Governor James F. Byrnes gave a speech to the North Carolina Citizens Association, a coalition of North Carolina businessmen who worked together to establish and advocate legislation that was conducive to business

Byrnes, James F. (James Francis)

South Carolina State Documents Depository

(b 14(,. 
2.ft22 
I q ~ y'j f .................................................................................................................................................................................... ! 
Ccp\j \ 
ADDRESS 
of MAY 1 8 1992 
STATE DOCUMEN 
THE HONORABLE 
JAMES F. BYRNES 
Governor of South Carolina 
to the 
North Carolina Citizens Association 
l ! 
~ ~ 
~ ~ l RALEIGH, N. c. I 
i Wednesday, March 14, 1951 ~ 
I I 
,;•"•''·''""·"·''•''•"•"•"·'"''·"·"·''•''"''"'""•''•'"'""•"•''•''•'"''·''·''·''·''•''•'"''""•"•''•''•"·''•''•"•"•''·''''""•"•''''''''·"·"·'"''•'h"·'""•''~· 
ADDRESS 
of 
THE HONORABLE 
JAMES F. BYRNES 
Governor of South Carolina 
to the 
North Carolina Citizens Association 
RALEIGH, N. C. 
Wednesday, March 14, 1951 
ADDRESS OF JAMES F. BYRNES, GOVERNOR OF SOUTH 
CAROLINA, TO THE NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS 
ASSOCIATION AT RALEIGH, N. C., AT 8 P. M., 
ON MARCH 14, 1951 
The people of the two Carolinas have somewhat the same ancestry 
and history. Throughout their history they have shown their devo-
tion to the Spirit of Independence. It was the love of liberty that 
inspired them to fight at Kings Mountain and Fort Sumter. It is the 
love of liberty that today inspires their sons to deeds of heroism in 
Korea. 
Their ancestors, the men and women who came to .settle the prov-
ince of Carolina, came not to establish a government. Their real mo-
tive was to escape government. Many of them had suffered from the 
exercise of concentrated power. In that day power was concentrated 
in a King. Power centered in a bureaucracy can be equally as despotic 
as power centered in a King. 
As those early settlers increased in number, they realized some 
government was necessary and with great caution they distilled the 
experiences of mankind and adopted the Constitution with its Bill 
of Rights. 
North Carolina did not ratify the Constitution until it included 
that Bill of Rights. They wanted to make certain that the liberty 
they sought in this new world should not be surrendered to any gov-
ernment. 
Those early settlers did not teach their children to seek security; 
they taught them to look for opportunity. 
They believed that liberty must be exercised by all individuals; 
that men cannot safely transfer their liberties to a few individuals 
to be held in trust for them. 
They were right. In this world of ours men must assume respon-
sibility for their own welfare or they will have only such degree of 
welfare as may be bestowed upon them by those temporarily in 
power. 
Some people may be impatient with these views. They may regard 
them as old fashioned. They may argue that conditions have changed. 
That is true, but human behavior has not changed in its fundamentals. 
The failure of a man to stand on his own feet, to assume the re-
sponsibilities of a man, and to discharge the duties of a man, will 
2 
weaken him now just as it did in the scorned "horse and buggy" 
days and in the early days of the Republic. 
If the age of our Constitution is to be held against the soundness 
of its fundamental principles, then what about the age of our relig-
ion? If time invalidates truth in one field, will it not do so in other 
fields? 
Carolinians-North and South-have believed in the fundamentals 
of the Christian religion and have believed, too, in the fundamentals 
of the Constitution of the United States. Of course, there are people 
in other sections who scornfully refer to the South as the "backward 
South" and the "Bible Belt." As long as they couple the two, I do 
not seriously object, for I do not believe, after all, that a people who 
read the Bible and humbly try to follow in the footsteps of the Master 
are such a backward people. 
It was only a few years ago tha~ a Commission reported to the 
President of the United States that the South was "Economic Prob-
lem No. 1." Some of the writers and politicians who then bemoaned 
our economic and politic plight, today are seeking legislation in their 
states to prevent the removal of industries to the Carolinas and other 
Southern States. 
