pending action by the congress on the broader aspects of national service, i recommend that the congress immediately enact legislation which will be effective in using the services of the , , men now classified as iv-f in whatever capacity is best for the war effort. in the field of foreign policy, we propose to stand together with the united nations not for the war alone but for the victory for which the war is fought. it is not only a common danger which unites us but a common hope. ours is an association not of governments but of peoples--and the peoples' hope is peace. here, as in england; in england, as in russia; in russia, as in china; in france, and through the continent of europe, and throughout the world; wherever men love freedom, the hope and purpose of the people are for peace--a peace that is durable and secure. it will not be easy to create this peoples' peace. we delude ourselves if we believe that the surrender of the armies of our enemies will make the peace we long for. the unconditional surrender of the armies of our enemies is the first and necessary step--but the first step only. we have seen already, in areas liberated from the nazi and the fascist tyranny, what problems peace will bring. and we delude ourselves if we attempt to believe wishfully that all these problems can be solved overnight. the firm foundation can be built--and it will be built. but the continuance and assurance of a living peace must, in the long run, be the work of the people themselves. we ourselves, like all peoples who have gone through the difficult processes of liberation and adjustment, know of our own experience how great the difficulties can be. we know that they are not difficulties peculiar to any continent or any nation. our own revolutionary war left behind it, in the words of one american historian, "an eddy of lawlessness and disregard of human life." there were separatist movements of one kind or another in vermont, pennsylvania, virginia, tennessee, kentucky, and maine. there were insurrections, open or threatened, in massachusetts and new hampshire. these difficulties we worked out for ourselves as the peoples of the liberated areas of europe, faced with complex problems of adjustment, will work out their difficulties for themselves. peace can be made and kept only by the united determination of free and peace-loving peoples who are willing to work together--willing to help one another--willing to respect and tolerate and try to understand one another's opinions and feelings. the nearer we come to vanquishing our enemies the more we inevitably become conscious of differences among the victors. we must not let those differences divide us and blind us to our more important common and continuing interests in winning the war and building the peace. international cooperation on which enduring peace must be based is not a one-way street. nations like individuals do not always see alike or think alike, and international cooperation and progress are not helped by any nation assuming that it has a monopoly of wisdom or of virtue. in the future world the misuse of power, as implied in the term "power politics," must not be a controlling factor in international relations. that is the heart of the principles to which we have subscribed. we cannot deny that power is a factor in world politics any more than we can deny its existence as a factor in national politics. but in a democratic world, as in a democratic nation, power must be linked with responsibility, and obliged to defend and justify itself within the framework of the general good. perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace. let us not forget that the retreat to isolationism a quarter of a century ago was started not by a direct attack against international cooperation but against the alleged imperfections of the peace. in our disillusionment after the last war we preferred international anarchy to international cooperation with nations which did not see and think exactly as we did. we gave up the hope of gradually achieving a better peace because we had not the courage to fulfill our responsibilities in an admittedly imperfect world. we must not let that happen again, or we shall follow the same tragic road again--the road to a third world war. we can fulfill our responsibilities for maintaining the security of our own country only by exercising our power and our influence to achieve the principles in which we believe and for which we have fought. in august, , prime minister churchill and i agreed to the principles of the atlantic charter, these being later incorporated into the declaration by united nations of january , . at that time certain isolationists protested vigorously against our right to proclaim the principles--and against the very principles themselves. today, many of the same people are protesting against the possibility of violation of the same principles. it is true that the statement of principles in the atlantic charter does not provide rules of easy application to each and every one of this war-torn world's tangled situations. but it is a good and a useful thing-- it is an essential thing--to have principles toward which we can aim. and we shall not hesitate to use our influence--and to use it now--to secure so far as is humanly possible the fulfillment of the principles of the atlantic charter. we have not shrunk from the military responsibilities brought on by this war. we cannot and will not shrink from the political responsibilities which follow in the wake of battle. i do not wish to give the impression that all mistakes can be avoided and that many disappointments are not inevitable in the making of peace. but we must not this time lose the hope of establishing an international order which will be capable of maintaining peace and realizing through the years more perfect justice between nations. to do this we must be on our guard not to exploit and exaggerate the differences between us and our allies, particularly with reference to the peoples who have been liberated from fascist tyranny. that is not the way to secure a better settlement of those differences or to secure international machinery which can rectify mistakes which may be made. i should not be frank if i did not admit concern about many situations--the greek and polish for example. but those situations are not as easy or as simple to deal with as some spokesmen, whose sincerity i do not question, would have us believe. we have obligations, not necessarily legal, to the exiled governments, to the underground leaders, and to our major allies who came much nearer the shadows than we did. we and our allies have declared that it is our purpose to respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live and to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them. but with internal dissension, with many citizens of liberated countries still prisoners of war or forced to labor in germany, it is difficult to guess the kind of self-government the people really want. during the interim period, until conditions permit a genuine expression of the people's will, we and our allies have a duty, which we cannot ignore, to use our influence to the end that no temporary or provisional authorities in the liberated countries block the eventual exercise of the peoples' right freely to choose the government and institutions under which, as freemen, they are to live. it is only too easy for all of us to rationalize what we want to believe, and to consider those leaders we like responsible and those we dislike irresponsible. and our task is not helped by stubborn partisanship, however understandable on the part of opposed internal factions. it is our purpose to help the peace-loving peoples of europe to live together as good neighbors, to recognize their common interests and not to nurse their traditional grievances against one another. but we must not permit the many specific and immediate problems of adjustment connected with the liberation of europe to delay the establishment of permanent machinery for the maintenance of peace. under the threat of a common danger, the united nations joined together in war to preserve their independence and their freedom. they must now join together to make secure the independence and freedom of all peace-loving states, so that never again shall tyranny be able to divide and conquer. international peace and well-being, like national peace and well-being, require constant alertness, continuing cooperation, and organized effort. international peace and well-being, like national peace and well-being, can be secured only through institutions capable of life and growth. many of the problems of the peace are upon us even now while the conclusion of the war is still before us. the atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding and determination to find a common ground of common understanding, which surrounded the conversations at dumbarton oaks, gives us reason to hope that future discussions will succeed in developing the democratic and fully integrated world security system toward which these preparatory conversations were directed. we and the other united nations are going forward, with vigor and resolution, in our efforts to create such a system by providing for it strong and flexible institutions of joint and cooperative action. the aroused conscience of humanity will not permit failure in this supreme endeavor. we believe that the extraordinary advances in the means of intercommunication between peoples over the past generation offer a practical method of advancing the mutual understanding upon which peace and the institutions of peace must rest, and it is our policy and purpose to use these great technological achievements for the common advantage of the world. we support the greatest possible freedom of trade and commerce. we americans have always believed in freedom of opportunity, and equality of opportunity remains one of the principal objectives of our national life. what we believe in for individuals, we believe in also for nations. we are opposed to restrictions, whether by public act or private arrangement, which distort and impair commerce, transit, and trade. we have house-cleaning of our own to do in this regard. but it is our hope, not only in the interest of our own prosperity but in the interest of the prosperity of the world, that trade and commerce and access to materials and markets may be freer after this war than ever before in the history of the world. one of the most heartening events of the year in the international field has been the renaissance of the french people and the return of the french nation to the ranks of the united nations. far from having been crushed by the terror of nazi domination, the french people have emerged with stronger faith than ever in the destiny of their country and in the soundness of the democratic ideals to which the french nation has traditionally contributed so greatly. during her liberation, france has given proof of her unceasing determination to fight the germans, continuing the heroic efforts of the resistance groups under the occupation and of all those frenchmen throughout the world who refused to surrender after the disaster of . today, french armies are again on the german frontier, and are again fighting shoulder to shoulder with our sons. since our landings in africa, we have placed in french hands all the arms and material of war which our resources and the military situation permitted. and i am glad to say that we are now about to equip large new french forces with the most modern weapons for combat duty. in addition to the contribution which france can make to our common victory, her liberation likewise means that her great influence will again be available in meeting the problems of peace. we fully recognize france's vital interest in a lasting solution of the german problem and the contribution which she can make in achieving international security. her formal adherence to the declaration by united nations a few days ago and the proposal at the dumbarton oaks discussions, whereby france would receive one of the five permanent seats in the proposed security council, demonstrate the extent to which france has resumed her proper position of strength and leadership. i am clear in my own mind that, as an essential factor in the maintenance of peace in the future, we must have universal military training after this war, and i shall send a special message to the congress on this subject. an enduring peace cannot be achieved without a strong america--strong in the social and economic sense as well as in the military sense. in the state of the union message last year i set forth what i considered to be an american economic bill of rights. i said then, and i say now, that these economic truths represent 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. of these rights the most fundamental, and one on which the fulfillment of the others in large degree depends, is the "right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation." in turn, others of the economic rights of american citizenship, such as the right to a decent home, to a good education, to good medical care, to social security, to reasonable farm income, will, if fulfilled, make major contributions to achieving adequate levels of employment. the federal government must see to it that these rights become realities--with the help of states, municipalities, business, labor, and agriculture. we have had full employment during the war. we have had it because the government has been ready to buy all the materials of war which the country could produce--and this has amounted to approximately half our present productive capacity. after the war we must maintain full employment with government performing its peacetime functions. this means that we must achieve a level of demand and purchasing power by private consumers--farmers, businessmen, workers, professional men, housewives--which is sufficiently high to replace wartime government demands; and it means also that we must greatly increase our export trade above the prewar level. our policy is, of course, to rely as much as possible on private enterprise to provide jobs. but the american people will not accept mass unemployment or mere makeshift work. there will be need for the work of everyone willing and able to work--and that means close to , , jobs. full employment means not only jobs--but productive jobs. americans do not regard jobs that pay substandard wages as productive jobs. we must make sure that private enterprise works as it is supposed to work-- on the basis of initiative and vigorous competition, without the stifling presence of monopolies and cartels. during the war we have guaranteed investment in enterprise essential to the war effort. we should also take appropriate measures in peacetime to secure opportunities for new small enterprises and for productive business expansion for which finance would otherwise be unavailable. this necessary expansion of our peacetime productive capacity will require new facilities, new plants, and new equipment. it will require large outlays of money which should be raised through normal investment channels. but while private capital should finance this expansion program, the government should recognize its responsibility for sharing part of any special or abnormal risk of loss attached to such financing. our full-employment program requires the extensive development of our natural resources and other useful public works. the undeveloped resources of this continent are still vast. our river-watershed projects will add new and fertile territories to the united states. the tennessee valley authority, which was constructed at a cost of $ , , --the cost of waging this war for less than days--was a bargain. we have similar opportunities in our other great river basins. by harnessing the resources of these river basins, as we have in the tennessee valley, we shall provide the same kind of stimulus to enterprise as was provided by the louisiana purchase and the new discoveries in the west during the nineteenth century. if we are to avail ourselves fully of the benefits of civil aviation, and if we are to use the automobiles we can produce, it will be necessary to construct thousands of airports and to overhaul our entire national highway system. the provision of a decent home for every family is a national necessity, if this country is to be worthy of its greatness--and that task will itself create great employment opportunities. most of our cities need extensive rebuilding. much of our farm plant is in a state of disrepair. to make a frontal attack on the problems of housing and urban reconstruction will require thoroughgoing cooperation between industry and labor, and the federal, state, and local governments. an expanded social security program, and adequate health and education programs, must play essential roles in a program designed to support individual productivity and mass purchasing power. i shall communicate further with the congress on these subjects at a later date. the millions of productive jobs that a program of this nature could bring are jobs in private enterprise. they are jobs based on the expanded demand for the output of our economy for consumption and investment. through a program of this character we can maintain a national income high enough to provide for an orderly retirement of the public debt along with reasonable tax reduction. our present tax system geared primarily to war requirements must be revised for peacetime so as to encourage private demand. while no general revision of the tax structure can be made until the war ends on all fronts, the congress should be prepared to provide tax modifications at the end of the war in europe, designed to encourage capital to invest in new enterprises and to provide jobs. as an integral part of this program to maintain high employment, we must, after the war is over, reduce or eliminate taxes which bear too heavily on consumption. the war will leave deep disturbances in the world economy, in our national economy, in many communities, in many families, and in many individuals. it will require determined effort and responsible action of all of us to find our way back to peacetime, and to help others to find their way back to peacetime--a peacetime that holds the values of the past and the promise of the future. if we attack our problems with determination we shall succeed. and we must succeed. for freedom and peace cannot exist without security. during the past year the american people, in a national election, reasserted their democratic faith. in the course of that campaign various references were made to "strife" between this administration and the congress, with the implication, if not the direct assertion, that this administration and the congress could never work together harmoniously in the service of the nation. it cannot be denied that there have been disagreements between the legislative and executive branches--as there have been disagreements during the past century and a half. i think we all realize too that there are some people in this capital city whose task is in large part to stir up dissension, and to magnify normal healthy disagreements so that they appear to be irreconcilable conflicts. but--i think that the over-all record in this respect is eloquent: the government of the united states of america--all branches of it--has a good record of achievement in this war. the congress, the executive, and the judiciary have worked together for the common good. i myself want to tell you, the members of the senate and of the house of representatives, how happy i am in our relationships and friendships. i have not yet had the pleasure of meeting some of the new members in each house, but i hope that opportunity will offer itself in the near future. we have a great many problems ahead of us and we must approach them with realism and courage. this new year of can be the greatest year of achievement in human history. nineteen forty-five can see the final ending of the nazi-fascist reign of terror in europe. nineteen forty-five can see the closing in of the forces of retribution about the center of the malignant power of imperialistic japan. most important of all-- can and must see the substantial beginning of the organization of world peace. this organization must be the fulfillment of the promise for which men have fought and died in this war. it must be the justification of all the sacrifices that have been made--of all the dreadful misery that this world has endured. we americans of today, together with our allies, are making history--and i hope it will be better history than ever has been made before. we pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that god has given us. inaugural address of franklin delano roosevelt given in washington, d.c. march th, president hoover, mr. chief justice, my friends: this is a day of national consecration, and i am certain that on this day my fellow americans expect that on my induction into the presidency i will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels. this is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. this great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. so, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. in every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. and i am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. in such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. they concern, thank god, only material things. values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. more important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. and yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. we are stricken by no plague of locusts. compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure and have abdicated. practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. true they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. they only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers. they have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. we may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. the measure of that restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. the joy, the moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. these dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves--to our fellow men. recognition of that falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. this nation is asking for action, and action now. our greatest primary task is to put people to work. this is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. it can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources. hand in hand with that we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. yes, the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. it can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. it can be helped by insistence that the federal, the state, and the local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. it can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, unequal. it can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities that have a definitely public character. there are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it. we must act; we must act quickly. and finally, in our progress towards a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency. these, my friends, are the lines of attack. i shall presently urge upon a new congress, in special session, detailed measures for their fulfillment, and i shall seek the immediate assistance of the forty-eight states. through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. i favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. i shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment. the basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. it is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in and parts of the united states of america--a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the american spirit of the pioneer. it is the way to recovery. it is the immediate way. it is the strongest assurance that recovery will endure. in the field of world policy i would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor--the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others--the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors. if i read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we cannot merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress can be made, no leadership becomes effective. we are, i know, ready and willing to submit our lives and our property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at the larger good. this i propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us--bind upon us all--as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in times of armed strife. with this pledge taken, i assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. action in this image--action to this end--is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. our constitution is so simple, so practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. that is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen. it has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations. and it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly equal--wholly adequate--to meet the unprecedented task before us. but it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure. i am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. these measures, or such other measures as the congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, i shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. but in the event that the congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, in the event that the national emergency is still critical, i shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. i shall ask the congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis--broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe. for the trust reposed in me i will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. i can do no less. we face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. we aim at the assurance of a rounded--a permanent--national life. we do not distrust the future of essential democracy. the people of the united states have not failed. in their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. they have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. they have made me the present instrument of their wishes. in the spirit of the gift i take it. in this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessing of god. may he protect each and every one of us. may he guide me in the days to come. the fireside chats of franklin delano roosevelt radio addresses to the american people broadcast between and . march , . i want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the united states about banking--with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking but more particularly with the overwhelming majority who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks. i want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be. i recognize that the many proclamations from state capitols and from washington, the legislation, the treasury regulations, etc., couched for the most part in banking and legal terms should be explained for the benefit of the average citizen. i owe this in particular because of the fortitude and good temper with which everybody has accepted the inconvenience and hardships of the banking holiday. i know that when you understand what we in washington have been about i shall continue to have your cooperation as fully as i have had your sympathy and help during the past week. first of all let me state the simple fact that when you deposit money in a bank the bank does not put the money into a safe deposit vault. it invests your money in many different forms of credit-- bonds, commercial paper, mortgages and many other kinds of loans. in other words, the bank puts your money to work to keep the wheels of industry and of agriculture turning around. a comparatively small part of the money you put into the bank is kept in currency-- an amount which in normal times is wholly sufficient to cover the cash needs of the average citizen. in other words, the total amount of all the currency in the country is only a small fraction of the total deposits in all of the banks. what, then, happened during the last few days of february and the first few days of march? because of undermined confidence on the part of the public, there was a general rush by a large portion of our population to turn bank deposits into currency or gold--a rush so great that the soundest banks could not get enough currency to meet the demand. the reason for this was that on the spur of the moment it was, of course, impossible to sell perfectly sound assets of a bank and convert them into cash except at panic prices far below their real value. by the afternoon of march d scarcely a bank in the country was open to do business. proclamations temporarily closing them in whole or in part had been issued by the governors in almost all the states. it was then that i issued the proclamation providing for the nation-wide bank holiday, and this was the first step in the government's reconstruction of our financial and economic fabric. the second step was the legislation promptly and patriotically passed by the congress confirming my proclamation and broadening my powers so that it became possible in view of the requirement of time to extend the holiday and lift the ban of that holiday gradually. this law also gave authority to develop a program of rehabilitation of our banking facilities. i want to tell our citizens in every part of the nation that the national congress-- republicans and democrats alike--showed by this action a devotion to public welfare and a realization of the emergency and the necessity for speed that it is difficult to match in our history. the third stage has been the series of regulations permitting the banks to continue their functions to take care of the distribution of food and household necessities and the payment of payrolls. this bank holiday, while resulting in many cases in great inconvenience, is affording us the opportunity to supply the currency necessary to meet the situation. no sound bank is a dollar worse off than it was when it closed its doors last monday. neither is any bank which may turn out not to be in a position for immediate opening. the new law allows the twelve federal reserve banks to issue additional currency on good assets and thus the banks which reopen will be able to meet every legitimate call. the new currency is being sent out by the bureau of engraving and printing in large volume to every part of the country. it is sound currency because it is backed by actual, good assets. a question you will ask is this: why are all the banks not to be reopened at the same time? the answer is simple. your government does not intend that the history of the past few years shall be repeated. we do not want and will not have another epidemic of bank failures. as a result, we start tomorrow, monday, with the opening of banks in the twelve federal reserve bank cities--those banks which on first examination by the treasury have already been found to be all right. this will be followed on tuesday by the resumption of all their functions by banks already found to be sound in cities where there are recognized clearing houses. that means about cities of the united states. on wednesday and succeeding days banks in smaller places all through the country will resume business, subject, of course, to the government's physical ability to complete its survey. it is necessary that the reopening of banks be extended over a period in order to permit the banks to make applications for necessary loans, to obtain currency needed to meet their requirements and to enable the government to make common sense checkups. let me make it clear to you that if your bank does not open the first day you are by no means justified in believing that it will not open. a bank that opens on one of the subsequent days is in exactly the same status as the bank that opens tomorrow. i know that many people are worrying about state banks not members of the federal reserve system. these banks can and will receive assistance from members banks and from the reconstruction finance corporation. these state banks are following the same course as the national banks except that they get their licenses to resume business from the state authorities, and these authorities have been asked by the secretary of the treasury to permit their good banks to open up on the same schedule as the national banks. i am confident that the state banking departments will be as careful as the national government in the policy relating to the opening of banks and will follow the same broad policy. it is possible that when the banks resume a very few people who have not recovered from their fear may again begin withdrawals. let me make it clear that the banks will take care of all needs--and it is my belief that hoarding during the past week has become an exceedingly unfashionable pastime. it needs no prophet to tell you that when the people find that they can get their money--that they can get it when they want it for all legitimate purposes--the phantom of fear will soon be laid. people will again be glad to have their money where it will be safely taken care of and where they can use it conveniently at any time. i can assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress. the success of our whole great national program depends, of course, upon the cooperation of the public--on its intelligent support and use of a reliable system. remember that the essential accomplishment of the new legislation is that it makes it possible for banks more readily to convert their assets into cash than was the case before. more liberal provision has been made for banks to borrow on these assets at the reserve banks and more liberal provision has also been made for issuing currency on the security of those good assets. this currency is not fiat currency. it is issued only on adequate security--and every good bank has an abundance of such security. one more point before i close. there will be, of course, some banks unable to reopen without being reorganized. the new law allows the government to assist in making these reorganizations quickly and effectively and even allows the government to subscribe to at least a part of new capital which may be required. i hope you can see from this elemental recital of what your government is doing that there is nothing complex, or radical, in the process. we had a bad banking situation. some of our bankers had shown themselves either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people's funds. they had used the money entrusted to them in speculations and unwise loans. this was, of course, not true in the vast majority of our banks, but it was true in enough of them to shock the people for a time into a sense of insecurity and to put them into a frame of mind where they did not differentiate, but seemed to assume that the acts of a comparative few had tainted them all. it was the government's job to straighten out this situation and do it as quickly as possible--and the job is being performed. i do not promise you that every bank will be reopened or that individual losses will not be suffered, but there will be no losses that possibly could be avoided; and there would have been more and greater losses had we continued to drift. i can even promise you salvation for some at least of the sorely pressed banks. we shall be engaged not merely in reopening sound banks but in the creation of sound banks through reorganization. it has been wonderful to me to catch the note of confidence from all over the country. i can never be sufficiently grateful to the people for the loyal support they have given me in their acceptance of the judgment that has dictated our course, even though all our processes may not have seemed clear to them. after all, there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. you people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. let us unite in banishing fear. we have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work. it is your problem no less than it is mine. together we cannot fail. may , . on a sunday night a week after my inauguration i used the radio to tell you about the banking crisis and the measures we were taking to meet it. i think that in that way i made clear to the country various facts that might otherwise have been misunderstood and in general provided a means of understanding which did much to restore confidence. tonight, eight weeks later, i come for the second time to give you my report; in the same spirit and by the same means to tell you about what we have been doing and what we are planning to do. two months ago we were facing serious problems. the country was dying by inches. it was dying because trade and commerce had declined to dangerously low levels; prices for basic commodities were such as to destroy the value of the assets of national institutions such as banks, savings banks, insurance companies, and others. these institutions, because of their great needs, were foreclosing mortgages, calling loans, refusing credit. thus there was actually in process of destruction the property of millions of people who had borrowed money on that property in terms of dollars which had had an entirely different value from the level of march, . that situation in that crisis did not call for any complicated consideration of economic panaceas or fancy plans. we were faced by a condition and not a theory. there were just two alternatives: the first was to allow the foreclosures to continue, credit to be withheld and money to go into hiding, and thus forcing liquidation and bankruptcy of banks, railroads and insurance companies and a recapitalizing of all business and all property on a lower level. this alternative meant a continuation of what is loosely called "deflation", the net result of which would have been extraordinary hardships on all property owners and, incidentally, extraordinary hardships on all persons working for wages through an increase in unemployment and a further reduction of the wage scale. it is easy to see that the result of this course would have not only economic effects of a very serious nature but social results that might bring incalculable harm. even before i was inaugurated i came to the conclusion that such a policy was too much to ask the american people to bear. it involved not only a further loss of homes, farms, savings and wages but also a loss of spiritual values--the loss of that sense of security for the present and the future so necessary to the peace and contentment of the individual and of his family. when you destroy these things you will find it difficult to establish confidence of any sort in the future. it was clear that mere appeals from washington for confidence and the mere lending of more money to shaky institutions could not stop this downward course. a prompt program applied as quickly as possible seemed to me not only justified but imperative to our national security. the congress, and when i say congress i mean the members of both political parties, fully understood this and gave me generous and intelligent support. the members of congress realized that the methods of normal times had to be replaced in the emergency by measures which were suited to the serious and pressing requirements of the moment. there was no actual surrender of power, congress still retained its constitutional authority, and no one has the slightest desire to change the balance of these powers. the function of congress is to decide what has to be done and to select the appropriate agency to carry out its will. to this policy it has strictly adhered. the only thing that has been happening has been to designate the president as the agency to carry out certain of the purposes of the congress. this was constitutional and in keeping with the past american tradition. the legislation which has been passed or is in the process of enactment can properly be considered as part of a well-grounded plan. first, we are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million of the unemployed, especially the young men who have dependents, to go into the forestry and flood prevention work. this is a big task because it means feeding, clothing and caring for nearly twice as many men as we have in the regular army itself. in creating this civilian conservation corps we are killing two birds with one stone. we are clearly enhancing the value of our natural resources and we are relieving an appreciable amount of actual distress. this great group of men has entered upon its work on a purely voluntary basis; no military training is involved and we are conserving not only our natural resources, but our human resources. one of the great values to this work is the fact that it is direct and requires the intervention of very little machinery. second, i have requested the congress and have secured action upon a proposal to put the great properties owned by our government at muscle shoals to work after long years of wasteful inaction, and with this a broad plan for the improvement of a vast area in the tennessee valley. it will add to the comfort and happiness of hundreds of thousands of people and the incident benefits will reach the entire nation. next, the congress is about to pass legislation that will greatly ease the mortgage distress among the farmers and the home owners of the nation, by providing for the easing of the burden of debt now bearing so heavily upon millions of our people. our next step in seeking immediate relief is a grant of half a billion dollars to help the states, counties and municipalities in their duty to care for those who need direct and immediate relief. the congress also passed legislation authorizing the sale of beer in such states as desired it. this has already resulted in considerable reemployment and incidentally has provided much needed tax revenue. we are planning to ask the congress for legislation to enable the government to undertake public works, thus stimulating directly and indirectly the employment of many others in well-considered projects. further legislation has been taken up which goes much more fundamentally into our economic problems. the farm relief bill seeks by the use of several methods, alone or together, to bring about an increased return to farmers for their major farm products, seeking at the same time to prevent in the days to come disastrous overproduction which so often in the past has kept farm commodity prices far below a reasonable return. this measure provides wide powers for emergencies. the extent of its use will depend entirely upon what the future has in store. well-considered and conservative measures will likewise be proposed which will attempt to give to the industrial workers of the country a more fair wage return, prevent cut-throat competition and unduly long hours for labor, and at the same time encourage each industry to prevent overproduction. our railroad bill falls into the same class because it seeks to provide and make certain definite planning by the railroads themselves, with the assistance of the government, to eliminate the duplication and waste that is now resulting in railroad receiverships and continuing operating deficits. i am certain that the people of this country understand and approve the broad purposes behind these new governmental policies relating to agriculture and industry and transportation. we found ourselves faced with more agricultural products than we could possibly consume ourselves and surpluses which other nations did not have the cash to buy from us except at prices ruinously low. we found our factories able to turn out more goods than we could possibly consume, and at the same time we were faced with a falling export demand. we found ourselves with more facilities to transport goods and crops than there were goods and crops to be transported. all of this has been caused in large part by a complete lack of planning and a complete failure to understand the danger signals that have been flying ever since the close of the world war. the people of this country have been erroneously encouraged to believe that they could keep on increasing the output of farm and factory indefinitely and that some magician would find ways and means for that increased output to be consumed with reasonable profit to the producer. today we have reason to believe that things are a little better than they were two months ago. industry has picked up, railroads are carrying more freight, farm prices are better, but i am not going to indulge in issuing proclamations of overenthusiastic assurance. we cannot ballyhoo ourselves back to prosperity. i am going to be honest at all times with the people of the country. i do not want the people of this country to take the foolish course of letting this improvement come back on another speculative wave. i do not want the people to believe that because of unjustified optimism we can resume the ruinous practice of increasing our crop output and our factory output in the hope that a kind providence will find buyers at high prices. such a course may bring us immediate and false prosperity but it will be the kind of prosperity that will lead us into another tailspin. it is wholly wrong to call the measure that we have taken government control of farming, control of industry, and control of transportation. it is rather a partnership between government and farming and industry and transportation, not partnership in profits, for the profits still go to the citizens, but rather a partnership in planning and partnership to see that the plans are carried out. let me illustrate with an example. take the cotton goods industry. it is probably true that ninety percent of the cotton manufacturers would agree to eliminate starvation wages, would agree to stop long hours of employment, would agree to stop child labor, would agree to prevent an overproduction that would result in unsalable surpluses. but, what good is such an agreement if the other ten percent of cotton manufacturers pay starvation wages, require long hours, employ children in their mills and turn out burdensome surpluses? the unfair ten percent could produce goods so cheaply that the fair ninety percent would be compelled to meet the unfair conditions. here is where government comes in. government ought to have the right and will have the right, after surveying and planning for an industry to prevent, with the assistance of the overwhelming majority of that industry, unfair practice and to enforce this agreement by the authority of government. the so- called anti-trust laws were intended to prevent the creation of monopolies. that purpose of the anti-trust laws must be continued, but these laws were never intended to encourage the kind of unfair competition that results in long hours, starvation wages and overproduction. the same principle applies to farm products and to transportation and every other field of organized private industry. we are working toward a definite goal, which is to prevent the return of conditions which came very close to destroying what we call modern civilization. the actual accomplishment of our purpose cannot be attained in a day. our policies are wholly within purposes for which our american constitutional government was established years ago. i know that the people of this country will understand this and will also understand the spirit in which we are undertaking this policy. i do not deny that we may make mistakes of procedure as we carry out the policy. i have no expectation of making a hit every time i come to bat. what i seek is the highest possible batting average, not only for myself but for the team. theodore roosevelt once said to me: "if i can be right percent of the time i shall come up to the fullest measure of my hopes." much has been said of late about federal finances and inflation, the gold standard, etc. let me make the facts very simple and my policy very clear. in the first place, government credit and government currency are really one and the same thing. behind government bonds there is only a promise to pay. behind government currency we have, in addition to the promise to pay, a reserve of gold and a small reserve of silver. in this connection it is worth while remembering that in the past the government has agreed to redeem nearly thirty billions of its debts and its currency in gold, and private corporations in this country have agreed to redeem another sixty or seventy billions of securities and mortgages in gold. the government and private corporations were making these agreements when they knew full well that all of the gold in the united states amounted to only between three and four billions and that all of the gold in all of the world amounted to only about eleven billions. if the holders of these promises to pay started in to demand gold the first comers would get gold for a few days and they would amount to about one twenty-fifth of the holders of the securities and the currency. the other twenty-four people out of twenty-five, who did not happen to be at the top of the line, would be told politely that there was no more gold left. we have decided to treat all twenty-five in the same way in the interest of justice and the exercise of the constitutional powers of this government. we have placed everyone on the same basis in order that the general good may be preserved. nevertheless, gold, and to a partial extent silver, are perfectly good bases for currency and that is why i decided not to let any of the gold now in the country go out of it. a series of conditions arose three weeks ago which very readily might have meant, first, a drain on our gold by foreign countries, and second, as a result of that, a flight of american capital, in the form of gold, out of our country. it is not exaggerating the possibility to tell you that such an occurrence might well have taken from us the major part of our gold reserve and resulted in such a further weakening of our government and private credit as to bring on actual panic conditions and the complete stoppage of the wheels of industry. the administration has the definite objective of raising commodity prices to such an extent that those who have borrowed money will, on the average, be able to repay that money in the same kind of dollar which they borrowed. we do not seek to let them get such a cheap dollar that they will be able to pay back a great deal less than they borrowed. in other words, we seek to correct a wrong and not to create another wrong in the opposite direction. that is why powers are being given to the administration to provide, if necessary, for an enlargement of credit, in order to correct the existing wrong. these powers will be used when, as, and if it may be necessary to accomplish the purpose. hand in hand with the domestic situation which, of course, is our first concern, is the world situation, and i want to emphasize to you that the domestic situation is inevitably and deeply tied in with the conditions in all of the other nations of the world. in other words, we can get, in all probability, a fair measure of prosperity to return in the united states, but it will not be permanent unless we get a return to prosperity all over the world. in the conferences which we have held and are holding with the leaders of other nations, we are seeking four great objectives: first, a general reduction of armaments and through this the removal of the fear of invasion and armed attack, and, at the same time, a reduction in armament costs, in order to help in the balancing of government budgets and the reduction of taxation; second, a cutting down of the trade barriers, in order to restart the flow of exchange of crops and goods between nations; third, the setting up of a stabilization of currencies, in order that trade can make contracts ahead; fourth, the reestablishment of friendly relations and greater confidence between all nations. our foreign visitors these past three weeks have responded to these purposes in a very helpful way. all of the nations have suffered alike in this great depression. they have all reached the conclusion that each can best be helped by the common action of all. it is in this spirit that our visitors have met with us and discussed our common problems. the international conference that lies before us must succeed. the future of the world demands it and we have each of us pledged ourselves to the best joint efforts to this end. to you, the people of this country, all of us, the members of the congress and the members of this administration, owe a profound debt of gratitude. throughout the depression you have been patient. you have granted us wide powers; you have encouraged us with a widespread approval of our purposes. every ounce of strength and every resource at our command we have devoted to the end of justifying your confidence. we are encouraged to believe that a wise and sensible beginning has been made. in the present spirit of mutual confidence and mutual encouragement we go forward. july , . after the adjournment of the historical special session of the congress five weeks ago i purposely refrained from addressing you for two very good reasons. first, i think that we all wanted the opportunity of a little quiet thought to examine and assimilate in a mental picture the crowding events of the hundred days which had been devoted to the starting of the wheels of the new deal. secondly, i wanted a few weeks in which to set up the new administrative organization and to see the first fruits of our careful planning. i think it will interest you if i set forth the fundamentals of this planning for national recovery; and this i am very certain will make it abundantly clear to you that all of the proposals and all of the legislation since the fourth day of march have not been just a collection of haphazard schemes but rather the orderly component parts of a connected and logical whole. long before inauguration day i became convinced that individual effort and local effort and even disjointed federal effort had failed and of necessity would fail and, therefore, that a rounded leadership by the federal government had become a necessity both of theory and of fact. such leadership, however, had its beginning in preserving and strengthening the credit of the united states government, because without that no leadership was a possibility. for years the government had not lived within its income. the immediate task was to bring our regular expenses within our revenues. that has been done. it may seem inconsistent for a government to cut down its regular expenses and at the same time to borrow and to spend billions for an emergency. but it is not inconsistent because a large portion of the emergency money has been paid out in the form of sound loans which will be repaid to the treasury over a period of years; and to cover the rest of the emergency money we have imposed taxes to pay the interest and the installments on that part of the debt. so you will see that we have kept our credit good. we have built a granite foundation in a period of confusion. that foundation of the federal credit stands there broad and sure. it is the base of the whole recovery plan. then came the part of the problem that concerned the credit of the individual citizens themselves. you and i know of the banking crisis and of the great danger to the savings of our people. on march sixth every national bank was closed. one month later percent of the deposits in the national banks had been made available to the depositors. today only about percent of the deposits in national banks are still tied up. the condition relating to state banks, while not quite so good on a percentage basis, is showing a steady reduction in the total of frozen deposits--a result much better than we had expected three months ago. the problem of the credit of the individual was made more difficult because of another fact. the dollar was a different dollar from the one with which the average debt had been incurred. for this reason large numbers of people were actually losing possession of and title to their farms and homes. all of you know the financial steps which have been taken to correct this inequality. in addition the home loan act, the farm loan act and the bankruptcy act were passed. it was a vital necessity to restore purchasing power by reducing the debt and interest charges upon our people, but while we were helping people to save their credit it was at the same time absolutely essential to do something about the physical needs of hundreds of thousands who were in dire straits at that very moment. municipal and state aid were being stretched to the limit. we appropriated half a billion dollars to supplement their efforts and in addition, as you know, we have put , young men into practical and useful work in our forests and to prevent flood and soil erosion. the wages they earn are going in greater part to the support of the nearly one million people who constitute their families. in this same classification we can properly place the great public works program running to a total of over three billion dollars--to be used