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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5038-h.zip b/5038-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2ede11 --- /dev/null +++ b/5038-h.zip diff --git a/5038-h/5038-h.htm b/5038-h/5038-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f5eb05 --- /dev/null +++ b/5038-h/5038-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7790 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of State of the Union Addresses, by Franklin D. 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Roosevelt + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: State of the Union Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Author: Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Posting Date: December 3, 2014 [EBook #5038] +Release Date: February, 2004 +First Posted: April 11, 2002 +Last Updated: December 16, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES *** + + + + +Produced by James Linden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> +State of the Union Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt +</h1> + +<p class="noindent"> +<br /><br /> +The addresses are separated by three asterisks: *** +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Dates of addresses by Franklin D. Roosevelt in this eBook: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + <a href="#jan1934">January 3, 1934</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1935">January 4, 1935</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1936">January 3, 1936</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1937">January 6, 1937</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1938">January 3, 1938</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1939">January 4, 1939</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1940">January 3, 1940</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1941">January 6, 1941</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1942">January 6, 1942</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1943">January 7, 1943</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1944">January 11, 1944</a><br /> + <a href="#jan1945">January 6, 1945</a><br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1934"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 3, 1934<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Senators and Representatives in Congress: +</p> + +<p> +I come before you at the opening of the Regular Session of the 73d +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. . . . . +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1789 was no greater than your own. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 95 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I cannot, unfortunately, present to you a picture of complete optimism +regarding world affairs. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In the other category, crimes of organized banditry, coldblooded shooting, +lynching and kidnapping have threatened our security. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1935"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 4, 1935<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of +Representatives: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +As the various parts in the program begun in the Extraordinary Session of +the 73rd 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In defining immediate factors which enter into our quest, I have spoken to +the Congress and the people of three great divisions: +</p> + +<p> +1. The security of a livelihood through the better use of the national +resources of the land in which we live. +</p> + +<p> +2. The security against the major hazards and vicissitudes of life. +</p> + +<p> +3. The security of decent homes. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1933 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. +</p> + +<p> +The first objectives of emergency legislation of 1933 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But the stark fact before us is that great numbers still remain +unemployed. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The Federal Government must and shall quit this business of relief. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This new program of emergency public employment should be governed by a +number of practical principles. +</p> + +<p> +(1) 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. +</p> + +<p> +(2) 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. +</p> + +<p> +(3) Projects should be undertaken on which a large percentage of direct +labor can be used. +</p> + +<p> +(4) 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. +</p> + +<p> +(5) 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. +</p> + +<p> +(6) 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. +</p> + +<p> +(7) 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. +</p> + +<p> +Ever since the adjournment of the 73d 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1934 as a whole, you and I can agree that we +have a generous measure of reasons for giving thanks. +</p> + +<p> +It is not empty optimism that moves me to a strong hope in the coming year. +We can, if we will, make 1935 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. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1936"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 3, 1936<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of +Representatives: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +On the fourth day of March, 1933, 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. +</p> + +<p> +You will remember that on that fourth of March, 1933, 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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The rest of the world--Ah! there is the rub. +</p> + +<p> +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 1933, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I suggested in the spring of 1933 that 85 or 90 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. +</p> + +<p> +That is equally true today, and it is even more true today that world peace +and world good-will are blocked by only 10 or 15 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I trust that these objectives thus clearly and unequivocally stated will be +carried forward by cooperation between this Congress and the President. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That is no new thing. It was fought out in the Constitutional Convention of +1787. From time to time since then, the battle has been continued, under +Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In March, 1933, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, 1933. 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. +</p> + +<p> +Abdicated? Yes, in 1933, but now with the passing of danger they forget +their damaging admissions and withdraw their abdication. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +Shall we say to the farmer, "The prices for your products are in part +restored. Now go and hoe your own row?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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?" +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1933. 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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 74th 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I repeat, with the same faith and the same determination, my words of March +4, 1933: "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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +"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." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1937"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 6, 1937<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress of the United States: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In March, 1933, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1931 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 1933. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The statute of N.R.A. has been outlawed. The problems have not. They are +still with us. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The United States of America, within itself, must continue the task of +making democracy succeed. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The process of our democracy must not be imperiled by the denial of +essential powers of free government. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In that spirit of endeavor and service I greet the 75th Congress at the +beginning of this auspicious New Year. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1938"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 3, 1938<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of +Representatives: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +130,000,000 people, lest we weaken or destroy our influence for peace and +jeopardize the sovereignty itself. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1787, or 1837 or 1887, 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, +1933. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Since 1933 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have not only seen minimum wage and maximum hour provisions prove their +worth economically and socially under government auspices in 1933, 1934 and +1935, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have raised the Nation's income from thirty-eight billion dollars in the +year 1932 to about sixty-eight billion dollars in the year 1937. Our goal, +our objective is to raise it to ninety or one hundred billion dollars. +</p> + +<p> +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 1939, which I shall shortly send to +the Congress, will exhibit a further decrease in the deficit, though not a +balance between income and outgo. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1870. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That presupposes on the part of the representatives of the people, a +program, its enactment and its administration. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I am sure the Congress of the United States will not let the people down. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1939"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 4, 1939<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and the Congress: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Democracy, the practice of self-government, is a covenant among free men to +respect the rights and liberties of their fellows. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In a modern civilization, all three--religion, democracy and international +good faith--complement and support each other. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +For if any government bristling with implements of war insists on policies +of force, weapons of defense give the only safety. +</p> + +<p> +In our foreign relations we have learned from the past what not to do. From +new wars we have learned what we must do. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have learned that survival cannot be guaranteed by arming after the +attack begins--for there is new range and speed to offense. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1931, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our nation's program of social and economic reform is therefore a part of +defense, as basic as armaments themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Against the background of events in Europe, in Africa and in Asia during +these recent years, the pattern of what we have accomplished since 1933 +appears in even clearer focus. +</p> + +<p> +For the first time we have moved upon deep-seated problems affecting our +national strength and have forged national instruments adequate to meet +them. +</p> + +<p> +Consider what the seemingly piecemeal struggles of these six years add up +to in terms of realistic national preparedness. +</p> + +<p> +We are conserving and developing natural resources--land, water power, +forests. +</p> + +<p> +We are trying to provide necessary food, shelter and medical care for the +health of our population. +</p> + +<p> +We are putting agriculture--our system of food and fibre supply--on a +sounder basis. +</p> + +<p> +We are strengthening the weakest spot in our system of industrial supply-- +its long smouldering labor difficulties. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We are giving to our youth new opportunities for work and education. +</p> + +<p> +We have sustained the morale of all the population by the dignified +recognition of our obligations to the aged, the helpless and the needy. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have our difficulties, true--but we are a wiser and a tougher nation than +we were in 1929, or in 1932. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We see things now that we could not see along the way. The tools of +government which we had in 1933 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This time element forces us to still greater efforts to attain the full +employment of our labor and our capital. +</p> + +<p> +The first duty of our statesmanship is to bring capital and man-power +together. +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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 1929, and the interest thereon +is far less than it was in 1929. +</p> + +<p> +The object is to put capital--private as well as public--to work. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The factors in attaining and maintaining that amount of national income are +many and complicated. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +They include wholehearted acceptance of new standards of honesty in our +financial markets. +</p> + +<p> +They include reconcilement of enormous, antagonistic interests--some of them +long in litigation--in the railroad and general transportation field. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Here, as elsewhere, time is the deciding factor in our choice of remedies. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The whole subject of government investing and government income is one +which may be approached in two different ways. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The Congress alone has the power to do all this, as it is the appropriating +branch of the government. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Investment for prosperity can be made in a democracy. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1940"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 3, 1940<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and the House of +Representatives: +</p> + +<p> +I wish each and every one of you a very happy New Year. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +So I hope that Americans everywhere will work out for themselves the +several alternatives which lie before world civilization, which necessarily +includes our own. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Only an ostrich would look upon these wars through the eyes of cynicism or +ridicule. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1929 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We recognize that we must find an answer in terms of work and opportunity. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Some in our midst have sought to instill a feeling of fear and defeatism in +the minds of the American people about this problem. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In 1933 we met a problem of real fear and real defeatism. We faced the +facts--with action and not with words alone. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In these moral values, in these forces which have made our nation great, we +must actively and practically reassert our faith. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +For national unity is, in a very real and a very deep sense, the +fundamental safeguard of all democracy. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +May the year 1940 be pointed to by our children as another period when +democracy justified its existence as the best instrument of government yet +devised by mankind. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1941"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 6, 1941<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Seventy-seventh Congress: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Since the permanent formation of our Government under the Constitution, in +1789, 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. