of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 723

couldn't, take up arms in this world-wide struggle in time to save the remaining
Democracies, was that Democracies moved too slowly, that it was impossible
for them to organize effective effort within the allotted time.

How inaccurate this was has been demonstrated amply by developments
both before and since Pearl Harbor. Back in August, 1940, for instance, when
the Federal Government first felt the urge for Nation-wide war preparations,
the States, through their representatives at the first Federal-State joint con-
ference in Washington, supplied the impetus that started the wheels of defense
a-whirring.

Later, by successive steps, there came the need for Selective Service Boards
and administration; for registration of our manpower for military service; for
rationing of tires, and sugar and gasoline. How else could America have rallied
so quickly to the accomplishment of these vital tasks except through the agencies
of the States themselves? When it developed that changes were desirable in
motor vehicle license and transportation regulations, to further the war effort,
again the States acted with startling promptitude, and without the delays that
Congressional action all too frequently brings.

Through the Council of State Governments, and under the very able direc-
tion of Mr. Frank Bane as Executive Director, the States have accomplished
great things for the war effort. More important, however, is the assurance,
from what has been done, that further demands upon the millions of our popu-
lation will be met and handled as promptly, as vigorously and as successfully
as the jobs already done. Truly, it is an inspiration to be an active official of
the Governor' Conference, and of your parent-body, the Council of State Govern-
ments, and to realize the vast potentialities for prompt cooperation that are
available to our Nation in this time of need, through the agency of the forty-
eight states.

By this time Hitler and his Japanese imitators undoubtedly have come to
realize how terribly they had misunderstood the temper of the American people,
how stupidly they had underrated the possibilities of American action. But
one can hardly blame them, for the hidden springs from which wells the spirit
that animates the American people have no counterparts in lands where the
individual is merely a pawn of the State.

That great English statesman, Willian E. Gladstone, once said: "The
American Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off by the brain
and purpose of man. "

Before Gladstone's time, and ever since, foreign leaders have wondered at
the Miracle of America. Some have wondered with the malignant feelings of
envy and hatred, other with sincere and sympathetic appreciation for this
masterful exhibition of Democratic statecraft.

"How, " they have asked, "was it possible for the thirteen original states—
each with its own precious traditions and special interests, each proud of its
own identity—to form a federation that not only worked in that day, but con-
tinued to function down through the years, in war and peace, in prosperity and
travail, in changing conditions and geographical expansion which the minds of