for highways and ships and flood prevention and inland navigation and thousands of self-sustaining state and municipal improvements. two points should be made clear in the allotting and administration of these projects--first, we are using the utmost care to choose labor-creating, quick-acting, useful projects, avoiding the smell of the pork barrel; and secondly, we are hoping that at least half of the money will come back to the government from projects which will pay for themselves over a period of years. thus far i have spoken primarily of the foundation stones--the measures that were necessary to reestablish credit and to head people in the opposite direction by preventing distress and providing as much work as possible through governmental agencies. now i come to the links which will build us a more lasting prosperity. i have said that we cannot attain that in a nation half boom and half broke. if all of our people have work and fair wages and fair profits, they can buy the products of their neighbors and business is good. but if you take away the wages and the profits of half of them, business is only half as good. it doesn't help much if the fortunate half is very prosperous--the best way is for everybody to be reasonably prosperous. for many years the two great barriers to a normal prosperity have been low farm prices and the creeping paralysis of unemployment. these factors have cut the purchasing power of the country in half. i promised action. congress did its part when it passed the farm and the industrial recovery acts. today we are putting these two acts to work and they will work if people understand their plain objectives. first the farm act: it is based on the fact that the purchasing power of nearly half our population depends on adequate prices for farm products. we have been producing more of some crops than we consume or can sell in a depressed world market. the cure is not to produce so much. without our help the farmers cannot get together and cut production, and the farm bill gives them a method of bringing their production down to a reasonable level and of obtaining reasonable prices for their crops. i have clearly stated that this method is in a sense experimental, but so far as we have gone we have reason to believe that it will produce good results. it is obvious that if we can greatly increase the purchasing power of the tens of millions of our people who make a living from farming and the distribution of farm crops, we will greatly increase the consumption of those goods which are turned out by industry. that brings me to the final step--bringing back industry along sound lines. last autumn, on several occasions, i expressed my faith that we can make possible by democratic self-discipline in industry general increases in wages and shortening of hours sufficient to enable industry to pay its own workers enough to let those workers buy and use the things that their labor produces. this can be done only if we permit and encourage cooperative action in industry because it is obvious that without united action a few selfish men in each competitive group will pay starvation wages and insist on long hours of work. others in that group must either follow suit or close up shop. we have seen the result of action of that kind in the continuing descent into the economic hell of the past four years. there is a clear way to reverse that process: if all employers in each competitive group agree to pay their workers the same wages-- reasonable wages--and require the same hours--reasonable hours-- then higher wages and shorter hours will hurt no employer. moreover, such action is better for the employer than unemployment and low wages, because it makes more buyers for his product. that is the simple idea which is the very heart of the industrial recovery act. on the basis of this simple principle of everybody doing things together, we are starting out on this nationwide attack on unemployment. it will succeed if our people understand it--in the big industries, in the little shops, in the great cities and in the small villages. there is nothing complicated about it and there is nothing particularly new in the principle. it goes back to the basic idea of society and of the nation itself that people acting in a group can accomplish things which no individual acting alone could even hope to bring about. here is an example. in the cotton textile code and in other agreements already signed, child labor has been abolished. that makes me personally happier than any other one thing with which i have been connected since i came to washington. in the textile industry--an industry which came to me spontaneously and with a splendid cooperation as soon as the recovery act was signed--child labor was an old evil. but no employer acting alone was able to wipe it out. if one employer tried it, or if one state tried it, the costs of operation rose so high that it was impossible to compete with the employers or states which had failed to act. the moment the recovery act was passed, this monstrous thing which neither opinion nor law could reach through years of effort went out in a flash. as a british editorial put it, we did more under a code in one day than they in england had been able to do under the common law in eighty-five years of effort. i use this incident, my friends, not to boast of what has already been done but to point the way to you for even greater cooperative efforts this summer and autumn. we are not going through another winter like the last. i doubt if ever any people so bravely and cheerfully endured a season half so bitter. we cannot ask america to continue to face such needless hardships. it is time for courageous action, and the recovery bill gives us the means to conquer unemployment with exactly the same weapon that we have used to strike down child labor. the proposition is simply this: if all employers will act together to shorten hours and raise wages we can put people back to work. no employer will suffer, because the relative level of competitive cost will advance by the same amount for all. but if any considerable group should lag or shirk, this great opportunity will pass us by and we will go into another desperate winter. this must not happen. we have sent out to all employers an agreement which is the result of weeks of consultation. this agreement checks against the voluntary codes of nearly all the large industries which have already been submitted. this blanket agreement carries the unanimous approval of the three boards which i have appointed to advise in this, boards representing the great leaders in labor, in industry and in social service. the agreement has already brought a flood of approval from every state, and from so wide a cross- section of the common calling of industry that i know it is fair for all. it is a plan--deliberate, reasonable and just--intended to put into effect at once the most important of the broad principles which are being established, industry by industry, through codes. naturally, it takes a good deal of organizing and a great many hearings and many months, to get these codes perfected and signed, and we cannot wait for all of them to go through. the blanket agreements, however, which i am sending to every employer will start the wheels turning now, and not six months from now. there are, of course, men, a few of them who might thwart this great common purpose by seeking selfish advantage. there are adequate penalties in the law, but i am now asking the cooperation that comes from opinion and from conscience. these are the only instruments we shall use in this great summer offensive against unemployment. but we shall use them to the limit to protect the willing from the laggard and to make the plan succeed. in war, in the gloom of night attack, soldiers wear a bright badge on their shoulders to be sure that comrades do not fire on comrades. on that principle, those who cooperate in this program must know each other at a glance. that is why we have provided a badge of honor for this purpose, a simple design with a legend. "we do our part," and i ask that all those who join with me shall display that badge prominently. it is essential to our purpose. already all the great, basic industries have come forward willingly with proposed codes, and in these codes they accept the principles leading to mass reemployment. but, important as is this heartening demonstration, the richest field for results is among the small employers, those whose contribution will give new work for from one to ten people. these smaller employers are indeed a vital part of the backbone of the country, and the success of our plans lies largely in their hands. already the telegrams and letters are pouring into the white house--messages from employers who ask that their names be placed on this special roll of honor. they represent great corporations and companies, and partnerships and individuals. i ask that even before the dates set in the agreements which we have sent out, the employers of the country who have not already done so--the big fellows and the little fellows--shall at once write or telegraph to me personally at the white house, expressing their intention of going through with the plan. and it is my purpose to keep posted in the post office of every town, a roll of honor of all those who join with me. i want to take this occasion to say to the twenty-four governors who are now in conference in san francisco, that nothing thus far has helped in strengthening this great movement more than their resolutions adopted at the very outset of their meeting, giving this plan their unanimous and instant approval, and pledging to support it in their states. to the men and women whose lives have been darkened by the fact or the fear of unemployment, i am justified in saying a word of encouragement because the codes and the agreements already approved, or about to be passed upon, prove that the plan does raise wages, and that it does put people back to work. you can look on every employer who adopts the plan as one who is doing his part, and those employers deserve well of everyone who works for a living. it will be clear to you, as it is to me, that while the shirking employer may undersell his competitor, the saving he thus makes is made at the expense of his country's welfare. while we are making this great common effort there should be no discord and dispute. this is no time to cavil or to question the standard set by this universal agreement. it is time for patience and understanding and cooperation. the workers of this country have rights under this law which cannot be taken from them, and nobody will be permitted to whittle them away, but, on the other hand, no aggression is now necessary to attain those rights. the whole country will be united to get them for you. the principle that applies to the employers applies to the workers as well, and i ask you workers to cooperate in the same spirit. when andrew jackson, "old hickory," died, someone asked, "will he go to heaven?" and the answer was, "he will if he wants to." if i am asked whether the american people will pull themselves out of this depression, i answer, "they will if they want to." the essence of the plan is a universal limitation of hours of work per week for any individual by common consent, and a universal payment of wages above a minimum, also by common consent. i cannot guarantee the success of this nationwide plan, but the people of this country can guarantee its success. i have no faith in "cure-alls" but i believe that we can greatly influence economic forces. i have no sympathy with the professional economists who insist that things must run their course and that human agencies can have no influence on economic ills. one reason is that i happen to know that professional economists have changed their definition of economic laws every five or ten years for a very long time, but i do have faith, and retain faith, in the strength of common purpose, and in the strength of unified action taken by the american people. that is why i am describing to you the simple purposes and the solid foundations upon which our program of recovery is built. that is why i am asking the employers of the nation to sign this common covenant with me--to sign it in the name of patriotism and humanity. that is why i am asking the workers to go along with us in a spirit of understanding and of helpfulness. october , . it is three months since i have talked with the people of this country about our national problems; but during this period many things have happened, and i am glad to say that the major part of them have greatly helped the well-being of the average citizen. because, in every step which your government is taking we are thinking in terms of the average of you--in the old words, "the greatest good to the greatest number"--we, as reasonable people, cannot expect to bring definite benefits to every person or to every occupation or business, or industry or agriculture. in the same way, no reasonable person can expect that in this short space of time, during which new machinery had to be not only put to work, but first set up, that every locality in every one of the forty- eight states of the country could share equally and simultaneously in the trend to better times. the whole picture, however--the average of the whole territory from coast to coast--the average of the whole population of , , people--shows to any person willing to look, facts and action of which you and i can be proud. in the early spring of this year there were actually and proportionately more people out of work in this country than in any other nation in the world. fair estimates showed twelve or thirteen millions unemployed last march. among those there were, of course, several millions who could be classed as normally unemployed-- people who worked occasionally when they felt like it, and others who preferred not to work at all. it seems, therefore, fair to say that there were about millions of our citizens who earnestly, and in many cases hungrily, were seeking work and could not get it. of these, in the short space of a few months, i am convinced that at least millions have been given employment--or, saying it another way, percent of those seeking work have found it. that does not mean, my friends, that i am satisfied, or that you are satisfied that our work is ended. we have a long way to go but we are on the way. how are we constructing the edifice of recovery--the temple which, when completed, will no longer be a temple of money-changers or of beggars, but rather a temple dedicated to and maintained for a greater social justice, a greater welfare for america--the habitation of a sound economic life? we are building, stone by stone, the columns which will support that habitation. those columns are many in number and though, for a moment the progress of one column may disturb the progress on the pillar next to it, the work on all of them must proceed without let or hindrance. we all know that immediate relief for the unemployed was the first essential of such a structure and that is why i speak first of the fact that three hundred thousand young men have been given employment and are being given employment all through this winter in the civilian conservation corps camps in almost every part of the nation. so, too, we have, as you know, expended greater sums in cooperation with states and localities for work relief and home relief than ever before--sums which during the coming winter cannot be lessened for the very simple reason that though several million people have gone back to work, the necessities of those who have not yet obtained work is more severe than at this time last year. then we come to the relief that is being given to those who are in danger of losing their farms or their homes. new machinery had to be set up for farm credit and for home credit in every one of the thirty-one hundred counties of the united states, and every day that passes is saving homes and farms to hundreds of families. i have publicly asked that foreclosures on farms and chattels and on homes be delayed until every mortgagor in the country shall have had full opportunity to take advantage of federal credit. i make the further request which many of you know has already been made through the great federal credit organizations that if there is any family in the united states about to lose its home or about to lose its chattels, that family should telegraph at once either to the farm credit administration or the home owners loan corporation in washington requesting their help. two other great agencies are in full swing. the reconstruction finance corporation continues to lend large sums to industry and finance with the definite objective of making easy the extending of credit to industry, commerce and finance. the program of public works in three months has advanced to this point: out of a total appropriated for public works of three billion three hundred million, one billion eight hundred million has already been allocated to federal projects of all kinds and literally in every part of the united states and work on these is starting forward. in addition, three hundred millions have been allocated to public works to be carried out by states, municipalities and private organizations, such as those undertaking slum clearance. the balance of the public works money, nearly all of it intended for state or local projects, waits only on the presentation of proper projects by the states and localities themselves. washington has the money and is waiting for the proper projects to which to allot it. another pillar in the making is the agricultural adjustment administration. i have been amazed by the extraordinary degree of cooperation given to the government by the cotton farmers in the south, the wheat farmers of the west, the tobacco farmers of the southeast, and i am confident that the corn-hog farmers of the middle west will come through in the same magnificent fashion. the problem we seek to solve had been steadily getting worse for twenty years, but during the last six months we have made more rapid progress than any nation has ever made in a like period of time. it is true that in july farm commodity prices had been pushed up higher than they are today, but that push came in part from pure speculation by people who could not tell you the difference between wheat and rye, by people who had never seen cotton growing, by people who did not know that hogs were fed on corn--people who have no real interest in the farmer and his problems. in spite, however, of the speculative reaction from the speculative advance, it seems to be well established that during the course of the year the farmers of the united states will receive percent more dollars for what they have produced than they received in the year . put in another way, they will receive $ in , where they received $ the year before. that, remember, is for the average of the country, for i have reports that some sections are not any better off than they were a year ago. this applies among the major products, especially to cattle raising and the dairy industry. we are going after those problems as fast as we can. i do not hesitate to say, in the simplest, clearest language of which i am capable, that although the prices of many products of the farm have gone up and although many farm families are better off than they were last year, i am not satisfied either with the amount or the extent of the rise, and that it is definitely a part of our policy to increase the rise and to extend it to those products which have as yet felt no benefit. if we cannot do this one way we will do it another. do it, we will. standing beside the pillar of the farm--the a.a.a.--is the pillar of industry--the n.r.a. its object is to put industry and business workers into employment and to increase their purchasing power through increased wages. it has abolished child labor. it has eliminated the sweat shop. it has ended sixty cents a week paid in some mills and eighty cents a week paid in some mines. the measure of the growth of this pillar lies in the total figures of reemployment which i have already given you and in the fact that reemployment is continuing and not stopping. the secret of n.r.a. is cooperation. that cooperation has been voluntarily given through the signing of the blanket codes and through the signing of specific codes which already include all of the greater industries of the nation. in the vast majority of cases, in the vast majority of localities-- the n.r.a. has been given support in unstinted measure. we know that there are chiselers. at the bottom of every case of criticism and obstruction we have found some selfish interest, some private ax to grind. ninety percent of complaints come from misconception. for example, it has been said that n.r.a. has failed to raise the price of wheat and corn and hogs; that n.r.a. has not loaned enough money for local public works. of course, n.r.a. has nothing whatsoever to do with the price of farm products, nor with public works. it has to do only with industrial organization for economic planning to wipe out unfair practices and to create reemployment. even in the field of business and industry, n.r.a. does not apply to the rural communities or to towns of under twenty-five hundred population, except in so far as those towns contain factories or chain stores which come under a specific code. it is also true that among the chiselers to whom i have referred, there are not only the big chiselers but also petty chiselers who seek to make undue profit on untrue statements. let me cite to you the example of the salesman in a store in a large eastern city who tried to justify the increase in the price of a cotton shirt from one dollar and a half to two dollars and a half by saying to the customer that it was due to the cotton processing tax. actually in that shirt there was about one pound of cotton and the processing tax amounted to four and a quarter cents on that pound of cotton. at this point it is only fair that i should give credit to the sixty or seventy million people who live in the cities and larger towns of the nation for their understanding and their willingness to go along with the payment of even these small processing taxes, though they know full well that the proportion of the processing taxes on cotton goods and on food products paid for by city dwellers goes percent towards increasing the agricultural income of the farm dwellers of the land. the last pillar of which i speak is that of the money of the country in the banks of the country. there are two simple facts. first, the federal government is about to spend one billion dollars as an immediate loan on the frozen or non-liquid assets of all banks closed since january , , giving a liberal appraisal to those assets. this money will be in the hands of the depositors as quickly as it is humanly possible to get it out. second, the government bank deposit insurance on all accounts up to $ goes into effect on january first. we are now engaged in seeing to it that on or before that date the banking capital structure will be built up by the government to the point that the banks will be in sound condition when the insurance goes into effect. finally, i repeat what i have said on many occasions, that ever since last march the definite policy of the government has been to restore commodity price levels. the object has been the attainment of such a level as will enable agriculture and industry once more to give work to the unemployed. it has been to make possible the payment of public and private debts more nearly at the price level at which they were incurred. it has been gradually to restore a balance in the price structure so that farmers may exchange their products for the products of industry on a fairer exchange basis. it has been and is also the purpose to prevent prices from rising beyond the point necessary to attain these ends. the permanent welfare and security of every class of our people ultimately depends on our attainment of these purposes. obviously, and because hundreds of different kinds of crops and industrial occupations in the huge territory that makes up this nation are involved, we cannot reach the goal in only a few months. we may take one year or two years or three years. no one who considers the plain facts of our situation believes that commodity prices, especially agricultural prices, are high enough yet. some people are putting the cart before the horse. they want a permanent revaluation of the dollar first. it is the government's policy to restore the price level first. i would not know, and no one else could tell, just what the permanent valuation of the dollar will be. to guess at a permanent gold valuation now would certainly require later changes caused by later facts. when we have restored the price level, we shall seek to establish and maintain a dollar which will not change its purchasing and debt paying power during the succeeding generation. i said that in my message to the american delegation in london last july. and i say it now once more. because of conditions in this country and because of events beyond our control in other parts of the world, it becomes increasingly important to develop and apply the further measures which may be necessary from time to time to control the gold value of our own dollar at home. our dollar is now altogether too greatly influenced by the accidents of international trade, by the internal policies of other nations and by political disturbance in other continents. therefore the united states must take firmly in its own hands the control of the gold value of our dollar. this is necessary in order to prevent dollar disturbances from swinging us away from our ultimate goal, namely, the continued recovery of our commodity prices. as a further effective means to this end, i am going to establish a government market for gold in the united states. therefore, under the clearly defined authority of existing law, i am authorizing the reconstruction finance corporation to buy gold newly mined in the united states at prices to be determined from time to time after consultation with the secretary of the treasury and the president. whenever necessary to the end in view, we shall also buy or sell gold in the world market. my aim in taking this step is to establish and maintain continuous control. this is a policy and not an expedient. it is not to be used merely to offset a temporary fall in prices. we are thus continuing to move towards a managed currency. you will recall the dire predictions made last spring by those who did not agree with our common policies of raising prices by direct means. what actually happened stood out in sharp contrast with those predictions. government credit is high, prices have risen in part. doubtless prophets of evil still exist in our midst. but government credit will be maintained and a sound currency will accompany a rise in the american commodity price level. i have told you tonight the story of our steady but sure work in building our common recovery. in my promises to you both before and after march th, i made two things plain: first, that i pledged no miracles and, second, that i would do my best. i thank you for your patience and your faith. our troubles will not be over tomorrow, but we are on our way and we are headed in the right direction. june , . it has been several months since i have talked with you concerning the problems of government. since january, those of us in whom you have vested responsibility have been engaged in the fulfillment of plans and policies which had been widely discussed in previous months. it seemed to us our duty not only to make the right path clear but also to tread that path. as we review the achievements of this session of the seventy-third congress, it is made increasingly clear that its task was essentially that of completing and fortifying the work it had begun in march, l . that was no easy task, but the congress was equal to it. it has been well said that while there were a few exceptions, this congress displayed a greater freedom from mere partisanship than any other peace-time congress since the administration of president washington himself. the session was distinguished by the extent and variety of legislation enacted and by the intelligence and good will of debate upon these measures. i mention only a few of the major enactments. it provided for the readjustment of the debt burden through the corporate and municipal bankruptcy acts and the farm relief act. it lent a hand to industry by encouraging loans to solvent industries unable to secure adequate help from banking institutions. it strengthened the integrity of finance through the regulation of securities exchanges. it provided a rational method of increasing our volume of foreign trade through reciprocal trading agreements. it strengthened our naval forces to conform with the intentions and permission of existing treaty rights. it made further advances towards peace in industry through the labor adjustment act. it supplemented our agricultural policy through measures widely demanded by farmers themselves and intended to avert price destroying surpluses. it strengthened the hand of the federal government in its attempts to suppress gangster crime. it took definite steps towards a national housing program through an act which i signed today designed to encourage private capital in the rebuilding of the homes of the nation. it created a permanent federal body for the just regulation of all forms of communication, including the telephone, the telegraph and the radio. finally, and i believe most important, it reorganized, simplified and made more fair and just our monetary system, setting up standards and policies adequate to meet the necessities of modern economic life, doing justice to both gold and silver as the metal bases behind the currency of the united states. in the consistent development of our previous efforts toward the saving and safeguarding of our national life, i have continued to recognize three related steps. the first was relief, because the primary concern of any government dominated by the humane ideals of democracy is the simple principle that in a land of vast resources no one should be permitted to starve. relief was and continues to be our first consideration. it calls for large expenditures and will continue in modified form to do so for a long time to come. we may as well recognize that fact. it comes from the paralysis that arose as the after-effect of that unfortunate decade characterized by a mad chase for unearned riches and an unwillingness of leaders in almost every walk of life to look beyond their own schemes and speculations. in our administration of relief we follow two principles: first, that direct giving shall, wherever possible, be supplemented by provision for useful and remunerative work and, second, that where families in their existing surroundings will in all human probability never find an opportunity for full self- maintenance, happiness and enjoyment, we will try to give them a new chance in new surroundings. the second step was recovery, and it is sufficient for me to ask each and every one of you to compare the situation in agriculture and in industry today with what it was fifteen months ago. at the same time we have recognized the necessity of reform and reconstruction--reform because much of our trouble today and in the past few years has been due to a lack of understanding of the elementary principles of justice and fairness by those in whom leadership in business and finance was placed--reconstruction because new conditions in our economic life as well as old but neglected conditions had to be corrected. substantial gains well known to all of you have justified our course. i could cite statistics to you as unanswerable measures of our national progress--statistics to show the gain in the average weekly pay envelope of workers in the great majority of industries--statistics to show hundreds of thousands reemployed in private industries and other hundreds of thousands given new employment through the expansion of direct and indirect government assistance of many kinds, although, of course, there are those exceptions in professional pursuits whose economic improvement, of necessity, will be delayed. i also could cite statistics to show the great rise in the value of farm products--statistics to prove the demand for consumers' goods, ranging all the way from food and clothing to automobiles, and of late to prove the rise in the demand for durable goods--statistics to cover the great increase in bank deposits and to show the scores of thousands of homes and of farms which have been saved from foreclosure. but the simplest way for each of you to judge recovery lies in the plain facts of your own individual situation. are you better off than you were last year? are your debts less burdensome? is your bank account more secure? are your working conditions better? is your faith in your own individual future more firmly grounded? also, let me put to you another simple question: have you as an individual paid too high a price for these gains? plausible self- seekers and theoretical die-hards will tell you of the loss of individual liberty. answer this question also out of the facts of your own life. have you lost any of your rights or liberty or constitutional freedom of action and choice? turn to the bill of rights of the constitution, which i have solemnly sworn to maintain and under which your freedom rests secure. read each provision of that bill of rights and ask yourself whether you personally have suffered the impairment of a single jot of these great assurances. i have no question in my mind as to what your answer will be. the record is written in the experiences of your own personal lives. in other words, it is not the overwhelming majority of the farmers or manufacturers or workers who deny the substantial gains of the past year. the most vociferous of the doubting thomases may be divided roughly into two groups: first, those who seek special political privilege and, second, those who seek special financial privilege. about a year ago i used as an illustration the percent of the cotton manufacturers of the united states who wanted to do the right thing by their employees and by the public but were prevented from doing so by the percent who undercut them by unfair practices and un-american standards. it is well for us to remember that humanity is a long way from being perfect and that a selfish minority in every walk of life--farming, business, finance and even government service itself--will always continue to think of themselves first and their fellow-beings second. in the working out of a great national program which seeks the primary good of the greater number, it is true that the toes of some people are being stepped on and are going to be stepped on. but these toes belong to the comparative few who seek to retain or to gain position or riches or both by some short cut which is harmful to the greater good. in the execution of the powers conferred on it by congress, the administration needs and will tirelessly seek the best ability that the country affords. public service offers better rewards in the opportunity for service than ever before in our history--not great salaries, but enough to live on. in the building of this service there are coming to us men and women with ability and courage from every part of the union. the days of the seeking of mere party advantage through the misuse of public power are drawing to a close. we are increasingly demanding and getting devotion to the public service on the part of every member of the administration, high and low. the program of the past year is definitely in operation and that operation month by month is being made to fit into the web of old and new conditions. this process of evolution is well illustrated by the constant changes in detailed organization and method going on in the national recovery administration. with every passing month we are making strides in the orderly handling of the relationship between employees and employers. conditions differ, of course, in almost every part of the country and in almost every industry. temporary methods of adjustment are being replaced by more permanent machinery and, i am glad to say, by a growing recognition on the part of employers and employees of the desirability of maintaining fair relationships all around. so also, while almost everybody has recognized the tremendous strides in the elimination of child labor, in the payment of not less than fair minimum wages and in the shortening of hours, we are still feeling our way in solving problems which relate to self- government in industry, especially where such self-government tends to eliminate the fair operation of competition. in this same process of evolution we are keeping before us the objectives of protecting on the one hand industry against chiselers within its own ranks, and on the other hand the consumer through the maintenance of reasonable competition for the prevention of the unfair sky-rocketing of retail prices. but, in addition to this our immediate task, we must still look to the larger future. i have pointed out to the congress that we are seeking to find the way once more to well-known, long-established but to some degree forgotten ideals and values. we seek the security of the men, women and children of the nation. that security involves added means of providing better homes for the people of the nation. that is the first principle of our future program. the second is to plan the use of land and water resources of this country to the end that the means of livelihood of our citizens may be more adequate to meet their daily needs. and, finally, the third principle is to use the agencies of government to assist in the establishment of means to provide sound and adequate protection against the vicissitudes of modern life--in other words, social insurance. later in the year i hope to talk with you more fully about these plans. a few timid people, who fear progress, will try to give you new and strange names for what we are doing. sometimes they will call it "fascism", sometimes "communism", sometimes "regimentation", sometimes "socialism". but, in so doing, they are trying to make very complex and theoretical something that is really very simple and very practical. i believe in practical explanations and in practical policies. i believe that what we are doing today is a necessary fulfillment of what americans have always been doing--a fulfillment of old and tested american ideals. let me give you a simple illustration: while i am away from washington this summer, a long needed renovation of and addition to our white house office building is to be started. the architects have planned a few new rooms built into the present all too small one-story structure. we are going to include in this addition and in this renovation modern electric wiring and modern plumbing and modern means of keeping the offices cool in the hot washington summers. but the structural lines of the old executive office building will remain. the artistic lines of the white house buildings were the creation of master builders when our republic was young. the simplicity and the strength of the structure remain in the face of every modern test. but within this magnificent pattern, the necessities of modern government business require constant reorganization and rebuilding. if i were to listen to the arguments of some prophets of calamity who are talking these days, i should hesitate to make these alterations. i should fear that while i am away for a few weeks the architects might build some strange new gothic tower or a factory building or perhaps a replica of the kremlin or of the potsdam palace. but i have no such fears. the architects and builders are men of common sense and of artistic american tastes. they know that the principles of harmony and of necessity itself require that the building of the new structure shall blend with the essential lines of the old. it is this combination of the old and the new that marks orderly peaceful progress--not only in building buildings but in building government itself. our new structure is a part of and a fulfillment of the old. all that we do seeks to fulfill the historic traditions of the american people. other nations may sacrifice democracy for the transitory stimulation of old and discredited autocracies. we are restoring confidence and well-being under the rule of the people themselves. we remain, as john marshall said a century ago, "emphatically and truly, a government of the people." our government "in form and in substance. . . emanates from them. its powers are granted by them, and are to be exercised directly on them, and for their benefits." before i close, i want to tell you of the interest and pleasure with which i look forward to the trip on which i hope to start in a few days. it is a good thing for everyone who can possibly do so to get away at least once a year for a change of scene. i do not want to get into the position of not being able to see the forest because of the thickness of the trees. i hope to visit our fellow americans in puerto rico, in the virgin islands, in the canal zone and in hawaii. and, incidentally, it will give me an opportunity to exchange a friendly word of greeting to the presidents of our sister republics: haiti, colombia and panama. after four weeks on board ship, i plan to land at a port in our pacific northwest, and then will come the best part of the whole trip, for i am hoping to inspect a number of our new great national projects on the columbia, missouri and mississippi rivers, to see some of our national parks and, incidentally, to learn much of actual conditions during the trip across the continent back to washington. while i was in france during the war our boys used to call the united states "god's country". let us make it and keep it "god's country". september , . three months have passed since i talked with you shortly after the adjournment of the congress. tonight i continue that report, though, because of the shortness of time, i must defer a number of subjects to a later date. recently the most notable public questions that have concerned us all have had to do with industry and labor and with respect to these, certain developments have taken place which i consider of importance. i am happy to report that after years of uncertainty, culminating in the collapse of the spring of , we are bringing order out of the old chaos with a greater certainty of the employment of labor at a reasonable wage and of more business at a fair profit. these governmental and industrial developments hold promise of new achievements for the nation. men may differ as to the particular form of governmental activity with respect to industry and business, but nearly all are agreed that private enterprise in times such as these cannot be left without assistance and without reasonable safeguards lest it destroy not only itself but also our processes of civilization. the underlying necessity for such activity is indeed as strong now as it was years ago when elihu root said the following very significant words: "instead of the give and take of free individual contract, the tremendous power of organization has combined great aggregations of capital in enormous industrial establishments working through vast agencies of commerce and employing great masses of men in movements of production and transportation and trade, so great in the mass that each individual concerned in them is quite helpless by himself. the relations between the employer and the employed, between the owners of aggregated capital and the units of organized labor, between the small producer, the small trader, the consumer, and the great transporting and manufacturing and distributing agencies, all present new questions for the solution of which the old reliance upon the free action of individual wills appears quite inadequate. and in many directions, the intervention of that organized control which we call government seems necessary to produce the same result of justice and right conduct which obtained through the attrition of individuals before the new conditions arose." it was in this spirit thus described by secretary root that we approached our task of reviving private enterprise in march, . our first problem was, of course, the banking situation because, as you know, the banks had collapsed. some banks could not be saved but the great majority of them, either through their own resources or with government aid, have been restored to complete public confidence. this has given safety to millions of depositors in these banks. closely following this great constructive effort we have, through various federal agencies, saved debtors and creditors alike in many other fields of enterprise, such as loans on farm mortgages and home mortgages; loans to the railroads and insurance companies and, finally, help for home owners and industry itself. in all of these efforts the government has come to the assistance of business and with the full expectation that the money used to assist these enterprises will eventually be repaid. i believe it will be. the second step we have taken in the restoration of normal business enterprise has been to clean up thoroughly unwholesome conditions in the field of investment. in this we have had assistance from many bankers and businessmen, most of whom recognize the past evils in the banking system, in the sale of securities, in the deliberate encouragement of stock gambling, in the sale of unsound mortgages and in many other ways in which the public lost billions of dollars. they saw that without changes in the policies and methods of investment there could be no recovery of public confidence in the security of savings. the country now enjoys the safety of bank savings under the new banking laws, the careful checking of new securities under the securities act and the curtailment of rank stock speculation through the securities exchange act. i sincerely hope that as a result people will be discouraged in unhappy efforts to get rich quick by speculating in securities. the average person almost always loses. only a very small minority of the people of this country believe in gambling as a substitute for the old philosophy of benjamin franklin that the way to wealth is through work. in meeting the problems of industrial recovery the chief agency of the government has been the national recovery administration. under its guidance, trades and industries covering over percent of all industrial employees have adopted codes of fair competition, which have been approved by the president. under these codes, in the industries covered, child labor has been eliminated. the work day and the work week have been shortened. minimum wages have been established and other wages adjusted toward a rising standard of living. the emergency purpose of the n.r.a. was to put men to work and since its creation more than four million persons have been reemployed, in great part through the cooperation of american business brought about under the codes. benefits of the industrial recovery program have come, not only to labor in the form of new jobs, in relief from overwork and in relief from underpay, but also to the owners and managers of industry because, together with a great increase in the payrolls, there has come a substantial rise in the total of industrial profits--a rise from a deficit figure in the first quarter of to a level of sustained profits within one year from the inauguration of n.r.a. now it should not be expected that even employed labor and capital would be completely satisfied with present conditions. employed workers have not by any means all enjoyed a return to the earnings of prosperous times, although millions of hitherto underprivileged workers are today far better paid than ever before. also, billions of dollars of invested capital have today a greater security of present and future earning power than before. this is because of the establishment of fair, competitive standards and because of relief from unfair competition in wage cutting which depresses markets and destroys purchasing power. but it is an undeniable fact that the restoration of other billions of sound investments to a reasonable earning power could not be brought about in one year. there is no magic formula, no economic panacea, which could simply revive over-night the heavy industries and the trades dependent upon them. nevertheless the gains of trade and industry, as a whole, have been substantial. in these gains and in the policies of the administration there are assurances that hearten all forward- looking men and women with the confidence that we are definitely rebuilding our political and economic system on the lines laid down by the new deal--lines which as i have so often made clear, are in complete accord with the underlying principles of orderly popular government which americans have demanded since the white man first came to these shores. we count, in the future as in the past, on the driving power of individual initiative and the incentive of fair private profit, strengthened with the acceptance of those obligations to the public interest which rest upon us all. we have the right to expect that this driving power will be given patriotically and whole-heartedly to our nation. we have passed through the formative period of code making in the national recovery administration and have effected a reorganization of the n.r.a. suited to the needs of the next phase, which is, in turn, a period of preparation for legislation which will determine its permanent form. in this recent reorganization we have recognized three distinct functions: first, the legislative or policy making function; second, the administrative function of code making and revision; and, third, the judicial function, which includes enforcement, consumer complaints and the settlement of disputes between employers and employees and between one employer and another. we are now prepared to move into this second phase, on the basis of our experience in the first phase under the able and energetic leadership of general johnson. we shall watch carefully the working of this new machinery for the second phase of n.r.a., modifying it where it needs modification and finally making recommendations to the congress, in order that the functions of n.r.a. which have proved their worth may be made a part of the permanent machinery of government. let me call your attention to the fact that the national industrial recovery act gave businessmen the opportunity they had sought for years to improve business conditions through what has been called self-government in industry. if the codes which have been written have been too complicated, if they have gone too far in such matters as price fixing and limitation of production, let it be remembered that so far as possible, consistent with the immediate public interest of this past year and the vital necessity of improving labor conditions, the representatives of trade and industry were permitted to write their ideas into the codes. it is now time to review these actions as a whole to determine through deliberative means in the light of experience, from the standpoint of the good of the industries themselves, as well as the general public interest, whether the methods and policies adopted in the emergency have been best calculated to promote industrial recovery and a permanent improvement of business and labor conditions. there may be a serious question as to the wisdom of many of those devices to control production, or to prevent destructive price cutting which many business organizations have insisted were necessary, or whether their effect may have been to prevent that volume of production which would make possible lower prices and increased employment. another question arises as to whether in fixing minimum wages on the basis of an hourly or weekly wage we have reached into the heart of the problem which is to provide such annual earnings for the lowest paid worker as will meet his minimum needs. we also question the wisdom of extending code requirements suited to the great industrial centers and to large employers, to the great number of small employers in the smaller communities. during the last twelve months our industrial recovery has been to some extent retarded by strikes, including a few of major importance. i would not minimize the inevitable losses to employers and employees and to the general public through such conflicts. but i would point out that the extent and severity of labor disputes during this period has been far less than in any previous, comparable period. when the businessmen of the country were demanding the right to organize themselves adequately to promote their legitimate interests; when the farmers were demanding legislation which would give them opportunities and incentives to organize themselves for a common advance, it was natural that the workers should seek and obtain a statutory declaration of their constitutional right to organize themselves for collective bargaining as embodied in section (a) of the national industrial recovery act. machinery set up by the federal government has provided some new methods of adjustment. both employers and employees must share the blame of not using them as fully as they should. the employer who turns away from impartial agencies of peace, who denies freedom of organization to his employees, or fails to make every reasonable effort at a peaceful solution of their differences, is not fully supporting the recovery effort of his government. the workers who turn away from these same impartial agencies and decline to use their good offices to gain their ends are likewise not fully cooperating with their government. it is time that we made a clean-cut effort to bring about that united action of management and labor, which is one of the high purposes of the recovery act. we have passed through more than a year of education. step by step we have created all the government agencies necessary to insure, as a general rule, industrial peace, with justice for all those willing to use these agencies whenever their voluntary bargaining fails to produce a necessary agreement. there should be at least a full and fair trial given to these means of ending industrial warfare; and in such an effort we should be able to secure for employers and employees and consumers the benefits that all derive from the continuous, peaceful operation of our essential enterprises. accordingly, i propose to confer within the coming month with small groups of those truly representative of large employers of labor and of large groups of organized labor, in order to seek their cooperation in establishing what i may describe as a specific trial period of industrial peace. from those willing to join in establishing this hoped-for period of peace, i shall seek assurances of the making and maintenance of agreements, which can be mutually relied upon, under which wages, hours and working conditions may be determined and any later adjustments shall be made either by agreement or, in case of disagreement, through the mediation or arbitration of state or federal agencies. i shall not ask either employers or employees permanently to lay aside the weapons common to industrial war. but i shall ask both groups to give a fair trial to peaceful methods of adjusting their conflicts of opinion and interest, and to experiment for a reasonable time with measures suitable to civilize our industrial civilization. closely allied to the n.r.a. is the program of public works provided for in the same act and designed to put more men back to work, both directly on the public works themselves, and indirectly in the industries supplying the materials for these public works. to those who say that our expenditures for public works and other means for recovery are a waste that we cannot afford, i answer that no country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order. some people try to tell me that we must make up our minds that for the future we shall permanently have millions of unemployed just as other countries have had them for over a decade. what may be necessary for those countries is not my responsibility to determine. but as for this country, i stand or fall by my refusal to accept as a necessary condition of our future a permanent army of unemployed. on the contrary, we must make it a national principle that we will not tolerate a large army of unemployed and that we will arrange our national economy to end our present unemployment as soon as we can and then to take wise measures against its return. i do not want to think that it is the destiny of any american to remain permanently on relief rolls. those, fortunately few in number, who are frightened by boldness and cowed by the necessity for making decisions, complain that all we have done is unnecessary and subject to great risks. now that these people are coming out of their storm cellars, they forget that there ever was a storm. they point to england. they would have you believe that england has made progress out of her depression by a do-nothing policy, by letting nature take her course. england has her peculiarities and we have ours but i do not believe any intelligent observer can accuse england of undue