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that prior to 1914 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That determination of ours, extending over all these years, was proved, for +example, during the quarter century of wars following the French +Revolution. +</p> + +<p> +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 1812 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. +</p> + +<p> +In like fashion from 1815 to 1914--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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Even when the World War broke out in 1914, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1919 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we +cannot afford to be soft-headed. +</p> + +<p> +We must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and a tinkling +cymbal preach the "ism" of appeasement. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That is why the future of all the American Republics is today in serious +danger. +</p> + +<p> +That is why this Annual Message to the Congress is unique in our history. +</p> + +<p> +That is why every member of the Executive Branch of the Government and +every member of the Congress faces great responsibility and great +accountability. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our national policy is this: +</p> + +<p> +First, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to +partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, the immediate need is a swift and driving increase in our +armament production. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +We are behind schedule in turning out finished airplanes; we are working +day and night to solve the innumerable problems and to catch up. +</p> + +<p> +We are ahead of schedule in building warships but we are working to get +even further ahead of that schedule. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Their only interest is in a new one-way international law, which lacks +mutuality in its observance, and, therefore, becomes an instrument of +oppression. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +Equality of opportunity for youth and for others. +</p> + +<p> +Jobs for those who can work. +</p> + +<p> +Security for those who need it. +</p> + +<p> +The ending of special privilege for the few. +</p> + +<p> +The preservation of civil liberties for all. +</p> + +<p> +The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and +constantly rising standard of living. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Many subjects connected with our social economy call for immediate +improvement. +</p> + +<p> +As examples: +</p> + +<p> +We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and +unemployment insurance. +</p> + +<p> +We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care. +</p> + +<p> +We should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing +gainful employment may obtain it. +</p> + +<p> +I have called for personal sacrifice. I am assured of the willingness of +almost all Americans to respond to that call. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +If the Congress maintains these principles, the voters, putting patriotism +ahead of pocketbooks, will give you their applause. +</p> + +<p> +In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a +world founded upon four essential human freedoms. +</p> + +<p> +The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. +</p> + +<p> +The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own +way--everywhere in the world. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1942"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 6, 1942<br /> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The response of the American people has been instantaneous, and it will be +sustained until our security is assured. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +We now know their choice of the time: a peaceful Sunday morning--December +7, 1941. +</p> + +<p> +We know their choice of the place: an American outpost in the Pacific. +</p> + +<p> +We know their choice of the method: the method of Hitler himself. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The development of this ambitious conspiracy was marked by the war against +China in 1894; the subsequent occupation of Korea; the war against Russia +in 1904; the illegal fortification of the mandated Pacific islands +following 1920; the seizure of Manchuria in 1931; and the invasion of China +in 1937. +</p> + +<p> +A similar policy of criminal conquest was adopted by Italy. The Fascists +first revealed their imperial designs in Libya and Tripoli. In 1935 they +seized Abyssinia. Their goal was the domination of all North Africa, Egypt, +parts of France, and the entire Mediterranean world. +</p> + +<p> +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 1933, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +1, 1942, by 26 Nations united against the Axis powers. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 26 Nations are united--not in spirit and +determination alone, but in the broad conduct of the war in all its +phases. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The militarists of Berlin and Tokyo started this war. But the massed, +angered forces of common humanity will finish it. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +They know that victory for us means victory for freedom. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Victory requires the actual weapons of war and the means of transporting +them to a dozen points of combat. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I have just sent a letter of directive to the appropriate departments and +agencies of our Government, ordering that immediate steps be taken: +</p> + +<p> +First, to increase our production rate of airplanes so rapidly that in this +year, 1942, we shall produce 60,000 planes, 10,000 more than the goal that +we set a year and a half ago. This includes 45,000 combat planes--bombers, +dive bombers, pursuit planes. The rate of increase will be maintained and +continued so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 125,000 airplanes, +including 100,000 combat planes. +</p> + +<p> +Second, to increase our production rate of tanks so rapidly that in this +year, 1942, we shall produce 45,000 tanks; and to continue that increase so +that next year, 1943, we shall produce 75,000 tanks. +</p> + +<p> +Third, to increase our production rate of anti-aircraft guns so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall produce 20,000 of them; and to continue +that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 35,000 +anti-aircraft guns. +</p> + +<p> +And fourth, to increase our production rate of merchant ships so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall build 6,000,000 deadweight tons as +compared with a 1941 completed production of 1,100,000. And finally, we +shall continue that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall build +10,000,000 tons of shipping. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +And I rather hope that all these figures which I have given will become +common knowledge in Germany and Japan. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +War costs money. So far, we have hardly even begun to pay for it. We have +devoted only 15 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 56 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We must keep him far from our shores, for we intend to bring this battle to +him on his own home grounds. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +American armed forces will operate at many points in the Far East. +</p> + +<p> +American armed forces will be on all the oceans--helping to guard the +essential communications which are vital to the United Nations. +</p> + +<p> +American land and air and sea forces will take stations in the British +Isles--which constitute an essential fortress in this great world +struggle. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +There were only some 400 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That is the conflict that day and night now pervades our lives. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1943"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 7, 1943<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Seventy-eighth Congress: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We must appraise the events of 1942 according to their relative importance; +we must exercise a sense of proportion. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +By far the largest and most important developments in the whole world-wide +strategic picture of 1942 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1942 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. +</p> + +<p> +The Axis powers knew that they must win the war in 1942--or eventually lose +everything. I do not need to tell you that our enemies did not win the war +in 1942. +</p> + +<p> +In the Pacific area, our most important victory in 1942 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 17,000 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Any review of the year 1942 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We pay tribute to the soldiers and fliers and seamen of others of the +United Nations whose countries have been overrun by Axis hordes. +</p> + +<p> +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, 1940, have been +fighting valiantly for the liberation of their stricken country. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, the Nazis and the Fascists have asked for it--and they are going to get +it. +</p> + +<p> +Our forward progress in this war has depended upon our progress on the +production front. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1942. +</p> + +<p> +A year ago we set certain production goals for 1942 and for 1943. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our 1942 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 1942. +We produced 48,000 military planes--more than the airplane production of +Germany, Italy, and Japan put together. Last month, in December, we +produced 5,500 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Here are some other production figures: +</p> + +<p> +In 1942, we produced 56,000 combat vehicles, such as tanks and +self-propelled artillery. +</p> + +<p> +In 1942, we produced 670,000 machine guns, six times greater than our +production in 1941 and three times greater than our total production during +the year and a half of our participation in the first World War. +</p> + +<p> +We produced 21,000 anti-tank guns, six times greater than our 1941 +production. +</p> + +<p> +We produced ten and a quarter billion rounds of small-arms ammunition, five +times greater than our 1941 production and three times greater than our +total production in the first World War. +</p> + +<p> +We produced 181 million rounds of artillery ammunition, twelve times +greater than our 1941 production and ten times greater than our total +production in the first World War. +</p> + +<p> +I think the arsenal of democracy is making good. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +While we have been achieving this miracle of production, during the past +year our armed forces have grown from a little over 2,000,000 to 7,000,000. +In other words, we have withdrawn from the labor force and the farms some +5,000,000 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. +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have learned by the mistakes that we have made. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, there have been disturbances and inconveniences--and even +hardships. And there will be many, many more before we finally win. Yes, +1943 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We Americans are in good, brave company in this war, and we are playing our +own, honorable part in the vast common effort. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, we take off our hats to all Americans who have contributed so +magnificently to our common cause. +</p> + +<p> +I have sought to emphasize a sense of proportion in this review of the +events of the war and the needs of the war. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +'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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1929. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I dissent. +</p> + +<p> +And if the security of the individual citizen, or the family, should become +a subject of national debate, the country knows where I stand. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Every normal American prays that neither he nor his sons nor his grandsons +will be compelled to go through this horror again. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I do not prophesy when this war will end. +</p> + +<p> +But I do believe that this year of 1943 will give to the United Nations a +very substantial advance along the roads that lead to Berlin and Rome and +Tokyo. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, let us all have confidence, let us redouble our efforts. +</p> + +<p> +A tremendous, costly, long-enduring task in peace as well as in war is +still ahead of us. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1944"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 11, 1944<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +To the Congress: +</p> + +<p> +This Nation in the past two years has become an active partner in the +world's greatest war against human slavery. +</p> + +<p> +We have joined with like-minded people in order to defend ourselves in a +world that has been gravely threatened with gangster rule. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That was a mistake which we are not repeating in this war. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +But there were no secret treaties or political or financial commitments. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +China and Russia are truly united with Britain and America in recognition +of this essential fact: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +If we analyze American history impartially, we cannot escape the fact that +in our past we have not always forgotten individual and selfish and +partisan interests in time of war--we have not always been united in purpose +and direction. We cannot overlook the serious dissensions and the lack of +unity in our war of the Revolution, in our War of 1812, or in our War +Between the States, when the survival of the Union itself was at stake. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In this war, we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each +other are all groups and sections of the population of America. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies. Last +spring--after notable victories at Stalingrad and in Tunisia and against the +U-boats on the high seas--overconfidence became so pronounced that war +production fell off. In two months, June and July, 1943, more than a +thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were +not made. Those who failed to make them were not on strike. They were +merely saying, "The war's in the bag--so let's relax." +</p> + +<p> +That attitude on the part of anyone--Government or management or labor--can +lengthen this war. It can kill American boys. +</p> + +<p> +Let us remember the lessons of 1918. In the summer of that year the tide +turned in favor of the allies. But this Government did not relax. In fact, +our national effort was stepped up. In August, 1918, the draft age limits +were broadened from 21-31 to 18-45. The President called for "force to the +utmost," and his call was heeded. And in November, only three months later, +Germany surrendered. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +(1) A realistic tax law--which will tax all unreasonable profits, both +individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our +sons and daughters. The tax bill now under consideration by the Congress +does not begin to meet this test. +</p> + +<p> +(2) A continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts--which +will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government. +For two long years I have pleaded with the Congress to take undue profits +out of war. +</p> + +<p> +(3) A cost of food law--which will enable the Government (a) to place a +reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production; +and (b) to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for +the food he buys. This should apply to necessities only; and will require +public funds to carry out. It will cost in appropriations about one percent +of the present annual cost of the war. +</p> + +<p> +(4) Early reenactment of the stabilization statute of October, 1942. This +expires June 30, 1944, and if it is not extended well in advance, the +country might just as well expect price chaos by summer. