Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman Before the Post-War Planning Forum, Junior Chamber of Commerce at Cleveland, Ohio

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SPEECH OF SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN BEFORE THE POST--WAR PLANNING FORUM, JUNICR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CLEVE- LAND, OHIO, ON JUNE 2, 1944, AT 8:00 IN THE EVENING. RELEASE ON DELIVERY RELEASE ON DELIVERY Mr. Chairman, members of the Cleveland Junior Chamber of Commerce and invited guests, it is a great privilege for me to be with you this evening to dis- cuss the problems which will result from a reduction in our war production program and from the cut-backs which will follow in such production. It is not my inten- tion to lay down a specific program, but rather to discuss the need for construc- tive thought in preparing for the problems which are to come. These problems will have to be solved by the mutual cooperation of Government, business and labor. It will require the best thoughts of our best minds. Never in the history of the World has construction of plants and facili- ties approached the gigantic proportions and the tremendous speed which we in America have witnessed in the past three years. Plants and facilities built for our war program have cost the Government approximately 15 billion dollars, This expenditure equals the amount spent for plants and facilities in this country during the five years of our greatest prosperity, from 1925 to 1929. The past three years of war production have brought into awe inspiring reality the accomplishment of our planned objective - America, the Arsenal of Democracy. In contrast to World War I, in which our troops abroad obtained from our Allies many of the most important items of equipment, we are now supplying substantially all of our own needs and a large portion of the needs of the United Nations. RUUNAN NARA