We cannot have stabilization by wishful thinking.  We must take positive action to maintain the integrity of the American dollar.

(5) A national service law—­which, for the duration of the war, will prevent strikes, and, with certain appropriate exceptions, will make available for war production or for any other essential services every able-bodied adult in this Nation.

These five measures together form a just and equitable whole.  I would not recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits.

The Federal Government already has the basic power to draft capital and property of all kinds for war purposes on a basis of just compensation.

As you know, I have for three years hesitated to recommend a national service act.  Today, however, I am convinced of its necessity.  Although I believe that we and our allies can win the war without such a measure, I am certain that nothing less than total mobilization of all our resources of manpower and capital will guarantee an earlier victory, and reduce the toll of suffering and sorrow and blood.

I have received a joint recommendation for this law from the heads of the War Department, the Navy Department, and the Maritime Commission.  These are the men who bear responsibility for the procurement of the necessary arms and equipment, and for the successful prosecution of the war in the field.  They say: 

“When the very life of the Nation is in peril the responsibility for service is common to all men and women.  In such a time there can be no discrimination between the men and women who are assigned by the Government to its defense at the battlefront and the men and women assigned to producing the vital materials essential to successful military operations.  A prompt enactment of a National Service Law would be merely an expression of the universality of this responsibility.”

I believe the country will agree that those statements are the solemn truth.

National service is the most democratic way to wage a war.  Like selective service for the armed forces, it rests on the obligation of each citizen to serve his Nation to his utmost where he is best qualified.

It does not mean reduction in wages.  It does not mean loss of retirement and seniority rights and benefits.  It does not mean that any substantial numbers of war workers will be disturbed in their present jobs.  Let these facts be wholly clear.

Experience in other democratic Nations at war—­Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—­has shown that the very existence of national service makes unnecessary the widespread use of compulsory power.  National service has proven to be a unifying moral force based on an equal and comprehensive legal obligation of all people in a Nation at war.