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking. We must take positive +action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar. +</p> + +<p> +(5) A national service law--which, for the duration of the war, will +prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make +available for war production or for any other essential services every +able-bodied adult in this Nation. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +"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." +</p> + +<p> +I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn +truth. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +It is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national +service is necessary. But our soldiers and sailors know that this is not +true. We are going forward on a long, rough road--and, in all journeys, the +last miles are the hardest. And it is for that final effort--for the total +defeat of our enemies--that we must mobilize our total resources. The +national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than +in 1943. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +It will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing +four-square behind our soldiers and sailors. And it will give our enemies +demoralizing assurance that we mean business--that we, 130,000,000 +Americans, are on the march to Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +As to the machinery for this measure, the Congress itself should determine +its nature--but it should be wholly nonpartisan in its make-up. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Among these are: +</p> + +<p> +The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or +farms or mines of the Nation; +</p> + +<p> +The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and +recreation; +</p> + +<p> +The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which +will give him and his family a decent living; +</p> + +<p> +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; +</p> + +<p> +The right of every family to a decent home; +</p> + +<p> +The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy +good health; +</p> + +<p> +The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, +sickness, accident, and unemployment; +</p> + +<p> +The right to a good education. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +One of the great American industrialists of our day--a man who has rendered +yeoman service to his country in this crisis--recently emphasized the grave +dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking +businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop--if +history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called +"normalcy" of the 1920's--then it is certain that even though we shall have +conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to +the spirit of Fascism here at home. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The foreign policy that we have been following--the policy that guided us at +Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran--is based on the common sense principle which was +best expressed by Benjamin Franklin on July 4, 1776: "We must all hang +together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +*** +</p> + +<p><a id="jan1945"></a></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +State of the Union Address<br /> +Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> +January 6, 1945<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +To the Congress: +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have no question of the ultimate victory. We have no question of the +cost. Our losses will be heavy. +</p> + +<p> +We and our allies will go on fighting together to ultimate total victory. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +And I would express another most serious warning against the poisonous +effects of enemy propaganda. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +When you examine these rumors closely, you will observe that every one of +them bears the same trade-mark--"Made in Germany." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1940 and 1941; 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 1942. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot forget the heroic defense of Moscow and Leningrad and Stalingrad, +or the tremendous Russian offensives of 1943 and 1944 which destroyed +formidable German armies. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +As a result of the combined effort of the Allied forces, great military +victories were achieved in 1944: 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. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as this Seventy-ninth Congress meets, we have reached the most +critical phase of the war. +</p> + +<p> +The greatest victory of the last year was, of course, the successful breach +on June 6, 1944, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +These two great operations were made possible by success in the Battle of +the Atlantic. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +It is important that any misconception on that score be corrected--now. +</p> + +<p> +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 20 first-line German divisions and the necessary supply and transport +and replacement troops--all of which our enemies need so badly elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +That pressure, that offensive, by our troops in Italy will continue. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 3,000 miles across the Central Pacific. A year ago, our conquest +of Tarawa was a little more than a month old. +</p> + +<p> +A year ago, we were preparing for our invasion of Kwajalein, the second of +our great strides across the Central Pacific to the Philippines. +</p> + +<p> +A year ago, General MacArthur was still fighting in New Guinea almost 1,500 +miles from his present position in the Philippine Islands. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The landing of our troops on Leyte was the largest amphibious operation +thus far conducted in the Pacific. +</p> + +<p> +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, 1942, 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, 1944, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our Navy looks forward to any opportunity which the lords of the Japanese +Navy will give us to fight them again. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, within the space of 24 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1944. At present our aid to China must be +accomplished by air transport--there is no other way. By the end of 1944, +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1944 aircraft of the Fourteenth Air Force flew +more than 35,000 sorties against the Japanese and sank enormous tonnage of +enemy shipping, greatly diminishing the usefulness of the China Sea lanes. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +It is to him that we and all future generations of Americans must pay +grateful tribute. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Although unprecedented production figures have made possible our victories, +we shall have to increase our goals even more in certain items. +</p> + +<p> +Peak deliveries of supplies were made to the War Department in December, +1943. Due in part to cutbacks, we have not produced as much since then. +Deliveries of Army supplies were down by 15 percent by July, 1944, before +the upward trend was once more resumed. +</p> + +<p> +Because of increased demands from overseas, the Army Service Forces in the +month of October, 1944, had to increase its estimate of required production +by 10 percent. But in November, one month later, the requirements for 1945 +had to be increased another 10 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. +</p> + +<p> +In October, 1944, 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. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most urgent immediate requirements of the armed forces is more +nurses. Last April the Army requirement for nurses was set at 50,000. +Actual strength in nurses was then 40,000. Since that time the Army has +tried to raise the additional 10,000. Active recruiting has been carried +on, but the net gain in eight months has been only 2,000. There are now +42,000 nurses in the Army. +</p> + +<p> +Recent estimates have increased the total number needed to 60,000. That +means that 18,000 more nurses must be obtained for the Army alone and the +Navy now requires 2,000 additional nurses. +</p> + +<p> +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 +11 Army hospital units have been sent overseas without their complement of +nurses. At Army hospitals in the United States there is only 1 nurse to 26 +beds, instead of the recommended 1 to 15 beds. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The inability to get the needed nurses for the Army is not due to any +shortage of nurses; 280,000 registered nurses are now practicing in this +country. It has been estimated by the War Manpower Commission that 27,000 +additional nurses could be made available to the armed forces without +interfering too seriously with the needs of the civilian population for +nurses. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1945. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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-29's. In each of these vital programs, present production is behind +requirements. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The pool of young men under 26 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 1945 production goals. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +There are three basic arguments for a national service law: +</p> + +<p> +First, it would assure that we have the right numbers of workers in the +right places at the right times. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +National service legislation would make it possible to put ourselves in a +position to assure certain and speedy action in meeting our manpower +needs. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This proposed legislation would provide against loss of retirement and +seniority rights and benefits. It would not mean reduction in wages. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +I am in receipt of a joint letter from the Secretary of War and the +Secretary of the Navy, dated January 3, 1945, which says: +</p> + +<p> +"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.' +</p> + +<p> +"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. +</p> + +<p> +"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. +</p> + +<p> +"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." +</p> + +<p> +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 4,000,000 men now classified as IV-F +in whatever capacity is best for the war effort. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The nearer we come to vanquishing our enemies the more we inevitably become +conscious of differences among the victors. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +International cooperation on which enduring peace must be based is not a +one-way street. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We must not let that happen again, or we shall follow the same tragic road +again--the road to a third world war. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In August, 1941, 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 1, 1942. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +International peace and well-being, like national peace and well-being, +require constant alertness, continuing cooperation, and organized effort. +</p> + +<p> +International peace and well-being, like national peace and well-being, can +be secured only through institutions capable of life and growth. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The aroused conscience of humanity will not permit failure in this supreme +endeavor. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We support the greatest possible freedom of trade and commerce. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 1940. +</p> + +<p> +Today, French armies are again on the German frontier, and are again +fighting shoulder to shoulder with our sons. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +An enduring peace cannot be achieved without a strong America--strong in +the social and economic sense as well as in the military sense. +</p> + +<p> +In the State of the Union message last year I set forth what I considered +to be an American economic bill of rights. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The Federal Government must see to it that these rights become +realities--with the help of States, municipalities, business, labor, and +agriculture. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 60,000,000 jobs. +</p> + +<p> +Full employment means not only jobs--but productive jobs. Americans do not +regard jobs that pay substandard wages as productive jobs. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +This necessary expansion of our peacetime productive capacity will require +new facilities, new plants, and new equipment. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 $750,000,000--the cost of +waging this war for less than 4 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Our present tax system geared primarily to war requirements must be revised +for peacetime so as to encourage private demand. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +If we attack our problems with determination we shall succeed. And we must +succeed. For freedom and peace cannot exist without security. +</p> + +<p> +During the past year the American people, in a national election, +reasserted their democratic faith. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The Congress, the Executive, and the Judiciary have worked together for the +common good. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We have a great many problems ahead of us and we must approach them with +realism and courage. +</p> + +<p> +This new year of 1945 can be the greatest year of achievement in human +history. +</p> + +<p> +Nineteen forty-five can see the final ending of the Nazi-Fascist reign of +terror in Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Nineteen forty-five can see the closing in of the forces of retribution +about the center of the malignant power of imperialistic Japan. +</p> + +<p> +Most important of all--1945 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has +given us. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of State of the Union Addresses of +Franklin D. Roosevelt, by Franklin D. Roosevelt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES *** + +***** This file should be named 5038-h.htm or 5038-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/5038/ + +Produced by James Linden. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: State of the Union Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Author: Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Posting Date: December 3, 2014 [EBook #5038] +Release Date: February, 2004 +First Posted: April 11, 2002 +Last Updated: December 16, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES *** + + + + +Produced by James Linden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + +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 3, 1934 + January 4, 1935 + January 3, 1936 + January 6, 1937 + January 3, 1938 + January 4, 1939 + January 3, 1940 + January 6, 1941 + January 6, 1942 + January 7, 1943 + January 11, 1944 + January 6, 1945 + + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 3, 1934 + +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Senators and Representatives in Congress: + +I come before you at the opening of the Regular Session of the 73d +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 1789 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 95 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 4, 1935 + +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 73rd 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: + +1. The security of a livelihood through the better use of the national +resources of the land in which we live. + +2. The security against the major hazards and vicissitudes of life. + +3. 