We have reason to be proud of our progress in the Carolinas. Less 
than a century ago, because we believed in the preservation of the 
rights and powers of the States under the Constitution, we were at 
war with other states of the Union. We suffered disastrous defeat. 
At the end of four years the soldiers of the Confederacy returned 
to their homes l1aving lost all save honor and spirit. They had no 
equipment to operate factories or to cultivate farms. They had no 
labor. The slaves who had previously worked our farms had been 
freed. 
Unlike the Germans, Italians and Japanese, the defeated South 
received no Marshall aiel. The United States Government, however, 
did send an occupation army, guarding the right of the carpetbagger 
and the freed slave to administer government. Our cry of cruelty and 
corruption \\'as regarded by some in the North as the cry of poor 
losers, and by others, as a fate we deserved. 
But, as in all history, out of adversity there came strength. By our 
own efforts, we made progress even in the reconstruction period. 
And, to the glory of Southern women, be it said, we preserved the 
racial integrity of the white race. 
3 
The history of the Carolinas since the period of reconstruction 
is the story "From Rags to Riches." It is a Cinderella story. It is a 
true story. 
Years ago North Carolina achieved a balanced economy. You are 
still progressing in industry and in agriculture. In the last ten years 
the nw11ber of your manufacturing establishments increased approx-
imately 70 per cent. It is amazing to learn that last year your farmers 
received in cash for their crops the sum of 750 million dollars. 
Now what of the future? No business man can answer that ques-
tion because the answer is dependent upon what government will do. 
What the government will do necessarily is dependent in great de-
gree upon what the Soviet government will do. But it does not de-
pend entirely upon that. 
In time of war or of great business depression, it is necessary 
that unusual powers be granted to the federal government. When 
there is an end to war or depression, if we are to have the form of 
government under which we have lived and prospered for a century 
and a half, those powers must be returned to the States and the 
people. 
Experience has proved that is difficult to accomplish. Human be-
ings love power. Seldom will they voluntarily relinquish it. A man 
can get drunk on alcohol and recover without suffering more than 
remorse and a headache but the man who gets drunk on power never 
recovers. 
Now because of war in the Pacific and the threat of war in 
Europe, we are conferring extraordinary powers upon the national 
government. We must do so. But every such grant should have a 
specified date for its termination. If at that time the necessity exists 
for its continuance, the representatives of the people in the Congress 
can be relied upon to extend such powers. 
If, however, there is no specified date of termination, I care not 
what political party is in power, legislation returning such powers 
to the States is apt to be vetoed and would require a two-thirds vote 
for enactment. 
I heartily favor the Administration's program to increase our mil-
itary power in the air and on land and sea. 
In October, 1945, at the very first meeting of the Council of 
Foreign Ministers, I learned to my great disappointment, that the 
Soviets seemed more interested in expansion of their territory and 
power than in peace on earth. 
4 
\i\Then I moved to adjourn that meeting in London without ac-
complishing anything, I stated that no agreement was better than a 
bad agreement. I realized how my statement would disillusion the 
peace-loving people of the United States. I realized, too, that demob-
ilization by the point system had already taken from our army the 
men of experience so essential to a mechanized army. 
From that day to this, I have urged an increase in our appropri-
ations for military purposes and a decrease in our non-military ex-
penditures. However, others equally patriotic, but grossly mistaken, 
believed in spending more money for non-military purposes and 
little money for the defense of the nation. It took Korea to waken 
us to a true realization of our defenseless position. 
As we read the casualty lists, we know we are not engaged in a 
police action in Korea. We are engaged in a war. Vv e know, too, that 
we are threatened with war in Europe. We must not refuse to confer 
with the Soviet Republic with a view to avoiding a world war, but 
as we confer, we must always remember that peace depends not 
upon what is written in an agreement but upon what is in the minds 
and hearts of men. The Soviets will live up to an agreement only 
so long as it is to their advantage to do so. And · it will be to their 
advantage only so long as the United States is strong militarily and 
economically. 