orthodoxy in the present emergency. did england let nature take her course? no. did england hold to the gold standard when her reserves were threatened? no. has england gone back to the gold standard today? no. did england hesitate to call in ten billion dollars of her war bonds bearing percent interest, to issue new bonds therefore bearing only - / percent interest, thereby saving the british treasury one hundred and fifty million dollars a year in interest alone? no. and let it be recorded that the british bankers helped. is it not a fact that ever since the year , great britain in many ways has advanced further along lines of social security than the united states? is it not a fact that relations between capital and labor on the basis of collective bargaining are much further advanced in great britain than in the united states? it is perhaps not strange that the conservative british press has told us with pardonable irony that much of our new deal program is only an attempt to catch up with english reforms that go back ten years or more. nearly all americans are sensible and calm people. we do not get greatly excited nor is our peace of mind disturbed, whether we be businessmen or workers or farmers, by awesome pronouncements concerning the unconstitutionality of some of our measures of recovery and relief and reform. we are not frightened by reactionary lawyers or political editors. all of these cries have been heard before. more than twenty years ago, when theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson were attempting to correct abuses in our national life, the great chief justice white said: "there is great danger it seems to me to arise from the constant habit which prevails where anything is opposed or objected to, of referring without rhyme or reason to the constitution as a means of preventing its accomplishment, thus creating the general impression that the constitution is but a barrier to progress instead of being the broad highway through which alone true progress may be enjoyed." in our efforts for recovery we have avoided on the one hand the theory that business should and must be taken over into an all- embracing government. we have avoided on the other hand the equally untenable theory that it is an interference with liberty to offer reasonable help when private enterprise is in need of help. the course we have followed fits the american practice of government--a practice of taking action step by step, of regulating only to meet concrete needs--a practice of courageous recognition of change. i believe with abraham lincoln, that "the legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all or cannot do so well for themselves in their separate and individual capacities." i am not for a return to that definition of liberty under which for many years a free people were being gradually regimented into the service of the privileged few. i prefer and i am sure you prefer that broader definition of liberty under which we are moving forward to greater freedom, to greater security for the average man than he has ever known before in the history of america. april , . since my annual message to the congress on january fourth, last, i have not addressed the general public over the air. in the many weeks since that time the congress has devoted itself to the arduous task of formulating legislation necessary to the country's welfare. it has made and is making distinct progress. before i come to any of the specific measures, however, i want to leave in your minds one clear fact. the administration and the congress are not proceeding in any haphazard fashion in this task of government. each of our steps has a definite relationship to every other step. the job of creating a program for the nation's welfare is, in some respects, like the building of a ship. at different points on the coast where i often visit they build great seagoing ships. when one of these ships is under construction and the steel frames have been set in the keel, it is difficult for a person who does not know ships to tell how it will finally look when it is sailing the high seas. it may seem confused to some, but out of the multitude of detailed parts that go into the making of the structure the creation of a useful instrument for man ultimately comes. it is that way with the making of a national policy. the objective of the nation has greatly changed in three years. before that time individual self- interest and group selfishness were paramount in public thinking. the general good was at a discount. three years of hard thinking have changed the picture. more and more people, because of clearer thinking and a better understanding, are considering the whole rather than a mere part relating to one section or to one crop, or to one industry, or to an individual private occupation. that is a tremendous gain for the principles of democracy. the overwhelming majority of people in this country know how to sift the wheat from the chaff in what they hear and what they read. they know that the process of the constructive rebuilding of america cannot be done in a day or a year, but that it is being done in spite of the few who seek to confuse them and to profit by their confusion. americans as a whole are feeling a lot better--a lot more cheerful than for many, many years. the most difficult place in the world to get a clear open perspective of the country as a whole is washington. i am reminded sometimes of what president wilson once said: "so many people come to washington who know things that are not so, and so few people who know anything about what the people of the united states are thinking about." that is why i occasionally leave this scene of action for a few days to go fishing or back home to hyde park, so that i can have a chance to think quietly about the country as a whole. "to get away from the trees", as they say, "and to look at the whole forest." this duty of seeing the country in a long-range perspective is one which, in a very special manner, attaches to this office to which you have chosen me. did you ever stop to think that there are, after all, only two positions in the nation that are filled by the vote of all of the voters--the president and the vice-president? that makes it particularly necessary for the vice- president and for me to conceive of our duty toward the entire country. i speak, therefore, tonight, to and of the american people as a whole. my most immediate concern is in carrying out the purposes of the great work program just enacted by the congress. its first objective is to put men and women now on the relief rolls to work and, incidentally, to assist materially in our already unmistakable march toward recovery. i shall not confuse my discussion by a multitude of figures. so many figures are quoted to prove so many things. sometimes it depends upon what paper you read and what broadcast you hear. therefore, let us keep our minds on two or three simple, essential facts in connection with this problem of unemployment. it is true that while business and industry are definitely better our relief rolls are still too large. however, for the first time in five years the relief rolls have declined instead of increased during the winter months. they are still declining. the simple fact is that many million more people have private work today than two years ago today or one year ago today, and every day that passes offers more chances to work for those who want to work. in spite of the fact that unemployment remains a serious problem here as in every other nation, we have come to recognize the possibility and the necessity of certain helpful remedial measures. these measures are of two kinds. the first is to make provisions intended to relieve, to minimize, and to prevent future unemployment; the second is to establish the practical means to help those who are unemployed in this present emergency. our social security legislation is an attempt to answer the first of these questions; our works relief program, the second. the program for social security now pending before the congress is a necessary part of the future unemployment policy of the government. while our present and projected expenditures for work relief are wholly within the reasonable limits of our national credit resources, it is obvious that we cannot continue to create governmental deficits for that purpose year after year. we must begin now to make provision for the future. that is why our social security program is an important part of the complete picture. it proposes, by means of old age pensions, to help those who have reached the age of retirement to give up their jobs and thus give to the younger generation greater opportunities for work and to give to all a feeling of security as they look toward old age. the unemployment insurance part of the legislation will not only help to guard the individual in future periods of lay-off against dependence upon relief, but it will, by sustaining purchasing power, cushion the shock of economic distress. another helpful feature of unemployment insurance is the incentive it will give to employers to plan more carefully in order that unemployment may be prevented by the stabilizing of employment itself. provisions for social security, however, are protections for the future. our responsibility for the immediate necessities of the unemployed has been met by the congress through the most comprehensive work plan in the history of the nation. our problem is to put to work three and one-half million employable persons now on the relief rolls. it is a problem quite as much for private industry as for the government. we are losing no time getting the government's vast work relief program underway, and we have every reason to believe that it should be in full swing by autumn. in directing it, i shall recognize six fundamental principles: ( ) the projects should be useful. ( ) projects shall be of a nature that a considerable proportion of the money spent will go into wages for labor. ( ) projects will be sought which promise ultimate return to the federal treasury of a considerable proportion of the costs. ( ) funds allotted for each project should be actually and promptly spent and not held over until later years. ( ) in all cases projects must be of a character to give employment to those on the relief rolls. ( ) projects will be allocated to localities or relief areas in relation to the number of workers on relief rolls in those areas. i next want to make it clear exactly how we shall direct the work. ( ) i have set up a division of applications and information to which all proposals for the expenditure of money must go for preliminary study and consideration. ( ) after the division of applications and information has sifted those projects, they will be sent to an allotment division composed of representatives of the more important governmental agencies charged with carrying on work relief projects. the group will also include representatives of cities, and of labor, farming, banking and industry. this allotment division will consider all of the recommendations submitted to it and such projects as they approve will be next submitted to the president who under the act is required to make final allocations. ( ) the next step will be to notify the proper government agency in whose field the project falls, and also to notify another agency which i am creating--a progress division. this division will have the duty of coordinating the purchases of materials and supplies and of making certain that people who are employed will be taken from the relief rolls. it will also have the responsibility of determining work payments in various localities, of making full use of existing employment services and to assist people engaged in relief work to move as rapidly as possible back into private employment when such employment is available. moreover, this division will be charged with keeping projects moving on schedule. ( ) i have felt it to be essentially wise and prudent to avoid, so far as possible, the creation of new governmental machinery for supervising this work. the national government now has at least sixty different agencies with the staff and the experience and the competence necessary to carry on the two hundred and fifty or three hundred kinds of work that will be undertaken. these agencies, therefore, will simply be doing on a somewhat enlarged scale the same sort of things that they have been doing. this will make certain that the largest possible portion of the funds allotted will be spent for actually creating new work and not for building up expensive overhead organizations here in washington. for many months preparations have been under way. the allotment of funds for desirable projects has already begun. the key men for the major responsibilities of this great task already have been selected. i well realize that the country is expecting before this year is out to see the "dirt fly", as they say, in carrying on the work, and i assure my fellow citizens that no energy will be spared in using these funds effectively to make a major attack upon the problem of unemployment. our responsibility is to all of the people in this country. this is a great national crusade to destroy enforced idleness which is an enemy of the human spirit generated by this depression. our attack upon these enemies must be without stint and without discrimination. no sectional, no political distinctions can be permitted. it must, however, be recognized that when an enterprise of this character is extended over more than three thousand counties throughout the nation, there may be occasional instances of inefficiency, bad management, or misuse of funds. when cases of this kind occur, there will be those, of course, who will try to tell you that the exceptional failure is characteristic of the entire endeavor. it should be remembered that in every big job there are some imperfections. there are chiselers in every walk of life; there are those in every industry who are guilty of unfair practices; every profession has its black sheep, but long experience in government has taught me that the exceptional instances of wrong-doing in government are probably less numerous than in almost every other line of endeavor. the most effective means of preventing such evils in this works relief program will be the eternal vigilance of the american people themselves. i call upon my fellow citizens everywhere to cooperate with me in making this the most efficient and the cleanest example of public enterprise the world has ever seen. it is time to provide a smashing answer for those cynical men who say that a democracy cannot be honest and efficient. if you will help, this can be done. i, therefore, hope you will watch the work in every corner of this nation. feel free to criticize. tell me of instances where work can be done better, or where improper practices prevail. neither you nor i want criticism conceived in a purely fault-finding or partisan spirit, but i am jealous of the right of every citizen to call to the attention of his or her government examples of how the public money can be more effectively spent for the benefit of the american people. i now come, my friends, to a part of the remaining business before the congress. it has under consideration many measures which provide for the rounding out of the program of economic and social reconstruction with which we have been concerned for two years. i can mention only a few of them tonight, but i do not want my mention of specific measures to be interpreted as lack of interest in or disapproval of many other important proposals that are pending. the national industrial recovery act expires on the sixteenth of june. after careful consideration, i have asked the congress to extend the life of this useful agency of government. as we have proceeded with the administration of this act, we have found from time to time more and more useful ways of promoting its purposes. no reasonable person wants to abandon our present gains--we must continue to protect children, to enforce minimum wages, to prevent excessive hours, to safeguard, define and enforce collective bargaining, and, while retaining fair competition, to eliminate so far as humanly possible, the kinds of unfair practices by selfish minorities which unfortunately did more than anything else to bring about the recent collapse of industries. there is likewise pending before the congress legislation to provide for the elimination of unnecessary holding companies in the public utility field. i consider this legislation a positive recovery measure. power production in this country is virtually back to the peak. the operating companies in the gas and electric utility field are by and large in good condition. but under holding company domination the utility industry has long been hopelessly at war within itself and with public sentiment. by far the greater part of the general decline in utility securities had occurred before i was inaugurated. the absentee management of unnecessary holding company control has lost touch with, and has lost the sympathy of, the communities it pretends to serve. even more significantly it has given the country as a whole an uneasy apprehension of overconcentrated economic power. a business that loses the confidence of its customers and the good- will of the public cannot long continue to be a good risk for the investor. this legislation will serve the investor by ending the conditions which have caused that lack of confidence and good-will. it will put the public utility operating industry on a sound basis for the future, both in its public relations and in its internal relations. this legislation will not only in the long run result in providing lower electric and gas rates to the consumer, but it will protect the actual value and earning power of properties now owned by thousands of investors who have little protection under the old laws against what used to be called frenzied finance. it will not destroy values. not only business recovery, but the general economic recovery of the nation will be greatly stimulated by the enactment of legislation designed to improve the status of our transportation agencies. there is need for legislation providing for the regulation of interstate transportation by buses and trucks, for the regulation of transportation by water, for the strengthening of our merchant marine and air transport, for the strengthening of the interstate commerce commission to enable it to carry out a rounded conception of the national transportation system in which the benefits of private ownership are retained while the public stake in these important services is protected by the public's government. finally, the reestablishment of public confidence in the banks of the nation is one of the most hopeful results of our efforts as a nation to reestablish public confidence in private banking. we all know that private banking actually exists by virtue of the permission of and regulation by the people as a whole, speaking through their government. wise public policy, however, requires not only that banking be safe but that its resources be most fully utilized in the economic life of the country. to this end it was decided more than twenty years ago that the government should assume the responsibility of providing a means by which the credit of the nation might be controlled, not by a few private banking institutions, but by a body with public prestige and authority. the answer to this demand was the federal reserve system. twenty years of experience with this system have justified the efforts made to create it, but these twenty years have shown by experience definite possibilities for improvement. certain proposals made to amend the federal reserve act deserve prompt and favorable action by the congress. they are a minimum of wise readjustments of our federal reserve system in the light of past experience and present needs. these measures i have mentioned are, in large part, the program which under my constitutional duty i have recommended to the congress. they are essential factors in a rounded program for national recovery. they contemplate the enrichment of our national life by a sound and rational ordering of its various elements and wise provisions for the protection of the weak against the strong. never since my inauguration in march, , have i felt so unmistakably the atmosphere of recovery. but it is more than the recovery of the material basis of our individual lives. it is the recovery of confidence in our democratic processes and institutions. we have survived all of the arduous burdens and the threatening dangers of a great economic calamity. we have in the darkest moments of our national trials retained our faith in our own ability to master our destiny. fear is vanishing and confidence is growing on every side, renewed faith in the vast possibilities of human beings to improve their material and spiritual status through the instrumentality of the democratic form of government. that faith is receiving its just reward. for that we can be thankful to the god who watches over america. september , . i have been on a journey of husbandry. i went primarily to see at first hand conditions in the drought states; to see how effectively federal and local authorities are taking care of pressing problems of relief and also how they are to work together to defend the people of this country against the effects of future droughts. i saw drought devastation in nine states. i talked with families who had lost their wheat crop, lost their corn crop, lost their livestock, lost the water in their well, lost their garden and come through to the end of the summer without one dollar of cash resources, facing a winter without feed or food-- facing a planting season without seed to put in the ground. that was the extreme case, but there are thousands and thousands of families on western farms who share the same difficulties. i saw cattlemen who because of lack of grass or lack of winter feed have been completely compelled to sell all but their breeding stock and will need help to carry even these through the coming winter. i saw livestock kept alive only because water had been brought to them long distances in tank cars. i saw other farm families who have not lost everything but who, because they have made only partial crops, must have some form of help if they are to continue farming next spring. i shall never forget the fields of wheat so blasted by heat that they cannot be harvested. i shall never forget field after field of corn stunted, earless and stripped of leaves, for what the sun left the grasshoppers took. i saw brown pastures which would not keep a cow on fifty acres. yet i would not have you think for a single minute that there is permanent disaster in these drought regions, or that the picture i saw meant depopulating these areas. no cracked earth, no blistering sun, no burning wind, no grasshoppers, are a permanent match for the indomitable american farmers and stockmen and their wives and children who have carried on through desperate days, and inspire us with their self-reliance, their tenacity and their courage. it was their fathers' task to make homes; it is their task to keep those homes; it is our task to help them win their fight. first let me talk for a minute about this autumn and the coming winter. we have the option, in the case of families who need actual subsistence, of putting them on the dole or putting them to work. they do not want to go on the dole and they are one thousand percent right. we agree, therefore, that we must put them to work for a decent wage; and when we reach that decision we kill two birds with one stone, because these families will earn enough by working, not only to subsist themselves, but to buy food for their stock, and seed for next year's planting. into this scheme of things there fit of course the government lending agencies which next year, as in the past, will help with production loans. every governor with whom i have talked is in full accord with this program of doing work for these farm families, just as every governor agrees that the individual states will take care of their unemployables but that the cost of employing those who are entirely able and willing to work must be borne by the federal government. if then we know, as we do today, the approximate number of farm families who will require some form of work relief from now on through the winter, we face the question of what kind of work they should do. let me make it clear that this is not a new question because it has already been answered to a greater or less extent in every one of the drought communities. beginning in , when we also had serious drought conditions, the state and federal governments cooperated in planning a large number of projects--many of them directly aimed at the alleviation of future drought conditions. in accordance with that program literally thousands of ponds or small reservoirs have been built in order to supply water for stock and to lift the level of the underground water to protect wells from going dry. thousands of wells have been drilled or deepened; community lakes have been created and irrigation projects are being pushed. water conservation by means such as these is being expanded as a result of this new drought all through the great plains area, the western corn belt and in the states that lie further south. in the middle west water conservation is not so pressing a problem. here the work projects run more to soil erosion control and the building of farm-to-market roads. spending like this is not waste. it would spell future waste if we did not spend for such things now. these emergency work projects provide money to buy food and clothing for the winter; they keep the livestock on the farm; they provide seed for a new crop, and, best of all, they will conserve soil and water in the future in those areas most frequently hit by drought. if, for example, in some local area the water table continues to drop and the topsoil to blow away, the land values will disappear with the water and the soil. people on the farms will drift into the nearby cities; the cities will have no farm trade and the workers in the city factories and stores will have no jobs. property values in the cities will decline. if, on the other hand, the farms within that area remain as farms with better water supply and no erosion, the farm population will stay on the land and prosper and the nearby cities will prosper too. property values will increase instead of disappearing. that is why it is worth our while as a nation to spend money in order to save money. i have used the argument in relation only to a small area. it holds good in its effect on the nation as a whole. every state in the drought area is now doing and always will do business with every state outside it. the very existence of the men and women working in the clothing factories of new york, making clothes worn by farmers and their families; of the workers in the steel mills in pittsburgh, in the automobile factories of detroit, and in the harvester factories of illinois, depend upon the farmers' ability to purchase the commodities they produce. in the same way it is the purchasing power of the workers in these factories in the cities that enables them and their wives and children to eat more beef, more pork, more wheat, more corn, more fruit and more dairy products, and to buy more clothing made from cotton, wool and leather. in a physical and a property sense, as well as in a spiritual sense, we are members one of another. i want to make it clear that no simple panacea can be applied to the drought problem in the whole of the drought area. plans must depend on local conditions, for these vary with annual rainfall, soil characteristics, altitude and topography. water and soil conservation methods may differ in one county from those in an adjoining county. work to be done in the cattle and sheep country differs in type from work in the wheat country or work in the corn belt. the great plains drought area committee has given me its preliminary recommendations for a long-time program for that region. using that report as a basis we are cooperating successfully and in entire accord with the governors and state planning boards. as we get this program into operation the people more and more will be able to maintain themselves securely on the land. that will mean a steady decline in the relief burdens which the federal government and states have had to assume in time of drought; but, more important, it will mean a greater contribution to general national prosperity by these regions which have been hit by drought. it will conserve and improve not only property values, but human values. the people in the drought area do not want to be dependent on federal, state or any other kind of charity. they want for themselves and their families an opportunity to share fairly by their own efforts in the progress of america. the farmers of america want a sound national agricultural policy in which a permanent land-use program will have an important place. they want assurance against another year like when they made good crops but had to sell them for prices that meant ruin just as surely as did the drought. sound policy must maintain farm prices in good crop years as well as in bad crop years. it must function when we have drought; it must also function when we have bumper crops. the maintenance of a fair equilibrium between farm prices and the prices of industrial products is an aim which we must keep ever before us, just as we must give constant thought to the sufficiency of the food supply of the nation even in bad years. our modern civilization can and should devise a more successful means by which the excess supplies of bumper years can be conserved for use in lean years. on my trip i have been deeply impressed with the general efficiency of those agencies of the federal, state and local governments which have moved in on the immediate task created by the drought. in none of us had preparation; we worked without blueprints and made the mistakes of inexperience. hindsight shows us this. but as time has gone on we have been making fewer and fewer mistakes. remember that the federal and state governments have done only broad planning. actual work on a given project originates in the local community. local needs are listed from local information. local projects are decided on only after obtaining the recommendations and help of those in the local community who are best able to give it. and it is worthy of note that on my entire trip, though i asked the question dozens of times, i heard no complaint against the character of a single work relief project. the elected heads of the states concerned, together with their state officials and their experts from agricultural colleges and state planning boards, have shown cooperation with and approval of the work which the federal government has headed. i am grateful also to the men and women in all these states who have accepted leadership in the work in their locality. in the drought area people are not afraid to use new methods to meet changes in nature, and to correct mistakes of the past. if overgrazing has injured range lands, they are willing to reduce the grazing. if certain wheat lands should be returned to pasture they are willing to cooperate. if trees should be planted as windbreaks or to stop erosion they will work with us. if terracing or summer fallowing or crop rotation is called for, they will carry them out. they stand ready to fit, and not to fight, the ways of nature. we are helping, and shall continue to help the farmer to do those things, through local soil conservation committees and other cooperative local, state and federal agencies of government. i have not the time tonight to deal with other and more comprehensive agricultural policies. with this fine help we are tiding over the present emergency. we are going to conserve soil, conserve water and conserve life. we are going to have long-time defenses against both low prices and drought. we are going to have a farm policy that will serve the national welfare. that is our hope for the future. there are two reasons why i want to end by talking about reemployment. tomorrow is labor day. the brave spirit with which so many millions of working people are winning their way out of depression deserves respect and admiration. it is like the courage of the farmers in the drought areas. that is my first reason. the second is that healthy employment conditions stand equally with healthy agricultural conditions as a buttress of national prosperity. dependable employment at fair wages is just as important to the people in the towns and cities as good farm income is to agriculture. our people must have the ability to buy the goods they manufacture and the crops they produce. thus city wages and farm buying power are the two strong legs that carry the nation forward. reemployment in industry is proceeding rapidly. government spending was in large part responsible for keeping industry going and putting it in a position to make this reemployment possible. government orders were the backlog of heavy industry; government wages turned over and over again to make consumer purchasing power and to sustain every merchant in the community. businessmen with their businesses, small and large, had to be saved. private enterprise is necessary to any nation which seeks to maintain the democratic form of government. in their case, just as certainly as in the case of drought-stricken farmers, government spending has saved. government having spent wisely to save it, private industry begins to take workers off the rolls of the government relief program. until this administration we had no free employment service, except in a few states and cities. because there was no unified employment service, the worker, forced to move as industry moved, often travelled over the country, wandering after jobs which seemed always to travel just a little faster than he did. he was often victimized by fraudulent practices of employment clearing houses, and the facts of employment opportunities were at the disposal neither of himself nor of the employer. in the united states employment service was created--a cooperative state and federal enterprise, through which the federal government matches dollar for dollar the funds provided by the states for registering the occupations and skills of workers and for actually finding jobs for these registered workers in private industry. the federal-state cooperation has been splendid. already employment services are operating in thirty-two states, and the areas not covered by them are served by the federal government. we have developed a nationwide service with seven hundred district offices and one thousand branch offices, thus providing facilities through which labor can learn of jobs available and employers can find workers. last spring i expressed the hope that employers would realize their deep responsibility to take men off the relief rolls and give them jobs in private enterprise. subsequently i was told by many employers that they were not satisfied with the information available concerning the skill and experience of the workers on the relief rolls. on august th i allocated a relatively small sum to the employment service for the purpose of getting better and more recent information in regard to those now actively at work on w.p.a. projects--information as to their skills and previous occupations--and to keep the records of such men and women up-to- date for maximum service in making them available to industry. tonight i am announcing the allocation of two and a half million dollars more to enable the employment service to make an even more intensive search then it has yet been equipped to make, to find opportunities in private employment for workers registered with it. tonight i urge the workers to cooperate with and take full advantage of this intensification of the work of the employment service. this does not mean that there will be any lessening of our efforts under our w.p.a. and p.w.a. and other work relief programs until all workers have decent jobs in private employment at decent wages. we do not surrender our responsibility to the unemployed. we have had ample proof that it is the will of the american people that those who represent them in national, state and local government should continue as long as necessary to discharge that responsibility. but it does mean that the government wants to use resource to get private work for those now employed on government work, and thus to curtail to a minimum the government expenditures for direct employment. tonight i ask employers, large and small, throughout the nation, to use the help of the state and federal employment service whenever in the general pick-up of business they require more workers. tomorrow is labor day. labor day in this country has never been a class holiday. it has always been a national holiday. it has never had more significance as a national holiday than it has now. in other countries the relationship of employer and employee has been more or less been accepted as a class relationship not readily to be broken through. in this country we insist, as an essential of the american way of life, that the employer-employee relationship should be one between free men and equals. we refuse to regard those who work with hand or brain as different from or inferior to those who live from their property. we insist that labor is entitled to as much respect as property. but our workers with hand and brain deserve more than respect for their labor. they deserve practical protection in the opportunity to use their labor at a return adequate to support them at a decent and constantly rising standard of living, and to accumulate a margin of security against the inevitable vicissitudes of life. the average man must have that twofold opportunity if we are to avoid the growth of a class-conscious society in this country. there are those who fail to read both the signs of the times and american history. they would try to refuse the worker any effective power to bargain collectively, to earn a decent livelihood and to acquire security. it is those short-sighted ones, not labor, who threaten this country with that class dissension which in other countries has led to dictatorship and the establishment of fear and hatred as the dominant emotions in human life. all american workers, brain workers and manual workers alike, and all the rest of us whose well-being depends on theirs, know that our needs are one in building an orderly economic democracy in which all can profit and in which all can be secure from the kind of faulty economic direction which brought us to the brink of common ruin seven years ago. there is no cleavage between white collar workers and manual workers, between artists and artisans, musicians and mechanics, lawyers and accountants and architects and miners. tomorrow, labor day, belongs to all of us. tomorrow, labor day, symbolizes the hope of all americans. anyone who calls it a class holiday challenges the whole concept of american democracy. the fourth of july commemorates our political freedom--a freedom which without economic freedom is meaningless indeed. labor day symbolizes our determination to achieve an economic freedom for the average man which will give his political freedom reality. march , . last thursday i described in detail certain economic problems which everyone admits now face the nation. for the many messages which have come to me after that speech, and which it is physically impossible to answer individually, i take this means of saying "thank you." tonight, sitting at my desk in the white house, i make my first radio report to the people in my second term of office. i am reminded of that evening in march, four years ago, when i made my first radio report to you. we were then in the midst of the great banking crisis. soon after, with the authority of the congress, we asked the nation to turn over all of its privately held gold, dollar for dollar, to the government of the united states. today's recovery proves how right that policy was. but when, almost two years later, it came before the supreme court its constitutionality was upheld only by a five-to-four vote. the change of one vote would have thrown all the affairs of this great nation back into hopeless chaos. in effect, four justices ruled that the right under a private contract to exact a pound of flesh was more sacred than the main objectives of the constitution to establish an enduring nation. in you and i knew that we must never let our economic system get completely out of joint again--that we could not afford to take the risk of another great depression. we also became convinced that the only way to avoid a repetition of those dark days was to have a government with power to prevent and to cure the abuses and the inequalities which had thrown that system out of joint. we then began a program of remedying those abuses and inequalities--to give balance and stability to our economic system--to make it bomb-proof against the causes of . today we are only part-way through that program--and recovery is speeding up to a point where the dangers of are again becoming possible, not this week or month perhaps, but within a year or two. national laws are needed to complete that program. individual or local or state effort alone cannot protect us in any better than ten years ago. it will take time--and plenty of time--to work out our remedies administratively even after legislation is passed. to complete our program of protection in time, therefore, we cannot delay one moment in making certain that our national government has power to carry through. four years ago action did not come until the eleventh hour. it was almost too late. if we learned anything from the depression we will not allow ourselves to run around in new circles of futile discussion and debate, always postponing the day of decision. the american people have learned from the depression. for in the last three national elections an overwhelming majority of them voted a mandate that the congress and the president begin the task of providing that protection--not after long years of debate, but now. the courts, however, have cast doubts on the ability of the elected congress to protect us against catastrophe by meeting squarely our modern social and economic conditions. we are at a crisis in our ability to proceed with that protection. it is a quiet crisis. there are no lines of depositors outside closed banks. but to the far-sighted it is far-reaching in its possibilities of injury to america. i want to talk with you very simply about the need for present action in this crisis--the need to meet the unanswered challenge of one-third of a nation ill-nourished, ill-clad, ill-housed. last thursday i described the american form of government as a three horse team provided by the constitution to the american people so that their field might be plowed. the three horses are, of course, the three branches of government--the congress, the executive and the courts. two of the horses are pulling in unison today; the third is not. those who have intimated that the president of the united states is trying to drive that team, overlook the simple fact that the president, as chief executive, is himself one of the three horses. it is the american people themselves who are in the driver's seat. it is the american people themselves who want the furrow plowed. it is the american people themselves who expect the third horse to pull in unison with the other two. i hope that you have re-read the constitution of the united states in these past few weeks. like the bible, it ought to be read again and again. it is an easy document to understand when you remember that it was called into being because the articles of confederation under which the original thirteen states tried to operate after the revolution showed the need of a national government with power enough to handle national problems. in its preamble, the constitution states that it was intended to form a more perfect union and promote the general welfare; and the powers given to the congress to carry out those purposes can be best described by saying that they were all the powers needed to meet each and every problem which then had a national character and which could not be met by merely local action. but the framers went further. having in mind that in succeeding generations many other problems then undreamed of would become national problems, they gave to the congress the ample broad powers "to levy taxes. . . and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the united states." that, my friends, is what i honestly believe to have been the clear and underlying purpose of the patriots who wrote a federal constitution to create a national government with national power, intended as they said, "to form a more perfect union. . . for ourselves and our posterity." for nearly twenty years there was no conflict between the congress and the court. then congress passed a statute which, in , the court said violated an express provision of the constitution. the court claimed the power to declare it unconstitutional and did so declare it. but a little later the court itself admitted that it was an extraordinary power to exercise and through mr. justice washington laid down this limitation upon it: "it is but a decent respect due to the wisdom, the integrity and the patriotism of the legislative body, by which any law is passed, to presume in favor of its validity until its violation of the constitution is proved beyond all reasonable doubt." but since the rise of the modern movement for social and economic progress through legislation, the court has more and more often and more and more boldly asserted a power to veto laws passed by the congress and state legislatures in complete disregard of this original limitation. in the last four years the sound rule of giving statutes the benefit of all reasonable doubt has been cast aside. the court has been acting not as a judicial body, but as a policy-making body. when the congress has sought to stabilize national agriculture, to improve the conditions of labor, to safeguard business against unfair competition, to protect our national resources, and in many other ways, to serve our clearly national needs, the majority of the court has been assuming the power to pass on the wisdom of these acts of the congress--and to approve or disapprove the public policy written into these laws. that is not only my accusation. it is the accusation of most distinguished justices of the present supreme court. i have not the time to quote to you all the language used by dissenting justices in many of these cases. but in the case holding the railroad retirement act unconstitutional, for instance, chief justice hughes said in a dissenting opinion that the majority opinion was "a departure from sound principles," and placed "an unwarranted limitation upon the commerce clause." and three other justices agreed with him. in the case of holding the a.a.a. unconstitutional, justice stone said of the majority opinion that it was a "tortured construction of the constitution." and two other justices agreed with him. in the case holding the new york minimum wage law unconstitutional, justice stone said that the majority were actually reading into the constitution their own "personal economic predilections," and that if the legislative power is not left free to choose the methods of solving the problems of poverty, subsistence, and health of large numbers in the community, then "government is to be rendered impotent." and two other justices agreed with him. in the face of these dissenting opinions, there is no basis for the claim made by some members of the court that something in the constitution has compelled them regretfully to thwart the will of the people. in the face of such dissenting opinions, it is perfectly clear that, as chief justice hughes has said, "we are under a constitution, but the constitution is what the judges say it is." the court in addition to the proper use of its judicial functions has improperly set itself up as a third house of the congress--a super-legislature, as one of the justices has called it--reading into the constitution words and implications which are not there, and which were never intended to be there. we have, therefore, reached the point as a nation where we must take action to save the constitution from the court and the court from itself. we must find a way to take an appeal from the supreme court to the constitution itself. we want a supreme court which will do justice under the constitution--not over it. in our courts we want a government of laws and not of men. i want--as all americans want--an independent judiciary as proposed by the framers of the constitution. that means a supreme court that will enforce the constitution as written--that will refuse to amend the constitution by the arbitrary exercise of judicial power-- amended by judicial say-so. it does not mean a judiciary so independent that it can deny the existence of facts which are universally recognized. how then could we proceed to perform the mandate given us? it was said in last year's democratic platform, "if these problems cannot be effectively solved within the constitution, we shall seek such clarifying amendment as will assure the power to enact those laws, adequately to regulate commerce, protect public health and safety, and safeguard economic security." in other words, we said we would seek an amendment only if every other possible means by legislation were to fail. when i commenced to review the situation with the problem squarely before me, i came by a process of elimination to the conclusion that, short of amendments, the only method which was clearly constitutional, and would at the same time carry out other much needed reforms, was to infuse new blood into all our courts. we must have men worthy and equipped to carry out impartial justice. but, at the same time, we must have judges who will bring to the courts a present-day sense of the constitution--judges who will retain in the courts the judicial functions of a court, and reject the legislative powers which the courts have today assumed. in forty-five out of the forty-eight states of the union, judges are chosen not for life but for a period of years. in many states judges must retire at the age of seventy. congress has provided financial security by offering life pensions at full pay for federal judges on all courts who are willing to retire at seventy. in the case of supreme court justices, that pension is $ , a year. but all federal judges, once appointed, can, if they choose, hold office for life, no matter how old they may get to be. what is my proposal? it is simply this: whenever a judge or justice of any federal court has reached the age of seventy and does not avail himself of the opportunity to retire on a pension, a new member shall be appointed by the president then in office, with the approval, as required by the constitution, of the senate of the united states. that plan has two chief purposes. by bringing into the judicial system a steady and continuing stream of new and younger blood, i hope, first, to make the administration of all federal justice speedier and, therefore, less costly; secondly, to bring to the decision of social and economic problems younger men who have had personal experience and contact with modern facts and circumstances under which average men have to live and work. this plan will save our national constitution from hardening of the judicial arteries. the number of judges to be appointed would depend wholly on the decision of present judges now over seventy, or those who would subsequently reach the age of seventy. if, for instance, any one of the six justices of the supreme court now over the age of seventy should retire as provided under the plan, no additional place would be created. consequently, although there never can be more than fifteen, there may be only fourteen, or thirteen, or twelve. and there may be only nine. there is nothing novel or radical about this idea. it seeks to maintain the federal bench in full vigor. it has been discussed and approved by many persons of high authority ever since a similar proposal passed the house of representatives in . why was the age fixed at seventy? because the laws of many states, the practice of the civil service, the regulations of the army and navy, and the rules of many of our universities and of almost every great private business enterprise, commonly fix the retirement age at seventy years or less. the statute would apply to all the courts in the federal system. there is general approval so far as the lower federal courts are concerned. the plan has met opposition only so far as the supreme court of the united states itself is concerned. if such a plan is good for the lower courts it certainly ought to be equally good for the highest court from which there is no appeal. those opposing this plan have sought to arouse prejudice and fear by crying that i am seeking to "pack" the supreme court and that a baneful precedent will be established. what do they mean by the words "packing the court"? let me answer this question with a bluntness that will end all _honest_ misunderstanding of my purposes. if by that phrase "packing the court" it is charged that i wish to place on the bench spineless puppets who would disregard the law and would decide specific cases as i wished them to be decided, i make this answer: that no president fit for his office would appoint, and no senate of honorable men fit for their office would confirm, that kind of appointees to the supreme court. but if by that phrase the charge is made that i would appoint and the senate would confirm justices worthy to sit beside present members of the court who understand those modern conditions, that i will appoint justices who will not undertake to override the judgment of the congress on legislative policy, that i will appoint justices who will act as justices and not as legislators--if the appointment of such justices can be called "packing the courts," then i say that i and with me the vast majority of the american people favor doing just that thing--now. is it a dangerous precedent for the congress to change the number of the justices? the congress has always had, and will have, that power. the number of justices has been changed several times before, in the administration of john adams and thomas jefferson-- both signers of the declaration of independence--andrew jackson, abraham lincoln and ulysses s. grant. i suggest only the addition of justices to the bench in accordance with a clearly defined principle relating to a clearly defined age limit. fundamentally, if in the future, america cannot trust the congress it elects to refrain from abuse of our constitutional usages, democracy will have failed far beyond the importance to it of any king of precedent concerning the judiciary. we think it so much in the public interest to maintain a vigorous judiciary that we encourage the retirement of elderly judges by offering them a life pension at full salary. why then should we leave the fulfillment of this public policy to chance or make independent on upon the desire or prejudice of any individual justice? it is the clear intention of our public policy to provide for a constant flow of new and younger blood into the judiciary. normally every president appoints a large number of district and circuit court judges and a few members of the supreme court. until my first term practically every president of the united states has appointed at least one member of the supreme court. president taft appointed five members and named a chief justice; president wilson, three; president harding, four, including a chief justice; president coolidge, one; president hoover, three, including a chief justice. such a succession of appointments should have provided a court well-balanced as to age. but chance and the disinclination of individuals to leave the supreme bench have now given us a court in which five justices will be over seventy-five years of age before next june and one over seventy. thus a sound public policy has been defeated. i now propose that we establish by law an assurance against any such ill-balanced court in the future. i propose that hereafter, when a judge reaches the age of seventy, a new and younger judge shall be added to the court automatically. in this way i propose to enforce a sound public policy by law instead of leaving the composition of our federal courts, including the highest, to be determined by chance or the personal indecision of individuals. if such a law as i propose is regarded as establishing a new precedent, is it not a most desirable precedent? like all lawyers, like all americans, i regret the necessity of this controversy. but the welfare of the united states, and indeed of the constitution itself, is what we all must think about first. our difficulty with the court today rises not from the court as an institution but from human beings within it. but we cannot yield our constitutional destiny to the personal judgment of a few men who, being fearful of the future, would deny us the necessary means of dealing with the present. this plan of mine is no attack on the court; it seeks