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 1933 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 1933 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. + +(1) 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. + +(2) 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. + +(3) Projects should be undertaken on which a large percentage of direct +labor can be used. + +(4) 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. + +(5) 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. + +(6) 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. + +(7) 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 73d 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 1934 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 1935 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 3, 1936 + +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, 1933, 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, 1933, 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 1933, 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 1933 that 85 or 90 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 10 or 15 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 +1787. 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, 1933, 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, 1933. 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 1933, 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 1933. 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 74th 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 +4, 1933: "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 6, 1937 + +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, 1933, 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 1931 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 1933. + +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 75th Congress at the +beginning of this auspicious New Year. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 3, 1938 + +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 +130,000,000 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 1787, or 1837 or 1887, 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, +1933. + +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 1933 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 1933, 1934 and +1935, 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 1932 to about sixty-eight billion dollars in the year 1937. 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 1939, 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 1870. + +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 4, 1939 + +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 1931, 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 1933 +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 1929, or in 1932. + +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 1933 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 1929, and the interest thereon +is far less than it was in 1929. + +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 3, 1940 + +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 1929 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 1933 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 1940 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 6, 1941 + +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 +1789, 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 1914 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 1812 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 1815 to 1914--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 1914, 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 1919 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 6, 1942 + +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 +7, 1941. + +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 1894; the subsequent occupation of Korea; the war against Russia +in 1904; the illegal fortification of the mandated Pacific islands +following 1920; the seizure of Manchuria in 1931; and the invasion of China +in 1937. + +A similar policy of criminal conquest was adopted by Italy. The Fascists +first revealed their imperial designs in Libya and Tripoli. In 1935 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 1933, 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 +1, 1942, by 26 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 26 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, 1942, we shall produce 60,000 planes, 10,000 more than the goal that +we set a year and a half ago. This includes 45,000 combat planes--bombers, +dive bombers, pursuit planes. The rate of increase will be maintained and +continued so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 125,000 airplanes, +including 100,000 combat planes. + +Second, to increase our production rate of tanks so rapidly that in this +year, 1942, we shall produce 45,000 tanks; and to continue that increase so +that next year, 1943, we shall produce 75,000 tanks. + +Third, to increase our production rate of anti-aircraft guns so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall produce 20,000 of them; and to continue +that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 35,000 +anti-aircraft guns. + +And fourth, to increase our production rate of merchant ships so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall build 6,000,000 deadweight tons as +compared with a 1941 completed production of 1,100,000. And finally, we +shall continue that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall build +10,000,000 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 15 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 56 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 400 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 7, 1943 + +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 1942 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 1942 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 1942 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 1942--or eventually lose +everything. I do not need to tell you that our enemies did not win the war +in 1942. + +In the Pacific area, our most important victory in 1942 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 17,000 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 1942 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, 1940, 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 1942. + +A year ago we set certain production goals for 1942 and for 1943. 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 1942 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 1942. +We produced 48,000 military planes--more than the airplane production of +Germany, Italy, and Japan put together. Last month, in December, we +produced 5,500 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 1942, we produced 56,000 combat vehicles, such as tanks and +self-propelled artillery. + +In 1942, we produced 670,000 machine guns, six times greater than our +production in 1941 and three times greater than our total production during +the year and a half of our participation in the first World War. + +We produced 21,000 anti-tank guns, six times greater than our 1941 +production. + +We produced ten and a quarter billion rounds of small-arms ammunition, five +times greater than our 1941 production and three times greater than our +total production in the first World War. + +We produced 181 million rounds of artillery ammunition, twelve times +greater than our 1941 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 2,000,000 to 7,000,000. +In other words, we have withdrawn from the labor force and the farms some +5,000,000 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, +1943 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 1929. + +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 1943 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 11, 1944 + +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 1812, or in our War +Between the States, when the survival of the Union itself was at stake. + +In the first World War we came closer to national unity than in any +previous war. But that war lasted only a year and a half, and increasing +signs of disunity began to appear during the final months of the conflict. + +In this war, we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each +other are all groups and sections of the population of America. + +Increased food costs, for example, will bring new demands for wage +increases from all war workers, which will in turn raise all prices of all +things including those things which the farmers themselves have to buy. +Increased wages or prices will each in turn produce the same results. They +all have a particularly disastrous result on all fixed income groups. + +And I hope you will remember that all of us in this Government represent +the fixed income group just as much as we represent business owners, +workers, and farmers. This group of fixed income people includes: teachers, +clergy, policemen, firemen, widows and minors on fixed incomes, wives and +dependents of our soldiers and sailors, and old-age pensioners. They and +their families add up to one-quarter of our one hundred and thirty million +people. They have few or no high pressure representatives at the Capitol. +In a period of gross inflation they would be the worst sufferers. + +If ever there was a time to subordinate individual or group selfishness to +the national good, that time is now. Disunity at home--bickerings, +self-seeking partisanship, stoppages of work, inflation, business as usual, +politics as usual, luxury as usual these are the influences which can +undermine the morale of the brave men ready to die at the front for us +here. + +Those who are doing most of the complaining are not deliberately striving +to sabotage the national war effort. They are laboring under the delusion +that the time is past when we must make prodigious sacrifices--that the war +is already won and we can begin to slacken off. But the dangerous folly of +that point of view can be measured by the distance that separates our +troops from their ultimate objectives in Berlin and Tokyo--and by the sum of +all the perils that lie along the way. + +Overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies. Last +spring--after notable victories at Stalingrad and in Tunisia and against the +U-boats on the high seas--overconfidence became so pronounced that war +production fell off. In two months, June and July, 1943, more than a +thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were +not made. Those who failed to make them were not on strike. They were +merely saying, "The war's in the bag--so let's relax." + +That attitude on the part of anyone--Government or management or labor--can +lengthen this war. It can kill American boys. + +Let us remember the lessons of 1918. In the summer of that year the tide +turned in favor of the allies. But this Government did not relax. In fact, +our national effort was stepped up. In August, 1918, the draft age limits +were broadened from 21-31 to 18-45. The President called for "force to the +utmost," and his call was heeded. And in November, only three months later, +Germany surrendered. + +That is the way to fight and win a war--all out--and not with half-an-eye on +the battlefronts abroad and the other eye-and-a-half on personal, selfish, +or political interests here at home. + +Therefore, in order to concentrate all our energies and resources on +winning the war, and to maintain a fair and stable economy at home, I +recommend that the Congress adopt: + +(1) A realistic tax law--which will tax all unreasonable profits, both +individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our +sons and daughters. The tax bill now under consideration by the Congress +does not begin to meet this test. + +(2) A continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts--which +will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government. +For two long years I have pleaded with the Congress to take undue profits +out of war. + +(3) A cost of food law--which will enable the Government (a) to place a +reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production; +and (b) to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for +the food he buys. This should apply to necessities only; and will require +public funds to carry out. It will cost in appropriations about one percent +of the present annual cost of the war. + +(4) Early reenactment of the stabilization statute of October, 1942. This +expires June 30, 1944, and if it is not extended well in advance, the +country might just as well expect price chaos by summer. + +We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking. We must take positive +action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar. + +(5) A national service law--which, for the duration of the war, will +prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make +available for war production or for any other essential services every +able-bodied adult in this Nation. + +These five measures together form a just and equitable whole. I would not +recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep +down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to +hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits. + +The Federal Government already has the basic power to draft capital and +property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation. + +As you know, I have for three years hesitated to recommend a national +service act. Today, however, I am convinced of its necessity. Although I +believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure, I am +certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of +manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory, and reduce the toll +of suffering and sorrow and blood. + +I have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the +War Department, the Navy Department, and the Maritime Commission. These are +the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms +and equipment, and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field. +They say: + +"When the very life of the Nation is in peril the responsibility for +service is common to all men and women. In such a time there can be no +discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the Government +to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to +producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations. +A prompt enactment of a National Service Law would be merely an expression +of the universality of this responsibility." + +I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn +truth. + +National service is the most democratic way to wage a war. Like selective +service for the armed forces, it rests on the obligation of each citizen to +serve his Nation to his utmost where he is best qualified. + +It does not mean reduction in wages. It does not mean loss of retirement +and seniority rights and benefits. It does not mean that any substantial +numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs. Let these +facts be wholly clear. + +Experience in other democratic Nations at war--Britain, Canada, Australia, +and New Zealand--has shown that the very existence of national service +makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power. National service +has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive +legal obligation of all people in a Nation at war. + +There are millions of American men and women who are not in this war at +all. It is not because they do not want to be in it. But they want to know +where they can best do their share. National service provides that +direction. It will be a means by which every man and woman can find that +inner satisfaction which comes from making the fullest possible +contribution to victory. + +I know that all civilian war workers will be glad to be able to say many +years hence to their grandchildren: "Yes, I, too, was in service in the +great war. I was on duty in an airplane factory, and I helped make hundreds +of fighting planes. The Government told me that in doing that I was +performing my most useful work in the service of my country." + +It is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national +service is necessary. But our soldiers and sailors know that this is not +true. We are going forward on a long, rough road--and, in all journeys, the +last miles are the hardest. And it is for that final effort--for the total +defeat of our enemies--that we must mobilize our total resources. The +national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than +in 1943. + +It is my conviction that the American people will welcome this win-the-war +measure which is based on the eternally just principle of "fair for one, +fair for all." + +It will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing +four-square behind our soldiers and sailors. And it will give our enemies +demoralizing assurance that we mean business--that we, 130,000,000 +Americans, are