From my experience with the Soviet representatives at many in-
ternational conferences, I know they respect only force. Therefore, 
we must be strong in the air and on land and sea. Our rearmament 
will not provoke a war but our failure to rearm might well do so. 
It is my conviction that the only reason the Soviets have not 
started a war in Europe is because of our supply of atomic weapons. 
On one of my trips to Russia I saw the damage done by German 
artillery and air power to Russian cities. I saw the effect that de-
struction had upon the minds of Soviet leaders. They realize the much 
greater destruction that would be wrottght by our atomic weapons. 
They realize, too, that if we have in Western Europe an army suf-
ficiently strong to hold their foot soldiers in check for a time, we will 
have available the air bases from which to fly planes that would de-
stroy, not only their supply bases, but their production facilities. 
Of course, the Soviets might likewise destroy some of our com-
munities where are located plants producing weapons of war. For-
tunately, however, our production is being decentralized. And with 
the protection afforded us by our air power and our navy, it will be 
· ~ 
t 
·~, 
f 
l 
J 
·~ 
,. 
5 
a long time before the Soviets, with the air bases they presently 
have, could do any great damage to American production. 
It is the productive power of the United States upon which the 
free nations of the world rely for defense of their liberties. It is our 
productive power, as well as our atomic power, that will cause the 
Kremlin to hesitate to start a war in Europe. That is why we must 
remain economically strong. 
\Ve must not allow misguided or selfish people in our midst to do 
what Stalin cannot do-destroy our productive power. And the people 
of America must support those officials who are willing to tell the 
representatives of business and of labor that they cannot use this 
\\'ar situation to promote their selfish interests. 
The Congress has freely granted the appropriations recommended 
in the President's Budget for military purposes. I hope that with 
equal enthusiasm they will reduce the amount requested for non-
military programs. 
In his Budget Message, the President recommended the enact-
ment of legislation embarking upon new activities such as socialized 
medicine, the Branan Plan, Federal aiel for education, and the 
Civil Rights Program, including the FEPC. I hope the Congress 
will just forget these recommendations. 
These proposals will divide the people of the country at a time 
when unity is essential. Some of them would involve the expenditure 
of hundreds of millions of dollars. Others threaten local self-gov-
ernment and threaten also the liberties of the individual. 
The people of America are willing to sacrifice even life itself to 
defend our liberties against communistic governments. But while 
making such sacrifices they do not want to have their government 
start on the road toward socialism. 
I hope. too. that the Congress will forget the administration's 
Point Four. the objective of which is to elevate the standard of liv-
ing of all the peoples of the world. It is appealing to think of helping 
all mankind. Our people will always respond to an appeal for help 
to any people in an emergency. But common sense tells us there is a 
limit to what we can do. 
The taxpayers of this nation cannot adequately provide for the 
defense of this country, furnish military equipment to all governments 
that will resist the aggression of the Soviets; discharge our obliga-
tions to our veterans, the poor and the aged, and at the same time 
6 
elevate the standard of living of the peoples of all the rest of the 
world. 
The freedom loving people of the world must remember that we 
fight and sacrifice to preserve their freedom as well as ours. They 
must remember, and we must remember, that if we fall or stumble 
there is no other government to which we can turn for financial 
help. There is no Marshall aid for us. 
We will be like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, "Alone, alone, all, 
all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea. And never a saint took pity on 
my soul in agony." 
Our people must remember, too, that government has no money 
except that which comes from the pockets of the people or is bor-
rowed. If borrowed, it must be repaid either by our taxpayers or 
by their children, who then would be made to suffer for the folly of 
their fathers. 
There is a vast difference between local governments borrowing 
to invest in schools or other improvements of permanent character 
and the national government borrowing to improve the standard of 
living of the people of the world. 
The United States government now owes approximately 260 billion 
dollars. During the fiscal year beginning next July first, if we do not 
have full scale war, our debt will increase an additional 13 billion 
dollars unless additional taxes are levied. If we have full scale war, 
of course, the increase will be greater. 
