752

WAR BOND RALLY—COLISEUM—UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

September 24, 1942
College Park

There is no need to be apolegetic or backward in talking about United
States War Bonds. For one thing - - a very important thing- - War Bonds are
a guilt-edge finanical investment. But the matter goes far beyond that on fi-
nance. When a person buys war bonds, he is investing in freedom. He is treat-
ing himself to an interest-bearing share of liberty. He is adding weight to the
milestone which Democracy is fashioning for the neck of Dictators.

Never presume that these things which we have come to take for granted in
America - -our freedom and independence - - were had for the asking. They
were purchased with the blood of our fighters, the sweat of our workers, the
money of our citizens in times past.

Most important still, don't presume that these things will always be ours
merely by reason of the fact that we now possess them. What was bought by
toil and sacrifice and blood must be retained with the same eternal coinage. The
amount we must pay will be higher, for the stakes today are more than our
ancestors ever dreamed of. As this is a global war, so the measure of our effort
must be vast. Blood and sweat and money in amounts never calculated before
must be paid out for the security of the blessings willed us by our forefathers.

Let the mind's eye view the deserted cities, the ravaged villages, the desolate
farm lands of Europe. Then let us ask ourselves if we can afford not not to
make this investment in the Arsenal of Democracy. Let our people consider
the wretched slavery and the degradation of the once free peoples beyond the
seas, and then say how much our share of freedom is worth.

It took money, your money, to launch those thundering battleships and
planes which dispersed the Japanese Armada. Don't you think that money was
well spent? It takes money, lots of it, to feed and clothe and otherwise supply
American boys who are today in the Orient, in Iceland, in Egypt. Do you be-
grudge those boys your contribution? Would you have your Government refuse
to give them everything they need?

We have stood hard by the principles of private ownership here in America.
It is one of the privileges of our freedom. Yet it does not require very deep
thinking to understand that, in a large sense, every owner of property and every
possessor of money is a shareholder in a great Commonwealth. We have been
able to enjoy the benefits of opportunity and prosperity only because property
and money are held in trust for us by a representative Government. When,
then, that Government is threatened, we are all of us placed in peril of life and
property. How long would we own homes and have access to our bank accounts
if the guardian of these possessions came to grief, if the unthinkable were to
happen, and America be tumbled to defeat.