It is evident to every thinking man that our industries, on the farms,
in the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be made more
prolific and more efficient than ever, and that they must be more
economically managed and better adapted to the particular requirements
of our task than they have been; and what I want to say is that the
men and the women who devote their thought and their energy to these
things will be serving the country and conducting the fight for peace
and freedom just as truly and just as effectively as the men on the
battle-field or in the trenches. The industrial forces of the country,
men and women alike, will be a great national, a great international,
service army--a notable and honored host engaged in the service of the
nation and the world, the efficient friends and saviors of free men
everywhere. Thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise
liable to military service will of right and of necessity be excused
from that service and assigned to the fundamental sustaining work of
the fields and factories and mines, and they will be as much part of
the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under fire.
I take the liberty, therefore, of addressing this word to the farmers
of the country and to all who work on the farms: The supreme need of
our own nation and of the nations with which we are co-operating is an
abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. The importance of
an adequate food-supply, especially for the present year, is
superlative. Without abundant food, alike for the armies and the
peoples now at war, the whole great enterprise upon which we have
embarked will break down and fail. The world's food reserves are low.
Not only during the present emergency, but for some time after peace
shall have come, both our own people and a large proportion of the
people of Europe must rely upon the harvests in America.