The market price of our bonds has been preserved by the Federal 
Reserve Board through its control of the issuance of currency. That 
is inflationary. It presents a terrific problem because if the price of 
our bonds should begin to drop, the holders will start to sell and 
accelerate the depreciation. 
Facing this situation, the people who urge that we embark upon 
new activities costing billions of dollars should be willing to with-
hold their demands until we have first made secure their liberties. 
Because of the Korean war and the defense program, it is essential 
that the government enforce war-time controls. Last July when it 
became apparent that we were engaged in a war in Korea, a ceiling 
should have been placed on prices and wages. It was not done. Now 
it is a difficult task. 
It was not done at the beginning of World War II. When I be-
came Director of Economic Stabilization, eleven months after we 
entered the war, I had the same difficult task that today confronts 
7 
Mr. \\'ibon and Mr. Johnston. Business men and farmers demanded 
increased prices. Labor demanded increased wages. Each group 
claimed their demands were necessary because of the increases re-
ceived by the others. At my request, President Roosevelt signed the 
order known as the Hold-the-Line-Order. 
Of course, every group complained. They howled-they threatened. 
All of the leaders came to see me. I had more acquaintances and fewer 
friends than I ever had in my life. But then, as now, if we were to 
halt inflation, there was but one course. That was to hold the line. 
Today the government must say what it means and mean what it 
says. Exceptions cannot be made. Of course, there will be inequities. 
Inequities are a part of war. One boy is called to fight and die in 
Korea while another boy may live at home and make money. In 
time of war, if the Nation is to endure, there must be a spirit of 
sacrifice instead of a spirit of selfishness. 
The people who are called upon to make sacrifices are not made 
happy by the disclosure of disloyalty of an employee of the Atomic 
Energy Commission and by the shocking disclosures before the Senate 
Committee investigating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. 
Worse than the loss of money is the loss of confidence in the honesty 
of men >Ylw have occupied responsible positions in government. There 
is no excuse for the existence of the organization. 
V/hy should your government lend public funds to manufacture 
automobiles and farbricated houses or to build tourist hotels in 
Florida? 
A man can borrow money from the banks and private investors 
proYidecl he has character and collateral. If he does not possess them, 
he should not be loaned your money. 
In March, 1945, I expressed this view to President Roosevelt. In 
his administration the RFC had been wisely administered by Jesse 
Jones. But President Roosevelt realized the danger. He said it had 
served its purpose and when peace was restored it should be liqui-
dated. He did not live to liquidate it. 
Because of the war situation. it may be necessary to make loans to 
a fe\\. manufacturers producing weapons of war. But these can be 
made by Charles E. Wilson, Defense Mobilizer, whp has the con-
fidence of the people. The Congress should promptly enact legislation 
to liquidate the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. 
I want to make clear that while I disagree with the administration 
about some domestic policies, I am not criticizing its foreign policies. 
8 
I heartily favor the defense program. I heartily favor the administra-
tion's policy of sending troops to Europe. I think we should accept 
the judgment of General Eisenhower as to the number of troops we 
should contribute to the Army of Freedom. I am willing also to ac-
cept his judgment that the governments of Western Europe are 
showing a willingness to fight for their freedom. 
I would make even further overtures to Yugoslavia and to Spain. 
They have armies on the field, not merely on paper. I would also 
accept in that Army of Freedom troops from Western Germany. If 
Stalin should determine to make war on Western Europe, that great 
industrial people could not remain neutral even if they ·wished to do 
so. Western Germany will be with us or with the Soviets. I want 
them with us. 
Upon the cessation of hostilities we promptly returned the German 
prisoners of war. Later France and Britain returned theirs. The 
Soviets failed to return approximately a million German prisoners 
of war to their homes. Those German soldiers are working as slaves 
in Russia or have died while working as slaves. They'-constitute a 
million reasons why the Germans would prefer to serye in Eisen-
hower's Army of Freedom. 