to restore the court to its rightful and historic place in our constitutional government and to have it resume its high task of building anew on the constitution "a system of living law." the court itself can best undo what the court has done. i have thus explained to you the reasons that lie behind our efforts to secure results by legislation within the constitution. i hope that thereby the difficult process of constitutional amendment may be rendered unnecessary. but let us examine the process. there are many types of amendment proposed. each one is radically different from the other. there is no substantial groups within the congress or outside it who are agreed on any single amendment. it would take months or years to get substantial agreement upon the type and language of the amendment. it would take months and years thereafter to get a two-thirds majority in favor of that amendment in _both_ houses of the congress. then would come the long course of ratification by three-fourths of all the states. no amendment which any powerful economic interests or the leaders of any powerful political party have had reason to oppose has ever been ratified within anything like a reasonable time. and thirteen states which contain only five percent of the voting population can block ratification even though the thirty- five states with ninety-five percent of the population are in favor of it. a very large percentage of newspaper publishers, chambers of commerce, bar association, manufacturers' associations, who are trying to give the impression that they really do want a constitutional amendment would be the first to exclaim as soon as an amendment was proposed, "oh! i was for an amendment all right, but this amendment you proposed is not the kind of amendment that i was thinking about. i am therefore, going to spend my time, my efforts and my money to block the amendment, although i would be awfully glad to help get some other kind of amendment ratified." two groups oppose my plan on the ground that they favor a constitutional amendment. the first includes those who fundamentally object to social and economic legislation along modern lines. this is the same group who during the campaign last fall tried to block the mandate of the people. now they are making a last stand. and the strategy of that last stand is to suggest the time-consuming process of amendment in order to kill off by delay the legislation demanded by the mandate. to them i say: i do not think you will be able long to fool the american people as to your purposes. the other groups is composed of those who honestly believe the amendment process is the best and who would be willing to support a reasonable amendment if they could agree on one. to them i say: we cannot rely on an amendment as the immediate or only answer to our present difficulties. when the time comes for action, you will find that many of those who pretend to support you will sabotage any constructive amendment which is proposed. look at these strange bed-fellows of yours. when before have you found them really at your side in your fights for progress? and remember one thing more. even if an amendment were passed, and even if in the years to come it were to be ratified, its meaning would depend upon the kind of justices who would be sitting on the supreme court bench. an amendment, like the rest of the constitution, is what the justices say it is rather than what its framers or you might hope it is. this proposal of mine will not infringe in the slightest upon the civil or religious liberties so dear to every american. my record as governor and president proves my devotion to those liberties. you who know me can have no fear that i would tolerate the destruction by any branch of government of any part of our heritage of freedom. the present attempt by those opposed to progress to play upon the fears of danger to personal liberty brings again to mind that crude and cruel strategy tried by the same opposition to frighten the workers of america in a pay-envelope propaganda against the social security law. the workers were not fooled by that propaganda then. the people of america will not be fooled by such propaganda now. i am in favor of action through legislation: first, because i believe that it can be passed at this session of the congress. second, because it will provide a reinvigorated, liberal-minded judiciary necessary to furnish quicker and cheaper justice from bottom to top. third, because it will provide a series of federal courts willing to enforce the constitution as written, and unwilling to assert legislative powers by writing into it their own political and economic policies. during the past half century the balance of power between the three great branches of the federal government, has been tipped out of balance by the courts in direct contradiction of the high purposes of the framers of the constitution. it is my purpose to restore that balance. you who know me will accept my solemn assurance that in a world in which democracy is under attack, i seek to make american democracy succeed. you and i will do our part. october , . my friends: this afternoon i have issued a proclamation calling a special session of the congress to convene on monday, november , . i do this in order to give to the congress an opportunity to consider important legislation before the regular session in january, and to enable the congress to avoid a lengthy session next year, extending through the summer. i know that many enemies of democracy will say that it is bad for business, bad for the tranquility of the country, to have a special session--even one beginning only six weeks before the regular session. but i have never had sympathy with the point of view that a session of the congress is an unfortunate intrusion of what they call "politics" into our national affairs. those who do not like democracy want to keep legislators at home. but the congress is an essential instrument of democratic government; and democratic government can never be considered an intruder into the affairs of a democratic nation. i shall ask this special session to consider immediately certain important legislation which my recent trip through the nation convinces me the american people immediately need. this does not mean that other legislation, to which i am not referring tonight, is not important for our national well-being. but other legislation can be more readily discussed at the regular session. anyone charged with proposing or judging national policies should have first-hand knowledge of the nation as a whole. that is why again this year i have taken trips to all parts of the country. last spring i visited the southwest. this summer i made several trips in the east. now i am just back from a trip from a trip all the way across the continent, and later this autumn i hope to pay my annual visit to the southeast. for a president especially it is a duty to think in national terms. he must think not only of this year but of future years, when someone else will be president. he must look beyond the average of the prosperity and well-being of the country, for averages easily cover up danger spots of poverty and instability. he must not let the country be deceived by a merely temporary prosperity which depends on wasteful exploitation of resources which cannot last. he must think not only of keeping us out of war today, but also of keeping us out of war in generations to come. the kind of prosperity we want is the sound and permanent kind which is not built up temporarily at the expense of any section or any group. and the kind of peace we want is the sound and permanent kind, which is built on the cooperative search for peace by all the nations which want peace. the other day i was asked to state my outstanding impression gained on this recent trip. i said that it seemed to me to be the general understanding on the part of the average citizen of the broad objectives and policies which i have just outlined. five years of fierce discussion and debate--five years of information through the radio and the moving picture--have taken the whole nation to school in the nation's business. even those who have most attacked our objectives have, by their very criticism, encouraged the mass of our citizens to think about and understand the issues involved, and, understanding, to approve. out of that process, we have learned to think as a nation. and out of that process we have learned to feel ourselves a nation. as never before in our history, each section of america says to every other section, "thy people shall be my people." for most of the country this has been a good year--better in dollars and cents than for many years--far better in the soundness of its prosperity. and everywhere i went i found particular optimism about the good effect on business which is expected from the steady spending by farmers of the largest farm income in many years. but we have not yet done all that must be done to make this prosperity stable. the people of the united states were checked in their efforts to prevent future piling up of huge agricultural surpluses and the tumbling prices which inevitably follow them. they were checked in their efforts to secure reasonable minimum wages and maximum hours and the end of child labor. and because they were checked, many groups in many parts of the country still have less purchasing power and a lower standard of living than the nation as a whole can permanently allow. americans realize these facts. that is why they ask government not to stop governing simply because prosperity has come back a long way. they do not look on government as an interloper in their affairs. on the contrary, they regard it as the most effective form of organized self-help. sometimes i get bored sitting in washington hearing certain people talk and talk about all that government ought _not_ do--people who got all _they_ wanted from government back in the days when the financial institutions and the railroads were being bailed out by the government in . it is refreshing to go out through the country and feel the common wisdom that the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. they want the financial budget balanced. but they want the human budget balanced as well. they want to set up a national economy which balances itself with as little government subsidy as possible, for they realize that persistent subsidies ultimately bankrupt their government. they are less concerned that every detail be immediately right than they are that the direction be right. they know that just so long as we are traveling on the right road, it does not make much difference if occasionally we hit a "thank you marm." the overwhelming majority of our citizens who live by agriculture are thinking very clearly how they want government to help them in connection with the production of crops. they want government help in two ways: first, in the control of surpluses, and, second, in the proper use of land. the other day a reporter told me that he had never been able to understand why the government seeks to curtail crop production and, at the same time, to open up new irrigated acres. he was confusing two totally separate objectives. crop surplus control relates to the total amount of any major crop grown in the whole nation on all cultivated land--good or bad-- control by the cooperation of the crop growers and with the help of the government. land use, on the other hand, is a policy of providing each farmer with the best quality and type of land we have, or can make available, for his part in that total production. adding good new land for diversified crops is offset by abandoning poor land now uneconomically farmed. the total amount of production largely determines the price of the crop, and, therefore, the difference between comfort and misery for the farmer. if we americans were foolish enough to run every shoe factory twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, we would soon have more shoes than the nation could possibly buy--a surplus of shoes so great that it would have to be destroyed, or given away, or sold at prices far below the cost of production. that simple law of supply and demand equally affects the price of all our major crops. you and i have heard big manufacturers talk about control of production by the farmer as an indefensible "economy of scarcity." and yet these same manufacturers never hesitate to shut down their own huge plants, throw men out of work, and cut down the purchasing power of whole communities whenever they think that they must adjust their production to an oversupply of the goods they make. when it is their baby who has the measles, they call it not "an economy of scarcity" but "sound business judgment." of course, speaking seriously, what you and i want is such governmental rules of the game that labor and agriculture and industry will all produce a balanced abundance without waste. so we intend this winter to find a way to prevent four-and-a-half cent cotton, nine cent corn and thirty cent wheat--with all the disaster those prices mean for all of us--to prevent those prices from ever coming back again. to do that, the farmers themselves want to cooperate to build an all-weather farm program so that in the long run prices will be more stable. they believe this can be done, and the national budget kept out of the red. and when we have found that way to protect the farmers' prices from the effects of alternating crop surpluses and crop scarcities, we shall also have found the way to protect the nation's food supply from the effects of the same fluctuation. we ought always to have enough food at prices within the reach of the consuming public. for the consumers in the cities of america, we must find a way to help the farmers to store up in years of plenty enough to avoid hardship in the years of scarcity. our land use policy is a different thing. i have just visited much of the work that the national government is doing to stop soil erosion, to save our forests, to prevent floods, to produce electric power for more general use, and to give people a chance to move from poor land on to better land by irrigating thousands of acres that need only water to provide an opportunity to make a good living. i saw bare and burned hillsides where only a few years ago great forests were growing. they are now being planted to young trees, not only to stop erosion, but to provide a lumber supply for the future. i saw c.c.c. boys and w.p.a. workers building check-dams and small ponds and terraces to raise the water table and make it possible for farms and villages to remain in safety where they now are. i saw the harnessing of the turbulent missouri, muddy with the topsoil of many states. and i saw barges on new channels carrying produce and freight athwart the nation. let me give you two simple illustrations of why government projects of this type have a national importance for the whole country. in the boise valley in idaho i saw a district which had been recently irrigated to enormous fertility so that a family can now make a pretty good living from forty acres of its land. many of the families, who are making good in that valley today, moved there from a thousand miles away. they came from the dust strip that runs through the middle of the nation all the way from the canadian border to mexico, a strip which includes large portions of ten states. that valley in western idaho, therefore, assumes at once a national importance as a second chance for willing farmers. and, year by year, we propose to add more valleys to take care of thousands of other families who need the same kind of second chance in new green pastures. the other illustration was at the grand coulee dam in the state of washington. the engineer in charge told me that almost half of the whole cost of that dam to date had been spent for materials that were manufactured east of the mississippi river, giving employment and wages to thousands of industrial workers in the eastern third of the nation, two thousand miles away. all of this work needs, of course, a more businesslike system of planning and greater foresight than we use today. that is why i recommended to the last session of the congress the creation of seven planning regions, in which local people will originate and coordinate recommendations as to the kind of this work of this kind to be done in their particular regions. the congress will, of course, determine the projects to be selected within the budget limits. to carry out any twentieth century program, we must give the executive branch of the government twentieth century machinery to work with. i recognize that democratic processes are necessarily and rightly slower than dictatorial processes. but i refuse to believe that democratic processes need be dangerously slow. for many years we have all known that the executive and administrative departments of the government in washington are a higgledy-piggledy patchwork of duplicate responsibilities and overlapping powers. the reorganization of this vast government machinery which i proposed to the congress last winter does not conflict with the principle of the democratic process, as some people say. it only makes that process work more efficiently. on my recent trip many people have talked to me about the millions of men and women and children who still work at insufficient wages and overlong hours. american industry has searched the outside world to find new markets--but it can create on its very doorstep the biggest and most permanent market it has ever had. it needs the reduction of trade barriers to improve its foreign markets, but it should not overlook the chance to reduce the domestic trade barrier right here--right away--without waiting for any treaty. a few more dollars a week in wages, a better distribution of jobs with a shorter working day will almost overnight make millions of our lowest-paid workers actual buyers of billions of dollars of industrial and farm products. that increased volume of sales ought to lessen other cost of production so much that even a considerable increase in labor costs can be absorbed without imposing higher prices on the consumer. i am a firm believer in fully adequate pay for all labor. but right now i am most greatly concerned in increasing the pay of the lowest-paid labor--those who are our most numerous consuming group but who today do not make enough to maintain a decent standard of living or to buy the food, and the clothes and the other articles necessary to keep our factories and farms fully running. farsighted businessmen already understand and agree with this policy. they agree also that no one section of the country can permanently benefit itself, or the rest of the country, by maintaining standards of wages and hours far inferior to other sections of the country. most businessmen, big and little, know that their government neither wants to put them out of business nor to prevent them from earning a decent profit. in spite of the alarms of a few who seek to regain control of american life, most businessmen, big and little, know that their government is trying to make property more secure than ever before by giving every family a real chance to have a property stake in the nation. whatever danger there may be to the property and profits of the many, if there be any danger, comes not from government's attitude toward business but from restraints now imposed upon business by private monopolies and financial oligarchies. the average businessman knows that a high cost of living is a great deterrent to business and that business prosperity depends much upon a low price policy which encourages the widest possible consumption. as one of the country's leading economists recently said, "the continuance of business recovery in the united states depends far more upon business policies, business pricing policies, than it does on anything that may be done, or not done, in washington." our competitive system is, of course, not altogether competitive. anybody who buys any large quantity of manufactured goods knows this, whether it be the government or an individual buyer. we have anti-trust laws, to be sure, but they have not been adequate to check the growth of many monopolies. whether or not they might have been adequate originally, interpretation by the courts and the difficulties and delays of legal procedure have now definitely limited their effectiveness. we are already studying how to strengthen our anti-trust laws in order to end monopoly--not to hurt but to free legitimate business. i have touched briefly on these important subjects, which, taken together, make a program for the immediate future. to attain it, legislation is necessary. as we plan today for the creation of ever higher standards of living for the people of the united states, we are aware that our plans may be most seriously affected by events in the world outside our borders. by a series of trade agreements, we have been attempting to recreate the trade of the world which plays so important a part in our domestic prosperity; but we know that if the world outside our borders falls into the chaos of war, world trade will be completely disrupted. nor can we view with indifference the destruction of civilized values throughout the world. we seek peace, not only for our generation but also for the generation of our children. we seek for them the continuance of world civilization in order that their american civilization may continue to be invigorated by the achievements of civilized men and women in the rest of the world. i want our great democracy to be wise enough to realize that aloofness from war is not promoted by unawareness of war. in a world of mutual suspicions, peace must be affirmatively reached for. it cannot just be wished for. and it cannot just be waited for. we have now made known our willingness to attend a conference of the parties to the nine power treaty of --the treaty of washington--of which we are one of the original signatories. the purpose of this conference will be to seek by agreement a solution of the present situation in china. in efforts to find that solution, it is our purpose to cooperate with the other signatories to this treaty, including china and japan. such cooperation would be an example of one of the possible paths to follow in our search for means toward peace throughout the whole world. the development of civilization and of human welfare is based on the acceptance by individuals of certain fundamental decencies in their relations with each other. the development of peace in the world is dependent similarly on the acceptance by nations of certain fundamental decencies in their relations with each other. ultimately, i hope _each_ nation will accept the fact that violations of these rules of conduct are an injury to the well- being of _all_ nations. meanwhile, remember that from to , i personally was fairly close to world events, and in that period, while i learned much of what to do, i also learned much of what _not_ to do. the common sense, the intelligence of america agree with my statement that "america hates war. america hopes for peace. therefore, america actively engages in the search for peace." april , . my friends: five months have gone by since i last spoke to the people of the nation about the state of the nation. i had hoped to be able to defer this talk until next week because, as we all know, this is holy week. but what i want to say to you, the people of the country, is of such immediate need and relates so closely to the lives of human beings and the prevention of human suffering that i have felt that there should be no delay. in this decision i have been strengthened by the thought that by speaking tonight there may be greater peace of mind and that the hope of easter may be more real at firesides everywhere, and therefore that it is not inappropriate to encourage peace when so many of us are thinking of the prince of peace. five years ago we faced a very serious problem of economic and social recovery. for four and a half years that recovery proceeded apace. it is only in the past seven months that it has received a visible setback. and it is only within the past two months, as we have waited patiently to see whether the forces of business itself would counteract it, that it has become apparent that government itself can no longer safely fail to take aggressive government steps to meet it. this recession has not returned us the disasters and suffering of the beginning of . your money in the bank is safe; farmers are no longer in deep distress and have greater purchasing power; dangers of security speculation have been minimized; national income is almost percent higher than in ; and government has an established and accepted responsibility for relief. but i know that many of you have lost your jobs or have seen your friends or members of your families lose their jobs, and i do not propose that the government shall pretend not to see these things. i know that the effect of our present difficulties has been uneven; that they have affected some groups and some localities seriously, but that they have been scarcely felt in others. but i conceive the first duty of government is to protect the economic welfare of all the people in all sections and in all groups. i said in my message opening the last session of the congress that if private enterprise did not provide jobs this spring, government would take up the slack--that i would not let the people down. we have all learned the lesson that government cannot afford to wait until it has lost the power to act. therefore, my friends, i have sent a message of far-reaching importance to the congress. i want to read to you tonight certain passages from that message, and to talk with you about them. in that message i analyzed the causes of the collapse of in these words: "over-speculation in and overproduction of practically every article or instrument used by man. . . millions of people, to be sure, had been put to work, but the products of their hands had exceeded the purchasing power of their pocketbooks. . . . under the inexorable law of supply and demand, supplies so overran demand which would pay that production was compelled to stop. unemployment and closed factories resulted. hence the tragic years from to ." i pointed out to the congress that the national income--not the government's income but the total of the income of all the individual citizens and families of the united states--every farmer, every worker, every banker, every professional man and every person who lived on income derived from investments--that national income had amounted, in the year , to eighty-one billion dollars. by this had fallen to thirty-eight billion dollars. gradually, and up to a few months ago, it had risen to a total, an annual total; of sixty-eight billion dollars--a pretty good come-back from the low point. i then said this to the congress: "but the very vigor of the recovery in both durable goods and consumers' goods brought into the picture early in certain highly undesirable practices, which were in large part responsible for the economic decline which began in the later months of that year. again production outran the ability to buy. "there were many reasons for this overproduction. one of them was fear--fear of war abroad, fear of inflation, fear of nation-wide strikes. none of these fears have been borne out. ". . .production in many important lines of goods outran the ability of the public to purchase them. for example, through the winter and spring of cotton factories in hundreds of cases were running on a three-shift basis, piling up cotton goods in the factory, and in the hands of middle men and retailers. for example, also, automobile manufacturers not only turned out a normal increase of finished cars, but encouraged the normal increase to run into abnormal figures, using every known method to push their sales. this meant, of course, that the steel mills of the nation ran on a twenty-four hour basis, and the tire companies and cotton factories and glass factories and others speeded up to meet the same type of abnormally stimulated demand. the buying power of the nation lagged behind. "thus by the autumn of , last autumn, the nation again had stocks on hand which the consuming public could not buy because the purchasing power of the consuming public had not kept pace with the production. "during the same period. . . the prices of many vital products had risen faster than was warranted. . . . in the case of many commodities the price to the consumer was raised well above the inflationary boom prices of . in many lines of goods and materials, prices got so high that buyers and builders ceased to buy or to build. ". . . the economic process of getting out the raw materials, putting them through the manufacturing and finishing processes, selling them to the retailers, selling them to the consumer, and finally using them, got completely out of balance. ". . . the laying off of workers came upon us last autumn and has been continuing at such a pace ever since that all of us, government and banking and business and workers, and those faced with destitution, recognize the need for action." all of this i said to the congress today and i repeat it to you, the people of the country tonight. i went on to point out to the senate and the house of representatives that all the energies of government and business must be directed to increasing the national income, to putting more people into private jobs, to giving security and a feeling of security to all people in all walks of life. i am constantly thinking of all our people--unemployed and employed alike--of their human problems of food and clothing and homes and education and health and old age. you and i agree that security is our greatest need; the chance to work, the opportunity of making a reasonable profit in our business--whether it be a very small business or a larger one--the possibility of selling our farm products for enough money for our families to live on decently. i know these are the things that decide the well-being of all our people. therefore, i am determined to do all in my power to help you attain that security and because i know that the people themselves have a deep conviction that secure prosperity of that kind cannot be a lasting one except on a basis of business fair dealing and a basis where all from the top to the bottom share in the prosperity. i repeated to the congress today that neither it nor the chief executive can afford "to weaken or destroy great reforms which, during the past five years, have been effected on behalf of the american people. in our rehabilitation of the banking structure and of agriculture, in our provisions for adequate and cheaper credit for all types of business, in our acceptance of national responsibility for unemployment relief, in our strengthening of the credit of state and local government, in our encouragement of housing, and slum clearance and home ownership, in our supervision of stock exchanges and public utility holding companies and the issuance of new securities, in our provision for social security, the electorate of america wants no backward steps taken. "we have recognized the right of labor to free organization, to collective bargaining; and machinery for the handling of labor relations is now in existence. the principles are established even though we can all admit that, through the evolution of time, administration and practices can be improved. such improvement can come about most quickly and most peacefully through sincere efforts to understand and assist on the part of labor leaders and employers alike. "the never-ceasing evolution of human society will doubtless bring forth new problems which will require new adjustments. our immediate task is to consolidate and maintain the gains achieved. "in this situation there is no reason and no occasion for any american to allow his fears to be aroused or his energy and enterprise to be paralyzed by doubt or uncertainty." i came to the conclusion that the present-day problem calls for action both by the government and by the people, that we suffer primarily from a failure of consumer demand because of lack of buying power. therefore it is up to us to create an economic upturn. "how and where can and should the government help to start an upward spiral?" i went on in my message today to propose three groups of measures and i will summarize my recommendations. first, i asked for certain appropriations which are intended to keep the government expenditures for work relief and similar purposes during the coming fiscal year at the same rate of expenditure as at present. that includes additional money for the works progress administration; additional funds for the farm security administration; additional allotments for the national youth administration, and more money for the civilian conservation corps, in order that it can maintain the existing number of camps now in operation. these appropriations, made necessary by increased unemployment, will cost about a billion and a quarter dollars more than the estimates which i sent to the congress on the third of january . second, i told the congress that the administration proposes to make additional bank reserves available for the credit needs of the country. about one billion four hundred million dollars of gold now in the treasury will be used to pay these additional expenses of the government, and three-quarters of a billion dollars of additional credit will be made available to the banks by reducing the reserves now required by the federal reserve board. these two steps--taking care of relief needs and adding to bank credits--are in our best judgment insufficient by themselves to start the nation on a sustained upward movement. therefore, i came to the third kind of government action which i consider to be vital. i said to the congress: "you and i cannot afford to equip ourselves with two rounds of ammunition where three rounds are necessary. if we stop at relief and credit, we may find ourselves without ammunition before the enemy is routed. if we are fully equipped with the third round of ammunition, we stand to win the battle against adversity." this third proposal is to make definite additions to the purchasing power of the nation by providing new work over and above the continuing of the old work. first, to enable the united states housing authority to undertake the immediate construction of about three hundred million dollars of additional slum clearance projects. second, to renew a public works program by starting as quickly as possible about one billion dollars worth of needed permanent public improvements in our states, and their counties and cities. third, to add one hundred million dollars to the estimate for federal aid highways in excess of the amount i recommended in january. fourth, to add thirty-seven million dollars over and above the former estimate of sixty-three million for flood control and reclamation. fifth, to add twenty-five million dollars additional for federal buildings in various parts of the country. in recommending this program i am thinking not only of the immediate economic needs of the people of the nation, but also of their personal liberties--the most precious possession of all americans. i am thinking of our democracy and of the recent trend in other parts of the world away from the democratic ideal. democracy has disappeared in several other great nations-- disappeared not because the people of those nations disliked democracy, but because they had grown tired of unemployment and insecurity, of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face of government confusion and government weakness through lack of leadership in government. finally, in desperation, they chose to sacrifice liberty in the hope of getting something to eat. we in america know that our own democratic institutions can be preserved and made to work. but in order to preserve them we need to act together, to meet the problems of the nation boldly, and to prove that the practical operation of democratic government is equal to the task of protecting the security of the people. not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men. the people of america are in agreement in defending their liberties at any cost, and the first line of that defense lies in the protection of economic security. your government, seeking to protect democracy, must prove that government is stronger than the forces of business depression. history proves that dictatorships do not grow out of strong and successful governments but out of weak and helpless governments. if by democratic methods people get a government strong enough to protect them from fear and starvation, their democracy succeeds, but if they do not, they grow impatient. therefore, the only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over its government. we are a rich nation; we can afford to pay for security and prosperity without having to sacrifice our liberties into the bargain. in the first century of our republic we were short of capital, short of workers and short of industrial production; but we were rich in free land, free timber and free mineral wealth. the federal government rightly assumed the duty of promoting business and relieving depression by giving subsidies of land and other resources. thus, from our earliest days we have had a tradition of substantial government help to our system of private enterprise. but today the government no longer has vast tracts of rich land to give away and we have discovered, too, that we must spend large sums of money to conserve our land from further erosion and our forests from further depletion. the situation is also very different from the old days, because now we have plenty of capital, banks and insurance companies loaded with idle money; plenty of industrial productive capacity and many millions of workers looking for jobs. it is following tradition as well as necessity, if government strives to put idle money and idle men to work, to increase our public wealth and to build up the health and strength of the people--and to help our system of private enterprise to function. it is going to cost something to get out of this recession this way but the profit of getting out of it will pay for the cost several times over. lost working time is lost money. every day that a workman is unemployed, or a machine is unused, or a business organization is marking time, it is a loss to the nation. because of idle men and idle machines this nation lost one hundred billion dollars between and the spring of , in less than four years. this year you, the people of this country, are making about twelve billion dollars less than last year. if you think back to the experiences of the early years of this administration you will remember the doubts and fears expressed about the rising expenses of government. but to the surprise of the doubters, as we proceeded to carry on the program which included public works and work relief, the country grew richer instead of poorer. it is worthwhile to remember that the annual national people's income was thirty billion dollars more last year in than it was in . it is true that the national debt increased sixteen billion dollars, but remember that in that increase must be included several billion dollars worth of assets which eventually will reduce that debt and that many billion dollars of permanent public improvements--schools, roads, bridges, tunnels, public buildings, parks and a host of other things--meet your eye in every one of the thirty-one hundred counties in the united states. no doubt you will be told that the government spending program of the past five years did not cause the increase in our national income. they will tell you that business revived because of private spending and investment. that is true in part, for the government spent only a small part of the total. but that government spending acted as a trigger to set off private activity. that is why the total addition to our national production and national income has been so much greater than the contribution of the government itself. in pursuance of that thought i said to the congress today: "i want to make it clear that we do not believe that we can get an adequate rise in national income merely by investing, and lending or spending public funds. it is essential in our economy that private funds must be put to work and all of us recognize that such funds are entitled to a fair profit." as national income rises, "let us not forget that government expenditures will go down and government tax receipts will go up." the government contribution of land that we once made to business was the land of all the people. and the government contribution of money which we now make to business ultimately comes out of the labor of all the people. it is, therefore, only sound morality, as well as a sound distribution of buying power, that the benefits of the prosperity coming from this use of the money of all the people ought to be distributed among all the people--at the bottom as well as at the top. consequently, i am again expressing my hope that the congress will enact at this session a wage and hour bill putting a floor under industrial wages and a limit on working hours--to ensure a better distribution of our prosperity, a better distribution of available work, and a sounder distribution of buying power. you may get all kinds of impressions in regard to the total cost of this new program, or in regard to the amount that will be added to the net national debt. it is a big program. last autumn in a sincere effort to bring government expenditures and government income into closer balance, the budget i worked out called for sharp decreases in government spending. in the light of present conditions those estimates were far too low. this new program adds two billion and sixty-two million dollars to direct treasury expenditures and another nine hundred and fifty million dollars to government loans--the latter sum, because they are loans, will come back to the treasury in the future. the net effect on the debt of the government is this--between now and july , --fifteen months away--the treasury will have to raise less than a billion and a half dollars of new money. such an addition to the net debt of the united states need not give concern to any citizen, for it will return to the people of the united states many times over in increased buying power and eventually in much greater government tax receipts because of the increase in the citizen income. what i said to the congress in the close of my message i repeat to you. "let us unanimously recognize the fact that the federal debt, whether it be twenty-five billions or forty billions, can only be paid if the nation obtains a vastly increased citizen income. i repeat that if this citizen income can be raised to eighty billion dollars a year the national government and the overwhelming majority of state and local governments will be definitely 'out of the red.' the higher the national income goes the faster will we be able to reduce the total of federal and state and local debts. viewed from every angle, today's purchasing power--the citizens' income of today--is not at this time sufficient to drive the economic system of america at higher speed. responsibility of government requires us at this time to supplement the normal processes and in so supplementing them to make sure that the addition is adequate. we must start again on a long steady upward incline in national income. ". . . and in that process, which i believe is ready to start, let us avoid the pitfalls of the past--the overproduction, the overspeculation, and indeed all the extremes which we did not succeed in avoiding in . in all of this, government cannot and should not act alone. business must help. and i am sure business will help. "we need more than the materials of recovery. we need a united national will. "we need to recognize nationally that the demands of no group, however just, can be satisfied unless that group is prepared to share in finding a way to produce the income from which they and all other groups can be paid. . . . you, as the congress, i, as the president, must by virtue of our offices, seek the national good by preserving the balance between all groups and all sections. "we have at our disposal the national resources, the money, the skill of hand and head to raise our economic level--our citizens' income. our capacity is limited only by our ability to work together. what is needed is the will. "the time has come to bring that will into action with every driving force at our command. and i am determined to do my share. ". . . certain positive requirements seem to me to accompany the will--if we have that will. "there is placed on all of us the duty of self-restraint. . . . that is the discipline of a democracy. every patriotic citizen must say to himself or herself, that immoderate statement, appeals to prejudice, the creation of unkindness, are offenses not against an individual or individuals, but offenses against the whole population of the united states. . . . "self-restraint implies restraint by articulate public opinion, trained to distinguish fact from falsehood, trained to believe that bitterness is never a useful instrument in public affairs. there can be no dictatorship by an individual or by a group in this nation, save through division fostered by hate. such division there must never be." and finally i should like to say a personal word to you. i never forget that i live in a house owned by all the american people and that i have been given their trust. i try always to remember that their deepest problems are human. i constantly talk with those who come to tell me their own points of view; with those who manage the great industries and financial institutions of the country; with those who represent the farmer and the worker; and often with average citizens without high position who come to this house. and constantly i seek to look beyond the doors of the white house, beyond the officialdom of the national capital, into the hopes and fears of men and women in their homes. i have travelled the country over many times. my friends, my enemies, my daily mail bring to me reports of what you are thinking and hoping. i want to be sure that neither battles nor burdens of office shall ever blind me to an intimate knowledge of the way the american people want to live and the simple purposes for which they put me here. in these great problems of government i try not to forget that what really counts at the bottom of it all is that the men and women willing to work can have a decent job to take care of themselves and their homes and their children adequately; that the farmer, the factory worker, the storekeeper, the gas station man, the manufacturer, the merchant--big and small--the banker who takes pride in the help that he can give to the building of his community--that all of these can be sure of a reasonable profit and safety for the savings they earn--not today nor tomorrow alone, but as far ahead as they can see. i can hear your unspoken wonder as to where we are headed in this troubled world. i cannot expect all of the people to understand all of the people's problems; but it is my job to try to those problems. i always try to remember that reconciling differences cannot satisfy everyone completely. because i do not expect too much, i am not disappointed. but i know that i must never give up--that i must never let the greater interest of all the people down, merely because that might be for the moment the easiest personal way out. i believe that we have been right in the course we have charted. to abandon our purpose of building a greater, a more stable and a more tolerant america would be to miss the tide and perhaps to miss the port. i propose to sail ahead. i feel sure that your hopes and your help are with me. for to reach a port, we must sail--sail, not lie at anchor, sail, not drift. june , . our government, happily, is a democracy. as part of the democratic process, your president is again taking an opportunity to report on the progress of national affairs, to report to the real rulers of this country--the voting public. the seventy-fifth congress, elected in november, , on a platform uncompromisingly liberal, has adjourned. barring unforeseen events, there will be no session until the new congress, to be elected in november, assembles next january. on the one hand, the seventy-fifth congress has left many things undone. for example, it refused to provide more businesslike machinery for running the executive branch of the government. the congress also failed to meet my suggestion that it take the far-reaching steps necessary to put the railroads of the country back on their feet. but, on the other hand, the congress, striving to carry out the platform on which most of its members were elected, achieved more for the future good of the country than any congress did between the end of the world war and the spring of . i mention tonight only the more important of these achievements. ( ) it improved still further our agricultural laws to give the farmer a fairer share of the national income, to preserve our soil, to provide an all-weather granary, to help the farm tenant towards independence, to find new uses for farm products, and to begin crop insurance. ( ) after many requests on my part the congress passed a fair labor standards act, commonly called the wages and hours bill. that act-- applying to products in interstate commerce--ends child labor, sets a floor below wages and a ceiling over hours of labor. except perhaps for the social security act, it is the most far- reaching, the most far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted here or in any other country. without question it starts us toward a better standard of living and increases purchasing power to buy the products of farm and factory. do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $ , a day, who has been turning his employees over to the government relief rolls in order to preserve his company's undistributed reserves, tell you--using his stockholders' money to pay the postage for his personal opinions--that a wage of $ a week is going to have a disastrous effect on all american industry. fortunately for business as a whole, and therefore for the nation, that type of executive is a rarity with whom most business executives most heartily disagree. ( ) the congress has provided a fact-finding commission to find a path through the jungle of contradictory theories about the wise business practices--to find the necessary facts for any intelligent legislation on monopoly, on price-fixing and on the relationship between big business and medium-sized business and little business. different from a great part of the world, we in america persist in our belief in individual enterprise and in the profit motive; but we realize we must continually seek improved practices to insure the continuance of reasonable profits, together with scientific progress, individual initiative, opportunities for the little fellow, fair prices, decent wages and continuing employment. ( ) the congress has coordinated the supervision of commercial aviation and air mail by establishing a new civil aeronautics authority; and it has placed all postmasters under the civil service for the first time in our national history. ( ) the congress set up the united states housing authority to help finance large-scale slum clearance and provide low rent housing for the low income groups in our cities. and by improving the federal housing act, the congress made it easier for private capital to build modest homes and low rental dwellings. ( ) the congress has properly reduced taxes on small corporate enterprises, and has made it easier for the reconstruction finance corporation to make credit available to all business. i think the bankers of the country can fairly be expected to participate in loans where the government, through the reconstruction finance corporation, offers to take a fair portion of the risk. ( ) the congress has provided additional funds for the works progress administration, the public works administration, the rural electrification administration, the civilian conservation corps and other agencies, in order to take care of what we hope is a temporary additional number of unemployed at this time and to encourage production of every kind by private enterprise. all these things together i call our program for the national defense of our economic system. it is a program of balanced action--of moving on all fronts at once in intelligent recognition that all of our economic problems, of every group, and of every section of the country are essentially one problem. ( ) finally, because of increasing armaments in other nations and an international situation which is definitely disturbing to all of us, the congress has authorized important additions to the national armed defense of our shores and our people. on another important subject the net result of a struggle in the congress has been an important victory for the people of the united states--what might well be called a lost battle which won a war. you will remember that on february , , i sent a message to the congress dealing with the real need of federal court reforms of several kinds. in one way or another, during the sessions of this congress, the ends--the real objectives--sought in that message, have been substantially attained. the attitude of the supreme court towards constitutional questions is entirely changed. its recent decisions are eloquent testimony of a willingness to collaborate with the two other branches of government to make democracy work. the government has been granted the right to protect its interests in litigation between private parties involving the constitutionality of federal, and to appeal directly to the supreme court in all cases involving the constitutionality of federal statutes; and no single judge is any longer empowered to suspend a federal statute on his sole judgment as to its constitutionality. justices of the supreme court may now retire at the age of seventy after ten years of service; a substantial number of additional judgeships have been created in order to expedite the trial of cases; and finally greater flexibility has been added to the federal judicial system by allowing judges to be assigned to congested districts. another indirect accomplishment of this congress has been its response to the devotion of the american people to a course of sane and consistent liberalism. the congress has understood that under modern conditions government has a continuing responsibility to meet continuing problems, and that government cannot take a holiday of a year, or a month, or even a day just because a few people are tired or frightened by the inescapable pace, fast pace, of this modern world in which we live. some of my opponents and some of my associates have considered that i have a mistakenly sentimental judgment as to the tenacity of purpose and the general level of intelligence of the american people. i am still convinced that the american people, since , continue to insist on two requisites of private enterprise, and the relationship of government to it. the first is a complete honesty at the top in looking after the use of other people's money, and in apportioning and paying individual and corporate taxes according to ability to pay. the second is sincere respect for the need of all people who are at the bottom, all people at the bottom who need to get work--and through work to get a really fair share of the good things of life, and a chance to save and rise. after the election of i was told, and the congress was told, by an increasing number of politically--and worldly--wise people that i should coast along, enjoy an easy presidency for four years, and not take the democratic platform too seriously. they told me that people were getting weary of reform through political effort and would no longer oppose that small minority which, in spite of its own disastrous leadership in , is always eager to resume its control over the government of the united states. never in our lifetime has such a concerted campaign of defeatism been thrown at the heads of the president and the senators and congressmen as in the case of this seventy-fifth congress. never before have we had so many copperheads--and you will remember that it was the copperheads who, in the days of the war between the states, tried their best to make president lincoln and his congress give up the fight, let the nation remain split in two and return to peace--peace at any price. this congress has ended on the side of the people. my faith in the american people--and their faith in themselves--have been justified. i congratulate the congress and the leadership thereof and i congratulate the american people on their own staying power. one word about our economic situation. it makes no difference to me whether you call it a recession or a depression. in the total national income of all the people in the country had reached the low point of thirty-eight billion dollars in that year. with each succeeding year it rose. last year, , it had risen to seventy billion dollars--despite definitely worse business and agricultural prices in the last four months of last year. this year, , while it is too early to do more than