on the march to Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. + +I hope that the Congress will recognize that, although this is a political +year, national service is an issue which transcends politics. Great power +must be used for great purposes. + +As to the machinery for this measure, the Congress itself should determine +its nature--but it should be wholly nonpartisan in its make-up. + +Our armed forces are valiantly fulfilling their responsibilities to our +country and our people. Now the Congress faces the responsibility for +taking those measures which are essential to national security in this the +most decisive phase of the Nation's greatest war. + +Several alleged reasons have prevented the enactment of legislation which +would preserve for our soldiers and sailors and marines the fundamental +prerogative of citizenship--the right to vote. No amount of legalistic +argument can becloud this issue in the eyes of these ten million American +citizens. Surely the signers of the Constitution did not intend a document +which, even in wartime, would be construed to take away the franchise of +any of those who are fighting to preserve the Constitution itself. + +Our soldiers and sailors and marines know that the overwhelming majority of +them will be deprived of the opportunity to vote, if the voting machinery +is left exclusively to the States under existing State laws--and that there +is no likelihood of these laws being changed in time to enable them to vote +at the next election. The Army and Navy have reported that it will be +impossible effectively to administer forty-eight different soldier voting +laws. It is the duty of the Congress to remove this unjustifiable +discrimination against the men and women in our armed forces--and to do it +as quickly as possible. + +It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for +the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American +standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no +matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of +our people--whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth--is ill-fed, +ill-clothed, ill housed, and insecure. + +This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under +the protection of certain inalienable political rights--among them the right +of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from +unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and +liberty. + +As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however--as our industrial +economy expanded--these political rights proved inadequate to assure us +equality in the pursuit of happiness. + +We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual +freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. +"Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job +are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. + +In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We +have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis +of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of +station, race, or creed. + +Among these are: + +The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or +farms or mines of the Nation; + +The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and +recreation; + +The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which +will give him and his family a decent living; + +The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere +of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or +abroad; + +The right of every family to a decent home; + +The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy +good health; + +The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, +sickness, accident, and unemployment; + +The right to a good education. + +All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be +prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new +goals of human happiness and well-being. + +America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how +fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our +citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting +peace in the world. + +One of the great American industrialists of our day--a man who has rendered +yeoman service to his country in this crisis--recently emphasized the grave +dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking +businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop--if +history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called +"normalcy" of the 1920's--then it is certain that even though we shall have +conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to +the spirit of Fascism here at home. + +I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill +of rights--for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to +do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in +the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate +with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event +that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the +Nation will be conscious of the fact. + +Our fighting men abroad--and their families at home--expect such a program +and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this +Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish +pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are +dying. + +The foreign policy that we have been following--the policy that guided us at +Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran--is based on the common sense principle which was +best expressed by Benjamin Franklin on July 4, 1776: "We must all hang +together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." + +I have often said that there are no two fronts for America in this war. +There is only one front. There is one line of unity which extends from the +hearts of the people at home to the men of our attacking forces in our +farthest outposts. When we speak of our total effort, we speak of the +factory and the field, and the mine as well as of the battleground--we +speak of the soldier and the civilian, the citizen and his Government. + +Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this +Nation in its most critical hour--to keep this Nation great--to make this +Nation greater in a better world. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 6, 1945 + +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 1940 and 1941; 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 1942. + +We cannot forget the heroic defense of Moscow and Leningrad and Stalingrad, +or the tremendous Russian offensives of 1943 and 1944 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 1944: 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 6, 1944, 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 20 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 3,000 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 1,500 +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, 1942, 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, 1944, 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 24 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 1944. At present our aid to China must be +accomplished by air transport--there is no other way. By the end of 1944, +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 1944 aircraft of the Fourteenth Air Force flew +more than 35,000 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, +1943. Due in part to cutbacks, we have not produced as much since then. +Deliveries of Army supplies were down by 15 percent by July, 1944, before +the upward trend was once more resumed. + +Because of increased demands from overseas, the Army Service Forces in the +month of October, 1944, had to increase its estimate of required production +by 10 percent. But in November, one month later, the requirements for 1945 +had to be increased another 10 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, 1944, 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 50,000. +Actual strength in nurses was then 40,000. Since that time the Army has +tried to raise the additional 10,000. Active recruiting has been carried +on, but the net gain in eight months has been only 2,000. There are now +42,000 nurses in the Army. + +Recent estimates have increased the total number needed to 60,000. That +means that 18,000 more nurses must be obtained for the Army alone and the +Navy now requires 2,000 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 +11 Army hospital units have been sent overseas without their complement of +nurses. At Army hospitals in the United States there is only 1 nurse to 26 +beds, instead of the recommended 1 to 15 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; 280,000 registered nurses are now practicing in this +country. It has been estimated by the War Manpower Commission that 27,000 +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 1945. + +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-29'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 26 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 1945 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 3, 1945, 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 4,000,000 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, 1941, 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 1, 1942. 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 1940. + +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 60,000,000 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 $750,000,000--the cost of +waging this war for less than 4 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 1945 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--1945 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. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of State of the Union Addresses of +Franklin D. Roosevelt, by Franklin D. Roosevelt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES *** + +***** This file should be named 5038.txt or 5038.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/5038/ + +Produced by James Linden. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: State of the Union Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Author: Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5038] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 11, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by James Linden. + +The addresses are separated by three asterisks: *** + +Dates of addresses by Franklin D. Roosevelt in this eBook: + January 3, 1934 + January 7, 1943 + January 11, 1944 + January 6, 1945 + January 4, 1935 + January 3, 1936 + January 6, 1937 + January 3, 1938 + January 4, 1939 + January 3, 1940 + January 6, 1941 + January 6, 1942 + + + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 3, 1934 + +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Senators and Representatives in Congress: + +I COME before you at the opening of the Regular Session of the 73d +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 1789 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 95 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 of[ +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 7, 1943 + +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 1942 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 1942 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 1942 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 1942 -or eventually lose +everything. I do not need to tell you that our enemies did not win the war +in 1942. + +In the Pacific area, our most important victory in 1942 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 17,000 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 1942 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, 1940, 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 1942. + +A year ago we set certain production goals for 1942 and for 1943. 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 1942 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 1942. +We produced 48,000 military planes—more than the airplane production of +Germany, Italy, and Japan put together. Last month, in December, we +produced 5,500 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 1942, we produced 56,000 combat vehicles, such as tanks and +self-propelled artillery. + +In 1942, we produced 670,000 machine guns, six times greater than our +production in 1941 and three times greater than our total production during +the year and a half of our participation in the first World War. + +We produced 21,000 anti-tank guns, six times greater than our 1941 +production. + +We produced ten and a quarter billion rounds of small-arms ammunition, five +times greater than our 1941 production and three times greater than our +total production in the first World War. + +We produced 181 million rounds of artillery ammunition, twelve times +greater than our 1941 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 2,000,000 to 7,000,000. +In other words, we have withdrawn from the labor force and the farms some +5,000,000 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, +1943 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 1929. + +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 1943 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-eight +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 11, 1944 + +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 1812, or in our War +Between the States, when the survival of the Union itself was at stake. + +In the first World War we came closer to national unity than in any +previous war. But that war lasted only a year and a half, and increasing +signs of disunity began to appear during the final months of the conflict. + +In this war, we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each +other are all groups and sections of the population of America. + +Increased food costs, for example, will bring new demands for wage +increases from all war workers, which will in turn raise all prices of all +things including those things which the farmers themselves have to buy. +Increased wages or prices will each in turn produce the same results. They +all have a particularly disastrous result on all fixed income groups. + +And I hope you will remember that all of us in this Government represent +the fixed income group just as much as we represent business owners, +workers, and farmers. This group of fixed income people includes: teachers, +clergy, policemen, firemen, widows and minors on fixed incomes, wives and +dependents of our soldiers and sailors, and old-age pensioners. They and +their families add up to one-quarter of our one hundred and thirty million +people. They have few or no high pressure representatives at the Capitol. +In a period of gross inflation they would be the worst sufferers. + +If ever there was a time to subordinate individual or group selfishness to +the national good, that time is now. Disunity at home—bickerings, +self-seeking partisanship, stoppages of work, inflation, business as usual, +politics as usual, luxury as usual these are the influences which can +undermine the morale of the brave men ready to die at the front for us +here. + +Those who are doing most of the complaining are not deliberately striving +to sabotage the national war effort. They are laboring under the delusion +that the time is past when we must make prodigious sacrifices- that the war +is already won and we can begin to slacken off. But the dangerous folly of +that point of view can be measured by the distance that separates our +troops from their ultimate objectives in Berlin and Tokyo—and by the sum of +all the perils that lie along the way. + +Overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies. Last +spring—after notable victories at Stalingrad and in Tunisia and against the +U-boats on the high seas—overconfidence became so pronounced that war +production fell off. In two months, June and July, 1943, more than a +thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were +not made. Those who failed to make them were not on strike. They were +merely saying, "The war's in the bag- so let's relax." + +That attitude on the part of anyone—Government or management or labor—can +lengthen this war. It can kill American boys. + +Let us remember the lessons of 1918. In the summer of that year the tide +turned in favor of the allies. But this Government did not relax. In fact, +our national effort was stepped up. In August, 1918, the draft age limits +were broadened from 21-31 to 18-45. The President called for "force to the +utmost," and his call was heeded. And in November, only three months later, +Germany surrendered. + +That is the way to fight and win a war—all out—and not with half-an-eye on +the battlefronts abroad and the other