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.