give an estimate, we hope that the national income will not fall below sixty billion dollars. we remember also that banking and business and farming are not falling apart like the one-hoss shay, as they did in the terrible winter of - . last year mistakes were made by the leaders of private enterprise, by the leaders of labor and by the leaders of government--all three. last year the leaders of private enterprise pleaded for a sudden curtailment of public spending, and said they would take up the slack. but they made the mistake of increasing their inventories too fast and setting many of their prices too high for their goods to sell. some labor leaders goaded by decades of oppression of labor made the mistake of going too far. they were not wise in using methods which frightened many well-wishing people. they asked employers not only to bargain with them but to put up with jurisdictional disputes at the same time. government too made mistakes--mistakes of optimism in assuming that industry and labor would themselves make no mistakes--and government made a mistake of timing in not passing a farm bill or a wage and hour bill last year. as a result of the lessons of all these mistakes we hope that in the future private enterprise--capital and labor alike--will operate more intelligently together, and operate in greater cooperation with their own government than they have in the past. such cooperation on the part of both of them will be very welcome to me. certainly at this stage there should be a united stand on the part of both of them to resist wage cuts which would further reduce purchasing power. today a great steel company announced a reduction in prices with a view to stimulating business recovery, and i was gratified to know that this reduction involved no wage cut. every encouragement ought to be given to industry which accepts the large volume and high wage policy. if this is done, it ought to result in conditions which will replace a great part of the government spending which the failure of cooperation has made necessary this year. from march , down, not a single week has passed without a cry from the opposition, a small opposition, a cry "to do something, to say something, to restore confidence." there is a very articulate group of people in this country, with plenty of ability to procure publicity for their views, who have consistently refused to cooperate with the mass of the people, whether things were going well or going badly, on the ground that they required more concessions to their point of view before they would admit having what they called "confidence." these people demanded "restoration of confidence" when the banks were closed--and demanded it again when the banks were reopened. they demanded "restoration of confidence" when hungry people were thronging the streets--and again when the hungry people were fed and put to work. they demanded "restoration of confidence" when droughts hit the country--and again now when our fields are laden with bounteous yields and excessive crops. they demanded "restoration of confidence" last year when the automobile industry was running three shifts and turning out more cars than the country could buy--and again this year when the industry is trying to get rid of an automobile surplus and has shut down its factories as a result. it is my belief that many of these people who have been crying aloud for "confidence" are beginning today to realize that that hand has been overplayed, and that they are now willing to talk cooperation instead. it is my belief that the mass of the american people do have confidence in themselves--have confidence in their ability, with the aid of government, to solve their own problems. it is because you are not satisfied, and i am not satisfied, with the progress that we have made in finally solving our business and agricultural and social problems that i believe the great majority of you want your own government to keep on trying to solve them. in simple frankness and in simple honesty, i need all the help i can get--and i see signs of getting more help in the future from many who have fought against progress with tooth and nail. and now following out this line of thought, i want to say a few words about the coming political primaries. fifty years ago party nominations were generally made in conventions--a system typified in the public imagination by a little group in a smoke-filled room who made out the party slates. the direct primary was invented to make the nominating process a more democratic one--to give the party voters themselves a chance to pick their party candidates. what i am going to say to you tonight does not relate to the primaries of any particular political party, but to matters of principle in all parties--democratic, republican, farmer-labor, progressive, socialist or any other. let that be clearly understood. it is my hope that everybody affiliated with any party will vote in the primaries, and that every such voter will consider the fundamental principles for which his or her party is on record. that makes for a healthy choice between the candidates of the opposing parties on election day in november. an election cannot give the country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have different names but are as alike in their principles and aims as peas in the same pod. in the coming primaries in all parties, there will be many clashes between two schools of thought, generally classified as liberal and conservative. roughly speaking, the liberal school of thought recognizes that the new conditions throughout the world call for new remedies. those of us in america who hold to this school of thought, insist that these new remedies can be adopted and successfully maintained in this country under our present form of government if we use government as an instrument of cooperation to provide these remedies. we believe that we can solve our problems through continuing effort, through democratic processes instead of fascism or communism. we are opposed to the kind of moratorium on reform which, in effect, is reaction itself. be it clearly understood, however, that when i use the word "liberal," i mean the believer in progressive principles of democratic, representative government and not the wild man who, in effect, leans in the direction of communism, for that is just as dangerous as fascism itself. the opposing or conservative school of thought, as a general proposition, does not recognize the need for government itself to step in and take action to meet these new problems. it believes that individual initiative and private philanthropy will solve them--that we ought to repeal many of the things we have done and go back, for instance, to the old gold standard, or stop all this business of old age pensions and unemployment insurance, or repeal the securities and exchange act, or let monopolies thrive unchecked--return, in effect, to the kind of government that we had in the twenties. assuming the mental capacity of all the candidates, the important question which it seems to me the primary voter must ask is this: "to which of these general schools of thought does the candidate belong?" as president of the united states, i am not asking the voters of the country to vote for democrats next november as opposed to republicans or members of any other party. nor am i, as president, taking part in democratic primaries. as the head of the democratic party, however, charged with the responsibility of carrying out the definitely liberal declaration of principles set forth in the democratic platform, i feel that i have every right to speak in those few instances where there may be a clear-cut issue between candidates for a democratic nomination involving these principles, or involving a clear misuse of my own name. do not misunderstand me. i certainly would not indicate a preference in a state primary merely because a candidate, otherwise liberal in outlook, had conscientiously differed with me on any single issue. i should be far more concerned about the general attitude of a candidate towards present day problems and his own inward desire to get practical needs attended to in a practical way. we all know that progress may be blocked by outspoken reactionaries, and also by those who say "yes" to a progressive objective, but who always find some reason to oppose any special specific proposal to gain that objective. i call that type of candidate a "yes, but" fellow. and i am concerned about the attitude of a candidate or his sponsors with respect to the rights of american citizens to assemble peaceably and to express publicly their views and opinions on important social and economic issues. there can be no constitutional democracy in any community which denies to the individual his freedom to speak and worship as he wishes. the american people will not be deceived by anyone who attempts to suppress individual liberty under the pretense of patriotism. this being a free country with freedom of expression--especially with freedom of the press--there will be a lot of mean blows struck between now and election day. by "blows" i mean misrepresentation, personal attack and appeals to prejudice. it would be a lot better, of course, if campaigns everywhere could be waged with arguments instead of with blows. i hope the liberal candidates will confine themselves to argument and not resort to blows. in nine cases out of ten the speaker or the writer who, seeking to influence public opinion, descends from calm argument to unfair blows hurts himself more than his opponent. the chinese have a story on this--a story based on three or four thousand years of civilization: two chinese coolies were arguing heatedly in the midst of a crowd. a stranger expressed surprise that no blows were being struck. his chinese friend replied: "the man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out." i know that neither in the summer primaries nor in the november elections will the american voters fail to spot the candidate whose ideas have given out. september , . my fellow americans and my friends: tonight my single duty is to speak to the whole of america. until four-thirty this morning i had hoped against hope that some miracle would prevent a devastating war in europe and bring to an end the invasion of poland by germany. for four long years a succession of actual wars and constant crises have shaken the entire world and have threatened in each case to bring on the gigantic conflict which is today unhappily a fact. it is right that i should recall to your minds the consistent and at time successful efforts of your government in these crises to throw the full weight of the united states into the cause of peace. in spite of spreading wars i think that we have every right and every reason to maintain as a national policy the fundamental moralities, the teachings of religion and the continuation of efforts to restore peace--for some day, though the time may be distant, we can be of even greater help to a crippled humanity. it is right, too, to point out that the unfortunate events of these recent years have, without question, been based on the use of force and the threat of force. and it seems to me clear, even at the outbreak of this great war, that the influence of america should be consistent in seeking for humanity a final peace which will eliminate, as far as it is possible to do so, the continued use of force between nations. it is, of course, impossible to predict the future. i have my constant stream of information from american representatives and other sources throughout the world. you, the people of this country, are receiving news through your radios and your newspapers at every hour of the day. you are, i believe, the most enlightened and the best informed people in all the world at this moment. you are subjected to no censorship of news, and i want to add that your government has no information which it withholds or which it has any thought of withholding from you. at the same time, as i told my press conference on friday, it is of the highest importance that the press and the radio use the utmost caution to discriminate between actual verified fact on the one hand, and mere rumor on the other. i can add to that by saying that i hope the people of this country will also discriminate most carefully between news and rumor. do not believe of necessity everything you hear or read. check up on it first. you must master at the outset a simple but unalterable fact in modern foreign relations between nations. when peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger. it is easy for you and for me to shrug our shoulders and to say that conflicts taking place thousands of miles from the continental united states, and, indeed, thousands of miles from the whole american hemisphere, do not seriously affect the americas--and that all the united states has to do is to ignore them and go about its own business. passionately though we may desire detachment, we are forced to realize that every word that comes through the air, every ship that sails the sea, every battle that is fought does affect the american future. let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of america sending its armies to european fields. at this moment there is being prepared a proclamation of american neutrality. this would have been done even if there had been no neutrality statute on the books, for this proclamation is in accordance with international law and in accordance with american policy. this will be followed by a proclamation required by the existing neutrality act. and i trust that in the days to come our neutrality can be made a true neutrality. it is of the utmost importance that the people of this country, with the best information in the world, think things through. the most dangerous enemies of american peace are those who, without well-rounded information on the whole broad subject of the past, the present and the future, undertake to speak with assumed authority, to talk in terms of glittering generalities, to give to the nation assurances or prophecies which are of little present or future value. i myself cannot and do not prophesy the course of events abroad-- and the reason is that because i have of necessity such a complete picture of what is going on in every part of the world, that i do not dare to do so. and the other reason is that i think it is honest for me to be honest with the people of the united states. i cannot prophesy the immediate economic effect of this new war on our nation, but i do say that no american has the moral right to profiteer at the expense either of his fellow citizens or of the men, the women and the children who are living and dying in the midst of war in europe. some things we do know. most of us in the united states believe in spiritual values. most of us, regardless of what church we belong to, believe in the spirit of the new testament--a great teaching which opposes itself to the use of force, of armed force, of marching armies and falling bombs. the overwhelming masses of our people seek peace--peace at home, and the kind of peace in other lands which will not jeopardize our peace at home. we have certain ideas and certain ideals of national safety and we must act to preserve that safety today and to preserve the safety of our children in future years. that safety is and will be bound up with the safety of the western hemisphere and of the seas adjacent thereto. we seek to keep war from our own firesides by keeping war from coming to the americas. for that we have historic precedent that goes back to the days of the administration of president george washington. it is serious enough and tragic enough to every american family in every state in the union to live in a world that is torn by wars on other continents. those wars today affect every american home. it is our national duty to use every effort to keep them out of the americas. and at this time let me make the simple plea that partisanship and selfishness be adjourned; and that national unity be the thought that underlies all others. this nation will remain a neutral nation, but i cannot ask that every american remain neutral in thought as well. even a neutral has a right to take account of facts. even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience. i have said not once but many times that i have seen war and that i hate war. i say that again and again. i hope the united states will keep out of this war. i believe that it will. and i give you assurance and reassurance that every effort of your government will be directed toward that end. as long as it remains within my power to prevent, there will be no blackout of peace in the united states. may , . my friends: at this moment of sadness throughout most of the world, i want to talk with you about a number of subjects that directly affect the future of the united states. we are shocked by the almost incredible eyewitness stories that come to us, stories of what is happening at this moment to the civilian populations of norway and holland and belgium and luxembourg and france. i think it is right on this sabbath evening that i should say a word in behalf of women and children and old men who need help-- immediate help in their present distress--help from us across the seas, help from us who are still free to give it. tonight over the once peaceful roads of belgium and france millions are now moving, running from their homes to escape bombs and shells and fire and machine gunning, without shelter, and almost wholly without food. they stumble on, knowing not where the end of the road will be. i speak to you of these people because each one of you that is listening to me tonight has a way of helping them. the american red cross, that represents each of us, is rushing food and clothing and medical supplies to these destitute civilian millions. please--i beg you--please give according to your means to your nearest red cross chapter, give as generously as you can. i ask this in the name of our common humanity. let us sit down together again, you and i, to consider our own pressing problems that confront us. there are many among us who in the past closed their eyes to events abroad--because they believed in utter good faith what some of their fellow americans told them--that what was taking place in europe was none of our business; that no matter what happened over there, the united states could always pursue its peaceful and unique course in the world. there are many among us who closed their eyes, from lack of interest or lack of knowledge; honestly and sincerely thinking that the many hundreds of miles of salt water made the american hemisphere so remote that the people of north and central and south america could go on living in the midst of their vast resources without reference to, or danger from, other continents of the world. there are some among us who were persuaded by minority groups that we could maintain our physical safety by retiring within our continental boundaries--the atlantic on the east, the pacific on the west, canada on the north and mexico on the south. i illustrated the futility--the impossibility--of that idea in my message to the congress last week. obviously, a defense policy based on that is merely to invite future attack. and, finally, there are a few among us who have deliberately and consciously closed their eyes because they were determined to be opposed to their government, its foreign policy and every other policy, to be partisan, and to believe that anything that the government did was wholly wrong. to those who have closed their eyes for any of these many reasons, to those who would not admit the possibility of the approaching storm--to all of them the past two weeks have meant the shattering of many illusions. they have lost the illusion that we are remote and isolated and, therefore, secure against the dangers from which no other land is free. in some quarters, with this rude awakening has come fear, fear bordering on panic. it is said that we are defenseless. it is whispered by some that, only by abandoning our freedom, our ideals, our way of life, can we build our defenses adequately, can we match the strength of the aggressors. i did not share those illusions. i do not share these fears. today we are now more realistic. but let us not be calamity-howlers and discount our strength. let us have done with both fears and illusions. on this sabbath evening, in our homes in the midst of our american families, let us calmly consider what we have done and what we must do. in the past two or three weeks all kinds of stories have been handed out to the american public about our lack of preparedness. it has even been charged that the money we have spent on our military and naval forces during the last few years has gone down the rat-hole. i think that it is a matter of fairness to the nation that you hear the facts. yes, we have spent large sums of money on the national defense. this money has been used to make our army and navy today the largest, the best equipped, and the best trained peace-time military establishment in the whole history of this country. let me tell you just a few of the many things accomplished during the past few years. i do not propose to go into every detail. it is a known fact, however, that in , when this administration came into office, the united states navy had fallen in standing among the navies of the world, in power of ships and in efficiency, to a relatively low ebb. the relative fighting power on the navy had been greatly diminished by failure to replace ships and equipment, which had become out-of-date. but between and this year, --seven fiscal years--your government will have spent one billion, four hundred eighty-seven million dollars more than it spent on the navy during the seven years that preceded . what did we get for this money? the fighting personnel of the navy rose from , to , . during this period ships for the fighting fleet have been laid down or commissioned, practically seven times the number in the preceding seven-year period. of these ships we have commissioned: cruisers; destroyers; submarines; aircraft carriers; gunboats; auxiliaries and many smaller craft. and among the many ships now being built and paid for as we build them are new battleships. ship construction, of course, costs millions of dollars--more in the united states than anywhere else in the world; but it is a fact that we cannot have adequate navy defense for all american waters without ships--ships that sail the surface of the ocean, ships that move under the surface and ships that move through the air. and, speaking of airplanes that work with the navy, in we had , useful aircraft and today we have , on hand and on order. nearly all of the old planes of have been replaced by new planes because they became obsolete or worn out. the navy is far stronger today than at any peace-time period in the whole long history of the nation. in hitting power and in efficiency, i would even make the assertion that it is stronger today than it was during the world war. the army of the united states: in it consisted of , enlisted men. now, in , that number has been practically doubled. the army of had been given few new implements of war since , and had been compelled to draw on old reserve stocks left over from the world war. the net result of all this was that our army by l had very greatly declined in its ratio of strength with the armies of europe and of the far east. that was the situation i found. but, since then, great changes have taken place. between and --these past seven fiscal years--your government will have spent $ , , , more than it spent on the army the previous seven years. what did we get for this money? the personnel of the army, as i have said, has been almost doubled. and by the end of this year every existing unit of the present regular army will be equipped with its complete requirements of modern weapons. existing units of the national guard will also be largely equipped with similar items. here are some striking examples taken from a large number: since we have actually purchased , airplanes, including the most modern type of long-range bombers and fast pursuit planes, though, of course, many of these which were delivered four, five, six or seven years ago have worn out through use and been scrapped. we must remember that these planes cost money--a lot of it. for example, one modern four-engine long-range bombing plane costs $ , ; one modern interceptor pursuit plane costs $ , ; one medium bomber costs $ , . in we had only anti-aircraft guns. we now have more than , modern anti-craft guns of all types on hand or on order. and you ought to know that a three-inch anti-aircraft gun costs $ , without any of the fire control equipment that goes with it. in there were only modern infantry mortars in the entire army. we now have on hand and on order more than , . in we had only modern tanks and armored cars; today we have on hand and on order , . each one of our heavier tanks costs $ , . there are many other items in which our progress since has been rapid. and the great proportion of this advance consists of really modern equipment. in , on the personnel side we had , army pilots. today the army alone has more than , of the best fighting flyers in the world, flyers who last year flew more than one million hours in combat training. that figure does not include the hundreds of splendid pilots in the national guard and in the organized reserves. within the past year the productive capacity of the aviation industry to produce military planes has been tremendously increased. in the past year the capacity more than doubled, but that capacity is still inadequate. however, the government, working with industry, is determined to increase that capacity to meet our needs. we intend to harness the efficient machinery of these manufacturers to the government's program of being able to get , planes a year. one additional word about aircraft, about which we read so much. recent wars, including the current war in europe, have demonstrated beyond doubt that fighting efficiency depends on unity of command, unity of control. in sea operations the airplane is just as much an integral part of the unity of operations as are the submarine, the destroyer and the battleship, and in land warfare the airplane is just as much a part of military operations as are the tank corps, the engineers, the artillery or the infantry itself. therefore, the air forces should continue to be part of the army and navy. in line with my request the congress, this week, is voting the largest appropriation ever asked by the army or the navy in peacetime, and the equipment and training provided for them will be in addition to the figures i have given you. the world situation may so change that it will be necessary to reappraise our program at any time. and in such case i am confident that the congress and the chief executive will work in harmony as a team as they are doing today. i will not hesitate at any moment to ask for additional funds when they are required. in this era of swift, mechanized warfare, we all have to remember that what is modern today and up-to-date, what is efficient and practical, becomes obsolete and outworn tomorrow. even while the production line turns out airplanes, new airplanes are being designed on the drafting table. even as a cruiser slides down the launching ways, plans for improvement, plans for increased efficiency in the next model, are taking shape in the blueprints of designers. every day's fighting in europe, on land, on sea, and in the air, discloses constant changes in methods of warfare. we are constantly improving and redesigning, testing new weapons, learning the lessons of the immediate war, and seeking to produce in accordance with the latest that the brains of science can conceive. we are calling upon the resources, the efficiency and the ingenuity of the american manufacturers of war material of all kinds-- airplanes and tanks and guns and ships, and all the hundreds of products that go into this material. the government of the united states itself manufactures few of the implements of war. private industry will continue to be the source of most of this materiel, and private industry will have to be speeded up to produce it at the rate and efficiency called for by the needs of the times. i know that private business cannot be expected to make all of the capital investment required for expansions of plants and factories and personnel which this program calls for at once. it would be unfair to expect industrial corporations or their investors to do this, when there is a chance that a change in international affairs may stop or curtail future orders a year or two hence. therefore, the government of the united states stands ready to advance the necessary money to help provide for the enlargement of factories, the establishment of new plants, the employment of thousands of necessary workers, the development of new sources of supply for the hundreds of raw materials required, the development of quick mass transportation of supplies. and the details of all of this are now being worked out in washington, day and night. we are calling on men now engaged in private industry to help us in carrying out this program and you will hear more of this in detail in the next few days. this does not mean that the men we call upon will be engaged in the actual production of this materiel. that will still have to be carried on in the plants and factories throughout the land. private industry will have the responsibility of providing the best, speediest and most efficient mass production of which it is capable. the functions of the businessmen whose assistance we are calling upon will be to coordinate this program--to see to it that all of the plants continue to operate at maximum speed and efficiency. patriotic americans of proven merit and of unquestioned ability in their special fields are coming to washington to help the government with their training, their experience and their capability. it is our purpose not only to speed up production but to increase the total facilities of the nation in such a way that they can be further enlarged to meet emergencies of the future. but as this program proceeds there are several things we must continue to watch and safeguard, things which are just as important to the sound defense of a nation as physical armament itself. while our navy and our airplanes and our guns and our ships may be our first line of defense, it is still clear that way down at the bottom, underlying them all, giving them their strength, sustenance and power, are the spirit and morale of a free people. for that reason, we must make sure, in all that we do, that there be no breakdown or cancellation of any of the great social gains which we have made in these past years. we have carried on an offensive on a broad front against social and economic inequalities and abuses which had made our society weak. that offensive should not now be broken down by the pincers movement of those who would use the present needs of physical military defense to destroy it. there is nothing in our present emergency to justify making the workers of our nation toil for longer hours than now limited by statute. as more orders come in and as more work has to be done, tens of thousands of people, who are now unemployed, will, i believe, receive employment. there is nothing in our present emergency to justify a lowering of the standards of employment. minimum wages should not be reduced. it is my hope, indeed, that the new speed-up of production will cause many businesses which now pay below the minimum standards to bring their wages up. there is nothing in our present emergency to justify a breaking down of old age pensions or of unemployment insurance. i would rather see the systems extended to other groups who do not now enjoy them. there is nothing in our present emergency to justify a retreat from any of our social objectives--from conservation of natural resources, assistance to agriculture, housing, and help to the underprivileged. conversely, however, i am sure that responsible leaders will not permit some specialized group, which represents a minority of the total employees of a plant or an industry, to break up the continuity of employment of the majority of the employees. let us remember that the policy and the laws that provide for collective bargaining are still in force. i can assure you that labor will be adequately represented in washington in the carrying out of this program of defense. also, our present emergency and a common sense of decency make it imperative that no new group of war millionaires shall come into being in this nation as a result of the struggles abroad. the american people will not relish the idea of any american citizen growing rich and fat in an emergency of blood and slaughter and human suffering. and, last of all, this emergency demands that the consumers of america be protected so that our general cost of living can be maintained at a reasonable level. we ought to avoid the spiral processes of the world war, the rising spiral of costs of all kinds. the soundest policy is for every employer in the country to help give useful employment to the millions who are unemployed. by giving to those millions an increased purchasing power, the prosperity of the whole nation will rise to a much higher level. today's threat to our national security is not a matter of military weapons alone. we know of new methods of attack. the trojan horse. the fifth column that betrays a nation unprepared for treachery. spies, saboteurs and traitors are the actors in this new strategy. with all of these we must and will deal vigorously. but there is an added technique for weakening a nation at its very roots, for disrupting the entire pattern of life of a people. and it is important that we understand it. the method is simple. it is, first, a dissemination of discord. a group--not too large--a group that may be sectional or racial or political--is encouraged to exploit its prejudices through false slogans and emotional appeals. the aim of those who deliberately egg on these groups is to create confusion of counsel, public indecision, political paralysis and eventually, a state of panic. sound national policies come to be viewed with a new and unreasoning skepticism, not through the wholesome political debates of honest and free men, but through the clever schemes of foreign agents. as a result of these new techniques, armament programs may be dangerously delayed. singleness of national purpose may be undermined. men can lose confidence in each other, and therefore lose confidence in the efficacy of their own united action. faith and courage can yield to doubt and fear. the unity of the state can be so sapped that its strength is destroyed. all this is no idle dream. it has happened time after time, in nation after nation, during the last two years. fortunately, american men and women are not easy dupes. campaigns of group hatred or class struggle have never made much headway among us, and are not making headway now. but new forces are being unleashed, deliberately planned propaganda to divide and weaken us in the face of danger as other nations have been weakened before. these dividing forces are undiluted poison. they must not be allowed to spread in the new world as they have in the old. our morale and our mental defenses must be raised up as never before against those who would cast a smokescreen across our vision. the development of our defense program makes it essential that each and every one of us, men and women, feel that we have some contribution to make toward the security of our nation. at this time, when the world--and the world includes our own american hemisphere--when the world is threatened by forces of destruction, it is my resolve and yours to build up our armed defenses. we shall build them to whatever heights the future may require. we shall rebuild them swiftly, as the methods of warfare swiftly change. for more than three centuries we americans have been building on this continent a free society, a society in which the promise of the human spirit may find fulfillment. commingled here are the blood and genius of all the peoples of the world who have sought this promise. we have built well. we are continuing our efforts to bring the blessings of a free society, of a free and productive economic system, to every family in the land. this is the promise of america. it is this that we must continue to build--this that we must continue to defend. it is the task of our generation, yours and mine. but we build and defend not for our generation alone. we defend the foundations laid down by our fathers. we build a life for generations yet unborn. we defend and we build a way of life, not for america alone, but for all mankind. ours is a high duty, a noble task. day and night i pray for the restoration of peace in this mad world of ours. it is not necessary that i, the president, ask the american people to pray in behalf of such a cause--for i know you are praying with me. i am certain that out of the hearts of every man, woman and child in this land, in every waking minute, a supplication goes up to almighty god; that all of us beg that suffering and starving, that death and destruction may end--and that peace may return to the world. in common affection for all mankind, your prayers join with mine--that god will heal the wounds and the hearts of humanity. september , . my fellow americans: the navy department of the united states has reported to me that on the morning of september fourth the united states destroyer greer, proceeding in full daylight towards iceland, had reached a point southeast of greenland. she was carrying american mail to iceland. she was flying the american flag. her identity as an american ship was unmistakable. she was then and there attacked by a submarine. germany admits that it was a german submarine. the submarine deliberately fired a torpedo at the greer, followed later by another torpedo attack. in spite of what hitler's propaganda bureau has invented, and in spite of what any american obstructionist organization may prefer to believe, i tell you the blunt fact that the german submarine fired first upon this american destroyer without warning, and with deliberate design to sink her. our destroyer, at the time, was in waters which the government of the united states had declared to be waters of self-defense-- surrounding outposts of american protection in the atlantic. in the north of the atlantic, outposts have been established by us in iceland, in greenland, in labrador and in newfoundland. through these waters there pass many ships of many flags. they bear food and other supplies to civilians; and they bear material of war, for which the people of the united states are spending billions of dollars, and which, by congressional action, they have declared to be essential for the defense of our own land. the united states destroyer, when attacked, was proceeding on a legitimate mission. if the destroyer was visible to the submarine when the torpedo was fired, then the attack was a deliberate attempt by the nazis to sink a clearly identified american warship. on the other hand, if the submarine was beneath the surface of the sea and, with the aid of its listening devices, fired in the direction of the sound of the american destroyer without even taking the trouble to learn its identity--as the official german communique would indicate--then the attack was even more outrageous. for it indicates a policy of indiscriminate violence against any vessel sailing the seas-- belligerent or non-belligerent. this was piracy--piracy legally and morally. it was not the first nor the last act of piracy which the nazi government has committed against the american flag in this war. for attack has followed attack. a few months ago an american flag merchant ship, the robin moor, was sunk by a nazi submarine in the middle of the south atlantic, under circumstances violating long-established international law and violating every principle of humanity. the passengers and the crew were forced into open boats hundreds of miles from land, in direct violation of international agreements signed by nearly all nations including the government of germany. no apology, no allegation of mistake, no offer of reparations has come from the nazi government. in july, , nearly two months ago an american battleship in north american waters was followed by a submarine which for a long time sought to maneuver itself into a position of attack upon the battleship. the periscope of the submarine was clearly seen. no british or american submarines were within hundreds of miles of this spot at the time, so the nationality of the submarine is clear. five days ago a united states navy ship on patrol picked up three survivors of an american-owned ship operating under the flag of our sister republic of panama--the s. s. sessa. on august seventeenth, she had been first torpedoed without warning, and then shelled, near greenland, while carrying civilian supplies to iceland. it is feared that the other members of her crew have been drowned. in view of the established presence of german submarines in this vicinity, there can be no reasonable doubt as to the identity of the flag of the attacker. five days ago, another united states merchant ship, the steel seafarer, was sunk by a german aircraft in the red sea two hundred and twenty miles south of suez. she was bound for an egyptian port. so four of the vessels sunk or attacked flew the american flag and were clearly identifiable. two of these ships were warships of the american navy. in the fifth case, the vessel sunk clearly carried the flag of our sister republic of panama. in the face of all this, we americans are keeping our feet on the ground. our type of democratic civilization has outgrown the thought of feeling compelled to fight some other nation by reason of any single piratical attack on one of our ships. we are not becoming hysterical or losing our sense of proportion. therefore, what i am thinking and saying tonight does not relate to any isolated episode. instead, we americans are taking a long-range point of view in regard certain fundamentals and to a series of events on land and on sea which must be considered as a whole--as a part of a world pattern. it would be unworthy of a great nation to exaggerate an isolated incident, or to become inflamed by some one act of violence. but it would be inexcusable folly to minimize such incidents in the face of evidence which makes it clear that the incident is not isolated, but is part of a general plan. the important truth is that these acts of international lawlessness are a manifestation of a design which has been made clear to the american people for a long time. it is the nazi design to abolish the freedom of the seas, and to acquire absolute control and domination of these seas for themselves. for with control of the seas in their own hands, the way can obviously become clear for their next step--domination of the united states--domination of the western hemisphere by force of arms. under nazi control of the seas, no merchant ship of the united states or of any other american republic would be free to carry on any peaceful commerce, except by the condescending grace of this foreign and tyrannical power. the atlantic ocean which has been, and which should always be, a free and friendly highway for us would then become a deadly menace to the commerce of the united states, to the coasts of the united states, and even to the inland cities of the united states. the hitler government, in defiance of the laws of the sea, in defiance of the recognized rights of all other nations, has presumed to declare, on paper, that great areas of the seas--even including a vast expanse lying in the western hemisphere--are to be closed, and that no ships may enter them for any purpose, except at peril of being sunk. actually they are sinking ships at will and without warning in widely separated areas both within and far outside of these far-flung pretended zones. this nazi attempt to seize control of the oceans is but a counterpart of the nazi plots now being carried on throughout the western hemisphere--all designed toward the same end. for hitler's advance guards--not only his avowed agents but also his dupes among us--have sought to make ready for him footholds, and bridgeheads in the new world, to be used as soon as he has gained control of the oceans. his intrigues, his plots, his machinations, his sabotage in this new world are all known to the government of the united states. conspiracy has followed conspiracy. for example, last year a plot to seize the government of uruguay was smashed by the prompt action of that country, which was supported in full by her american neighbors. a like plot was then hatching in argentina, and that government has carefully and wisely blocked it at every point. more recently, an endeavor was made to subvert the government of bolivia. and within the past few weeks the discovery was made of secret air-landing fields in colombia, within easy range of the panama canal. i could multiply instance upon instance. to be ultimately successful in world mastery, hitler knows that he must get control of the seas. he must first destroy the bridge of ships which we are building across the atlantic and over which we shall continue to roll the implements of war to help destroy him, to destroy all his works in the end. he must wipe out our patrol on sea and in the air if he is to do it. he must silence the british navy. i think it must be explained over and over again to people who like to think of the united states navy as an invincible protection, that this can be true only if the british navy survives. and that, my friends, is simple arithmetic. for if the world outside of the americas falls under axis domination, the shipbuilding facilities which the axis powers would then possess in all of europe, in the british isles and in the far east would be much greater than all the shipbuilding facilities and potentialities of all of the americas--not only greater, but two or three times greater--enough to win. even if the united states threw all its resources into such a situation, seeking to double and even redouble the size of our navy, the axis powers, in control of the rest of the world, would have the manpower and the physical resources to outbuild us several times over. it is time for all americans, americans of all the americas to stop being deluded by the romantic notion that the americas can go on living happily and peacefully in a nazi-dominated world. generation after generation, america has battled for the general policy of the freedom of the seas. and that policy is a very simple one--but a basic, a fundamental one. it means that no nation has the right to make the broad oceans of the world at great distances from the actual theatre of land war, unsafe for the commerce of others. that has been our policy, proved time and time again, in all of our history. our policy has applied from the earliest days of the republic--and still applies--not merely to the atlantic but to the pacific and to all other oceans as well. unrestricted submarine warfare in constitutes a defiance--an act of aggression--against that historic american policy. it is now clear that hitler has begun his campaign to control the seas by ruthless force and by wiping out every vestige of international law, every vestige of humanity. his intention has been made clear. the american people can have no further illusions about it. no tender whisperings of appeasers that hitler is not interested in the western hemisphere, no soporific lullabies that a wide ocean protects us from him--can long have any effect on the hard-headed, far-sighted and realistic american people. because of these episodes, because of the movements and operations of german warships, and because of the clear, repeated proof that the present government of germany has no respect for treaties or for international law, that it has no decent attitude toward neutral nations or human life--we americans are now face to face not with abstract theories but with cruel, relentless facts. this attack on the greer was no localized military operation in the north atlantic. this was no mere episode in a struggle between two nations. this was one determined step towards creating a permanent world system based on force, on terror and on murder. and i am sure that even now the nazis are waiting to see whether the united states will by silence give them the green light to go ahead on this path of destruction. the nazi danger to our western world has long ceased to be a mere possibility. the danger is here now--not only from a military enemy but from an enemy of all law, all liberty, all morality, all religion. there has now come a time when you and i must see the cold inexorable necessity of saying to these inhuman, unrestrained seekers of world conquest and permanent world domination by the sword: "you seek to throw our children and our children's children into your form of terrorism and slavery. you have now attacked our own safety. you shall go no further." normal practices of diplomacy--note writing--are of no possible use in dealing with international outlaws who sink our ships and kill our citizens. one peaceful nation after another has met disaster because each refused to look the nazi danger squarely in the eye until it had actually had them by the throat. the united states will not make that fatal mistake. no act of violence, no act of intimidation will keep us from maintaining intact two bulwarks of american defense: first, our line of supply of material to the enemies of hitler; and second, the freedom of our shipping on the high seas. no matter what it takes, no matter what it costs, we will keep open the line of legitimate commerce in these defensive water. we have sought no shooting war with hitler. we do not seek it now. but neither do we want peace so much, that we are willing to pay for it by permitting him to attack our naval and merchant ships while they are on legitimate business. i assume that the german leaders are not deeply concerned, tonight or any other time, by what we americans or the american government say or publish about them. we cannot bring about the downfall of nazism by the use of long-range invective. but when you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him. these nazi submarines and raiders are the rattlesnakes of the atlantic. they are a menace to the free pathways of the high seas. they are a challenge to our own sovereignty. they hammer at our most precious rights when they attack ships of the american flag-- symbols of our independence, our freedom, our very life. it is clear to all americans that the time has come when the americas themselves must now be defended. a continuation of attacks in our own waters or in waters that could be used for further and greater attacks on us, will inevitably weaken our american ability to repel hitlerism. do not let us be hair-splitters. let us not ask ourselves whether the americas should begin to defend themselves after the first attack, or the fifth attack, or the tenth attack, or the twentieth attack. the time for active defense is now. do not let us split hairs. let us not say: "we will only defend ourselves if the torpedo succeeds in getting home, or if the crew and the passengers are drowned". this is the time for prevention of attack. if submarines or raiders attack in distant waters, they can attack equally well within sight of our own shores. their very presence in any waters which america deems vital to its defense constitutes an attack. in the waters which we deem necessary for our defense, american naval vessels and american planes will no longer wait until axis submarines lurking under the water, or axis raiders on the surface of the sea, strike their deadly blow--first. upon our naval and air patrol--now operating in large number over a vast expanse of the atlantic ocean--falls the duty of maintaining the american policy of freedom of the seas--now. that means, very simply, very clearly, that our patrolling vessels and planes will protect all merchant ships--not only american ships but ships of any flag--engaged in commerce in our defensive waters. they will protect them from submarines; they will protect them from surface raiders. this situation is not new. the second president of the united states, john adams, ordered the united states navy to clean out european privateers and european ships of war which were infesting the caribbean and south american waters, destroying american commerce. the third president of the united states, thomas jefferson, ordered the united states navy to end the attacks being made upon american and other ships by the corsairs of the nations of north africa. my obligation as president is historic; it is clear. it is inescapable. it is no act of war on our part when we decide to protect the seas that are vital to american defense. the aggression is not ours. ours is solely defense. but let this warning be clear. from now on, if german or italian vessels of war enter the waters, the protection of which is necessary for american defense, they do so at their own peril. the orders which i have given as commander-in-chief of the united states army and navy are to carry out that policy--at once. the sole responsibility rests upon germany. there will be no shooting unless germany continues to seek it. that is my obvious duty in this crisis. that is the clear right of this sovereign nation. this is the only step possible, if we would keep tight the wall of defense which we are pledged to maintain around this western hemisphere. i have no illusions about the gravity of this step. i have not taken it hurriedly or lightly. it is the result of months and months of constant thought and anxiety and prayer. in the protection of your nation and mine it cannot be avoided. the american people have faced other grave crises in their history--with american courage, and with american resolution. they will do no less today. they know the actualities of the attacks upon us. they know the necessities of a bold defense against these attacks. they know that the times call for clear heads and fearless hearts. and with that inner strength that comes to a free people conscious of their duty, and conscious of the righteousness of what they do, they will--with divine help and guidance--stand their ground against this latest assault upon their democracy, their sovereignty, and their freedom. december , . my fellow americans: the sudden criminal attacks perpetrated by the japanese in the pacific provide the climax of a decade of international immorality. powerful and resourceful gangsters have banded together to make war upon the whole human race. their challenge has now been flung at the united states of america. the japanese have treacherously violated the long-standing peace between us. many american soldiers and sailors have been killed by enemy action. american ships have been sunk; american airplanes have been destroyed. the congress and the people of the united states have accepted that challenge. together with other free peoples, we are now fighting to maintain our right to live among our world neighbors in freedom, in common decency, without fear of assault. i have prepared the full record of our past relations with japan, and it will be submitted to the congress. it begins with the visit of commodore perry to japan eighty-eight years ago. it ends with the visit of two japanese emissaries to the secretary of state last sunday, an hour after japanese forces had loosed their bombs and machine guns against our flag, our forces and our citizens. i can say with utmost confidence that no americans, today or a thousand years hence, need feel anything but pride in our patience and in our efforts through all the years toward achieving a peace in the pacific which would be fair and honorable to every nation, large or small. and no honest person, today or a thousand years hence, will be able to suppress a sense of indignation and horror at the treachery committed by the military dictators of japan, under the very shadow of the flag of peace borne by their special envoys in our midst. the course that japan has followed for the past ten years in asia has paralleled the course of hitler and mussolini in europe and in africa. today, it has become far more than a parallel. it is actual collaboration so well calculated that all the continents of the world, and all the oceans, are now considered by the axis strategists as one gigantic battlefield. in , ten years ago, japan invaded manchukuo--without warning. in , italy invaded ethiopia--without warning. in , hitler occupied austria--without warning. in , hitler invaded czechoslovakia--without warning. later in ' , hitler invaded poland--without warning. in , hitler invaded norway, denmark, the netherlands, belgium and luxembourg--without warning. in , italy attacked france and later greece--without warning. and this year, in , the axis powers attacked yugoslavia and greece and they dominated the balkans--without warning. in , also, hitler invaded russia--without warning. and now japan has attacked malaya and thailand--and the united states--without warning. it is all of one pattern. we are now in this war. we are all in it--all the