We must say to our friends in \Nestern Europe that if American 
boys are going to risk their lives in defense of Western Europe, we 
want them to have the help of every soldier who is willing to fight 
against the godless communists of Russia. 
I do not believe that a world war is inevitable. On the contrary, 
if we remain strong, military and economically, I believe there \\·ill 
be no war, certainly not for a long time to come. 
We must remain strong, not only militarily and economically, but 
spiritually. "In God we Trust" must be engraved in our hearts as 
well as on our coins. We must pray that the war in Korea shall come 
to an encl. We must pray that we shall never have another \Vorld 
War. But if, notwithstanding our prayers and our efforts. that mis-
fortune should come to the world, the people of the Carolinas will 
be found sacrificing, fighting and dying for Anwrica, the land we love. 


Address of the Honorable James F. Byrnes, governor of South Carolina, to the North Carolina Citizens Association, Raleigh, N.C.

(b 14(,. 2.ft22 I q ~ y'j f .................................................................................................................................................................................... ! Ccp\j \ ADDRESS of MAY 1 8 1992 STATE DOCUMEN THE HONORABLE JAMES F. BYRNES Governor of South Carolina to the North Carolina Citizens Association l ! ~ ~ ~ ~ l RALEIGH, N. c. I i Wednesday, March 14, 1951 ~ I I ,;•"•''·''""·"·''•''•"•"•"·'"''·"·"·''•''"''"'""•''•'"'""•"•''•''•'"''·''·''·''·''•''•'"''""•"•''•''•"·''•''•"•"•''·''''""•"•''''''''·"·"·'"''•'h"·'""•''~· ADDRESS of THE HONORABLE JAMES F. BYRNES Governor of South Carolina to the North Carolina Citizens Association RALEIGH, N. C. Wednesday, March 14, 1951 ADDRESS OF JAMES F. BYRNES, GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA, TO THE NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS ASSOCIATION AT RALEIGH, N. C., AT 8 P. M., ON MARCH 14, 1951 The people of the two Carolinas have somewhat the same ancestry and history. Throughout their history they have shown their devo-tion to the Spirit of Independence. It was the love of liberty that inspired them to fight at Kings Mountain and Fort Sumter. It is the love of liberty that today inspires their sons to deeds of heroism in Korea. Their ancestors, the men and women who came to .settle the prov-ince of Carolina, came not to establish a government. Their real mo-tive was to escape government. Many of them had suffered from the exercise of concentrated power. In that day power was concentrated in a King. Power centered in a bureaucracy can be equally as despotic as power centered in a King. As those early settlers increased in number, they realized some government was necessary and with great caution they distilled the experiences of mankind and adopted the Constitution with its Bill of Rights. North Carolina did not ratify the Constitution until it included that Bill of Rights. They wanted to make certain that the liberty they sought in this new world should not be surrendered to any gov-ernment. Those early settlers did not teach their children to seek security; they taught them to look for opportunity. They believed that liberty must be exercised by all individuals; that men cannot safely transfer their liberties to a few individuals to be held in trust for them. They were right. In this world of ours men must assume respon-sibility for their own welfare or they will have only such degree of welfare as may be bestowed upon them by those temporarily in power. Some people may be impatient with these views. They may regard them as old fashioned. They may argue that conditions have changed. That is true, but human behavior has not changed in its fundamentals. The failure of a man to stand on his own feet, to assume the re-sponsibilities of a man, and to discharge the duties of a man, will 2 weaken him now just as it did in the scorned "horse and buggy" days and in the early days of the Republic. If the age of our Constitution is to be held against the soundness of its fundamental principles, then what about the age of our relig-ion? If time invalidates truth in one field, will it not do so in other fields? Carolinians-North and South-have believed in the fundamentals of the Christian religion and have believed, too, in the fundamentals of the Constitution of the United States. Of course, there are people in other sections who scornfully refer to the South as the "backward South" and the "Bible Belt." As long as they couple the two, I do not seriously object, for I do not believe, after all, that a people who read the Bible and humbly try to follow in the footsteps of the Master are such a backward people. It was only a few years ago tha~ a Commission reported to the President of the United States that the South was "Economic Prob-lem No. 1." Some of the writers and politicians who then bemoaned our economic and politic plight, today are seeking legislation in their states to prevent the removal of industries to the Carolinas and other Southern States. We have reason to be proud of our progress in the Carolinas. Less than a century ago, because we believed in the