eye-and-a-half on personal, selfish, +or political interests here at home. + +Therefore, in order to concentrate all our energies and resources on +winning the war, and to maintain a fair and stable economy at home, I +recommend that the Congress adopt: + +(1) A realistic tax law—which will tax all unreasonable profits, both +individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our +sons and daughters. The tax bill now under consideration by the Congress +does not begin to meet this test. + +(2) A continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts—which +will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government. +For two long years I have pleaded with the Congress to take undue profits +out of war. + +(3) A cost of food law—which will enable the Government (a) to place a +reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production; +and (b) to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for +the food he buys. This should apply to necessities only; and will require +public funds to carry out. It will cost in appropriations about one percent +of the present annual cost of the war. + +(4) Early reenactment of. the stabilization statute of October, 1942. This +expires June 30, 1944, and if it is not extended well in advance, the +country might just as well expect price chaos by summer. + +We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking. We must take positive +action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar. + +(5) A national service law- which, for the duration of the war, will +prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make +available for war production or for any other essential services every +able-bodied adult in this Nation. + +These five measures together form a just and equitable whole. I would not +recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep +down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to +hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits. + +The Federal Government already has the basic power to draft capital and +property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation. + +As you know, I have for three years hesitated to recommend a national +service act. Today, however, I am convinced of its necessity. Although I +believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure, I am +certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of +manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory, and reduce the toll +of suffering and sorrow and blood. + +I have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the +War Department, the Navy Department, and the Maritime Commission. These are +the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms +and equipment, and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field. +They say: + +"When the very life of the Nation is in peril the responsibility for +service is common to all men and women. In such a time there can be no +discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the Government +to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to +producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations. +A prompt enactment of a National Service Law would be merely an expression +of the universality of this responsibility." + +I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn +truth. + +National service is the most democratic way to wage a war. Like selective +service for the armed forces, it rests on the obligation of each citizen to +serve his Nation to his utmost where he is best qualified. + +It does not mean reduction in wages. It does not mean loss of retirement +and seniority rights and benefits. It does not mean that any substantial +numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs. Let these +facts be wholly clear. + +Experience in other democratic Nations at war—Britain, Canada, Australia, +and New Zealand- has shown that the very existence of national service +makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power. National service +has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive +legal obligation of all people in a Nation at war. + +There are millions of American men and women who are not in this war at +all. It is not because they do not want to be in it. But they want to know +where they can best do their share. National service provides that +direction. It will be a means by which every man and woman can find that +inner satisfaction which comes from making the fullest possible +contribution to victory. + +I know that all civilian war workers will be glad to be able to say many +years hence to their grandchildren: "Yes, I, too, was in service in the +great war. I was on duty in an airplane factory, and I helped make hundreds +of fighting planes. The Government told me that in doing that I was +performing my most useful work in the service of my country." + +It is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national +service is necessary. But our soldiers and sailors know that this is not +true. We are going forward on a long, rough road- and, in all journeys, the +last miles are the hardest. And it is for that final effort—for the total +defeat of our enemies-that we must mobilize our total resources. The +national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than +in 1943. + +It is my conviction that the American people will welcome this win-the-war +measure which is based on the eternally just principle of "fair for one, +fair for all." + +It will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing +four-square behind our soldiers and sailors. And it will give our enemies +demoralizing assurance that we mean business -that we, 130,000,000 +Americans, are on the march to Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. + +I hope that the Congress will recognize that, although this is a political +year, national service is an issue which transcends politics. Great power +must be used for great purposes. + +As to the machinery for this measure, the Congress itself should determine +its nature—but it should be wholly nonpartisan in its make-up. + +Our armed forces are valiantly fulfilling their responsibilities to our +country and our people. Now the Congress faces the responsibility for +taking those measures which are essential to national security in this the +most decisive phase of the Nation's greatest war. + +Several alleged reasons have prevented the enactment of legislation which +would preserve for our soldiers and sailors and marines the fundamental +prerogative of citizenship—the right to vote. No amount of legalistic +argument can becloud this issue in the eyes of these ten million American +citizens. Surely the signers of the Constitution did not intend a document +which, even in wartime, would be construed to take away the franchise of +any of those who are fighting to preserve the Constitution itself. + +Our soldiers and sailors and marines know that the overwhelming majority of +them will be deprived of the opportunity to vote, if the voting machinery +is left exclusively to the States under existing State laws—and that there +is no likelihood of these laws being changed in time to enable them to vote +at the next election. The Army and Navy have reported that it will be +impossible effectively to administer forty-eight different soldier voting +laws. It is the duty of the Congress to remove this unjustifiable +discrimination against the men and women in our armed forces- and to do it +as quickly as possible. + +It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for +the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American +standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no +matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of +our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth- is ill-fed, +ill-clothed, ill housed, and insecure. + +This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under +the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right +of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from +unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and +liberty. + +As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial +economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us +equality in the pursuit of happiness. + +We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual +freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. +"Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job +are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. + +In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We +have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis +of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of +station, race, or creed. + +Among these are: + +The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or +farms or mines of the Nation; + +The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and +recreation; + +The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which +will give him and his family a decent living; + +The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere +of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or +abroad; + +The right of every family to a decent home; + +The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy +good health; + +The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, +sickness, accident, and unemployment; + +The right to a good education. + +All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be +prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new +goals of human happiness and well-being. + +America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how +fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our +citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting +peace in the world. + +One of the great American industrialists of our day—a man who has rendered +yeoman service to his country in this crisis-recently emphasized the grave +dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking +businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop—if +history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called +"normalcy" of the 1920's—then it is certain that even though we shall have +conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to +the spirit of Fascism here at home. + +I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill +of rights- for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to +do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in +the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate +with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event +that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the +Nation will be conscious of the fact. + +Our fighting men abroad- and their families at home- expect such a program +and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this +Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish +pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are +dying. + +The foreign policy that we have been following—the policy that guided us at +Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran—is based on the common sense principle which was +best expressed by Benjamin Franklin on July 4, 1776: "We must all hang +together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." + +I have often said that there are no two fronts for America in this war. +There is only one front. There is one line of unity which extends from the +hearts of the people at home to the men of our attacking forces in our +farthest outposts. When we speak of our total effort, we speak of the +factory and the field, and the mine as well as of the battleground- we +speak of the soldier and the civilian, the citizen and his Government. + +Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this +Nation in its most critical hour—to keep this Nation great— to make this +Nation greater in a better world. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 6, 1945 + +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 1940 and 1941; 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 1942. + +We cannot forget the heroic defense of Moscow and Leningrad and Stalingrad, +or the tremendous Russian offensives of 1943 and 1944 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 1944: 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 6, 1944, 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 20 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 3,000 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 1,500 +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, 1942, 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, 1944, 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 24 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 1944. At present our aid to China must be +accomplished by air transport- there is no other way. By the end of 1944, +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 1944 aircraft of the Fourteenth Air Force flew +more than 35,000 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, +1943. Due in part to cutbacks, we have not produced as much since then. +Deliveries of Army supplies were down by 15 percent by July, 1944, before +the upward trend was once more resumed. + +Because of increased demands from overseas, the Army Service Forces in the +month of October, 1944, had to increase its estimate of required production +by 10 percent. But in November, one month later, the requirements for 1945 +had to be increased another 10 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, 1944, 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 50,000. +Actual strength in nurses was then 40,000. Since that time the Army has +tried to raise the additional 10,000. Active recruiting has been carried +on, but the net gain in eight months has been only 2,000. There are now +42,000 nurses in the Army. + +Recent estimates have increased the total number needed to 60,000. That +means that 18,000 more nurses must be obtained for the Army alone and the +Navy now requires 2,000 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 +11 Army hospital units have been sent overseas without their complement of +nurses. At Army hospitals in the United States there is only 1 nurse to 26 +beds, instead of the recommended 1 to 15 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; 280,000 registered nurses are now practicing in this +country. It has been estimated by the War Manpower Commission that 27,000 +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 1945. + +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-29'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 26 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 1945 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 3, 1945, 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 4,000,000 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, 1941, 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 1, 1942. 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 1940. + +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 60,000,000 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 $750,000,000—the cost of +waging this war for less than 4 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 1945 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—1945 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. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 4, 1935 + +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 73rd 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: + +1. The security of a livelihood through the better use of the national +resources of the land in which we live. + +2. The security against the major hazards and vicissitudes of life. + +3. 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 1933 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 1933 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 arid 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. + +(1) 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. + +(2) 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. + +(3) Projects should be undertaken on which a large percentage of direct +labor can be used. + +(4) 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. + +(5) 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. + +(6) 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. + +(7) 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 73d 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 1934 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 1935 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 3, 1936 + +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, 1933, 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, 1933, 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 1933, 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 1933 that 85 or 90 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 10 or 15 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 +1787. 