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Show (jhbhinqtcti byjAMES Preston v.... stay In Washington long you lose all sense- of por-?Sl,",l"c por-?Sl,",l"c You begin to forgot that rc millions of farmers In com.try. tilling millions of : . 0f land- Yon fowl " tno nud tlio lumbermen and 'Irnien, and everybody elso d ,lt work producing the national woallli of tills country.1 In Hhort, you got In the name framo of mind ns a lot of politicians. politic-ians. Your Washington roporter took a I'ow days off last wook and left1 the nation's capital in order to talk and listen to a lot of poople who boloug to a very Important-segment Important-segment of our national economy. To be exact, that group, was the manufacturers, and they were meeting in .New York City last week at the Congress of American Ameri-can Industry. It was the 45th Annual An-nual event of Its kind, and when you consider the importance of industry in-dustry in the present scheme of things, in the light of our national defense effort, that meetnig takes on an added measure of importance. impor-tance. , The theme of the Congress of American Industry this year was "Total Preparedness for America's Ameri-ca's Future." To it came industrial indust-rial lenders from every part of the country, and from every type of business, large and small. They listened to a galaxy of distinguished distinguish-ed speakers, a program such as has seldom been gathered under one roof, and they had a rare opportunity for discussion con- cernlng the opportunities and the responsibilities of Industry In the present world and domestic picture. pic-ture. It should be encouraging for Americans to hear at a time like this, with the world In Its present chaotic and inflammable state, that these Industrialists showed the seriousness of their intention by the very quality of these gatherings. gath-erings. Aside from talking to them as individuals, and learning how seriously they took their role as the men who must build the armaments arma-ments to make this country strong, I could not but be Impressed by the way in which they followed the speeches at this great meeting. Perhaps that was only natural, of course, for at the Congress of American Industry this year were gathered top-notch authorities from nearly every field of national life. The National Association of Manufacturers, which sponsors these meetings, had constructed its program with the very definite intention of "Total Preparedness for America's Future" on the part of all the industrialists who attended. at-tended. Symbolic of the spirit In which this whole event was conducted was the appearance of William S. Knudsen and Dr. Will Durant as the main speakers. The former is a patriotic business man who has been drafted to help government in making the defense program a success. His presence emphasized the vital role that Industry must play in any defense effort; emphasized em-phasized the fact that business experience, in peace or in any emergency em-ergency alike, is needed for national na-tional well-being Dr. Will Durant, the other main speaker, brought another significant signifi-cant point to mind. A great American Ameri-can scholar, he naturally reminded remind-ed many who were present that this is one of the last free lands on earth, and one of the last where scholarship can flourish. And when H. W. Prentiss, Jr., President of the National Association Asso-ciation of Manufacturers, rose to remind these thousands of manufacturers man-ufacturers that our civil liberties and our private enterprise system ahd our governmental form, representative repre-sentative democracy, are inseparable insepar-able and stand or fall together, the truth of it was apparent and dramatic in the very fact of the meeting itself. It's a good idea to get out of Washington once in a while, in order to see what the rest of the country is doing and thinking. Your reporter mentioned that fact before. He reiterates it in the light of what he saw and heard at j the Congress of American Industry. In-dustry. ' Science's work is never done. Hollywood can photograph the whole gamut of color and tints direct, di-rect, but has to paint in the in-I in-I genue's blush by hand. |