preservation of the rights and powers of the States under the Constitution, we were at war with other states of the Union. We suffered disastrous defeat. At the end of four years the soldiers of the Confederacy returned to their homes l1aving lost all save honor and spirit. They had no equipment to operate factories or to cultivate farms. They had no labor. The slaves who had previously worked our farms had been freed. Unlike the Germans, Italians and Japanese, the defeated South received no Marshall aiel. The United States Government, however, did send an occupation army, guarding the right of the carpetbagger and the freed slave to administer government. Our cry of cruelty and corruption \\'as regarded by some in the North as the cry of poor losers, and by others, as a fate we deserved. But, as in all history, out of adversity there came strength. By our own efforts, we made progress even in the reconstruction period. And, to the glory of Southern women, be it said, we preserved the racial integrity of the white race. 3 The history of the Carolinas since the period of reconstruction is the story "From Rags to Riches." It is a Cinderella story. It is a true story. Years ago North Carolina achieved a balanced economy. You are still progressing in industry and in agriculture. In the last ten years the nw11ber of your manufacturing establishments increased approx-imately 70 per cent. It is amazing to learn that last year your farmers received in cash for their crops the sum of 750 million dollars. Now what of the future? No business man can answer that ques-tion because the answer is dependent upon what government will do. What the government will do necessarily is dependent in great de-gree upon what the Soviet government will do. But it does not de-pend entirely upon that. In time of war or of great business depression, it is necessary that unusual powers be granted to the federal government. When there is an end to war or depression, if we are to have the form of government under which we have lived and prospered for a century and a half, those powers must be returned to the States and the people. Experience has proved that is difficult to accomplish. Human be-ings love power. Seldom will they voluntarily relinquish it. A man can get drunk on alcohol and recover without suffering more than remorse and a headache but the man who gets drunk on power never recovers. Now because of war in the Pacific and the threat of war in Europe, we are conferring extraordinary powers upon the national government. We must do so. But every such grant should have a specified date for its termination. If at that time the necessity exists for its continuance, the representatives of the people in the Congress can be relied upon to extend such powers. If, however, there is no specified date of termination, I care not what political party is in power, legislation returning such powers to the States is apt to be vetoed and would require a two-thirds vote for enactment. I heartily favor the Administration's program to increase our mil-itary power in the air and on land and sea. In October, 1945, at the very first meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, I learned to my great disappointment, that the Soviets seemed more interested in expansion of their territory and power than in peace on earth. 4 \i\Then I moved to adjourn that meeting in London without ac-complishing anything, I stated that no agreement was better than a bad agreement. I realized how my statement would disillusion the peace-loving people of the United States. I realized, too, that demob-ilization by the point system had already taken from our army the men of experience so essential to a mechanized army. From that day to this, I have urged an increase in our appropri-ations for military purposes and a decrease in our non-military ex-penditures. However, others equally patriotic, but grossly mistaken, believed in spending more money for non-military purposes and little money for the defense of the nation. It took Korea to waken us to a true realization of our defenseless position. As we read the casualty lists, we know we are not engaged in a police action in Korea. We are engaged in a war. Vv e know, too, that we are threatened with war in Europe. We must not refuse to confer with the Soviet Republic with a view to avoiding a world war, but as we confer, we must always remember that peace depends not upon what is written in an agreement but upon what is in the minds and hearts of men. The Soviets will live up to an agreement only so long as it is to their advantage to do so. And · it will be to their advantage only so long as the United States is strong militarily and economically. From my experience with the Soviet representatives at many in-ternational conferences, I know they respect only force. Therefore, we must be strong in the air and on land and sea. Our rearmament will not provoke a war but our failure to rearm might well do so. It is my conviction that the only reason the Soviets have not started a war in Europe is because of our supply of atomic weapons. On one of my trips to Russia I saw the damage done by German artillery and air power to Russian cities. I saw the effect that de-struction had upon the minds of Soviet leaders. They realize the much greater destruction that would be wrottght by our atomic weapons. They realize, too, that if we have in Western Europe an army suf-ficiently strong to hold their foot soldiers in check for a time, we will have available the air bases from which to fly planes that would de-stroy, not only their supply bases, but their production facilities. Of course, the Soviets might likewise destroy some of our com-munities where are located plants producing weapons of war. For-tunately, however, our production is being decentralized. And with the protection afforded us by our air power and our navy, it will be · ~ t ·~, f l J ·~ ,. 