Speech

Z-llll OUR WAR EFFORT Member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D. C. -JBHttJ- Seventieth Jubilee of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America •iHHHv* r \ Youth Building Auditorium Noble and Cortez Streets Chicago, Illinois 5:00 p.m., June 2?, 1943 RELEASE: Morning Papers June 28, 1943 OUR WAR EFFORT It is often said that we are a nation of individualists. Our enemies interpret this to mean that we think, only of ourselves. Our ene- mies likewise say that as a nation we are divided into groups—each with what appears to be its own interest, unmindful of the peoples' good and the good ox" the nation as a whole. While it is true that nowhere else in the world are there so many individuals of different ancestries who are free to live their lives in their own way as under the flag of the United °tates, yet that flag is the symbol of our unity. Those red and white stripes represent the banding together of the thirteen original coloniesj tho se stars on the field of blue, the union of forty—eight states——the United States—founded on the principle that all men are created equal in the sight of God, free to think as they please, to worship as they please and to act as they please, so long as their actions do not harm others. In ordinary times we are so intent on exercising our rights as American citizens tint we do not pause to consider their source. Perhaps the privilege we exercise most consciously is the privilege of criticiz- ing our Government. We seldom stop to think that the functioning of our Rational Government is largely responsible for the security of our daily lives. We do not associate the security of our homes, our families, and °Ur local communities with the security of the nation as a whole. But times of emergency make us acutely aware of our need for national unity and a strong national Government. In the lean years of depression we found that we as individuals were powerless to cope with the ^ensity of our economic problems. The difficulties were not of local °rigin. They had their roots in world-wide maladjustments that were dis- rupting our whole national economy. Local communities were unable to Protect their residents against the loss of their jobs, their homes, and their savings. Only through strong positive action by our national Gov- ernment were our difficulties, serious as they were, kept from becoming more disastrous. The coming of the war made this need for national unity all the clearer. When war clouds broke in Europe and Asia, we tried to tell our- selves that these wars had nothing to do with our lives and that we would have no part in the slaughter and destruction. Even after many friendly Rations had been decimated and enslaved by their conquerors, we were re- luctant to see the threat to our own nation. We condoned the action of °Ur President and Congress when they initiated the defense program, but continued to hope the skies would clear before we were actually in- volved in the war. Then we in turn were treacherously attacked. Today we in America need to rededicate ourselves to the service our country. Mo country has better served her citizens in protecting their rights and liberties than has ours. Now we must faco the funda- mental fact that individual rights and privileges can have real meaning only when they are accompanied by duties and responsibilities to preserve what generations of Americans have worked for—.fought for—and died for! unless we as individuals are willing to undertake to the fullest our duties and responsibilities, our national defense must be weak} our of- fense laggard; our winning of the peace uncertain. True, we Americans have done much—our men are now abroad and Ue have proved our metal in actual combat; our production lines are ap- proaching the miraculous in turning out ships, tanks, guns and ammunition. ^ have played a part in the great North African success, in the devas- tating bombings of Europe, and the recent land, sea, and air victories on the Far Eastern front. In addition, we have aided indirectly through the Provision of arms for our allies in Europe. Yet, what we have done is a Jiere fragment of what we have to do—and do quickly. In recent weeks we ?Ve good news from many fronts, but we must not let it arouse exces- sive optimism. There is a long hard pull ahead and we must not relax our e*fort. . How infinitesimal our sacrifice compared with that of the bat- jered but freedom-loving civilians of the battleground nations. How do v ^r work, conservation, civilian defense, buying more bonds, compare with nforced labor, near starvation, and the constant hazard' of imprisonment °r death? . Through the purchase of war savings bonds you are not only lend- ng your money to the Government to wage a successful war; you are helping •yourself by investing your money in the soundest security on earth. By ^Vesting money in these war bonds, you help in our fight against infla- -l°n, for the money that you might otherwise spend on scarce consumer s°ods goes into the manufacture of airplanes, ships, guns. Finally, by Purchasing war bonds you help offset the possibility of depression after ^ war because the purchasing power stored in these bonds will enable you J? ^y goods and services when peace comes. In other words, at a time ien service men and war workers are seeking to become established in Peace-time employment, you will be in a position to ease their task by Simulating peace-time production. I should like to make one further plea. This does not necessa- ry apply to you or me. It is important, none the less, to all of us, ® must beware of anything that tends to separate us one from the other th t'hus weaken our united effort. The enemy is well known for his use of insidious weapon which divides opposition and leaves each part open to -Parate attack at his will. Let us not be duped by these tricks. We ^st stand strong and united against the treacherous enemy. The United at ions idea must be more than just an idea. It must be a coherent fight- • g force. That is the only way we can win this war and win lasting peace, country can do it alone—but the United Nations can do it together. Let me quote what seem to me to be words as appropriate today as they were when they were uttered nearly thirty years ago by Woodrow Wilson: "My urgent advice to you would be, not only always to think first of American, but always, also, to think first of humanity. You do not love humanity if you seek to divide humanity into jealous camps. Humanity c?n be welded together only by love, by sympathy, by justice, not by jealousy and hatred. 1 am sorry for the man who seeks to make personal capital out of the passions of his fellow-men. He has lost the touch and ideal of America, for America was created to unite mankind by those passions which lift and not by the passions which separate and debase. We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite. It was but an historical accident no doubt that this great country was called the 'United States'; yet I am very thankful that it has the word 'United' in its title, and the man who seeks to divide man from man, group from group, interest from interest in this great Union is striking at its very heart." In coming together here today we can not but dwell with anxious J^t hopeful hearts on the momentous happenings in other parts of the world. ^ are part of those events, however far removed they may be from our daily llvos. We are helping to make history—as intense and absorbing history as °ver has been made. Our parts may at times seem minor—too minor to affect v^rld history and too minor to warrant the persona], inconveniences and sac- rifices they entail. At such times we should take a little homely advice Benjamin Franklin and remind ourselves: "For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the Kingdom was lost— And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail." ^'tch one of us has it within his power to weaken or strengthen the national fort and thus to determine the future course of civilization. ]3y neglecting opportunity to achieve perfect unison of action we can curtail the ravages 0[> War and spread the fruits of victory. Victory will be what we make it. Its fruits can be enjoyed only ky the "everlastin1 team-work of every bloomin' soul" ?

M.S. Szymczak (1943, June 26). Speech. Speeches, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/speech_19430627_szymczak

@misc{wtfs_speech_19430627_szymczak,
  author = {M.S. Szymczak},
  title = {Speech},
  year = {1943},
  month = {Jun},
  howpublished = {Speeches, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/speech_19430627_szymczak},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}