way. every single man, woman and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our american history. we must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories--the changing fortunes of war. so far, the news has been all bad. we have suffered a serious setback in hawaii. our forces in the philippines, which include the brave people of that commonwealth, are taking punishment, but are defending themselves vigorously. the reports from guam and wake and midway islands are still confused, but we must be prepared for the announcement that all these three outposts have been seized. the casualty lists of these first few days will undoubtedly be large. i deeply feel the anxiety of all of the families of the men in our armed forces and the relatives of people in cities which have been bombed. i can only give them my solemn promise that they will get news just as quickly as possible. this government will put its trust in the stamina of the american people, and will give the facts to the public just as soon as two conditions have been fulfilled: first, that the information has been definitely and officially confirmed; and, second, that the release of the information at the time it is received will not prove valuable to the enemy directly or indirectly. most earnestly i urge my countrymen to reject all rumors. these ugly little hints of complete disaster fly thick and fast in wartime. they have to be examined and appraised. as an example, i can tell you frankly that until further surveys are made, i have not sufficient information to state the exact damage which has been done to our naval vessels at pearl harbor. admittedly the damage is serious. but no one can say how serious, until we know how much of this damage can be repaired and how quickly the necessary repairs can be made. i cite as another example a statement made on sunday night that a japanese carrier had been located and sunk off the canal zone. and when you hear statements that are attributed to what they call "an authoritative source," you can be reasonably sure from now on that under these war circumstances the "authoritative source" is not any person in authority. many rumors and reports which we now hear originate with enemy sources. for instance, today the japanese are claiming that as a result of their one action against hawaii they hare gained naval supremacy in the pacific. this is an old trick of propaganda which has been used innumerable times by the nazis. the purposes of such fantastic claims are, of course, to spread fear and confusion among us, and to goad us into revealing military information which our enemies are desperately anxious to obtain. our government will not be caught in this obvious trap--and neither will the people of the united states. it must be remembered by each and every one of us that our free and rapid communication these days must be greatly restricted in wartime. it is not possible to receive full and speedy and accurate reports front distant areas of combat. this is particularly true where naval operations are concerned. for in these days of the marvels of the radio it is often impossible for the commanders of various units to report their activities by radio at all, for the very simple reason that this information would become available to the enemy and would disclose their position and their plan of defense or attack. of necessity there will be delays in officially confirming or denying reports of operations, but we will not hide facts from the country if we know the facts and if the enemy will not be aided by their disclosure. to all newspapers and radio stations--all those who reach the eyes and ears of the american people--i say this: you have a most grave responsibility to the nation now and for the duration of this war. if you feel that your government is not disclosing enough of the truth, you have every right to say so. but in the absence of all the facts, as revealed by official sources, you have no right in the ethics of patriotism to deal out unconfirmed reports in such a way as to make people believe that they are gospel truth. every citizen, in every walk of life, shares this same responsibility. the lives of our soldiers and sailors--the whole future of this nation--depend upon the manner in which each and every one of us fulfills his obligation to our country. now a word about the recent past--and the future. a year and a half has elapsed since the fall of france, when the whole world first realized the mechanized might which the axis nations had been building up for so many years. america has used that year and a half to great advantage. knowing that the attack might reach us in all too short a time, we immediately began greatly to increase our industrial strength and our capacity to meet the demands of modern warfare. precious months were gained by sending vast quantities of our war material to the nations of the world still able to resist axis aggression. our policy rested on the fundamental truth that the defense of any country resisting hitler or japan was in the long run the defense of our own country. that policy has been justified. it has given us time, invaluable time, to build our american assembly lines of production. assembly lines are now in operation. others are being rushed to completion. a steady stream of tanks and planes, of guns and ships and shells and equipment--that is what these eighteen months have given us. but it is all only a beginning of what still has to be done. we must be set to face a long war against crafty and powerful bandits. the attack at pearl harbor can be repeated at any one of many points, points in both oceans and along both our coast lines and against all the rest of the hemisphere. it will not only be a long war, it will be a hard war. that is the basis on which we now lay all our plans. that is the yardstick by which we measure what we shall need and demand; money, materials, doubled and quadrupled production--ever-increasing. the production must be not only for our own army and navy and air forces. it must reinforce the other armies and navies and air forces fighting the nazis and the war lords of japan throughout the americas and throughout the world. i have been working today on the subject of production. your government has decided on two broad policies. the first is to speed up all existing production by working on a seven day week basis in every war industry, including the production of essential raw materials. the second policy, now being put into form, is to rush additions to the capacity of production by building more new plants, by adding to old plants, and by using the many smaller plants for war needs. over the hard road of the past months, we have at times met obstacles and difficulties, divisions and disputes, indifference and callousness. that is now all past--and, i am sure, forgotten. the fact is that the country now has an organization in washington built around men and women who are recognized experts in their own fields. i think the country knows that the people who are actually responsible in each and every one of these many fields are pulling together with a teamwork that has never before been excelled. on the road ahead there lies hard work--grueling work--day and night, every hour and every minute. i was about to add that ahead there lies sacrifice for all of us. but it is not correct to use that word. the united states does not consider it a sacrifice to do all one can, to give one's best to our nation, when the nation is fighting for its existence and its future life. it is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the army or the navy of the united states. rather it is a privilege. it is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainman or the doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for which he is best fitted. rather it is a privilege. it is not a sacrifice to do without many things to which we are accustomed if the national defense calls for doing without. a review this morning leads me to the conclusion that at present we shall not have to curtail the normal use of articles of food. there is enough food today for all of us and enough left over to send to those who are fighting on the same side with us. but there will be a clear and definite shortage of metals for many kinds of civilian use, for the very good reason that in our increased program we shall need for war purposes more than half of that portion of the principal metals which during the past year have gone into articles for civilian use. yes, we shall have to give up many things entirely. and i am sure that the people in every part of the nation are prepared in their individual living to win this war. i am sure that they will cheerfully help to pay a large part of its financial cost while it goes on. i am sure they will cheerfully give up those material things that they are asked to give up. and i am sure that they will retain all those great spiritual things without which we cannot win through. i repeat that the united states can accept no result save victory, final and complete. not only must the shame of japanese treachery be wiped out, but the sources of international brutality, wherever they exist, must be absolutely and finally broken. in my message to the congress yesterday i said that we "will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us." in order to achieve that certainty, we must begin the great task that is before us by abandoning once and for all the illusion that we can ever again isolate ourselves from the rest of humanity. in these past few years--and, most violently, in the past three days--we have learned a terrible lesson. it is our obligation to our dead--it is our sacred obligation to their children and to our children--that we must never forget what we have learned. and what we have learned is this: there is no such thing as security for any nation--or any individual--in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism. there is no such thing as impregnable defense against powerful aggressors who sneak up in the dark and strike without warning. we have learned that our ocean-girt hemisphere is not immune from severe attack--that we cannot measure our safety in terms of miles on any map any more. we may acknowledge that our enemies have performed a brilliant feat of deception, perfectly timed and executed with great skill. it was a thoroughly dishonorable deed, but we must face the fact that modern warfare as conducted in the nazi manner is a dirty business. we don't like it--we didn't want to get in it--but we are in it and we're going to fight it with everything we've got. i do not think any american has any doubt of our ability to administer proper punishment to the perpetrators of these crimes. your government knows that for weeks germany has been telling japan that if japan did not attack the united states, japan would not share in dividing the spoils with germany when peace came. she was promised by germany that if she came in she would receive the complete and perpetual control of the whole of the pacific area-- and that means not only the ear east, but also all of the islands in the pacific, and also a stranglehold on the west coast of north, central and south america. we know also that germany and japan are conducting their military and naval operations in accordance with a joint plan. that plan considers all peoples and nations which are not helping the axis powers as common enemies of each and every one of the axis powers. that is their simple and obvious grand strategy. and that is why the american people must realize that it can be matched only with similar grand strategy. we must realize for example that japanese successes against the united states in the pacific are helpful to german operations in libya; that any german success against the caucasus is inevitably an assistance to japan in her operations against the dutch east indies; that a german attack against algiers or morocco opens the way to a german attack against south america and the canal. on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerrilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, helps us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans helps us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands. remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact. the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers--we are builders. we are now in the midst of a war, not for conquest, not for vengeance, but for a world in which this nation, and all that this nation represents, will be safe for our children. we expect to eliminate the danger from japan, but it would serve us ill if we accomplished that and found that the rest of the world was dominated by hitler and mussolini. so we are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows. and in the difficult hours of this day--through dark days that may be yet to come--we will know that the vast majority of the members of the human race are on our side. many of them are fighting with us. all of them are praying for us. but, in representing our cause, we represent theirs as well--our hope and their hope for liberty under god. february , . my fellow americans: washington's birthday is a most appropriate occasion for us to talk with each other about things as they are today and things as we know they shall be in the future. for eight years, general washington and his continental army were faced continually with formidable odds and recurring defeats. supplies and equipment were lacking. in a sense, every winter was a valley forge. throughout the thirteen states there existed fifth columnists--and selfish men, jealous men, fearful men, who proclaimed that washington's cause was hopeless, and that he should ask for a negotiated peace. washington's conduct in those hard times has provided the model for all americans ever since--a model of moral stamina. he held to his course, as it had been charted in the declaration of independence. he and the brave men who served with him knew that no man's life or fortune was secure without freedom and free institutions. the present great struggle has taught us increasingly that freedom of person and security of property anywhere in the world depend upon the security of the rights and obligations of liberty and justice everywhere in the world. this war is a new kind of war. it is different from all other wars of the past, not only in its methods and weapons but also in its geography. it is warfare in terms of every continent, every island, every sea, every air lane in the world. that is the reason why i have asked you to take out and spread before you a map of the whole earth, and to follow with me in the references which i shall make to the world-encircling battle lines of this war. many questions will, i fear, remain unanswered tonight; but i know you will realize that i cannot cover everything in any one short report to the people. the broad oceans which have been heralded in the past as our protection from attack have become endless battlefields on which we are constantly being challenged by our enemies. we must all understand and face the hard fact that our job now is to fight at distances which extend all the way around the globe. we fight at these vast distances because that is where our enemies are. until our flow of supplies gives us clear superiority we must keep on striking our enemies wherever and whenever we can meet them, even if, for a while, we have to yield ground. actually, though, we are taking a heavy toll of the enemy every day that goes by. we must fight at these vast distances to protect our supply lines and our lines of communication with our allies--protect these lines from the enemies who are bending every ounce of their strength, striving against time, to cut them. the object of the nazis and the japanese is to separate the united states, britain, china and russia, and to isolate them one from another, so that each will be surrounded and cut off from sources of supplies and reinforcements. it is the old familiar axis policy of "divide and conquer." there are those who still think, however, in terms of the days of sailing-ships. they advise us to pull our warships and our planes and our merchant ships into our own home waters and concentrate solely on last ditch defense. but let me illustrate what would happen if we followed such foolish advice. look at your map. look at the vast area of china, with its millions of fighting men. look at the vast area of russia, with its powerful armies and proven military might. look at the british isles, australia, new zealand, the dutch indies, india, the near east and the continent of africa, with their resources of raw materials, and of peoples determined to resist axis domination. look too at north america, central america and south america. it is obvious what would happen if all of these great reservoirs of power were cut off from each other either by enemy action or by self-imposed isolation: first, in such a case, we could no longer send aid of any kind to china--to the brave people who, for nearly five years, have withstood japanese assault, destroyed hundreds of thousands of japanese soldiers and vast quantities of japanese war munitions. it is essential that we help china in her magnificent defense and in her inevitable counteroffensive--for that is one important element in the ultimate defeat of japan. second, if we lost communication with the southwest pacific, all of that area, including australia and new zealand and the dutch indies, would fall under japanese domination. japan in such a case could release great numbers of ships and men to launch attacks on a large scale against the coasts of the western hemisphere--south america and central america, and north america--including alaska. at the same time, she could immediately extend her conquests in the other direction toward india, and through the indian ocean to africa, to the near east, and try to join forces with germany and italy. third, if we were to stop sending munitions to the british and the russians in the mediterranean, in the persian gulf and the red sea, we would be helping the nazis to overrun turkey, syria, iraq, persia, egypt and the suez canal, the whole coast of north africa itself, and with that inevitably the whole coast of west africa-- putting germany within easy striking distance of south america-- fifteen hundred miles away. fourth, if by such a fatuous policy we ceased to protect the north atlantic supply line to britain and to russia, we would help to cripple the splendid counter-offensive by russia against the nazis, and we would help to deprive britain of essential food supplies and munitions. those americans who believed that we could live under the illusion of isolationism wanted the american eagle to imitate the tactics of the ostrich. now, many of those same people, afraid that we may be sticking our necks out, want our national bird to be turned into a turtle. but we prefer to retain the eagle as it is--flying high and striking hard. i know that i speak for the mass of the american people when i say that we reject the turtle policy and will continue increasingly the policy of carrying the war to the enemy in distant lands and distant waters--as far away as possible from our own home grounds. there are four main lines of communication now being travelled by our ships: the north atlantic, the south atlantic, the indian ocean and the south pacific. these routes are not one-way streets, for the ships that carry our troops and munitions outbound bring back essential raw materials which we require for our own use. the maintenance of these vital lines is a very tough job. it is a job which requires tremendous daring, tremendous resourcefulness, and, above all, tremendous production of planes and tanks and guns and also of the ships to carry them. and i speak again for the american people when i say that we can and will do that job. the defense of the world-wide lines of communication demands relatively safe use by us of the sea and of the air along the various routes; and this, in turn, depends upon control by the united nations of many strategic bases along those routes. control of the air involves the simultaneous use of two types of planes--first, the long-range heavy bomber; and, second, the light bombers, dive bombers, torpedo planes, and short-range pursuit planes, all of which are essential to the protection of the bases and of the bombers themselves. heavy bombers can fly under their own power from here to the southwest pacific, but the smaller planes cannot. therefore, these lighter planes have to be packed in crates and sent on board cargo ships. look at your map again; and you will see that the route is long--and at many places perilous--either across the south atlantic all the way around south africa and the cape of good hope, or from california to the east indies direct. a vessel can make a round trip by either route in about four months, or only three round trips in a whole year. in spite of the length, and in spite of the difficulties of this transportation, i can tell you that in two and a half months we already have a large number of bombers and pursuit planes, manned by american pilots and crews, which are now in daily contact with the enemy in the southwest pacific. and thousands of american troops are today in that area engaged in operations not only in the air but on the ground as well. in this battle area, japan has had an obvious initial advantage. for she could fly even her short-range planes to the points of attack by using many stepping stones open to her--bases in a multitude of pacific islands and also bases on the china coast, indo-china coast, and in thailand and malaya coasts. japanese troop transports could go south from japan and from china through the narrow china sea, which can be protected by japanese planes throughout its whole length. i ask you to look at your maps again, particularly at that portion of the pacific ocean lying west of hawaii. before this war even started, the philippine islands were already surrounded on three sides by japanese power. on the west, the china side, the japanese were in possession of the coast of china and the coast of indo-china which had been yielded to them by the vichy french. on the north are the islands of japan themselves, reaching down almost to northern luzon. on the east are the mandated islands--which japan had occupied exclusively, and had fortified in absolute violation of her written word. the islands that lie between hawaii and the philippines--these islands, hundreds of them, appear only as small dots on most maps. but they cover a large strategic area. guam lies in the middle of them--a lone outpost which we have never fortified. under the washington treaty of we had solemnly agreed not to add to the fortification of the philippines. we had no safe naval bases there, so we could not use the islands for extensive naval operations. immediately after this war started, the japanese forces moved down on either side of the philippines to numerous points south of them--thereby completely encircling the philippines from north, south, east and west. it is that complete encirclement, with control of the air by japanese land-based aircraft, which has prevented us from sending substantial reinforcements of men and material to the gallant defenders of the philippines. for forty years it has always been our strategy--a strategy born of necessity--that in the event of a full-scale attack on the islands by japan, we should fight a delaying action, attempting to retire slowly into bataan peninsula and corregidor. we knew that the war as a whole would have to be fought and won by a process of attrition against japan itself. we knew all along that, with our greater resources, we could ultimately out-build japan and ultimately overwhelm her on sea, and on land and in the air. we knew that, to obtain our objective, many varieties of operations would be necessary in areas other than the philippines. now nothing that has occurred in the past two months has caused us to revise this basic strategy of necessity--except that the defense put up by general macarthur has magnificently exceeded the previous estimates of endurance, and he and his men are gaining eternal glory therefore. macarthur's army of filipinos and americans, and the forces of the united nations in china, in burma and the netherlands east indies, are all together fulfilling the same essential task. they are making japan pay an increasingly terrible price for her ambitious attempts to seize control of the whole asiatic world. every japanese transport sunk off java is one less transport that they can use to carry reinforcements to their army opposing general macarthur in luzon. it has been said that japanese gains in the philippines were made possible only by the success of their surprise attack on pearl harbor. i tell you that this is not so. even if the attack had not been made your map will show that it would have been a hopeless operation for us to send the fleet to the philippines through thousands of miles of ocean, while all those island bases were under the sole control of the japanese. the consequences of the attack on pearl harbor--serious as they were--have been wildly exaggerated in other ways. and these exaggerations come originally from axis propagandists; but they have been repeated, i regret to say, by americans in and out of public life. you and i have the utmost contempt for americans who, since pearl harbor, have whispered or announced "off the record" that there was no longer any pacific fleet--that the fleet was all sunk or destroyed on december th--that more than a thousand of our planes were destroyed on the ground. they have suggested slyly that the government has withheld the truth about casualties--that eleven or twelve thousand men were killed at pearl harbor instead of the figures as officially announced. they have even served the enemy propagandists by spreading the incredible story that ship-loads of bodies of our honored american dead were about to arrive in new york harbor to be put into a common grave. almost every axis broadcast--berlin, rome, tokyo--directly quotes americans who, by speech or in the press, make damnable misstatements such as these. the american people realize that in many cases details of military operations cannot be disclosed until we are absolutely certain that the announcement will not give to the enemy military information which he does not already possess. your government has unmistakable confidence in your ability to hear the worst, without flinching or losing heart. you must, in turn, have complete confidence that your government is keeping nothing from you except information that will help the enemy in his attempt to destroy us. in a democracy there is always a solemn pact of truth between government and the people, but there must also always be a full use of discretion, and that word "discretion" applies to the critics of government as well. this is war. the american people want to know, and will be told, the general trend of how the war is going. but they do not wish to help the enemy any more than our fighting forces do, and they will pay little attention to the rumor-mongers and the poison peddlers in our midst. to pass from the realm of rumor and poison to the field of facts: the number of our officers and men killed in the attack on pearl harbor on december seventh was , , and the number wounded was . of all of the combatant ships based on pearl harbor-- battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines--only three are permanently put out of commission. very many of the ships of the pacific fleet were not even in pearl harbor. some of those that were there were hit very slightly, and others that were damaged have either rejoined the fleet by now or are still undergoing repairs. and when those repairs are completed, the ships will be more efficient fighting machines than they were before. the report that we lost more than a thousand planes at pearl harbor is as baseless as the other weird rumors. the japanese do not know just how many planes they destroyed that day, and i am not going to tell them. but i can say that to date--and including pearl harbor-- we have destroyed considerably more japanese planes than they have destroyed of ours. we have most certainly suffered losses--from hitler's u-boats in the atlantic as well as from the japanese in the pacific--and we shall suffer more of them before the turn of the tide. but, speaking for the united states of america, let me say once and for all to the people of the world: we americans have been compelled to yield ground, but we will regain it. we and the other united nations are committed to the destruction of the militarism of japan and germany. we are daily increasing our strength. soon, we and not our enemies, will have the offensive; we, not they, will win the final battles; and we, not they, will make the final peace. conquered nations in europe know what the yoke of the nazis is like. and the people of korea and of manchuria know in their flesh the harsh despotism of japan. all of the people of asia know that if there is to be an honorable and decent future for any of them or any of us, that future depends on victory by the united nations over the forces of axis enslavement. if a just and durable peace is to be attained, or even if all of us are merely to save our own skins, there is one thought for us here at home to keep uppermost--the fulfillment of our special task of production. germany, italy and japan are very close to their maximum output of planes, guns, tanks and ships. the united nations are not-- especially the united states of america. our first job then is to build up production--uninterrupted production--so that the united nations can maintain control of the seas and attain control of the air--not merely a slight superiority, but an overwhelming superiority. on january th of this year, i set certain definite goals of production for airplanes, tanks, guns and ships. the axis propagandists called them fantastic. tonight, nearly two months later, and after a careful survey of progress by donald nelson and others charged with responsibility for our production, i can tell you that those goals will be attained. in every part of the country, experts in production and the men and women at work in the plants are giving loyal service. with few exceptions, labor, capital and farming realize that this is no time either to make undue profits or to gain special advantages, one over the other. we are calling for new plants and additions--additions to old plants. we are calling for plant conversion to war needs. we are seeking more men and more women to run them. we are working longer hours. we are coming to realize that one extra plane or extra tank or extra gun or extra ship completed tomorrow may, in a few months, turn the tide on some distant battlefield; it may make the difference between life and death for some of our own fighting men. we know now that if we lose this war it will be generations or even centuries before our conception of democracy can live again. and we can lose this war only if use slow up our effort or if we waste our ammunition sniping at each other. here are three high purposes for every american: . we shall not stop work for a single day. if any dispute arises we shall keep on working while the dispute is solved by mediation, or conciliation or arbitration--until the war is won. . we shall not demand special gains or special privileges or special advantages for any one group or occupation. . we shall give up conveniences and modify the routine of our lives if our country asks us to do so. we will do it cheerfully, remembering that the common enemy seeks to destroy every home and every freedom in every part of our land. this generation of americans has come to realize, with a present and personal realization, that there is something larger and more important than the life of any individual or of any individual group--something for which a man will sacrifice, and gladly sacrifice, not only his pleasures, not only his goods, not only his associations with those he loves, but his life itself. in time of crisis when the future is in the balance, we come to understand, with full recognition and devotion, what this nation is and what we owe to it. the axis propagandists have tried in various evil ways to destroy our determination and our morale. failing in that, they are now trying to destroy our confidence in our own allies. they say that the british are finished--that the russians and the chinese are about to quit. patriotic and sensible americans will reject these absurdities. and instead of listening to any of this crude propaganda, they will recall some of the things that nazis and japanese have said and are still saying about us. ever since this nation became the arsenal of democracy--ever since enactment of lend-lease--there has been one persistent theme through all axis propaganda. this theme has been that americans are admittedly rich, that americans have considerable industrial power--but that americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. from berlin, rome and tokyo we have been described as a nation of weaklings--"playboys"--who would hire british soldiers, or russian soldiers, or chinese soldiers to do our fighting for us. let them repeat that now! let them tell that to general macarthur and his men. let them tell that to the sailors who today are hitting hard in the far waters of the pacific. let them tell that to the boys in the flying fortresses. let them tell that to the marines! the united nations constitute an association of independent peoples of equal dignity and equal importance. the united nations are dedicated to a common cause. we share equally and with equal zeal the anguish and the awful sacrifices of war. in the partnership of our common enterprise, we must share in a unified plan in which all of us must play our several parts, each of us being equally indispensable and dependent one on the other. we have unified command and cooperation and comradeship. we americans will contribute unified production and unified acceptance of sacrifice and of effort. that means a national unity that can know no limitations of race or creed or selfish politics. the american people expect that much from themselves. and the american people will find ways and means of expressing their determination to their enemies, including the japanese admiral who has said that he will dictate the terms of peace here in the white house. we of the united nations are agreed on certain broad principles in the kind of peace we seek. the atlantic charter applies not only to the parts of the world that border the atlantic but to the whole world; disarmament of aggressors, self-determination of nations and peoples, and the four freedoms--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. the british and the russian people have known the full fury of nazi onslaught. there have been times when the fate of london and moscow was in serious doubt. but there was never the slightest question that either the british or the russians would yield. and today all the united nations salute the superb russian army as it celebrates the twenty-fourth anniversary of its first assembly. though their homeland was overrun, the dutch people are still fighting stubbornly and powerfully overseas. the great chinese people have suffered grievous losses; chungking has been almost wiped out of existence--yet it remains the capital of an unbeatable china. that is the conquering spirit which prevails throughout the united nations in this war. the task that we americans now face will test us to the uttermost. never before have we been called upon for such a prodigious effort. never before have we had so little time in which to do so much. "these are the times that try men's souls." tom paine wrote those words on a drumhead, by the light of a campfire. that was when washington's little army of ragged, rugged men was retreating across new jersey, having tasted nothing but defeat. and general washington ordered that these great words written by tom paine be read to the men of every regiment in the continental army, and this was the assurance given to the first american armed forces: "the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the sacrifice, the more glorious the triumph." so spoke americans in the year . so speak americans today! april , . my fellow americans: it is nearly five months since we were attacked at pearl harbor. for the two years prior to that attack this country had been gearing itself up to a high level of production of munitions. and yet our war efforts had done little to dislocate the normal lives of most of us. since then we have dispatched strong forces of our army and navy, several hundred thousand of them, to bases and battlefronts thousands of miles from home. we have stepped up our war production on a scale that is testing our industrial power, our engineering genius and our economic structure to the utmost. we have had no illusions about the fact that this is a tough job--and a long one. american warships are now in combat in the north and south atlantic, in the arctic, in the mediterranean, in the indian ocean, and in the north and south pacific. american troops have taken stations in south america, greenland, iceland, the british isles, the near east, the middle east and the far east, the continent of australia, and many islands of the pacific. american war planes, manned by americans, are flying in actual combat over all the continents and all the oceans. on the european front the most important development of the past year has been without question the crushing counteroffensive on the part of the great armies of russia against the powerful german army. these russian forces have destroyed and are destroying more armed power of our enemies--troops, planes, tanks and guns--than all the other united nations put together. in the mediterranean area, matters remain on the surface much as they were. but the situation there is receiving very careful attention. recently we received news of a change in government in what we used to know as the republic of france--a name dear to the hearts of all lovers of liberty--a name and an institution which we hope will soon be restored to full dignity. throughout the nazi occupation of france, we have hoped for the maintenance of a french government which would strive to regain independence, to reestablish the principles of "liberty, equality and fraternity," and to restore the historic culture of france. our policy has been consistent from the very beginning. however, we are now greatly concerned lest those who have recently come to power may seek to force the brave french people into submission to nazi despotism. the united nations will take measures, if necessary, to prevent the use of french territory in any part of the world for military purposes by the axis powers. the good people of france will readily understand that such action is essential for the united nations to prevent assistance to the armies or navies or air forces of germany, or italy or japan. the overwhelming majority of the french people understand that the fight of the united nations is fundamentally their fight, that our victory means the restoration of a free and independent france--and the saving of france from the slavery which would be imposed upon her by her external enemies and by her internal traitors. we know how the french people really feel. we know that a deep- seated determination to obstruct every step in the axis plan extends from occupied france through vichy france all the way to the people of their colonies in every ocean and on every continent. our planes are helping in the defense of french colonies today, and soon american flying fortresses will be fighting for the liberation of the darkened continent of europe itself. in all the occupied countries there are men and women, and even little children who have never stopped fighting, never stopped resisting, never stopped proving to the nazis that their so-called "new order" will never be enforced upon free peoples. in the german and italian peoples themselves there is a growing conviction that the cause of nazism and fascism is hopeless--that their political and military leaders have led them along the bitter road which leads not to world conquest but to final defeat. they cannot fail to contrast the present frantic speeches of these leaders with their arrogant boastings of a year ago, and two years ago. on the other side of the world, in the far east, we have passed through a phase of serious losses. we have inevitably lost control of a large portion of the philippine islands. but this whole nation pays tribute to the filipino and american officers and men who held out so long on bataan peninsula, to those grim and gallant fighters who still hold corregidor, where the flag flies, and to the forces that are still striking effectively at the enemy on mindanao and other islands. the malayan peninsula and singapore are in the hands of the enemy; the netherlands east indies are almost entirely occupied, though resistance there continues. many other islands are in the possession of the japanese. but there is good reason to believe that their southward advance has been checked. australia, new zealand, and much other territory will be bases for offensive action--and we are determined that the territory that has been lost will be regained. the japanese are pressing their northward advance against burma with considerable power, driving toward india and china. they have been opposed with great bravery by small british and chinese forces aided by american fliers. the news in burma tonight is not good. the japanese may cut the burma road; but i want to say to the gallant people of china that no matter what advances the japanese may make, ways will be found to deliver airplanes and munitions of war to the armies of generalissimo chiang kai-shek. we remember that the chinese people were the first to stand up and fight against the aggressors in this war; and in the future a still unconquerable china will play its proper role in maintaining peace and prosperity, not only in eastern asia but in the whole world. for every advance that the japanese have made since they started their frenzied career of conquest, they have had to pay a very heavy toll in warships, in transports, in planes, and in men. they are feeling the effects of those losses. it is even reported from japan that somebody has dropped bombs on tokyo, and on other principal centers of japanese war industries. if this be true, it is the first time in history that japan has suffered such indignities. although the treacherous attack on pearl harbor was the immediate cause of our entry into the war, that event found the american people spiritually prepared for war on a world-wide scale. we went into this war fighting. we know what we are fighting for. we realize that the war has become what hitler originally proclaimed it to be--a total war. not all of us can have the privilege of fighting our enemies in distant parts of the world. not all of us can have the privilege of working in a munitions factory or a shipyard, or on the farms or in oil fields or mines, producing the weapons or the raw materials that are needed by our armed forces. but there is one front and one battle where everyone in the united states--every man, woman, and child--is in action, and will be privileged to remain in action throughout this war. that front is right here at home, in our daily lives, and in our daily tasks. here at home everyone will have the privilege of making whatever self-denial is necessary, not only to supply our fighting men, but to keep the economic structure of our country fortified and secure during the war and after the war. this will require, of course, the abandonment not only of luxuries but of many other creature comforts. every loyal american is aware of his individual responsibility. whenever i hear anyone saying "the american people are complacent-- they need to be aroused," i feel like asking him to come to washington to read the mail that floods into the white house and into all departments of this government. the one question that recurs through all these thousands of letters and messages is "what more can i do to help my country in winning this war"? to build the factories, to buy the materials, to pay the labor, to provide the transportation, to equip and feed and house the soldiers, sailors and marines, and to do all the thousands of things necessary in a war--all cost a lot of money, more money than has ever been spent by any nation at any time in the long history of the world. we are now spending, solely for war purposes, the sum of about one hundred million dollars every day in the week. but, before this year is over, that almost unbelievable rate of expenditure will be doubled. all of this money has to be spent--and spent quickly--if we are to produce within the time now available the enormous quantities of weapons of war which we need. but the spending of these tremendous sums presents grave danger of disaster to our national economy. when your government continues to spend these unprecedented sums for munitions month by month and year by year, that money goes into the pocketbooks and bank accounts of the people of the united states. at the same time raw materials and many manufactured goods are necessarily taken away from civilian use, and machinery and factories are being converted to war production. you do not have to be a professor of mathematics or economics to see that if people with plenty of cash start bidding against each other for scarce goods, the price of those goods goes up. yesterday i submitted to the congress of the united states a seven- point program of general principles which taken together could be called the national economic policy for attaining the great objective of keeping the cost of living down. i repeat them now to you in substance: first. we must, through heavier taxes, keep personal and corporate profits at a low reasonable rate. second. we must fix ceilings on prices and rents. third. we must stabilize wages. fourth. we must stabilize farm prices. fifth. we must put more billions into war bonds. sixth. we must ration all essential commodities which are scarce. seventh. we must discourage installment buying, and encourage paying off debts and mortgages. i do not think it is necessary to repeat what i said yesterday to the congress in discussing these general principles. the important thing to remember is that each one of these points is dependent on the others if the whole program is to work. some people are already taking the position that every one of the seven points is correct except the one point which steps on their own individual toes. a few seem very willing to approve self- denial--on the part of their neighbors. the only effective course of action is a simultaneous attack on all of the factors which increase the cost of living, in one comprehensive, all-embracing program covering prices, and profits, and wages, and taxes and debts. the blunt fact is that every single person in the united states is going to be affected by this program. some of you will be affected more directly by one or two of these restrictive measures, but all of you will be affected indirectly by all of them. are you a businessman, or do you own stock in a business corporation? well, your profits are going to be cut down to a reasonably low level by taxation. your income will be subject to higher taxes. indeed in these days, when every available dollar should go to the war effort, i do not think that any american citizen should have a net income in excess of $ , per year after payment of taxes. are you a retailer or a wholesaler or a manufacturer or a farmer or a landlord? ceilings are being placed on the prices at which you can sell your goods or rent your property. do you work for wages? you will have to forego higher wages for your particular job for the duration of the war. all of us are used to spending money for things that we want, things, however, which are not absolutely essential. we will all have to forego that kind of spending. because we must put every dime and every dollar we can possibly spare out of our earnings into war bonds and stamps. because the demands of the war effort require the rationing of goods of which there is not enough to go around. because the stopping of purchases of non-essentials will release thousands of workers who are needed in the war effort. as i told the congress yesterday, "sacrifice" is not exactly the proper word with which to describe this program of self-denial. when, at the end of this great struggle we shall have saved our free way of life, we shall have made no "sacrifice." the price for civilization must be paid in hard work and sorrow and blood. the price is not too high. if you doubt it, ask those millions who live today under the tyranny of hitlerism. ask the workers of france and norway and the netherlands, whipped to labor by the lash, whether the stabilization of wages is too great a "sacrifice." ask the farmers of poland and denmark, of czechoslovakia and france, looted of their livestock, starving while their own crops are stolen from their land, ask them whether "parity" prices are too great a "sacrifice." ask the businessmen of europe, whose enterprises have been stolen from their owners, whether the limitation of profits and personal incomes is too great a "sacrifice." ask the women and children whom hitler is starving whether the rationing of tires and gasoline and sugar is too great a "sacrifice." we do not have to ask them. they have already given us their agonized answers. this great war effort must be carried through to its victorious conclusion by the indomitable will and determination of the people as one great whole. it must not be impeded by the faint of heart. it must not be impeded by those who put their own selfish interests above the interests of the nation. it must not be impeded by those who pervert honest criticism into falsification of fact. it must not be impeded by self-styled experts either in economics or military problems who know neither true figures nor geography itself. it must not be impeded by a few bogus patriots who use the sacred freedom of the press to echo the sentiments of the propagandists in tokyo and berlin. and, above all, it shall not be imperiled by the handful of noisy traitors--betrayers of america, betrayers of christianity itself-- would-be dictators who in their hearts and souls have yielded to hitlerism and would have this republic do likewise. i shall use all of the executive power that i have to carry out the policy laid down. if it becomes necessary to ask for any additional legislation in order to attain our objective of preventing a spiral in the cost of living, i shall do so. i know the american farmer, the american workman, and the american businessman. i know that they will gladly embrace this economy and equality of sacrifice, satisfied that it is necessary for the most vital and compelling motive in all their lives--winning through to victory. never in the memory of man has there been a war in which the courage, the endurance and the loyalty of civilians played so vital a part. many thousands of civilians all over the world have been and are being killed or maimed by enemy action. indeed, it was the fortitude of the common people of britain under fire which enabled that island to stand and prevented hitler from winning the war in . the ruins of london and coventry and other cities are today the proudest monuments to british heroism. our own american civilian population is now relatively safe from such disasters. and, to an ever-increasing extent, our soldiers, sailors and marines are fighting with great bravery and great skill on far distant fronts to make sure that we shall remain safe. i should like to tell you one or two stories about the men we have in our armed forces: there is, for example, dr. corydon m. wassell. he was a missionary, well known for his good works in china. he is a simple, modest, retiring man, nearly sixty years old, but he entered the service of his country and was commissioned a lieutenant commander in the navy. dr. wassell was assigned to duty in java caring for wounded officers and men of the cruisers houston and marblehead which had been in heavy action in the java seas. when the japanese advanced across the island, it was decided to evacuate as many as possible of the wounded to australia. but about twelve of the men were so badly wounded that they could not be moved. dr. wassell remained with these men, knowing that he would be captured by the enemy. but he decided to make a last desperate attempt to get the men out of java. he asked each of them if he wished to take the chance, and every one agreed. he first had to get the twelve men to the sea coast--fifty miles away. to do this, he had to improvise stretchers for the hazardous journey. the men were suffering severely, but dr. wassell kept them alive by his skill, and inspired them by his own courage. and as the official report said, dr. wassell was "almost like a christ-like shepherd devoted to his flock." on the sea coast, he embarked the men on a little dutch ship. they were bombed, they were machine-gunned by waves of japanese planes. dr. wassell took virtual command of the ship, and by great skill avoided destruction, hiding in little bays and little inlets. a few days later, dr. wassell and his small flock of wounded men reached australia safely. and today dr. wassell wears the navy cross. another story concerns a ship, a ship rather than an individual man. you may remember the tragic sinking of the submarine, the u.s.s. squalus off the new england coast in the summer of . some of the crew were lost, but others were saved by the speed and the efficiency of the surface rescue crews. the squalus itself was tediously raised from the bottom of the sea. she was repaired and put back into commission, and eventually she sailed again under a new name, the u.s.s. sailfish. today, she is a potent and effective unit of our submarine fleet in the southwest pacific. the sailfish has covered many thousands of miles in operations in those waters. she has sunk a japanese destroyer. she has torpedoed a japanese cruiser. she has made torpedo hits--two of them--on a japanese aircraft carrier. three of the enlisted men of our navy who went down with the squalus in and were rescued, are today serving on the same ship, the u.s.s. sailfish, in this war. it seems to me that it is heartening to know that the squalus, once given up as lost, rose from the depths to fight for our country in time of peril. one more story, that i heard only this morning: this is a story of one of our army flying fortresses operating in the western pacific. the pilot of this plane is a modest young man, proud of his crew for one of the toughest fights a bomber has yet experienced. the bomber departed from its base, as part or a flight of five bombers, to attack japanese transports that were landing troops against us in the philippines. when they had gone about halfway to their destination, one of the motors of this bomber went out of commission. the young pilot lost contact with the other bombers. the crew, however, got the motor working, got it going again and the plane proceeded on its mission alone. by the time it arrived at its target the other four flying fortresses had already passed over, had dropped their bombs, and had stirred up the hornets' nest of japanese "zero" planes. eighteen of these "zero" fighters attacked our one flying fortress. despite this mass attack, our plane proceeded on its mission, and dropped all of its bombs on six japanese transports which were lined up along the docks. as it turned back on its homeward journey a running fight between the bomber and the eighteen japanese pursuit planes continued for miles. four pursuit planes of the japs attacked simultaneously at each side. four were shot down with the side guns. during this fight, the bomber's radio operator was killed, the engineer's right hand was shot off, and one gunner was crippled, leaving only one man available to operate both side guns. although wounded in one hand, this gunner alternately manned both side guns, bringing down three more japanese "zero" planes. while this was going on, one engine on the american bomber was shot out, one gas tank was hit, the radio was shot off, and the oxygen system was entirely destroyed. out of eleven control cables all but four were shot away. the rear landing wheel was blown off entirely, and the two front wheels were both shot flat. the fight continued until the remaining japanese pursuit ships exhausted their ammunition and turned back. with two engines gone and the plane practically out of control, the american bomber returned to its base after dark and made an emergency landing. the mission had been accomplished. the name of that pilot is captain hewitt t. wheless, of the united states army. he comes from a place called menard, texas--with a population , . he has been awarded the distinguished service cross. and i hope that he is listening. these stories i have told you are not exceptional. they are typical examples of individual heroism and skill. as we here at home contemplate our own duties, our own responsibilities, let us think and think hard of the example which