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, 1933, 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, 1933. 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 1933, 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 1933. 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 74th 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 +4, 1933: "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 in- sight. 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 6, 1937 + +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, 1933, 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 1931 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 1933. + +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 75th Congress at the +beginning of this auspicious New Year. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 3, 1938 + +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 +130,000,000 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 1787, or 1837 or 1887, 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, +1933. + +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 1933 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 1933, 1934 and +1935, 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 1932 to about sixty-eight billion dollars in the year 1937. 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 1939, 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 1870. + +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 4, 1939 + +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 1931, 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 1933 +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 1929, or in 1932. + +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 1933 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 1929, and the interest thereon +is far less than it was in 1929. + +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 3, 1940 + +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 1929 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 1933 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 1940 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 6, 1941 + +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 +1789, 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 1914 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 1812 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 1815 to 1914— 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 1914, 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 1919 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 6, 1942 + +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 +7, 1941. + +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 1894; the subsequent occupation of Korea; the war against Russia +in 1904; the illegal fortification of the mandated Pacific islands +following 1920; the seizure of Manchuria in 1931; and the invasion of China +in 1937. + +A similar policy of criminal conquest was adopted by Italy. The Fascists +first revealed their imperial designs in Libya and Tripoli. In 1935 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 1933, 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 +1, 1942, by 26 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 26 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, 1942, we shall produce 60,000 planes, 10,000 more than the goal that +we set a year and a half ago. This includes 45,000 combat planes- bombers, +dive bombers, pursuit planes. The rate of increase will be maintained and +continued so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 125,000 airplanes, +including 100,000 combat planes. + +Second, to increase our production rate of tanks so rapidly that in this +year, 1942, we shall produce 45,000 tanks; and to continue that increase so +that next year, 1943, we shall produce 75,000 tanks. + +Third, to increase our production rate of anti-aircraft guns so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall produce 20,000 of them; and to continue +that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 35,000 +anti-aircraft guns. + +And fourth, to increase our production rate of merchant ships so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall build 6,000,000 deadweight tons as +compared with a 1941 completed production of 1,100,000. And finally, we +shall continue that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall build +10,000,000 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 15 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 56 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 400 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. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT *** + +This file should be named sufdr10.txt or sufdr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, sufdr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, sufdr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: State of the Union Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Author: Franklin D. Roosevelt + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5038] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 11, 2002] +[Date last updated: December 16, 2004] + +Edition: 11 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by James Linden. + +The addresses are separated by three asterisks: *** + +Dates of addresses by Franklin D. Roosevelt in this eBook: + January 3, 1934 + January 7, 1943 + January 11, 1944 + January 6, 1945 + January 4, 1935 + January 3, 1936 + January 6, 1937 + January 3, 1938 + January 4, 1939 + January 3, 1940 + January 6, 1941 + January 6, 1942 + + + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 3, 1934 + +Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Senators and Representatives in Congress: + +I come before you at the opening of the Regular Session of the 73d +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 1789 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 95 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 7, 1943 + +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 1942 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 1942 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 1942 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 1942--or eventually lose +everything. I do not need to tell you that our enemies did not win the war +in 1942. + +In the Pacific area, our most important victory in 1942 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 17,000 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 1942 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, 1940, 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 1942. + +A year ago we set certain production goals for 1942 and for 1943. 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 1942 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 1942. +We produced 48,000 military planes--more than the airplane production of +Germany, Italy, and Japan put together. Last month, in December, we +produced 5,500 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 1942, we produced 56,000 combat vehicles, such as tanks and +self-propelled artillery. + +In 1942, we produced 670,000 machine guns, six times greater than our +production in 1941 and three times greater than our total production during +the year and a half of our participation in the first World War. + +We produced 21,000 anti-tank guns, six times greater than our 1941 +production. + +We produced ten and a quarter billion rounds of small-arms ammunition, five +times greater than our 1941 production and three times greater than our +total production in the first World War. + +We produced 181 million rounds of artillery ammunition, twelve times +greater than our 1941 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 2,000,000 to 7,000,000. +In other words, we have withdrawn from the labor force and the farms some +5,000,000 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, +1943 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 1929. + +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 1943 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 11, 1944 + +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 1812, or in our War +Between the States, when the survival of the Union itself was at stake. + +In the first World War we came closer to national unity than in any +previous war. But that war lasted only a year and a half, and increasing +signs of disunity began to appear during the final months of the conflict. + +In this war, we have been compelled to learn how interdependent upon each +other are all groups and sections of the population of America. + +Increased food costs, for example, will bring new demands for wage +increases from all war workers, which will in turn raise all prices of all +things including those things which the farmers themselves have to buy. +Increased wages or prices will each in turn produce the same results. They +all have a particularly disastrous result on all fixed income groups. + +And I hope you will remember that all of us in this Government represent +the fixed income group just as much as we represent business owners, +workers, and farmers. This group of fixed income people includes: teachers, +clergy, policemen, firemen, widows and minors on fixed incomes, wives and +dependents of our soldiers and sailors, and old-age pensioners. They and +their families add up to one-quarter of our one hundred and thirty million +people. They have few or no high pressure representatives at the Capitol. +In a period of gross inflation they would be the worst sufferers. + +If ever there was a time to subordinate individual or group selfishness to +the national good, that time is now. Disunity at home--bickerings, +self-seeking partisanship, stoppages of work, inflation, business as usual, +politics as usual, luxury as usual these are the influences which can +undermine the morale of the brave men ready to die at the front for us +here. + +Those who are doing most of the complaining are not deliberately striving +to sabotage the national war effort. They are laboring under the delusion +that the time is past when we must make prodigious sacrifices--that the war +is already won and we can begin to slacken off. But the dangerous folly of +that point of view can be measured by the distance that separates our +troops from their ultimate objectives in Berlin and Tokyo--and by the sum of +all the perils that lie along the way. + +Overconfidence and complacency are among our deadliest enemies. Last +spring--after notable victories at Stalingrad and in Tunisia and against the +U-boats on the high seas--overconfidence became so pronounced that war +production fell off. In two months, June and July, 1943, more than a +thousand airplanes that could have been made and should have been made were +not made. Those who failed to make them were not on strike. They were +merely saying, "The war's in the bag--so let's relax." + +That attitude on the part of anyone--Government or management or labor--can +lengthen this war. It can kill American boys. + +Let us remember the lessons of 1918. In the summer of that year the tide +turned in favor of the allies. But this Government did not relax. In fact, +our national effort was stepped up. In August, 1918, the draft age limits +were broadened from 21-31 to 18-45. The President called for "force to the +utmost," and his call was heeded. And in November, only three months later, +Germany surrendered. + +That is the way to fight and win a war--all out--and not with half-an-eye on +the battlefronts abroad and the other eye-and-a-half on personal, selfish, +or political interests here at home. + +Therefore, in order to concentrate all our energies and resources on +winning the war, and to maintain a fair and stable economy at home, I +recommend that the Congress adopt: + +(1) A realistic tax law--which will tax all unreasonable profits, both +individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our +sons and daughters. The tax bill now under consideration by the Congress +does not begin to meet this test. + +(2) A continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts--which +will prevent exorbitant profits and assure fair prices to the Government. +For two long years I have pleaded with the Congress to take undue profits +out of war. + +(3) A cost of food law--which will enable the Government (a) to place a +reasonable floor under the prices the farmer may expect for his production; +and (b) to place a ceiling on the prices a consumer will have to pay for +the food he buys. This should apply to necessities only; and will require +public funds to carry out. It will cost in appropriations about one percent +of the present annual cost of the war. + +(4) Early reenactment of the stabilization statute of October, 1942. This +expires June 30, 1944, and if it is not extended well in advance, the +country might just as well expect price chaos by summer. + +We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking. We must take positive +action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar. + +(5) A national service law--which, for the duration of the war, will +prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make +available for war production or for any other essential services every +able-bodied adult in this Nation. + +These five measures together form a just and equitable whole. I would not +recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep +down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to +hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits. + +The Federal Government already has the basic power to draft capital and +property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation. + +As you know, I have for three years hesitated to recommend a national +service act. Today, however, I am convinced of its necessity. Although I +believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure, I am +certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of +manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory, and reduce the toll +of suffering and sorrow and blood. + +I have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the +War Department, the Navy Department, and the Maritime Commission. These are +the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms +and equipment, and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field. +They say: + +"When the very life of the Nation is in peril the responsibility for +service is common to all men and women. In such a time there can be no +discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the Government +to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to +producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations. +A prompt enactment of a National Service Law would be merely an expression +of the universality of this responsibility." + +I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn +truth. + +National service is the most democratic way to wage a war. Like selective +service for the armed forces, it rests on the obligation of each citizen to +serve his Nation to his utmost where he is best qualified. + +It does not mean reduction in wages. It does not mean loss of retirement +and seniority rights and benefits. It does not mean that any substantial +numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs. Let these +facts be wholly clear. + +Experience in other democratic Nations at war--Britain, Canada, Australia, +and New Zealand--has shown that the very existence of national service +makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power. National service +has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive +legal obligation of all people in a Nation at war. + +There are millions of American men and women who are not in this war at +all. It is not because they do not want to be in it. But they want to know +where they can best do their share. National service provides that +direction. It will be a means by which every man and woman can find that +inner satisfaction which comes from making the fullest possible +contribution to victory. + +I know that all civilian war workers will be glad to be able to say many +years hence to their grandchildren: "Yes, I, too, was in service in the +great war. I was on duty in an airplane factory, and I helped make hundreds +of fighting planes. The Government told me that in doing that I was +performing my most useful work in the service of my country." + +It is argued that we have passed the stage in the war where national +service