460 State Papers and Addresses

tremendous, well organized, thoroughly mechanized army as that unleashed
by Hitler against the Poles, and the French, the Belgians, and the other un-
fortunate countries of Europe.

Even with all the developments in Europe, it took us a long time to awaken
to our own danger, and an even longer time to begin to organize the many
forces that were necessary to tie into an integrated defense program.

We needed an Army of tremendous proportion, and we had a comparative
handful of men. We had, most fortunately, a Navy comparable to the best
that could possibly be brought to play against us. We were deficient, however,
in modern airplanes, in anti-aircraft defense, in heavy armament, and in the
thousand and one necessary implements of a modern defense force. Gradually
it began to dawn upon our people generally that there was a tremendous job
ahead of us to perfect an organization and to regiment our industry so that
we could, before it was entirely too late, begin to turn out the tanks, the guns,
the planes, the rifles, the clothing, the trucks, that would be necessary to
assemble before we could hope to put an effective army in the field.

While our Navy is at an all-time peak strength, nevertheless we must
accept the fact, too, that if Great Britain were to lose and its fleet be destroyed
or taken by the Axis nations, the naval power of the dictator nations would
far exceed anything that we could oppose to it. Talk of the two-ocean Navy
is very heartening, but even after the money is made available, even after the
keels are laid, months and even years will elapse before this two-ocean Navy
actually becomes a reality.

Our shipyards, geared to peacetime needs, must be expanded in great
degree; our skilled workmen trained, and all the armament and munitions,
and other necessities required on modern battleships must be produced and
assembled before the Navy will be ready to take its place on the firing line.

It. is no secret that Hitler must crush England and end Democracy there
if he is ever to have any hope of keeping the conquered peoples of Europe in
subjection. While the people of England are free, and more specially while
the people of America preserve unsullied the individual rights and liberties
chat ever have made this the outstanding land under the sun, conquered down-
trodden people of Europe, even the regimented workers of Germany itself, will
never entirely accept the peonage that has been thrust upon them.

Yet, with a full knowledge and realization of all this, there are still
people in this Country, many of them honest and well-intentioned, who think
that we «have no concern with the present world struggle, and who honestly
believe that we can achieve peace and security by refusing to interest ourselves
in their defense.

Fortunately, our responsible public officials, the responsible businessmen
and women of America know that this is a delusion. They know that the
only way to prevent our ultimate subjection to the forces of might is to pre-
pare ourselves so thoroughly for defense, to guard our possessions so com-
pletely with all the most modern weapons of defense, that even the most
militaristic and greedy of dictators would be afraid to attack us.

There is a further dangerous state of mind among some Americans. While