Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman Before the Federal Bar Association at Chicago, Illinois
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SPEECH OF SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN
BEFORE FEDERAL BAR ASSOCIATION
DINNER IN CHICAGO
Wednesday, May 24, 1944
Mr. President, and ladies and gentlemen of the Federal Bar Association,
I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss with you the functions and
purposes of the legislative branch of the Government. Your members have
been trained in the law and have had many contacts with Government agencies
during this trying period of war. War endangers the very existence of the
nation and of the principles for which it stands. To insure success, it is
necessary to concentrate all the resources of the nation on the winning of
the war. We had to stop entirely the production of many civilian items and
to curtail the production of others; we had to begin manufacturing thousands
of new items, many of them in quantities never previously considered; we
had to raise and supply an immense Army and Navy; and, at the same time, we
had to feed ourselves and increase our food supplies and share them with our
allies. In other words, as a result of war, our needs automatically exceeded
our ability to supply them.
This necessarily disrupted civilián activities and business, and
required a large amount of government by administrators. The Government had
to determine which things were most important, and had to allocate our
limited supplies in such a way as to insure the winning of the war as soon
as possible with a minimum loss of life, and at a minimum cost. This meant
that our citizens were told what they could do and what they could not do.
In one sense, this curtailment of liberties during war time by
self-imposed restrictions is a regimentation which we voluntarily inflict
upon ourselves, so that the war may be won and our liberties guaranteed.
It is very like the payment of insurance premiums. We pay those premiums,
S. John
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