DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

yesterday December 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday December 7th 1941 a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire and democracy is at war in action with Swift and mighty weapon the men of machines who hold democracy's line against hunger are fighting to on every acre in America mobilized in the greatest farm production effort in the world's history America's farmers fight on their farm with two years of the greatest farm production in history back of them they set their marks for still greater production in 1942 when the commander-in-chief said it must be done they fled with him it will be done this is a battle the American farmer knows the battle of production and this is a battlefield he knows the furrows of his own field his part is to make the meat and milk to put the muscles on democracy for the job of sweeping the world clean of hitlerism Mauck ricean action here's a picture of it a continent-wide and strong with the strength of 30 million people on the land they fight an organized campaign - a campaign which started with reserves of fiber and two grains for food and feed stored and ready in a never normal granary a campaign in which the needs of America and our allies have been calculated and production both set to meet those needs a campaign in which every farm has volunteered to do its best part men machines and plan this is an army that can grow the wheat for a loaf of mile square and more than a hundred feet high men machines and land this is an army that can stuff to bursting our granaries and warehouses the munition dumps of food for democracy this is an army that every year plants a mile wide dug of corn six times around the world this is an army that can grow the cotton to make the shirts to hang on a clothesline a hundred and thirty four times around the earth that's what we could do but all of us know if what we do and not what we could do that will finally beat the axis yes there's almost no limit to what we can do and what we will do but the doing of it will take a powerful lot of sweat a powerful lot of planning and working together - it's working together that makes the people strong it's working together that's democracy in action how do farmers stand on that well mister working together as part of the farmers plan - if it's more of one thing we need and less of something else like wheat for instance we talked it over we get the facts and talk it over whether each man should hold back is share and use the land for what we need more then we put it to a vote Town beaten style the fairway that gives every man his say so one man one go big a little it's the man that counts here one man one vote it's the good of most of us that counts here one man one vote and we'll all go the way most of us decide we've done it in cotton we've done it in tobacco we've done it in wheat we can do it again when we need to that's democracy in action mister and when the storm of total war rolls up against democracy both in the east and in the West the men and women who want to go on having their say-so don't run and hide no sir mister we didn't get these forms that way you give us an even-steven break on our living we'll take a chance on the season you just tell us what you need and we'll get in gear go we'll make the machinery go around to the job we can find the muscle I guess we've got a know-how we know how to fight the pests we know how to keep the land strong with lime and fertilizer we know how to make the land stay put when it comes a gully washer you just let us know what it takes to beat Hitler so we can keep far-right to have a say so well now their soybean and peanuts and flax besides the cottonseed for oil eighteen and a half million acres of soybeans peanuts and flecks besides the cottonseed oil or soap and paint to win a war and egg there's iron in a and we'll need iron to do this job for an affordable in dozen eggs and egg today to keep the axis away more they usually take care of the chickens I reckon you can count on her to keep them laying milk - milk for American kids and British kids and other kids milk for fighters milk for working men milk and cheese milk and cans milk right into powder give us a lot of milk 14 and a half billion gallons of milk enough to float the United States Navy another pint a day from every cow will get us up there will feed them better and strip them longer meat more meat meat - put muscle on fighting men and working men need a Forks the quickest 83 million hogs coming to market this year for hams and bacon and lard we'll give you lots of beef - I'll land and of course vegetables to go with all that well that's in Mom's department too you can count on her and the girls to take care of that here at home yes but a lot of folks live out of cans a hundred and thirty million folks in this country hungry three times a day lots of folks in other countries fighting with us to lick the axes they sort of look to our pantry to keep them going we'll need a lot of vegetables for them okay more potatoes tomatoes beans and peas we'll set the mark up near eleven million acres of that stuff to eat fresh and dry and care we can keep them rolling say where's all this food going well like I said there's others fighting with it in the east and in the West and the eagle flies on lend-lease food wherever our allies needed cheese and meat and canned stuff have to go in ships around the world the same as planes and tanks and guns it takes men with grit and muscle to keep them flying and rolling and shooting what does it take to feed a soldier well the Army says he'll eat about 400 pounds of meat a year and he needs 24 gallons of milk and about 250 pounds of vegetables besides the bread and other stuff in this kind of a war it takes 18 men behind the man behind the gun some of those are farmers and some of them make planes some of them make ships to carry the planes in the fool a full dinner pail will drive a lot of rivet one soldier 18 men making his fighting tools mining the iron making the steel building the ships forging the guns raising the food to feed the soldier and the 18th big job a big job big enough for everybody on the farm not too big for big people not too big for the sake of the big things we're fighting for a peaceful world people who are free to think and speak and worship people who can look at you with no fear in their eyes if took big people's doing a lot of working and a lot of fighting to fill the world where kids can go from free homes to preschool and learn how free people working together have flipped democracy into action it must be done it will be done