is necessary. But our soldiers and sailors know that this is not +true. We are going forward on a long, rough road--and, in all journeys, the +last miles are the hardest. And it is for that final effort--for the total +defeat of our enemies--that we must mobilize our total resources. The +national war program calls for the employment of more people in 1944 than +in 1943. + +It is my conviction that the American people will welcome this win-the-war +measure which is based on the eternally just principle of "fair for one, +fair for all." + +It will give our people at home the assurance that they are standing +four-square behind our soldiers and sailors. And it will give our enemies +demoralizing assurance that we mean business--that we, 130,000,000 +Americans, are on the march to Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. + +I hope that the Congress will recognize that, although this is a political +year, national service is an issue which transcends politics. Great power +must be used for great purposes. + +As to the machinery for this measure, the Congress itself should determine +its nature--but it should be wholly nonpartisan in its make-up. + +Our armed forces are valiantly fulfilling their responsibilities to our +country and our people. Now the Congress faces the responsibility for +taking those measures which are essential to national security in this the +most decisive phase of the Nation's greatest war. + +Several alleged reasons have prevented the enactment of legislation which +would preserve for our soldiers and sailors and marines the fundamental +prerogative of citizenship--the right to vote. No amount of legalistic +argument can becloud this issue in the eyes of these ten million American +citizens. Surely the signers of the Constitution did not intend a document +which, even in wartime, would be construed to take away the franchise of +any of those who are fighting to preserve the Constitution itself. + +Our soldiers and sailors and marines know that the overwhelming majority of +them will be deprived of the opportunity to vote, if the voting machinery +is left exclusively to the States under existing State laws--and that there +is no likelihood of these laws being changed in time to enable them to vote +at the next election. The Army and Navy have reported that it will be +impossible effectively to administer forty-eight different soldier voting +laws. It is the duty of the Congress to remove this unjustifiable +discrimination against the men and women in our armed forces--and to do it +as quickly as possible. + +It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for +the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American +standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no +matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of +our people--whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth--is ill-fed, +ill-clothed, ill housed, and insecure. + +This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under +the protection of certain inalienable political rights--among them the right +of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from +unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and +liberty. + +As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however--as our industrial +economy expanded--these political rights proved inadequate to assure us +equality in the pursuit of happiness. + +We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual +freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. +"Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job +are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. + +In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We +have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis +of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of +station, race, or creed. + +Among these are: + +The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or +farms or mines of the Nation; + +The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and +recreation; + +The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which +will give him and his family a decent living; + +The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere +of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or +abroad; + +The right of every family to a decent home; + +The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy +good health; + +The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, +sickness, accident, and unemployment; + +The right to a good education. + +All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be +prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new +goals of human happiness and well-being. + +America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how +fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our +citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting +peace in the world. + +One of the great American industrialists of our day--a man who has rendered +yeoman service to his country in this crisis--recently emphasized the grave +dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking +businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop--if +history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called +"normalcy" of the 1920's--then it is certain that even though we shall have +conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to +the spirit of Fascism here at home. + +I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill +of rights--for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to +do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in +the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate +with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event +that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the +Nation will be conscious of the fact. + +Our fighting men abroad--and their families at home--expect such a program +and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this +Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish +pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are +dying. + +The foreign policy that we have been following--the policy that guided us at +Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran--is based on the common sense principle which was +best expressed by Benjamin Franklin on July 4, 1776: "We must all hang +together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." + +I have often said that there are no two fronts for America in this war. +There is only one front. There is one line of unity which extends from the +hearts of the people at home to the men of our attacking forces in our +farthest outposts. When we speak of our total effort, we speak of the +factory and the field, and the mine as well as of the battleground--we +speak of the soldier and the civilian, the citizen and his Government. + +Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this +Nation in its most critical hour--to keep this Nation great--to make this +Nation greater in a better world. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 6, 1945 + +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 1940 and 1941; 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 1942. + +We cannot forget the heroic defense of Moscow and Leningrad and Stalingrad, +or the tremendous Russian offensives of 1943 and 1944 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 1944: 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 6, 1944, 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 20 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 3,000 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 1,500 +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, 1942, 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, 1944, 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 24 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 1944. At present our aid to China must be +accomplished by air transport--there is no other way. By the end of 1944, +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 1944 aircraft of the Fourteenth Air Force flew +more than 35,000 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, +1943. Due in part to cutbacks, we have not produced as much since then. +Deliveries of Army supplies were down by 15 percent by July, 1944, before +the upward trend was once more resumed. + +Because of increased demands from overseas, the Army Service Forces in the +month of October, 1944, had to increase its estimate of required production +by 10 percent. But in November, one month later, the requirements for 1945 +had to be increased another 10 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, 1944, 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 50,000. +Actual strength in nurses was then 40,000. Since that time the Army has +tried to raise the additional 10,000. Active recruiting has been carried +on, but the net gain in eight months has been only 2,000. There are now +42,000 nurses in the Army. + +Recent estimates have increased the total number needed to 60,000. That +means that 18,000 more nurses must be obtained for the Army alone and the +Navy now requires 2,000 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 +11 Army hospital units have been sent overseas without their complement of +nurses. At Army hospitals in the United States there is only 1 nurse to 26 +beds, instead of the recommended 1 to 15 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; 280,000 registered nurses are now practicing in this +country. It has been estimated by the War Manpower Commission that 27,000 +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 1945. + +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-29'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 26 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 1945 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 3, 1945, 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 4,000,000 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, 1941, 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 1, 1942. 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 1940. + +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 60,000,000 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 $750,000,000--the cost of +waging this war for less than 4 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 1945 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--1945 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. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 4, 1935 + +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 73rd 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: + +1. The security of a livelihood through the better use of the national +resources of the land in which we live. + +2. The security against the major hazards and vicissitudes of life. + +3. 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 1933 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 1933 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. + +(1) 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. + +(2) 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. + +(3) Projects should be undertaken on which a large percentage of direct +labor can be used. + +(4) 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. + +(5) 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. + +(6) 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. + +(7) 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 73d 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 1934 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 1935 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 3, 1936 + +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, 1933, 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, 1933, 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 1933, 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 1933 that 85 or 90 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 10 or 15 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 +1787. 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, 1933, 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, 1933. 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 1933, 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 1933. 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 74th 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 +4, 1933: "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 6, 1937 + +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, 1933, 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 1931 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 1933. + +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 75th Congress at the +beginning of this auspicious New Year. + +*** + +State of the Union Address +Franklin D. Roosevelt +January 3, 1938 + +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 +130,000,000 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 1787, or 1837 or 1887, 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, +1933. + +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 1933 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 1933, 1934 and +1935, 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 1932 to about sixty-eight billion dollars in the year 1937. 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 1939, 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 1870. + +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 4, 1939 + +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 1931, 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 1933 +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 1929, or in 1932. + +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 1933 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 1929, and the interest thereon +is far less than it was in 1929. + +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 3, 1940 + +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 1929 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 1933 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 1940 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 6, 1941 + +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 +1789, 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 1914 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 1812 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 1815 to 1914--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 1914, 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 1919 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 6, 1942 + +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 +7, 1941. + +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 1894; the subsequent occupation of Korea; the war against Russia +in 1904; the illegal fortification of the mandated Pacific islands +following 1920; the seizure of Manchuria in 1931; and the invasion of China +in 1937. + +A similar policy of criminal conquest was adopted by Italy. The Fascists +first revealed their imperial designs in Libya and Tripoli. In 1935 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 1933, 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 +1, 1942, by 26 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 26 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, 1942, we shall produce 60,000 planes, 10,000 more than the goal that +we set a year and a half ago. This includes 45,000 combat planes--bombers, +dive bombers, pursuit planes. The rate of increase will be maintained and +continued so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 125,000 airplanes, +including 100,000 combat planes. + +Second, to increase our production rate of tanks so rapidly that in this +year, 1942, we shall produce 45,000 tanks; and to continue that increase so +that next year, 1943, we shall produce 75,000 tanks. + +Third, to increase our production rate of anti-aircraft guns so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall produce 20,000 of them; and to continue +that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall produce 35,000 +anti-aircraft guns. + +And fourth, to increase our production rate of merchant ships so rapidly +that in this year, 1942, we shall build 6,000,000 deadweight tons as +compared with a 1941 completed production of 1,100,000. And finally, we +shall continue that increase so that next year, 1943, we shall build +10,000,000 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 15 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 56 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 400 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. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY FRANKLIN D. 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