Outline of 15-minute talk praising "Democracy at Work" as
Exemplified by the Volunteer Members of the War Price
and Ration Boards,

When Hitler said we were too soft to fight, he referred to our Home
Front, He knew total war required totalmobilization of effort. He
didn't think a Democracy could lay aside. its: differences and unite on a

National war effor.,

ff, Se ed

When Tojo attacked us hé aid not think we would spring “into unified
action to battle for land and people thousands of miles away, ~~

They were both wrong, It was only a matter of months until we were:

Producing more war material than the, rest. of the, world. combined;

Building ships to. transport this: material faster than. the .
ships were being ‘sunk;

Training the largest ariny we had ever dreamed about;
Building the largest Navy in the world;
Developing the largest and finest Air Force: in the world;

Building the. planes. that will. actually and literally darken
the skies over Berlin and na

ca . at
While all this has been going on, and in spite of shortages in maéri-
power and equipment, we are producing 130% more food than we did before

the war, Democracy has. worked in war. time, monn bell  &

e

"What has nade this possible? Willingness - ~ “by and large - for people
to do what they can to aid war effort. “Exceptions of course - but when .
story of our war effort is written will be an amazing saga of unspectacular

sacrifice, of daily drudgery, of devotion to many phases of war activity.

For example, a large part of the personal problems angle of the men
in the Armed Services, has been handled by the Red Cross, While the :
Field Directors have been paid nominal salaries, the. domestic work has
functioned because of the thousands of Red Cross chapters located in each
community where volunteers have carried out these detailed investigations

and reports through volunteers,

Today, we are appropriately honoring another group of people who
have done an amazing thing, They have carried out the operations of a.

vast, new war program - the program of*Price Control and: Rationing.

(over)