5 a long time before the Soviets, with the air bases they presently have, could do any great damage to American production. It is the productive power of the United States upon which the free nations of the world rely for defense of their liberties. It is our productive power, as well as our atomic power, that will cause the Kremlin to hesitate to start a war in Europe. That is why we must remain economically strong. \Ve must not allow misguided or selfish people in our midst to do what Stalin cannot do-destroy our productive power. And the people of America must support those officials who are willing to tell the representatives of business and of labor that they cannot use this \\'ar situation to promote their selfish interests. The Congress has freely granted the appropriations recommended in the President's Budget for military purposes. I hope that with equal enthusiasm they will reduce the amount requested for non-military programs. In his Budget Message, the President recommended the enact-ment of legislation embarking upon new activities such as socialized medicine, the Branan Plan, Federal aiel for education, and the Civil Rights Program, including the FEPC. I hope the Congress will just forget these recommendations. These proposals will divide the people of the country at a time when unity is essential. Some of them would involve the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars. Others threaten local self-gov-ernment and threaten also the liberties of the individual. The people of America are willing to sacrifice even life itself to defend our liberties against communistic governments. But while making such sacrifices they do not want to have their government start on the road toward socialism. I hope. too. that the Congress will forget the administration's Point Four. the objective of which is to elevate the standard of liv-ing of all the peoples of the world. It is appealing to think of helping all mankind. Our people will always respond to an appeal for help to any people in an emergency. But common sense tells us there is a limit to what we can do. The taxpayers of this nation cannot adequately provide for the defense of this country, furnish military equipment to all governments that will resist the aggression of the Soviets; discharge our obliga-tions to our veterans, the poor and the aged, and at the same time 6 elevate the standard of living of the peoples of all the rest of the world. The freedom loving people of the world must remember that we fight and sacrifice to preserve their freedom as well as ours. They must remember, and we must remember, that if we fall or stumble there is no other government to which we can turn for financial help. There is no Marshall aid for us. We will be like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, "Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea. And never a saint took pity on my soul in agony." Our people must remember, too, that government has no money except that which comes from the pockets of the people or is bor-rowed. If borrowed, it must be repaid either by our taxpayers or by their children, who then would be made to suffer for the folly of their fathers. There is a vast difference between local governments borrowing to invest in schools or other improvements of permanent character and the national government borrowing to improve the standard of living of the people of the world. The United States government now owes approximately 260 billion dollars. During the fiscal year beginning next July first, if we do not have full scale war, our debt will increase an additional 13 billion dollars unless additional taxes are levied. If we have full scale war, of course, the increase will be greater. The market price of our bonds has been preserved by the Federal Reserve Board through its control of the issuance of currency. That is inflationary. It presents a terrific problem because if the price of our bonds should begin to drop, the holders will start to sell and accelerate the depreciation. Facing this situation, the people who urge that we embark upon new activities costing billions of dollars should be willing to with-hold their demands until we have first made secure their liberties. Because of the Korean war and the defense program, it is essential that the government enforce war-time controls. Last July when it became apparent that we were engaged in a war in Korea, a ceiling should have been placed