is being set for us by our fighting men. our soldiers and sailors are members of well disciplined units. but they are still and forever individuals--free individuals. they are farmers, and workers, businessmen, professional men, artists, clerks. they are the united states of america. that is why they fight. we too are the united states of america. that is why we must work and sacrifice. it is for them. it is for us. it is for victory. september , . my friends: i wish that all the americans people could read all the citations for various medals recommended for our soldiers and sailors and marines. i am picking out one of these citations which tells of the accomplishments of lieutenant john james powers, united states navy, during three days of the battles with japanese forces in the coral sea. during the first two days, lieutenant powers, flying a dive-bomber in the face of blasting enemy anti-aircraft fire, demolished one large enemy gunboat, put another gunboat out of commission, severely damaged an aircraft tender and a twenty-thousand-ton transport, and scored a direct hit on an aircraft carrier which burst into flames and sank soon after. the official citation then describes the morning of the third day of battle. as the pilots of his squadron left the ready room to man their planes, lieutenant powers said to them, "remember, the folks back home are counting on us. i am going to get a hit if i have to lay it on their flight deck. he led his section down to the target from an altitude of , feet, through a wall of bursting anti-aircraft shells and swarms of enemy planes. he dived almost to the very deck of the enemy carrier, and did not release his bomb until he was sure of a direct hit. he was last seen attempting recovery from his dive at the extremely low altitude of two hundred feet, amid a terrific barrage of shell and bomb fragments, and smoke and flame and debris from the stricken vessel. his own plane was destroyed by the explosion of his own bomb. but he had made good his promise to "lay it on their flight deck." i have received a recommendation from the secretary of the navy that lieutenant john james powers of new york city, missing in action, be awarded the medal of honor. i hereby and now make this award. you and i are "the folks back home" for whose protection lieutenant powers fought and repeatedly risked his life. he said that we counted on him and his men. we did not count in vain. but have not those men a right to be counting on us? how are we playing our part "back home" in winning this war? the answer is that we are not doing enough. today i sent a message to the congress, pointing out the overwhelming urgency of the serious domestic economic crisis with which we are threatened. some call it "inflation," which is a vague sort of term, and others call it a "rise in the cost of living," which is much more easily understood by most families. that phrase, "the cost of living," means essentially what a dollar can buy. from january , , to may of this year, nearly a year and a half, the cost of living went up about percent. and at that point last may we undertook to freeze the cost of living. but we could not do a complete job of it, because the congressional authority at the time exempted a large part of farm products used for food and for making clothing, although several weeks before, i had asked the congress for legislation to stabilize all farm prices. at that time i had told the congress that there were seven elements in our national economy, all of which had to be controlled; and that if any one essential element remained exempt, the cost of living could not be held down. on only two of these points--both of them vital however--did i call for congressional action. these two vital points were: first, taxation; and, second, the stabilization of all farm prices at parity. "parity" is a standard for the maintenance of good farm prices. it was established as our national policy way back in . it means that the farmer and the city worker are on the same relative ratio with each other in purchasing power as they were during a period some thirty years before--at a time then the farmer had a satisfactory purchasing power. one hundred percent of parity, therefore, has been accepted by farmers as the fair standard for the prices they receive. last january, however, the congress passed a law forbidding ceilings on farm prices below percent of parity on some commodities. and on other commodities the ceiling was even higher, so that the average possible ceiling is now about percent of parity for agricultural products as a whole. this act of favoritism for one particular group in the community increased the cost of food to everybody--not only to the workers in the city or in the munitions plants, and their families, but also to the families of the farmers themselves. since last may, ceilings have been set on nearly all commodities, rents services, except the exempted farm products. installment buying, for example, has been effectively controlled. wages in certain key industries have been stabilized on the basis of the present cost of living. but it is obvious to all of us that if the cost of food continues to go up, as it is doing at present, the wage earner, particularly in the lower brackets, will have a right to an increase in his wages. i think that would be essential justice and a practical necessity. our experience with the control of other prices during the past few months has brought out one important fact--the rising cost of living can be controlled, providing that all elements making up the cost of living are controlled at the same time. i think that also is an essential justice and a practical necessity. we know that parity prices for farm products not now controlled will not put up the cost of living more than a very small amount; but we also know that if we must go up to an average of percent of parity for food and other farm products--which is necessary at present under the emergency price control act before we can control all farm prices--the cost of living will get well out of hand. we are face to face with this danger today. let us meet it and remove it. i realize that it may seem out of proportion to you to be over- stressing these economic problems at a time like this, when we are all deeply concerned about the news from far distant fields of battle. but i give you the solemn assurance that failure to solve this problem here at home--and to solve it now--will make more difficult the winning of this war. if the vicious spiral of inflation ever gets under way, the whole economic system will stagger. prices and wages will go up so rapidly that the entire production program will be endangered. the cost of the war, paid by taxpayers, will jump beyond all present calculations. it will mean an uncontrollable rise in prices and in wages, which can result in raising the overall cost of living as high as another percent soon. that would mean that the purchasing power of every dollar that you have in your pay envelope, or in the bank, or included in your insurance policy or your pension, would be reduced to about eighty cents¹ worth. i need not tell you that this would have a demoralizing effect on our people, soldiers and civilians alike. overall stabilization of prices, and salaries, wages and profits is necessary to the continued increasing production of planes and tanks and ships and guns. in my message to congress today, i have said that this must be done quickly. if we wait for two or three or four or six months it may well be too late. i have told the congress that the administration cannot hold the actual cost of food and clothing down to the present level beyond october first. therefore, i have asked the congress to pass legislation under which the president would be specifically authorized to stabilize the cost of living, including the price of all farm commodities. the purpose should be to hold farm prices at parity, or at levels of a recent date, whichever is higher. the purpose should also be to keep wages at a point stabilized with today's cost of living. both must be regulated at the same time; and neither one of them can or should be regulated without the other. at the same time that farm prices are stabilized, i will stabilize wages. that is plain justice--and plain common sense. and so i have asked the congress to take this action by the first of october. we must now act with the dispatch which the stern necessities of war require. i have told the congress that inaction on their part by that date will leave me with an inescapable responsibility, a responsibility to the people of this country to see to it that the war effort is no longer imperiled by the threat of economic chaos. as i said in my message to the congress: in the event that the congress should fail to act, and act adequately, i shall accept the responsibility, and i will act. the president has the powers, under the constitution and under congressional acts, to take measures necessary to avert a disaster which would interfere with the winning of the war. i have given the most careful and thoughtful consideration to meeting this issue without further reference to the congress. i have determined, however, on this vital matter to consult with the congress. there may be those who will say that, if the situation is as grave as i have stated it to be, i should use my powers and act now. i can only say that i have approached this problem from every angle, and that i have decided that the course of conduct which i am following in this case is consistent with my sense of responsibility as president in time of war, and with my deep and unalterable devotion to the processes of democracy. the responsibilities of the president in wartime to protect the nation are very grave. this total war, with our fighting fronts all over the world, makes the use of the executive power far more essential than in any previous war. if we were invaded, the people of this country would expect the president to use any and all means to repel the invader. now the revolution and the war between the states were fought on our own soil, but today this war will be won or lost on other continents and in remote seas. i cannot tell what powers may have to be exercised in order to win this war. the american people can be sure that i will use my powers with a full sense of responsibility to the constitution and to my country. the american people can also be sure that i shall not hesitate to use every power vested in me to accomplish the defeat of our enemies in any part of the world where our own safety demands such defeat. and when the war is over, the powers under which i act will automatically revert to the people of the united states--to the people to whom those powers belong. i think i know the american farmers. i know they are as wholehearted in their patriotism as any other group. they have suffered from the constant fluctuations of farm prices-- occasionally too high, more often too low. nobody knows better than farmers the disastrous effects of wartime inflationary booms, and postwar deflationary panics. so i have also suggested today that the congress make our agricultural economy more stable. i have recommended that in addition to putting ceilings on all farm products now, we also place a definite floor under those prices for a period beginning now, continuing through the war, and for as long as necessary after the war. in this way we will be able to avoid the collapse of farm prices that happened after the last war. the farmers must be assured of a fair minimum price during the readjustment period which will follow the great, excessive world food demands which now prevail. we must have some floor under farm prices, as we must have under wages, if we are to avoid the dangers of a postwar inflation on the one hand, or the catastrophe of a crash in farm prices and wages on the other. today i have also advised the congress of the importance of speeding up the passage of the tax bill. the federal treasury is losing millions of dollars each and every day because the bill has not yet been passed. taxation is the only practical way of preventing the incomes and profits of individuals and corporations from getting too high. i have told the congress once more that all net individual incomes, after payment of all taxes, should be limited effectively by further taxation to a maximum net income of $ , a year. and it is equally important that corporate profits should not exceed a reasonable amount in any case. the nation must have more money to run the war. people must stop spending for luxuries. our country needs a far greater share of our incomes. for this is a global war, and it will cost this nation nearly one hundred billion dollars in . in that global war there are now four main areas of combat; and i should like to speak briefly of them, not in the order of their importance, for all of them are vital and all of them are interrelated. . the russian front. here the germans are still unable to gain the smashing victory which, almost a year ago, hitler announced he had already achieved. germany has been able to capture important russian territory. nevertheless, hitler has been unable to destroy a single russian army; and this, you may be sure, has been, and still is, his main objective. millions of german troops seem doomed to spend another cruel and bitter winter on the russian front. yes, the russians are killing more nazis, and destroying more airplanes and tanks than are being smashed on any other front. they are fighting not only bravely but brilliantly. in spite of any setbacks russia will hold out, and with the help of her allies will ultimately drive every nazi from her soil. . the pacific ocean area. this area must be grouped together as a whole--every part of it, land and sea. we have stopped one major japanese offensive; and we have inflicted heavy losses on their fleet. but they still possess great strength; they seek to keep the initiative; and they will undoubtedly strike hard again. we must not overrate the importance of our successes in the solomon islands, though we may be proud of the skill with which these local operations were conducted. at the same time, we need not underrate the significance of our victory at midway. there we stopped the major japanese offensive. . in the mediterranean and the middle east area the british, together with the south africans, australians, new zealanders, indian troops and others of the united nations, including ourselves, are fighting a desperate battle with the germans and italians. the axis powers are fighting to gain control of that area, dominate the mediterranean and the indian ocean, and gain contact with the japanese navy. the battle in the middle east is now joined. we are well aware of our danger, but we are hopeful of the outcome. . the european area. here the aim is an offensive against germany. there are at least a dozen different points at which attacks can be launched. you, of course, do not expect me to give details of future plans, but you can rest assured that preparations are being made here and in britain toward this purpose. the power of germany must be broken on the battlefields of europe. various people urge that we concentrate our forces on one or another of these four areas, although no one suggests that any one of the four areas should be abandoned. certainly, it could not be seriously urged that we abandon aid to russia, or that we surrender all of the pacific to japan, or the mediterranean and middle east to germany, or give up an offensive against germany. the american people may be sure that we shall neglect none of the four great theaters of war. certain vital military decisions have been made. in due time you will know what these decisions are--and so will our enemies. i can say now that all of these decisions are directed toward taking the offensive. today, exactly nine months after pearl harbor, we have sent overseas three times more men than we transported to france in the first nine months of the first world war. we have done this in spite of greater danger and fewer ships. and every week sees a gain in the actual number of american men and weapons in the fighting areas. these reinforcements in men and munitions are continuing, and will continue to go forward. this war will finally be won by the coordination of all the armies, navies and air forces of all of the united nations operating in unison against our enemies. this will require vast assemblies of weapons and men at all the vital points of attack. we and our allies have worked for years to achieve superiority in weapons. we have no doubts about the superiority of our men. we glory in the individual exploits of our soldiers, our sailors, our marines, our merchant seamen. lieutenant john james powers was one of these--and there are thousands of others in the forces of the united nations. several thousand americans have met death in battle. other thousands will lose their lives. but many millions stand ready to step into their places--to engage in a struggle to the very death. for they know that the enemy is determined to destroy us, our homes and our institutions--that in this war it is kill or be killed. battles are not won by soldiers or sailors who think first of their own personal safety. and wars are not won by people who are concerned primarily with their own comfort, their own convenience, their own pocketbooks. we americans of today bear the gravest of responsibilities. and all of the united nations share them. all of us here at home are being tested--for our fortitude, for our selfless devotion to our country and to our cause. this is the toughest war of all time. we need not leave it to historians of the future to answer the question whether we are tough enough to meet this unprecedented challenge. we can give that answer now. the answer is "yes." october , . my fellow americans: as you know, i have recently come back from a trip of inspection of camps and training stations and war factories. the main thing that i observed on this trip is not exactly news. it is the plain fact that the american people are united as never before in their determination to do a job and to do it well. this whole nation of , , free men, women and children is becoming one great fighting force. some of us are soldiers or sailors, some of us are civilians. some of us are fighting the war in airplanes five miles above the continent of europe or the islands of the pacific--and some of us are fighting it in mines deep down in the earth of pennsylvania or montana. a few of us are decorated with medals for heroic achievement, but all of us can have that deep and permanent inner satisfaction that comes from doing the best we know how--each of us playing an honorable part in the great struggle to save our democratic civilization. whatever our individual circumstances or opportunities--we are all in it, and our spirit is good, and we americans and our allies are going to win--and do not let anyone tell you anything different. that is the main thing that i saw on my trip around the country-- unbeatable spirit. if the leaders of germany and japan could have come along with me, and had seen what i saw, they would agree with my conclusions. unfortunately, they were unable to make the trip with me. and that is one reason why we are carrying our war effort overseas--to them. with every passing week the war increases in scope and intensity. that is true in europe, in africa, in asia, and on all the seas. the strength of the united nations is on the upgrade in this war. the axis leaders, on the other hand, know by now that they have already reached their full strength, and that their steadily mounting losses in men and material cannot be fully replaced. germany and japan are already realizing what the inevitable result will be when the total strength of the united nations hits them--at additional places on the earth's surface. one of the principal weapons of our enemies in the past has been their use of what is called "the war of nerves." they have spread falsehood and terror; they have started fifth columns everywhere; they have duped the innocent; they have fomented suspicion and hate between neighbors; they have aided and abetted those people in other nations--including our own--whose words and deeds are advertised from berlin and from tokyo as proof of our disunity. the greatest defense against all such propaganda, of course, is the common sense of the common people--and that defense is prevailing. the "war of nerves" against the united nations is now turning into a boomerang. for the first time, the nazi propaganda machine is on the defensive. they begin to apologize to their own people for the repulse of their vast forces at stalingrad, and for the enormous casualties they are suffering. they are compelled to beg their overworked people to rally their weakened production. they even publicly admit, for the first time, that germany can be fed only at the cost of stealing food from the rest of europe. they are proclaiming that a second front is impossible; but, at the same time, they are desperately rushing troops in all directions, and stringing barbed wire all the way from the coasts of finland and norway to the islands of the eastern mediterranean. meanwhile, they are driven to increase the fury of their atrocities. the united nations have decided to establish the identity of those nazi leaders who are responsible for the innumerable acts of savagery. as each of these criminal deeds is committed, it is being carefully investigated; and the evidence is being relentlessly piled up for the future purposes of justice. we have made it entirely clear that the united nations seek no mass reprisals against the populations of germany or italy or japan. but the ring leaders and their brutal henchmen must be named, and apprehended, and tried in accordance with the judicial processes of criminal law. there are now millions of americans in army camps, in naval stations, in factories and in shipyards. who are these millions upon whom the life of our country depends? what are they thinking? what are their doubts? what are their hopes? and how is the work progressing? the commander-in-chief cannot learn all of the answers to these questions in washington. and that is why i made the trip i did. it is very easy to say, as some have said, that when the president travels through the country he should go with a blare of trumpets, with crowds on the sidewalks, with batteries of reporters and photographers--talking and posing with all of the politicians of the land. but having had some experience in this war and in the last war, i can tell you very simply that the kind of trip i took permitted me to concentrate on the work i had to do without expending time, meeting all the demands of publicity. and--i might add--it was a particular pleasure to make a tour of the country without having to give a single thought to politics. i expect to make other trips for similar purposes, and i shall make them in the same way. in the last war, i had seen great factories; but until i saw some of the new present-day plants, i had not thoroughly visualized our american war effort. of course, i saw only a small portion of all our plants, but that portion was a good cross-section, and it was deeply impressive. the united states has been at war for only ten months, and is engaged in the enormous task of multiplying its armed forces many times. we are by no means at full production level yet. but i could not help asking myself on the trip, where would we be today if the government of the united states had not begun to build many of its factories for this huge increase more than two years ago, more than a year before war was forced upon us at pearl harbor? we have also had to face the problem of shipping. ships in every part of the world continue to be sunk by enemy action. but the total tonnage of ships coming out of american, canadian and british shipyards, day by day, has increased so fast that we are getting ahead of our enemies in the bitter battle of transportation. in expanding our shipping, we have had to enlist many thousands of men for our merchant marine. these men are serving magnificently. they are risking their lives every hour so that guns and tanks and planes and ammunition and food may be carried to the heroic defenders of stalingrad and to all the united nations' forces all over the world. a few days ago i awarded the first maritime distinguished service medal to a young man--edward f. cheney of yeadon, pennsylvania--who had shown great gallantry in rescuing his comrades from the oily waters of the sea after their ship had been torpedoed. there will be many more such acts of bravery. in one sense my recent trip was a hurried one, out through the middle west, to the northwest, down the length of the pacific coast and back through the southwest and the south. in another sense, however, it was a leisurely trip, because i had the opportunity to talk to the people who are actually doing the work--management and labor alike--on their own home grounds. and it gave me a fine chance to do some thinking about the major problems of our war effort on the basis of first things first. as i told the three press association representatives who accompanied me, i was impressed by the large proportion of women employed--doing skilled manual labor running machines. as time goes on, and many more of our men enter the armed forces, this proportion of women will increase. within less than a year from now, i think, there will probably be as many women as men working in our war production plants. i had some enlightening experiences relating to the old saying of us men that curiosity--inquisitiveness--is stronger among woman. i noticed, frequently, that when we drove unannounced down the middle aisle of a great plant full of workers and machines, the first people to look up from their work were the men--and not the women. it was chiefly the men who were arguing as to whether that fellow in the straw hat was really the president or not. so having seen the quality of the work and of the workers on our production lines--and coupling these firsthand observations with the reports of actual performance of our weapons on the fighting fronts--i can say to you that we are getting ahead of our enemies in the battle of production. and of great importance to our future production was the effective and rapid manner in which the congress met the serious problem of the rising cost of living. it was a splendid example of the operation of democratic processes in wartime. the machinery to carry out this act of the congress was put into effect within twelve hours after the bill was signed. the legislation will help the cost-of-living problems of every worker in every factory and on every farm in the land. in order to keep stepping up our production, we have had to add millions of workers to the total labor force of the nation. and as new factories came into operation, we must find additional millions of workers. this presents a formidable problem in the mobilization of manpower. it is not that we do not have enough people in this country to do the job. the problem is to have the right numbers of the right people in the right places at the right time. we are learning to ration materials, and we must now learn to ration manpower. the major objectives of a sound manpower policy are: first, to select and train men of the highest fighting efficiency needed for our armed forces in the achievement of victory over our enemies in combat. second, to man our war industries and farms with the workers needed to produce the arms and munitions and food required by ourselves and by our fighting allies to win this war. in order to do this, we shall be compelled to stop workers from moving from one war job to another as a matter of personal preference; to stop employers from stealing labor from each other; to use older men, and handicapped people, and more women, and even grown boys and girls, wherever possible and reasonable, to replace men of military age and fitness; to train new personnel for essential war work; and to stop the wastage of labor in all non- essential activities. there are many other things that we can do, and do immediately, to help meet this manpower problem. the school authorities in all the states should work out plans to enable our high school students to take some time from their school year, and to use their summer vacations, to help farmers raise and harvest their crops, or to work somewhere in the war industries. this does not mean closing schools and stopping education. it does mean giving older students a better opportunity to contribute their bit to the war effort. such work will do no harm to the students. people should do their work as near their homes as possible. we cannot afford to transport a single worker into an area where there is already a worker available to do the job. in some communities, employers dislike to employ women. in others they are reluctant to hire negroes. in still others, older men are not wanted. we can no longer afford to indulge such prejudices or practices. every citizen wants to know what essential war work he can do the best. he can get the answer by applying to the nearest united states employment service office. there are four thousand five hundred of these offices throughout the nation. they form the corner grocery stores of our manpower system. this network of employment offices is prepared to advise every citizen where his skills and labors are needed most, and to refer him to an employer who can utilize them to best advantage in the war effort. perhaps the most difficult phase of the manpower problem is the scarcity of farm labor in many places. i have seen evidences of the fact, however, that the people are trying to meet it as well as possible. in one community that i visited a perishable crop was harvested by turning out the whole of the high school for three or four days. and in another community of fruit growers the usual japanese labor was not available; but when the fruit ripened, the banker, the butcher, the lawyer, the garage man, the druggist, the local editor, and in fact every able-bodied man and woman in the town, left their occupations and went out, gathered the fruit, and sent it to market. every farmer in the land must realize fully that his production is part of war production, and that he is regarded by the nation as essential to victory. the american people expect him to keep his production up, and even to increase it. we will use every effort to help him to get labor; but, at the same time, he and the people of his community must use ingenuity and cooperative effort to produce crops, and livestock and dairy products. it may be that all of our volunteer effort--however well intentioned and well administered--will not suffice wholly to solve this problem. in that case, we shall have to adopt new legislation. and if this is necessary, i do not believe that the american people will shrink from it. in a sense, every american, because of the privilege of his citizenship, is a part of the selective service. the nation owes a debt of gratitude to the selective service boards. the successful operation of the selective service system and the way it has been accepted by the great mass of our citizens give us confidence that if necessary, the same principle could be used to solve any manpower problem. and i want to say also a word of praise and thanks to the more than ten million people, all over the country, who have volunteered for the work of civilian defense--and who are working hard at it. they are displaying unselfish devotion in the patient performance of their often tiresome and always anonymous tasks. in doing this important neighborly work they are helping to fortify our national unity and our real understanding of the fact that we are all involved in this war. naturally, on my trip i was most interested in watching the training of our fighting forces. all of our combat units that go overseas must consist of young, strong men who have had thorough training. an army division that has an average age of twenty-three or twenty-four is a better fighting unit than one which has an average age of thirty-three or thirty-four. the more of such troops we have in the field, the sooner the war will be won, and the smaller will be the cost in casualties. therefore, i believe that it will be necessary to lower the present minimum age limit for selective service from twenty years down to eighteen. we have learned how inevitable that is--and how important to the speeding up of victory. i can very thoroughly understand the feelings of all parents whose sons have entered our armed forces. i have an appreciation of that feeling and so has my wife. i want every father and every mother who has a son in the service to know--again, from what i have seen with my own eyes--that the men in the army, navy and marine corps are receiving today the best possible training, equipment and medical care. and we will never fail to provide for the spiritual needs of our officers and men under the chaplains of our armed services. good training will save many, many lives in battle. the highest rate of casualties is always suffered by units comprised of inadequately trained men. we can be sure that the combat units of our army and navy are well manned, well equipped, and well trained. their effectiveness in action will depend upon the quality of their leadership, and upon the wisdom of the strategic plans on which all military operations are based. i can say one thing about these plans of ours: they are not being decided by the typewriter strategists who expound their views on the radio or in the press. one of the greatest of american soldiers, robert e. lee, once remarked on the tragic fact that in the war of his day all of the best generals were apparently working on newspapers instead of in the army. and that seems to be true in all wars. the trouble with the typewriter strategists is that while they may be full of bright ideas, they are not in possession of much information about the facts or problems of military operations. we, therefore, will continue to leave the plans for this war to the military leaders. the military and naval plans of the united states are made by the joint staff of the army and navy which is constantly in session in washington. the chiefs of this staff are admiral leahy, general marshall, admiral king and general arnold. they meet and confer regularly with representatives of the british joint staff, and with representatives of russia, china, the netherlands, poland, norway, the british dominions and other nations working in the common cause. since this unity of operations was put into effect last january, there has been a very substantial agreement between these planners, all of whom are trained in the profession of arms--air, sea and land--from their early years. as commander-in-chief i have at all times also been in substantial agreement. as i have said before, many major decisions of strategy have been made. one of them--on which we have all agreed--relates to the necessity of diverting enemy forces from russia and china to other theaters of war by new offensives against germany and japan. an announcement of how these offensives are to be launched, and when, and where, cannot be broadcast over the radio at this time. we are celebrating today the exploit of a bold and adventurous italian--christopher columbus--who with the aid of spain opened up a new world where freedom and tolerance and respect for human rights and dignity provided an asylum for the oppressed of the old world. today, the sons of the new world are fighting in lands far distant from their own america. they are fighting to save for all mankind, including ourselves, the principles which have flourished in this new world of freedom. we are mindful of the countless millions of people whose future liberty and whose very lives depend upon permanent victory for the united nations. there are a few people in this country who, when the collapse of the axis begins, will tell our people that we are safe once more; that we can tell the rest of the world to "stew in its own juice"; that never again will we help to pull "the other fellow's chestnuts from the fire"; that the future of civilization can jolly well take care of itself insofar as we are concerned. but it is useless to win battles if the cause for which we fight these battles is lost. it is useless to win a war unless it stays won. we, therefore, fight for the restoration and perpetuation of faith and hope and peace throughout the world. the objective of today is clear and realistic. it is to destroy completely the military power of germany, italy and japan to such good purpose that their threat against us and all the other united nations cannot be revived a generation hence. we are united in seeking the kind of victory that will guarantee that our grandchildren can grow and, under god, may live their lives, free from the constant threat of invasion, destruction, slavery and violent death. may , . my fellow americans: i am speaking tonight to the american people, and in particular to those of our citizens who are coal miners. tonight this country faces a serious crisis. we are engaged in a war on the successful outcome of which will depend the whole future of our country. this war has reached a new critical phase. after the years that we have spent in preparation, we have moved into active and continuing battle with our enemies. we are pouring into the world-wide conflict everything that we have--our young men, and the vast resources of our nation. i have just returned from a two weeks' tour of inspection on which i saw our men being trained and our war materials made. my trip took me through twenty states. i saw thousands of workers on the production line, making airplanes, and guns and ammunition. everywhere i found great eagerness to get on with the war. men and women are working long hours at difficult jobs and living under difficult conditions without complaint. along thousands of miles of track i saw countless acres of newly ploughed fields. the farmers of this country are planting the crops that are needed to feed our armed forces, our civilian population and our allies. those crops will be harvested. on my trip, i saw hundreds of thousands of soldiers. young men who were green recruits last autumn have matured into self-assured and hardened fighting men. they are in splendid physical condition. they are mastering the superior weapons that we are pouring out of our factories. the american people have accomplished a miracle. however, all of our massed effort is none too great to meet the demands of this war. we shall need everything that we have and everything that our allies have to defeat the nazis and the fascists in the coming battles on the continent of europe, and the japanese on the continent of asia and in the islands of the pacific. this tremendous forward movement of the united states and the united nations cannot be stopped by our enemies. and equally, it must not be hampered by any one individual or by the leaders of any one group here back home. i want to make it clear that every american coal miner who has stopped mining coal--no matter how sincere his motives, no matter how legitimate he may believe his grievances to be--every idle miner directly and individually is obstructing our war effort. we have not yet won this war. we will win this war only as we produce and deliver our total american effort on the high seas and on the battle fronts. and that requires unrelenting, uninterrupted effort here on the home front. a stopping of the coal supply, even for a short time, would involve a gamble with the lives of american soldiers and sailors and the future security of our whole people. it would involve an unwarranted, unnecessary and terribly dangerous gamble with our chances for victory. therefore, i say to all miners--and to all americans everywhere, at home and abroad--the production of coal will not be stopped. tonight, i am speaking to the essential patriotism of the miners, and to the patriotism of their wives and children. and i am going to state the true facts of this case as simply and as plainly as i know how. after the attack at pearl harbor, the three great labor organizations--the american federation of labor, the congress of industrial organizations, and the railroad brotherhoods--gave the positive assurance that there would be no strikes as long as the war lasted. and the president of the united mine workers of america was a party to that assurance. that pledge was applauded throughout the country. it was a forcible means of telling the world that we americans-- , , of us-- are united in our determination to fight this total war with our total will and our total power. at the request of employers and of organized labor--including the united mine workers--the war labor board was set up for settling any disputes which could not be adjusted through collective bargaining. the war labor board is a tribunal on which workers, employers and the general public are equally represented. in the present coal crisis, conciliation and mediation were tried unsuccessfully. in accordance with the law, the case was then certified to the war labor board, the agency created for this express purpose with the approval of organized labor. the members of the board followed the usual practice which has proved successful in other disputes. acting promptly, they undertook to get all the facts of this case from both the miners and the operators. the national officers of the united mine workers, however, declined to have anything to do with the fact-finding of the war labor board. the only excuse that they offer is that the war labor board is prejudiced. the war labor board has been and is ready to give this case a fair and impartial hearing. and i have given my assurance that if any adjustment of wages is made by the board, it will be made retroactive to april first. but the national officers of the united mine workers refused to participate in the hearing, when asked to do so last monday. on wednesday of this past week, while the board was proceeding with the case, stoppages began to occur in some mines. on thursday morning i telegraphed to the officers of the united mine workers asking that the miners continue mining coal on saturday morning. however, a general strike throughout the industry became effective on friday night. the responsibility for the crisis that we now face rests squarely on these national officers of the united mine workers, and not on the government of the united states. but the consequences of this arbitrary action threaten all of us everywhere. at ten o'clock yesterday morning the government took over the mines. i called upon the miners to return to work for their government. the government needs their services just as surely as it needs the services of our soldiers, and sailors, and marines-- and the services of the millions who are turning out the munitions of war. you miners have sons in the army and navy and marine corps. you have sons who at this very minute--this split second--may be fighting in new guinea, or in the aleutian islands, or guadalcanal, or tunisia, or china, or protecting troop ships and supplies against submarines on the high seas. we have already received telegrams from some of our fighting men overseas, and i only wish they could tell you what they think of the stoppage of work in the coal mines. some of your own sons have come back from the fighting fronts, wounded. a number of them, for example, are now here in an army hospital in washington. several of them have been decorated by their government. i could tell you of one from pennsylvania. he was a coal miner before his induction, and his father is a coal miner. he was seriously wounded by nazi machine gun bullets while he was on a bombing mission over europe in a flying fortress. another boy, from kentucky, the son of a coal miner, was wounded when our troops first landed in north africa six months ago. there is still another, from illinois. he was a coal miner--his father and two brothers are coal miners. he was seriously wounded in tunisia while attempting to rescue two comrades whose jeep had been blown up by a nazi mine. these men do not consider themselves heroes. they would probably be embarrassed if i mentioned their names over the air. they were wounded in the line of duty. they know how essential it is to the tens of thousands--hundreds of thousands--and ultimately millions of other young americans to get the best of arms and equipment into the hands of our fighting forces--and get them there quickly. the fathers and mothers of our fighting men, their brothers and sisters and friends--and that includes all of us--are also in the line of duty--the production line. any failure in production may well result in costly defeat on the field of battle. there can be no one among us--no one faction powerful enough to interrupt the forward march of our people to victory. you miners have ample reason to know that there are certain basic rights for which this country stands, and that those rights are worth fighting for and worth dying for. that is why you have sent your sons and brothers from every mining town in the nation to join in the great struggle overseas. that is why you have contributed so generously, so willingly, to the purchase of war bonds and to the many funds for the relief of war victims in foreign lands. that is why, since this war was started in , you have increased the annual production of coal by almost two hundred million tons a year. the toughness of your sons in our armed forces is not surprising. they come of fine, rugged stock. men who work in the mines are not unaccustomed to hardship. it has been the objective of this government to reduce that hardship, to obtain for miners and for all who do the nation's work a better standard of living. i know only too well that the cost of living is troubling the miners' families, and troubling the families of millions of other workers throughout the country as well. a year ago it became evident to all of us that something had to be done about living costs. your government determined not to let the cost of living continue to go up as it did in the first world war. your government has been determined to maintain stability of both prices and wages--so that a dollar would buy, so far as possible, the same amount of the necessities of life. and by necessities i mean just that--not the luxuries, not the fancy goods that we have learned to do without in wartime. so far, we have not been able to keep the prices of some necessities as low as we should have liked to keep them. that is true not only in coal towns but in many other places. wherever we find that prices of essentials have risen too high, they will be brought down. wherever we find that price ceilings are being violated, the violators will be punished. rents have been fixed in most parts of the country. in many cities they have been cut to below where they were before we entered the war. clothing prices have generally remained stable. these two items make up more than a third of the total budget of the worker's family. as for food, which today accounts for about another third of the family expenditure on the average, i want to repeat again: your government will continue to take all necessary measures to eliminate unjustified and avoidable price increases. and we are today taking measures to "roll back" the prices of meats. the war is going to go on. coal will be mined no matter what any individual thinks about it. the operation of our factories, our power plants, our railroads will not be stopped. our munitions must move to our troops. and so, under these circumstances, it is inconceivable that any patriotic miner can choose any course other than going back to work and mining coal. the nation cannot afford violence of any kind at the coal mines or in coal towns. i have placed authority for the resumption of coal mining in the hands of a civilian, the secretary of the interior. if it becomes necessary to protect any miner who seeks patriotically to go back and work, then that miner must have and his family must have--and will have--complete and adequate protection. if it becomes necessary to have troops at the mine mouths or in coal towns for the protection of working miners and their families, those troops will be doing police duty for the sake of the nation as a whole, and particularly for the sake of the fighting men in the army, the navy and the marines--your sons and mine--who are fighting our common enemies all over the world. i understand the devotion of the coal miners to their union. i know of the sacrifices they have made to build it up. i believe now, as i have all my life, in the right of workers to join unions and to protect their unions. i want to make it absolutely clear that this government is not going to do anything now to weaken those rights in the coal fields. every improvement in the conditions of the coal miners of this country has had my hearty support, and i do not mean to desert them now. but i also do not mean to desert my obligations and responsibilities as president of the united states and commander- in-chief of the army and navy. the first necessity is the resumption of coal mining. the terms of the old contract will be followed by the secretary of the interior. if an adjustment in wages results from a decision of the war labor board, or from any new agreement between the operators and miners, which is approved by the war labor board, that adjustment will be made retroactive to april first. in the message that i delivered to the congress four months ago, i expressed my conviction that the spirit of this nation is good. since then, i have seen our troops in the caribbean area, in bases on the coasts of our ally, brazil, and in north africa. recently i have again seen great numbers of our fellow countrymen--soldiers and civilians--from the atlantic seaboard to the mexican border and to the rocky mountains. tonight, in the fact of a crisis of serious proportions in the coal industry, i say again that the spirit or this nation is good. i know that the american people will not tolerate any threat offered to their government by anyone. i believe the coal miners will not continue the strike against their government. i believe that the coal miners as americans will not fail to heed the clear call to duty. like all other good americans, they will march shoulder to shoulder with their armed forces to victory. tomorrow the stars and stripes will fly over the coal mines, and i hope that every miner will be at work under that flag. july , . my fellow americans: over a year and a half ago i said this to the congress: "the militarists in berlin, and rome and tokyo started this war, but the massed angered forces of common humanity will finish it." today that prophecy is in the process of being fulfilled. the massed, angered forces of common humanity are on the march. they are going forward--on the russian front, in the vast pacific area, and into europe--converging upon their ultimate objectives: berlin and tokyo. i think the first crack in the axis has come. the criminal, corrupt fascist regime in italy is going to pieces. the pirate philosophy of the fascists and the nazis cannot stand adversity. the military superiority of the united nations--on sea and land, and in the air--has been applied in the right place and at the right time. hitler refused to send sufficient help to save mussolini. in fact, hitler's troops in sicily stole the italians' motor equipment, leaving italian soldiers so stranded that they had no choice but to surrender. once again the germans betrayed their italian allies, as they had done time and time again on the russian front and in the long retreat from egypt, through libya and tripoli, to the final surrender in tunisia. and so mussolini came to the reluctant conclusion that the "jig was up"; he could see the shadow of the long arm of justice. but he and his fascist gang will be brought to book, and punished for their crimes against humanity. no criminal will be allowed to escape by the expedient of "resignation." so our terms to italy are still the same as our terms to germany and japan--"unconditional surrender." we will have no truck with fascism in any way, in any shape or manner. we will permit no vestige of fascism to remain. eventually italy will reconstitute herself. it will be the people of italy who will do that, choosing their own government in accordance with the basic democratic principles of liberty and equality. in the meantime, the united nations will not follow the pattern set by mussolini and hitler and the japanese for the treatment of occupied countries--the pattern of pillage and starvation. we are already helping the italian people in sicily. with their cordial cooperation, we are establishing and maintaining security and order--we are dissolving the organizations which have kept them under fascist tyranny--we are providing them with the necessities of life until the time comes when they can fully provide for themselves. indeed, the people in sicily today are rejoicing in the fact that for the first time in years they are permitted to enjoy the fruits of their own labors--they can eat what they themselves grow, instead of having it stolen from them by the fascists and the nazis. in every country conquered by the nazis and the fascists, or the japanese militarists, the people have been reduced to the status of slaves or chattels. it is our determination to restore these conquered peoples to the dignity of human beings, masters of their own fate, entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. we have started to make good on that promise. i am sorry if i step on the toes of those americans who, playing party politics at home, call that kind of foreign policy "crazy altruism "and "starry-eyed dreaming." meanwhile, the war in sicily and italy goes on. it must go on, and will go on, until the italian people realize the futility of continuing to fight in a lost cause--a cause to which the people of italy never gave their wholehearted approval and support. it is a little over a year since we planned the north african campaign. it is six months since we planned the sicilian campaign. i confess that i am of an impatient disposition, but i think that i understand and that most people understand the amount of time necessary to prepare for any major military or naval operation. we cannot just pick up the telephone and order a new campaign to start the next week. for example, behind the invasion forces in north africa, the invasion forces that went out of north africa, were thousands of ships and planes guarding the long, perilous sea lanes, carrying the men, carrying the equipment and the supplies to the point of attack. and behind all these were the railroad lines and the highways here back home that carried the men and the munitions to the ports of embarkation--there were the factories and the mines and the farms here back home that turned out the materials--there were the training camps here back home where the men learned how to perform the strange and difficult and dangerous tasks which were to meet them on the beaches and in the deserts and in the mountains. all this had to be repeated, first in north africa and then in the attack on sicily. here the factor--in sicily--the factor of air attack was added--for we could use north africa as the base for softening up the landing places and lines of defense in sicily, and the lines of supply in italy. it is interesting for us to realize that every flying fortress that bombed harbor installations at, for example, naples, from its base in north africa required , gallons of gasoline for each single mission, and that this is the equal of about "a" ration tickets--enough gas to drive your car five times across this continent. you will better understand your part in the war--and what gasoline rationing means--if you multiply this by the gasoline needs of thousands of planes and hundreds of thousands of jeeps, and trucks and tanks that are now serving overseas. i think that the personal convenience of the individual, or the individual family back home here in the united states will appear somewhat less important when i tell you that the initial assault force on sicily involved , ships which carried , men-- americans, british, canadians and french--together with , vehicles, tanks, and , guns. and this initial force was followed every day and every night by thousands of reinforcements. the meticulous care with which the operation in sicily was planned has paid dividends. our casualties in men, in ships and material have been low--in fact, far below our estimate. and all of us are proud of the superb skill and courage of the officers and men who have conducted and are conducting those operations. the toughest resistance developed on the front of the british eighth army, which included the canadians. but that is no new experience for that magnificent fighting force which has made the germans pay a heavy price for each hour of delay in the final victory. the american seventh army, after a stormy landing on the exposed beaches of southern sicily, swept with record speed across the island into the capital at palermo. for many of our troops this was their first battle experience, but they have carried themselves like veterans. and we must give credit