on prices and wages. It was not done. Now it is a difficult task. It was not done at the beginning of World War II. When I be-came Director of Economic Stabilization, eleven months after we entered the war, I had the same difficult task that today confronts 7 Mr. \\'ibon and Mr. Johnston. Business men and farmers demanded increased prices. Labor demanded increased wages. Each group claimed their demands were necessary because of the increases re-ceived by the others. At my request, President Roosevelt signed the order known as the Hold-the-Line-Order. Of course, every group complained. They howled-they threatened. All of the leaders came to see me. I had more acquaintances and fewer friends than I ever had in my life. But then, as now, if we were to halt inflation, there was but one course. That was to hold the line. Today the government must say what it means and mean what it says. Exceptions cannot be made. Of course, there will be inequities. Inequities are a part of war. One boy is called to fight and die in Korea while another boy may live at home and make money. In time of war, if the Nation is to endure, there must be a spirit of sacrifice instead of a spirit of selfishness. The people who are called upon to make sacrifices are not made happy by the disclosure of disloyalty of an employee of the Atomic Energy Commission and by the shocking disclosures before the Senate Committee investigating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Worse than the loss of money is the loss of confidence in the honesty of men >Ylw have occupied responsible positions in government. There is no excuse for the existence of the organization. V/hy should your government lend public funds to manufacture automobiles and farbricated houses or to build tourist hotels in Florida? A man can borrow money from the banks and private investors proYidecl he has character and collateral. If he does not possess them, he should not be loaned your money. In March, 1945, I expressed this view to President Roosevelt. In his administration the RFC had been wisely administered by Jesse Jones. But President Roosevelt realized the danger. He said it had served its purpose and when peace was restored it should be liqui-dated. He did not live to liquidate it. Because of the war situation. it may be necessary to make loans to a fe\\. manufacturers producing weapons of war. But these can be made by Charles E. Wilson, Defense Mobilizer, whp has the con-fidence of the people. The Congress should promptly enact legislation to liquidate the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. I want to make clear that while I disagree with the administration about some domestic policies, I am not criticizing its foreign policies. 8 I heartily favor the defense program. I heartily favor the administra-tion's policy of sending troops to Europe. I think we should accept the judgment of General Eisenhower as to the number of troops we should contribute to the Army of Freedom. I am willing also to ac-cept his judgment that the governments of Western Europe are showing a willingness to fight for their freedom. I would make even further overtures to Yugoslavia and to Spain. They have armies on the field, not merely on paper. I would also accept in that Army of Freedom troops from Western Germany. If Stalin should determine to make war on Western Europe, that great industrial people could not remain neutral even if they ·wished to do so. Western Germany will be with us or with the Soviets. I want them with us. Upon the cessation of hostilities we promptly returned the German prisoners of war. Later France and Britain returned theirs. The Soviets failed to return approximately a million German prisoners of war to their homes. Those German soldiers are working as slaves in Russia or have died while working as slaves. They'-constitute a million reasons why the Germans would prefer to serye in Eisen-hower's Army of Freedom. We must say to our friends in \Nestern Europe that if American boys are going to risk their lives in defense of Western Europe, we want them to have the help of every soldier who is willing to fight against the godless communists of Russia. I do not believe that a world war is inevitable. On the contrary, if we remain strong, military and economically, I believe there \\·ill be no war, certainly not for a long time to come. We must remain strong, not only militarily and economically, but spiritually. "In God we Trust" must be engraved in our hearts as well as on our coins. We must pray that the war in Korea shall come to an encl. We must pray that we shall never have another \Vorld War. But if, notwithstanding our prayers and our efforts. that mis-fortune should come to the world, the people of the Carolinas will be found sacrificing, fighting and dying for Anwrica, the land we love. 

https://dc.statelibrary.sc.gov/bitstream/10827/2188/1/Governor%27s_Message_1951-3-14.pdf

Address of the Honorable James F. Byrnes, governor of South Carolina, to the North Carolina Citizens Association, Raleigh, N.C.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

South Carolina State Documents Depository

South Carolina State Documents Depository