for the coordination of the diverse forces in the field, and for the planning of the whole campaign, to the wise and skillful leadership of general eisenhower. admiral cunningham, general alexander and sir marshal tedder have been towers of strength in handling the complex details of naval and ground and air activities. you have heard some people say that the british and the americans can never get along well together--you have heard some people say that the army and the navy and the air forces can never get along well together--that real cooperation between them is impossible. tunisia and sicily have given the lie, once and for all, to these narrow-minded prejudices. the dauntless fighting spirit of the british people in this war has been expressed in the historic words and deeds of winston churchill--and the world knows how the american people feel about him. ahead of us are much bigger fights. we and our allies will go into them as we went into sicily--together. and we shall carry on together. today our production of ships is almost unbelievable. this year we are producing over nineteen million tons of merchant shipping and next year our production will be over twenty-one million tons. and in addition to our shipments across the atlantic, we must realize that in this war we are operating in the aleutians, in the distant parts of the southwest pacific, in india, and off the shores of south america. for several months we have been losing fewer ships by sinkings, and we have been destroying more and more u-boats. we hope this will continue. but we cannot be sure. we must not lower our guard for one single instant. one tangible result of our great increase in merchant shipping-- which i think will be good news to civilians at home--is that tonight we are able to terminate the rationing of coffee. we also expect that within a short time we shall get greatly increased allowances of sugar. those few americans who grouse and complain about the inconveniences of life here in the united states should learn some lessons from the civilian populations of our allies--britain, and china, and russia--and of all the lands occupied by our common enemy. the heaviest and most decisive fighting today is going on in russia. i am glad that the british and we have been able to contribute somewhat to the great striking power of the russian armies. in - the russians were able to retire without breaking, to move many of their war plants from western russia far into the interior, to stand together with complete unanimity in the defense of their homeland. the success of the russian armies has shown that it is dangerous to make prophecies about them--a fact which has been forcibly brought home to that mystic master of strategic intuition, herr hitler. the short-lived german offensive, launched early this month, was a desperate attempt to bolster the morale of the german people. the russians were not fooled by this. they went ahead with their own plans for attack--plans which coordinate with the whole united nations' offensive strategy. the world has never seen greater devotion, determination and self- sacrifice than have been displayed by the russian people and their armies, under the leadership of marshal joseph stalin. with a nation which in saving itself is thereby helping to save all the world from the nazi menace, this country of ours should always be glad to be a good neighbor and a sincere friend in the world of the future. in the pacific, we are pushing the japs around from the aleutians to new guinea. there too we have taken the initiative--and we are not going to let go of it. it becomes clearer and clearer that the attrition, the whittling down process against the japanese is working. the japs have lost more planes and more ships than they have been able to replace. the continuous and energetic prosecution of the war of attrition will drive the japs back from their over-extended line running from burma and siam and the straits settlement through the netherlands indies to eastern new guinea and the solomons. and we have good reason to believe that their shipping and their air power cannot support such outposts. our naval and land and air strength in the pacific is constantly growing. and if the japanese are basing their future plans for the pacific on a long period in which they will be permitted to consolidate and exploit their conquered resources, they had better start revising their plans now. i give that to them merely as a helpful suggestion. we are delivering planes and vital war supplies for the heroic armies of generalissimo chiang sai-shek, and we must do more at all costs. our air supply line from india to china across enemy territory continues despite attempted japanese interference. we have seized the initiative from the japanese in the air over burma and now we enjoy superiority. we are bombing japanese communications, supply dumps, and bases in china, in indo-china, in burma. but we are still far from our main objectives in the war against japan. let us remember, however, how far we were a year ago from any of our objectives in the european theatre. we are pushing forward to occupation of positions which in time will enable us to attack the japanese islands themselves from the north, from the south, from the east, and from the west. you have heard it said that while we are succeeding greatly on the fighting front, we are failing miserably on the home front. i think this is another of those immaturities--a false slogan easy to state but untrue in the essential facts. for the longer this war goes on the clearer it becomes that no one can draw a blue pencil down the middle of a page and call one side "the fighting front" and the other side "the home front." for the two of them are inexorably tied together. every combat division, every naval task force, every squadron of fighting planes is dependent for its equipment and ammunition and fuel and food, as indeed it is for its manpower, dependent on the american people in civilian clothes in the offices and in the factories and on the farms at home. the same kind of careful planning that gained victory in north africa and sicily is required, if we are to make victory an enduring reality and do our share in building the kind of peaceful world that will justify the sacrifices made in this war. the united nations are substantially agreed on the general objectives for the post-war world. they are also agreed that this is not the time to engage in an international discussion of _all_ the terms of peace and _all_ the details of the future. let us win the war first. we must not relax our pressure on the enemy by taking time out to define every boundary and settle every political controversy in every part of the world. the important thing--the all-important thing now is to get on with the war--and to win it. while concentrating on military victory, we are not neglecting the planning of the things to come, the freedoms which we know will make for more decency and greater justice throughout the world. among many other things we are, today, laying plans for the return to civilian life of our gallant men and women in the armed services. they must not be demobilized into an environment of inflation and unemployment, to a place on a bread line, or on a corner selling apples. we must, this time, have plans ready-- instead of waiting to do a hasty, inefficient, and ill-considered job at the last moment. i have assured our men in the armed forces that the american people would not let them down when the war is won. i hope that the congress will help in carrying out this assurance, for obviously the executive branch of the government cannot do it alone. may the congress do its duty in this regard. the american people will insist on fulfilling this american obligation to the men and women in the armed forces who are winning this war for us. of course, the returning soldier and sailor and marine are a part of the problem of demobilizing the rest of the millions of americans who have been working and living in a war economy since . that larger objective of reconverting wartime america to a peacetime basis is one for which your government is laying plans to be submitted to the congress for action. but the members of the armed forces have been compelled to make greater economic sacrifice and every other kind of sacrifice than the rest of us, and they are entitled to definite action to help take care of their special problems. the least to which they are entitled, it seems to me, is something like this: first, mustering-out pay to every member of the armed forces and merchant marine when he or she is honorably discharged; mustering- out pay large enough in each case to cover a reasonable period of time between his discharge and the finding of a new job. second, in case no job is found after diligent search, then unemployment insurance if the individual registers with the united states employment service. third, an opportunity for members of the armed services to get further education or trade training at the cost of the government. fourth, allowance of credit to all members of the armed forces, under unemployment compensation and federal old-age and survivors' insurance, for their period of service. for these purposes they ought to be treated as if they had continued their employment in private industry. fifth, improved and liberalized provisions for hospitalization, for rehabilitation, for medical care of disabled members of the armed forces and the merchant marine. and finally, sufficient pensions for disabled members of the armed forces. your government is drawing up other serious, constructive plans for certain immediate forward moves. they concern food, manpower, and other domestic problems that tie in with our armed forces. within a few weeks i shall speak with you again in regard to definite actions to be taken by the executive branch of the government, and specific recommendations for new legislation by the congress. all our calculations for the future, however, must be based on clear understanding of the problems involved. and that can be gained only by straight thinking--not guesswork, not political manipulation. i confess that i myself am sometimes bewildered by conflicting statements that i see in the press. one day i read an "authoritative" statement that we shall win the war this year, --and the next day comes another statement equally "authoritative," that the war will still be going on in . of course, both extremes--of optimism and pessimism--are wrong. the length of the war will depend upon the uninterrupted continuance of all-out effort on the fighting fronts and here at home, and that effort is all one. the american soldier does not like the necessity of waging war. and yet--if he lays off for one single instant he may lose his own life and sacrifice the lives of his comrades. by the same token--a worker here at home may not like the driving, wartime conditions under which he has to work and live. and yet--if he gets complacent or indifferent and slacks on his job, he too may sacrifice the lives of american soldiers and contribute to the loss of an important battle. the next time anyone says to you that this war is "in the bag," or says "it's all over but the shouting," you should ask him these questions: "are you working full time on your job?" "are you growing all the food you can?" "are you buying your limit of war bonds?" "are you loyally and cheerfully cooperating with your government in preventing inflation and profiteering, and in making rationing work with fairness to all?" "because--if your answer is 'no'--then the war is going to last a lot longer than you think.² the plans we made for the knocking out of mussolini and his gang have largely succeeded. but we still have to knock out hitler and his gang, and tojo and his gang. no one of us pretends that this will be an easy matter. we still have to defeat hitler and tojo on their own home grounds. but this will require a far greater concentration of our national energy and our ingenuity and our skill. it is not too much to say that we must pour into this war the entire strength and intelligence and will power of the united states. we are a great nation--a rich nation--but we are not so great or so rich that we can afford to waste our substance or the lives or our men by relaxing along the way. we shall not settle for less than total victory. that is the determination of every american on the fighting fronts. that must be, and will be, the determination of every american here at home. september , . my fellow americans: once upon a time, a few years ago, there was a city in our middle west which was threatened by a destructive flood in the great river. the waters had risen to the top of the banks. every man, woman and child in that city was called upon to fill sand bags in order to defend their homes against the rising waters. for many days and nights, destruction and death stared them in the face. as a result of the grim, determined community effort, that city still stands. those people kept the levees above the peak of the flood. all of them joined together in the desperate job that had to be done--business men, workers, farmers, and doctors, and preachers--people of all races. to me, that town is a living symbol of what community cooperation can accomplish. today, in the same kind of community effort, only very much larger, the united nations and their peoples have kept the levees of civilization high enough to prevent the floods of aggression and barbarism and wholesale murder from engulfing us all. the flood has been raging for four years. at last we are beginning to gain on it; but the waters have not yet receded enough for us to relax our sweating work with the sand bags. in this war bond campaign we are filling bags and placing them against the flood--bags which are essential if we are to stand off the ugly torrent which is trying to sweep us all away. today, it is announced that an armistice with italy has been concluded. this was a great victory for the united nations--but it was also a great victory for the italian people. after years of war and suffering and degradation, the italian people are at last coming to the day of liberation from their real enemies, the nazis. but let us not delude ourselves that this armistice means the end of the war in the mediterranean. we still have to drive the germans out of italy as we have driven them out of tunisia and sicily; we must drive them out of france and all other captive countries; and we must strike them on their own soil from all directions. our ultimate objectives in this war continue to be berlin and tokyo. i ask you to bear these objectives constantly in mind--and do not forget that we still have a long way to go before we attain them. the great news that you have heard today from general eisenhower does not give you license to settle back in your rocking chairs and say, "well, that does it. we've got 'em on the run. now we can start the celebration." the time for celebration is not yet. and i have a suspicion that when this war does end, we shall not be in a very celebrating mood, a very celebrating frame of mind. i think that our main emotion will be one of grim determination that this shall not happen again. during the past weeks, mr. churchill and i have been in constant conference with the leaders of our combined fighting forces. we have been in constant communication with our fighting allies, russian and chinese, who are prosecuting the war with relentless determination and with conspicuous success on far distant fronts. and mr. churchill and i are here together in washington at this crucial moment. we have seen the satisfactory fulfillment of plans that were made in casablanca last january and here in washington last may. and lately we have made new, extensive plans for the future. but throughout these conferences we have never lost sight of the fact that this war will become bigger and tougher, rather than easier, during the long months that are to come. this war does not and must not stop for one single instant. your fighting men know that. those of them who are moving forward through jungles against lurking japs--those who are landing at this moment, in barges moving through the dawn up to strange enemy coasts--those who are diving their bombers down on the targets at roof-top level at this moment--every one of these men knows that this war is a full-time job and that it will continue to be that until total victory is won. and, by the same token, every responsible leader in all the united nations knows that the fighting goes on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and that any day lost may have to be paid for in terms of months added to the duration of the war. every campaign, every single operation in all the campaigns that we plan and carry through must be figured in terms of staggering material costs. we cannot afford to be niggardly with any of our resources, for we shall need all of them to do the job that we have put our shoulder to. your fellow americans have given a magnificent account of themselves--on the battlefields and on the oceans and in the skies all over the world. now it is up to you to prove to them that you are contributing your share and more than your share. it is not sufficient to simply to put into war bonds money which we would normally save. we must put into war bonds money which we would not normally save. only then have we done everything that good conscience demands. so it is up to you--up to you, the americans in the american homes--the very homes which our sons and daughters are working and fighting and dying to preserve. i know i speak for every man and woman throughout the americas when i say that we americans will not be satisfied to send our troops into the fire of the enemy with equipment inferior in any way. nor will we be satisfied to send our troops with equipment only equal to that of the enemy. we are determined to provide our troops with overpowering superiority--superiority of quantity and quality in any and every category of arms and armaments that they may conceivably need. and where does this our dominating power come from? why, it can come only from you. the money you lend and the money you give in taxes buys that death-dealing, and at the same time life-saving power that we need for victory. this is an expensive war--expensive in money; you can help it--you can help to keep it at a minimum cost in lives. the american people will never stop to reckon the cost of redeeming civilization. they know there can never be any economic justification for failing to save freedom. we can be sure that our enemies will watch this drive with the keenest interest. they know that success in this undertaking will shorten the war. they know that the more money the american people lend to their government, the more powerful and relentless will be the american forces in the field. they know that only a united and determined america could possibly produce on a voluntary basis so huge a sum of money as fifteen billion dollars. the overwhelming success of the second war loan drive last april showed that the people of this democracy stood firm behind their troops. this third war loan, which we are starting tonight, will also succeed--because the american people will not permit it to fail. i cannot tell you how much to invest in war bonds during this third war loan drive. no one can tell you. it is for you to decide under the guidance of your own conscience. i will say this, however. because the nation's needs are greater than ever before, our sacrifices too must be greater than they have ever been before. nobody knows when total victory will come--but we do know that the harder we fight now, the more might and power we direct at the enemy now, the shorter the war will be and the smaller the sum total of sacrifice. success of the third war loan will be the symbol that america does not propose to rest on its arms--that we know the tough, bitter job ahead and will not stop until we have finished it. now it is your turn! every dollar that you invest in the third war loan is your personal message of defiance to our common enemies--to the ruthless savages of germany and japan--and it is your personal message of faith and good cheer to our allies and to all the men at the front. god bless them! december , . my friends: i have recently returned from extensive journeying in the region of the mediterranean and as far as the borders of russia. i have conferred with the leaders of britain and russia and china on military matters of the present--especially on plans for stepping- up our successful attack on our enemies as quickly as possible and from many different points of the compass. on this christmas eve there are over , , men in the armed forces of the united states alone. one year ago , , were serving overseas. today, this figure has been more than doubled to , , on duty overseas. by next july first that number overseas will rise to over , , men and women. that this is truly a world war was demonstrated to me when arrangements were being made with our overseas broadcasting agencies for the time to speak today to our soldiers, and sailors, and marines and merchant seamen in every part of the world. in fixing the time for this broadcast, we took into consideration that at this moment here in the united states, and in the caribbean and on the northeast coast of south america, it is afternoon. in alaska and in hawaii and the mid-pacific, it is still morning. in iceland, in great britain, in north africa, in italy and the middle east, it is now evening. in the southwest pacific, in australia, in china and burma and india, it is already christmas day. so we can correctly say that at this moment, in those far eastern parts where americans are fighting, today is tomorrow. but everywhere throughout the world--throughout this war that covers the world--there is a special spirit that has warmed our hearts since our earliest childhood--a spirit that brings us close to our homes, our families, our friends and neighbors--the christmas spirit of "peace on earth, good will toward men." it is an unquenchable spirit. during the past years of international gangsterism and brutal aggression in europe and in asia, our christmas celebrations have been darkened with apprehension for the future. we have said, "merry christmas--a happy new year," but we have known in our hearts that the clouds which have hung over our world have prevented us from saying it with full sincerity and conviction. and even this year, we still have much to face in the way of further suffering, and sacrifice, and personal tragedy. our men, who have been through the fierce battles in the solomons, and the gilberts, and tunisia and italy know, from their own experience and knowledge of modern war, that many bigger and costlier battles are still to be fought. but--on christmas eve this year--i can say to you that at last we may look forward into the future with real, substantial confidence that, however great the cost, "peace on earth, good will toward men" can be and will be realized and ensured. this year i _can_ say that. last year i could _not_ do more than express a hope. today i express a certainty--though the cost may be high and the time may be long. within the past year--within the past few weeks--history has been made, and it is far better history for the whole human race than any that we have known, or even dared to hope for, in these tragic times through which we pass. a great beginning was made in the moscow conference last october by mr. molotov, mr. eden and our own mr. hull. there and then the way was paved for the later meetings. at cairo and teheran we devoted ourselves not only to military matters; we devoted ourselves also to consideration of the future-- to plans for the kind of world which alone can justify all the sacrifices of this war. of course, as you all know, mr. churchill and i have happily met many times before, and we know and understand each other very well. indeed, mr. churchill has become known and beloved by many millions of americans, and the heartfelt prayers of all of us have been with this great citizen of the world in his recent serious illness. the cairo and teheran conferences, however, gave me my first opportunity to meet the generalissimo, chiang kai-shek, and marshal stalin--and to sit down at the table with these unconquerable men and talk with them face to face. we had planned to talk to each other across the table at cairo and teheran; but we soon found that we were all on the same side of the table. we came to the conferences with faith in each other. but we needed the personal contact. and now we have supplemented faith with definite knowledge. it was well worth traveling thousands of miles over land and sea to bring about this personal meeting, and to gain the heartening assurance that we are absolutely agreed with one another on all the major objectives--and on the military means of obtaining them. at cairo, prime minister churchill and i spent four days with the generalissimo, chiang kai-shek. it was the first time that we had an opportunity to go over the complex situation in the far east with him personally. we were able not only to settle upon definite military strategy, but also to discuss certain long-range principles which we believe can assure peace in the far east for many generations to come. those principles are as simple as they are fundamental. they involve the restoration of stolen property to its rightful owners, and the recognition of the rights of millions of people in the far east to build up their own forms of self-government without molestation. essential to all peace and security in the pacific and in the rest of the world is the permanent elimination of the empire of japan as a potential force of aggression. never again must our soldiers and sailors and marines--and other soldiers, sailors and marines--be compelled to fight from island to island as they are fighting so gallantly and so successfully today. increasingly powerful forces are now hammering at the japanese at many points over an enormous arc which curves down through the pacific from the aleutians to the jungles of burma. our own army and navy, our air forces, the australians and new zealanders, the dutch, and the british land, air and sea forces are all forming a band of steel which is slowly but surely closing in on japan. on the mainland of asia, under the generalissimo's leadership, the chinese ground and air forces augmented by american air forces are playing a vital part in starting the drive which will push the invaders into the sea. following out the military decisions at cairo, general marshall has just flown around the world and has had conferences with general macarthur and admiral nimitz--conferences which will spell plenty of bad news for the japs in the not too far distant future. i met in the generalissimo a man of great vision, great courage, and a remarkably keen understanding of the problems of today and tomorrow. we discussed all the manifold military plans for striking at japan with decisive force from many directions, and i believe i can say that he returned to chungking with the positive assurance of total victory over our common enemy. today we and the republic of china are closer together than ever before in deep friendship and in unity of purpose. after the cairo conference, mr. churchill and i went by airplane to teheran. there we met with marshal stalin. we talked with complete frankness on every conceivable subject connected with the winning of the war and the establishment of a durable peace after the war. within three days of intense and consistently amicable discussions, we agreed on every point concerned with the launching of a gigantic attack upon germany. the russian army will continue its stern offensives on germany's eastern front, the allied armies in italy and africa will bring relentless pressure on germany from the south, and now the encirclement will be complete as great american and british forces attack from other points of the compass. the commander selected to lead the combined attack from these other points is general dwight d. eisenhower. his performances in africa, in sicily and in italy have been brilliant. he knows by practical and successful experience the way to coordinate air, sea and land power. all of these will be under his control. lieutenant general carl d. spaatz will command the entire american strategic bombing force operating against germany. general eisenhower gives up his command in the mediterranean to a british officer whose name is being announced by mr. churchill. we now pledge that new commander that our powerful ground, sea and air forces in the vital mediterranean area will stand by his side until every objective in that bitter theatre is attained. both of these new commanders will have american and british subordinate commanders whose names will be announced to the world in a few days. during the last two days at teheran, marshal stalin, mr. churchill and i looked ahead--ahead to the days and months and years that will follow germany's defeat. we were united in determination that germany must be stripped of her military might and be given no opportunity within the foreseeable future to regain that might. the united nations have no intention to enslave the german people. we wish them to have a normal chance to develop, in peace, as useful and respectable members of the european family. but we most certainly emphasize that word "respectable"--for we intend to rid them once and for all of nazism and prussian militarism and the fantastic and disastrous notion that they constitute the "master race." we did discuss international relationships from the point of view of big, broad objectives, rather than details. but on the basis of what we did discuss, i can say even today that i do not think any insoluble differences will arise among russia, great britain and the united states. in these conferences we were concerned with basic principles-- principles which involve the security and the welfare and the standard of living or human beings in countries large and small. to use an american and somewhat ungrammatical colloquialism, i may say that i "got along fine" with marshal stalin. he is a man who combines a tremendous, relentless determination with a stalwart good humor. i believe he is truly representative of the heart and soul of russia; and i believe that we are going to get along very well with him and the russian people--very well indeed. britain, russia, china and the united states and their allies represent more than three-quarters of the total population of the earth. as long as these four nations with great military power stick together in determination to keep the peace there will be no possibility of an aggressor nation arising to start another world war. but those four powers must be united with and cooperate with all the freedom-loving peoples of europe, and asia, and africa and the americas. the rights of every nation, large or small, must be respected and guarded as jealously as are the rights of every individual within our own republic. the doctrine that the strong shall dominate the weak is the doctrine of our enemies--and we reject it. but, at the same time, we are agreed that if force is necessary to keep international peace, international force will be applied--for as long as it may be necessary. it has been our steady policy--and it is certainly a common sense policy--that the right of each nation to freedom must be measured by the willingness of that nation to fight for freedom. and today we salute our unseen allies in occupied countries--the underground resistance groups and the armies of liberation. they will provide potent forces against our enemies, when the day of the counter- invasion comes. through the development of science the world has become so much smaller that we have had to discard the geographical yardsticks of the past. for instance, through our early history the atlantic and pacific oceans were believed to be walls of safety for the united states. time and distance made it physically possible, for example, for us and for the other american republics to obtain and maintain our independence against infinitely stronger powers. until recently very few people, even military experts, thought that the day would ever come when we might have to defend our pacific coast against japanese threats of invasion. at the outbreak of the first world war relatively few people thought that our ships and shipping would be menaced by german submarines on the high seas or that the german militarists would ever attempt to dominate any nation outside of central europe. after the armistice in , we thought and hoped that the militaristic philosophy of germany had been crushed; and being full of the milk of human kindness we spent the next twenty years disarming, while the germans whined so pathetically that the other nations permitted them--and even helped them--to rearm. for too many years we lived on pious hopes that aggressor and warlike nations would learn and understand and carry out the doctrine of purely voluntary peace. the well-intentioned but ill-fated experiments of former years did not work. it is my hope that we will not try them again. no--that is putting it too weakly--it is my intention to do all that i humanly can as president and commander-in-chief to see to it that these tragic mistakes shall not be made again. there have always been cheerful idiots in this country who believed that there would be no more war for us, if everybody in america would only return into their homes and lock their front doors behind them. assuming that their motives were of the highest, events have shown how unwilling they were to face the facts. the overwhelming majority of all the people in the world want peace. most of them are fighting for the attainment of peace--not just a truce, not just an armistice--but peace that is as strongly enforced and as durable as mortal man can make it. if we are willing to fight for peace now, is it not good logic that we should use force if necessary, in the future, to keep the peace? i believe, and i think i can say, that the other three great nations who are fighting so magnificently to gain peace are in complete agreement that we must be prepared to keep the peace by force. if the people of germany and japan are made to realize thoroughly that the world is not going to let them break out again, it is possible, and, i hope, probable, that they will abandon the philosophy of aggression--the belief that they can gain the whole world even at the risk of losing their own souls. i shall have more to say about the cairo and teheran conferences when i make my report to the congress in about two weeks' time. and, on that occasion, i shall also have a great deal to say about certain conditions here at home. but today i wish to say that in all my travels, at home and abroad, it is the sight of our soldiers and sailors and their magnificent achievements which have given me the greatest inspiration and the greatest encouragement for the future. to the members of our armed forces, to their wives, mothers and fathers, i want to affirm the great faith and confidence that we have in general marshall and in admiral king who direct all of our armed might throughout the world. upon them falls the great responsibility of planning the strategy of determining where and when we shall fight. both of these men have already gained high places in american history, places which will record in that history many evidences of their military genius that cannot be published today. some of our men overseas are now spending their third christmas far from home. to them and to all others overseas or soon to go overseas, i can give assurance that it is the purpose of their government to win this war and to bring them home at the earliest possible time. we here in the united states had better be sure that when our soldiers and sailors do come home they will find an america in which they are given full opportunities for education, and rehabilitation, social security, and employment and business enterprise under the free american system--and that they will find a government which, by their votes as american citizens, they have had a full share in electing. the american people have had every reason to know that this is a tough and destructive war. on my trip abroad, i talked with many military men who had faced our enemies in the field. these hard- headed realists testify to the strength and skill and resourcefulness of the enemy generals and men whom we must beat before final victory is won. the war is now reaching the stage where we shall all have to look forward to large casualty lists-- dead, wounded and missing. war entails just that. there is no easy road to victory. and the end is not yet in sight. i have been back only for a week. it is fair that i should tell you my impression. i think i see a tendency in some of our people here to assume a quick ending of the war--that we have already gained the victory. and, perhaps as a result of this false reasoning, i think i discern an effort to resume or even encourage an outbreak of partisan thinking and talking. i hope i am wrong. for, surely, our first and most foremost tasks are all concerned with winning the war and winning a just peace that will last for generations. the massive offensives which are in the making both in europe and the far east--will require every ounce of energy and fortitude that we and our allies can summon on the fighting fronts and in all the workshops at home. as i have said before, you cannot order up a great attack on a monday and demand that it be delivered on saturday. less than a month ago i flew in a big army transport plane over the little town of bethlehem, in palestine. tonight, on christmas eve, all men and women everywhere who love christmas are thinking of that ancient town and of the star of faith that shone there more than nineteen centuries ago. american boys are fighting today in snow-covered mountains, in malarial jungles, on blazing deserts; they are fighting on the far stretches of the sea and above the clouds, and fighting for the thing for which they struggle. i think it is best symbolized by the message that came out of bethlehem. on behalf of the american people--your own people--i send this christmas message to you, to you who are in our armed forces: in our hearts are prayers for you and for all your comrades in arms who fight to rid the world of evil. we ask god's blessing upon you--upon your fathers, mothers, wives and children--all your loved ones at home. we ask that the comfort of god's grace shall be granted to those who are sick and wounded, and to those who are prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, waiting for the day when they will again be free. and we ask that god receive and cherish those who have given their lives, and that he keep them in honor and in the grateful memory of their countrymen forever. god bless all of you who fight our battles on this christmas eve. god bless us all. keep us strong in our faith that we fight for a better day for humankind--here and everywhere. june , . my friends: yesterday, on june fourth, , rome fell to american and allied troops. the first of the axis capitals is now in our hands. one up and two to go! it is perhaps significant that the first of these capitals to fall should have the longest history of all of them. the story of rome goes back to the time of the foundations of our civilization. we can still see there monuments of the time when rome and the romans controlled the whole of the then known world. that, too, is significant, for the united nations are determined that in the future no one city and no one race will be able to control the whole of the world. in addition to the monuments of the older times, we also see in rome the great symbol of christianity, which has reached into almost every part of the world. there are other shrines and other churches in many places, but the churches and shrines of rome are visible symbols of the faith and determination of the early saints and martyrs that christianity should live and become universal. and tonight it will be a source of deep satisfaction that the freedom of the pope and the vatican city is assured by the armies of the united nations. it is also significant that rome has been liberated by the armed forces of many nations. the american and british armies--who bore the chief burdens of battle--found at their sides our own north american neighbors, the gallant canadians. the fighting new zealanders from the far south pacific, the courageous french and the french moroccans, the south africans, the poles and the east indians--all of them fought with us on the bloody approaches to the city of rome. the italians, too, forswearing a partnership in the axis which they never desired, have sent their troops to join us in our battles against the german trespassers on their soil. the prospect of the liberation of rome meant enough to hitler and his generals to induce them to fight desperately at great cost of men and materials and with great sacrifice to their crumbling eastern line and to their western front. no thanks are due to them if rome was spared the devastation which the germans wreaked on naples and other italian cities. the allied general maneuvered so skillfully that the nazis could only have stayed long enough to damage rome at the risk of losing their armies. but rome is of course more than a military objective. ever since before the days of the caesars, rome has stood as a symbol of authority. rome was the republic. rome was the empire. rome was and is in a sense the catholic church, and rome was the capital of a united italy. later, unfortunately, a quarter of a century ago, rome became the seat of fascism--one of the three capitals of the axis. for this quarter century the italian people were enslaved. they were degraded by the rule of mussolini from rome. they will mark its liberation with deep emotion. in the north of italy, the people are still dominated and threatened by the nazi overlords and their fascist puppets. our victory comes at an excellent time, while our allied forces are poised for another strike at western europe--and while the armies of other nazi soldiers nervously await our assault. and in the meantime our gallant russian allies continue to make their power felt more and more. from a strictly military standpoint, we had long ago accomplished certain of the main objectives of our italian campaign--the control of the islands--the major islands--the control of the sea lanes of the mediterranean to shorten our combat and supply lines, and the capture of the airports, such as the great airports of foggia, south of rome, from which we have struck telling blows on the continent--the whole of the continent all the way up to the russian front. it would be unwise to inflate in our own minds the military importance of the capture of rome. we shall have to push through a long period of greater effort and fiercer fighting before we get into germany itself. the germans have retreated thousands of miles, all the way from the gates of cairo, through libya and tunisia and sicily and southern italy. they have suffered heavy losses, but not great enough yet to cause collapse. germany has not yet been driven to surrender. germany has not yet been driven to the point where she will be unable to recommence world conquest a generation hence. therefore, the victory still lies some distance ahead. that distance will be covered in due time--have no fear of that. but it will be tough and it will be costly, as i have told you many, many times. in italy the people had lived so long under the corrupt rule of mussolini that, in spite of the tinsel at the top--you have seen the pictures of him--their economic condition had grown steadily worse. our troops have found starvation, malnutrition, disease, a deteriorating education and lowered public health--all by-products of the fascist misrule. the task of the allies in occupation has been stupendous. we have had to start at the very bottom, assisting local governments to reform on democratic lines. we have had to give them bread to replace that which was stolen out of their mouths by the germans. we have had to make it possible for the italians to raise and use their own local crops. we have to help them cleanse their schools of fascist trappings. i think the american people as a whole approve the salvage of these human beings, who are only now learning to walk in a new atmosphere of freedom. some of us may let our thoughts run to the financial cost of it. essentially it is what we can call a form of relief. and at the same time, we hope that this relief will be an investment for the future--an investment that will pay dividends by eliminating fascism, by ending any italian desires to start another war of aggression in the future. and that means that they are dividends which justify such an investment, because they are additional supports for world peace. the italian people are capable of self-government. we do not lose sight of their virtues as a peace-loving nation. we remember the many centuries in which the italians were leaders in the arts and sciences, enriching the lives of all mankind. we remember the great sons of the italian people--galileo and marconi, michelangelo and dante--and incidentally that fearless discoverer who typifies the courage of italy--christopher columbus. italy cannot grow in stature by seeking to build up a great militaristic empire. italians have been overcrowded within their own territories, but they do not need to try to conquer the lands of other peoples in order to find the breath of life. other peoples may not want to be conquered. in the past, italians have come by the millions into the united states. they have been welcomed, they have prospered, they have become good citizens, community and governmental leaders. they are not italian-americans. they are americans--americans of italian descent. the italians have gone in great numbers to the other americas-- brazil and the argentine, for example--hundreds and hundreds of thousands of them. they have gone to many other nations in every continent of the world, giving of their industry and their talents, and achieving success and the comfort of good living, and good citizenship. italy should go on as a great mother nation, contributing to the culture and the progress and the good will of all mankind-- developing her special talents in the arts and crafts and sciences, and preserving her historic and cultural heritage for the benefit of all peoples. we want and expect the help of the future italy toward lasting peace. all the other nations opposed to fascism and nazism ought to help to give italy a chance. the germans, after years of domination in rome, left the people in the eternal city on the verge of starvation. we and the british will do and are doing everything we can to bring them relief. anticipating the fall of rome, we made preparations to ship food supplies to the city, but, of course, it should be borne in mind that the needs are so great, the transportation requirements of our armies so heavy, that improvement must be gradual. but we have already begun to save the lives of the men, women and children of rome. this, i think, is an example of the efficiency of your machinery of war. the magnificent ability and energy of the american people in growing the crops, building the merchant ships, in making and collecting the cargoes, in getting the supplies over thousands of miles of water, and thinking ahead to meet emergencies--all this spells, i think, an amazing efficiency on the part of our armed forces, all the various agencies working with them, and american industry and labor as a whole. no great effort like this can be a hundred percent perfect, but the batting average is very, very high. and so i extend the congratulations and thanks tonight of the american people to general alexander, who has been in command of the whole italian operation; to our general clark and general leese of the fifth and the eighth armies; to general wilson, the supreme allied commander of the mediterranean theater, to general devers, his american deputy; to general eaker; to admirals cunningham and hewitt; and to all their brave officers and men. may god bless them and watch over them and over all of our gallant, fighting men. june , . all our fighting men overseas today have their appointed stations on the far-flung battlefronts of the world. we at home have ours too. we need, we are proud of, our fighting men--most decidedly. but, during the anxious times ahead, let us not forget that they need us too. it goes almost without saying that we must continue to forge the weapons of victory--the hundreds of thousands of items, large and small, essential to the waging of war. this has been the major task from the very start, and it is still a major task. this is the very worst time for any war worker to think of leaving his machine or to look for a peacetime job. and it goes almost without saying, too, that we must continue to provide our government with the funds necessary for waging war not only by the payment of taxes--which, after all, is an obligation of american citizenship--but also by the purchase of war bonds--an act of free choice which every citizen has to make for himself under the guidance of his own conscience. whatever else any of us may be doing, the purchase of war bonds and stamps is something all of us can do and should do to help win the war. i am happy to report tonight that it is something which nearly everyone seems to be doing. although there are now approximately sixty-seven million persons who have or earn some form of income, eighty-one million persons or their children have already bought war bonds. they have bought more than six hundred million individual bonds. their purchases have totaled more than thirty-two billion dollars. these are the purchases of individual men, women, and children. anyone who would have said this was possible a few years ago would have been put down as a starry-eyed visionary. but of such visions is the stuff of america fashioned. of course, there are always pessimists with us everywhere, a few here and a few there. i am reminded of the fact that after the fall of france in i asked the congress for the money for the production by the united states of fifty thousand airplanes that year. well, i was called crazy--it was said that the figure was fantastic; that it could not be done. and yet today we are building airplanes at the rate of one hundred thousand a year. there is a direct connection between the bonds you have bought and the stream of men and equipment now rushing over the english channel for the liberation of europe. there is a direct connection between your bonds and every part of this global war today. tonight, therefore, on the opening of this fifth war loan drive, it is appropriate for us to take a broad look at this panorama of world war, for the success or the failure of the drive is going to have so much to do with the speed with which we can accomplish victory and the peace. while i know that the chief interest tonight is centered on the english channel and on the beaches and farms and the cities of normandy, we should not lose sight of the fact that our armed forces are engaged on other battlefronts all over the world, and that no one front can be considered alone without its proper relation to all. it is worth while, therefore, to make over-all comparisons with the past. let us compare today with just two years ago--june, . at that time germany was in control of practically all of europe, and was steadily driving the russians back toward the ural mountains. germany was practically in control of north africa and the mediterranean, and was beating at the gates of the suez canal and the route to india. italy was still an important military and supply factor--as subsequent, long campaigns have proved. japan was in control of the western aleutian islands; and in the south pacific was knocking at the gates of australia and new zealand--and also was threatening india. japan had seized control of most of the central pacific. american armed forces on land and sea and in the air were still very definitely on the defensive, and in the building-up stage. our allies were bearing the heat and the brunt of the attack. in washington heaved a sigh of relief that the first war bond issue had been cheerfully oversubscribed by the american people. way back in those days, two year ago, america was still hearing from many "amateur strategists" and political critics, some of whom were doing more good for hitler than for the united states--two years ago. but today we are on the offensive all over the world--bringing the attack to our enemies. in the pacific, by relentless submarine and naval attacks, and amphibious thrusts, and ever-mounting air attack, we have deprived the japs of the power to check the momentum of our ever-growing and ever-advancing military forces. we have reduced the japs' shipping by more than three million tons. we have overcome their original advantage in the air. we have cut off from a return to the homeland tens of thousands of beleaguered japanese troops who now face starvation or ultimate surrender. and we have cut down their naval strength, so that for many months they have avoided all risk of encounter with our naval forces. true, we still have a long way to go to tokyo. but, carrying out our original strategy of eliminating our european enemy first and then turning all our strength to the pacific, we can force the japanese to unconditional surrender or to national suicide much more rapidly than has been thought possible. turning now to our enemy who is first on the list for destruction-- germany has her back against the wall-- in fact three walls at once! in the south--we have broken the german hold on central italy. on june , the city of rome fell to the allied armies. and allowing the enemy no respite, the allies are now pressing hard on the heels of the germans as they retreat northwards in ever-growing confusion. on the east--our gallant soviet allies have driven the enemy back from the lands which were invaded three years ago. the great soviet armies are now initiating crushing blows. overhead--vast allied air fleets of bombers and fighters have been waging a bitter air war over germany and western europe. they have had two major objectives: to destroy german war industries which maintain the german armies and air forces; and to shoot the german luftwaffe out of the air. as a result, german production has been whittled down continuously, and the german fighter forces now have only a fraction of their former power. this great air campaign, strategic and tactical, is going to continue--with increasing power. and on the west--the hammer blow which struck the coast of france last tuesday morning, less than a week ago, was the culmination of many months of careful planning and strenuous preparation. millions of tons of weapons and supplies, and hundreds of thousands of men assembled in england, are now being poured into the great battle in europe. i think that from the standpoint of our enemy we have achieved the impossible. we have broken through their supposedly impregnable wall in northern france. but the assault has been costly in men and costly in materials. some of our landings were desperate adventures; but from advices received so far, the losses were lower than our commanders had estimated would occur. we have established a firm foothold. we are now prepared to meet the inevitable counterattacks of the germans-- with power and with confidence. and we all pray that we will have far more, soon, than a firm foothold. americans have all worked together to make this day possible. the liberation forces now streaming across the channel, and up the beaches and through the fields and the forests of france are using thousands and thousands of planes and ships and tanks and heavy guns. they are carrying with them many thousands of items needed for their dangerous, stupendous undertaking. there is a shortage of nothing--nothing! and this must continue. what has been done in the united states since those days of -- when france fell--in raising and equipping and transporting our fighting forces, and in producing weapons and supplies for war, has been nothing short of a miracle. it was largely due to american teamwork-- teamwork among capital and labor and agriculture, between the armed forces and the civilian economy--indeed among all of them. and every one--every man or woman or child--who bought a war bond helped--and helped mightily! there are still many people in the united states who have not bought war bonds, or who have not bought as many as they can afford. everyone knows for himself whether he falls into that category or not. in some cases his neighbors know too. to the consciences of those people, this appeal by the president of the united states is very much in order. for all of the things which we use in this war, everything we send to our fighting allies, costs money--a lot of money. one sure way every man, woman, and child can keep faith with those who have given, and are giving, their lives, is to provide the money which is needed to win the final victory. i urge all americans to buy war bonds without stint. swell the mighty chorus to bring us nearer to victory!