The Pittsburgh Press (January 19, 1941)
The Gallup Poll –
54 MILLION AMERICANS READY TO VOLUNTEER HOUR A DAY OF TIME FOR DEFENSE EFFORTS
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Large reservoir of U.S. civilians want to help
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In Washington, this week President Roosevelt announced plans were underway for a “home-defense" program in which civilians would be able to take important voluntary parts. The following survey of public opinion was begun shortly before the President’s announcement. While much depends, of course, on the kind of program which is set up, and on the extent to which such a program can be organized in smaller towns and cities and outlying communities, today’s Gallup poll is striking evidence of the general public’s desire to take part.
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By Dr. George Gallup
Princeton, N.J., Jan. 18 –
The existence of a reservoir of U.S. defense power – the potential cooperation of millions of American men and women in voluntary, part-time defense work – is revealed today in a nationwide survey of public sentiment.
Thus far in America’s defense preparations chief attention has been focused on speeding industrial production, smoothing out the kinks in the mass production of guns, tanks, ships and planes, and ensuring the cooperation of business and labor in the gigantic American defense blueprint. But the present survey, just completed by the American Institute of Public Opinion, indicates that approximately 54 million men and women out of a total adult population of some 80 million are ready to sacrifice at least “an hour a day” from their own affairs to make the wheels turn faster.
Activities in which such voluntary civilian energies have been enlisted in Great Britain in recent months include home-guard training, small-plot farming, ambulance driving, first-aid, fire-fighting training, air-raid detection, nursing and so on. Many of these activities are familiar to Americans as a result of the experience in World War I.
To see how many Americans now think they would be willing to contribute voluntarily of their time in similar pursuits, the Institute asked a cross-section of men and women in each of the 48 states:
JANUARY 18
HOME DEFENSEWould you personally be willing to spend an hour each day training for home-guard, nursing, first-aid work, ambulance driving or other defense work?
Yes…. 67%
No…. 22%
No opinion…. 11%By Region
Yes No No opinion New England 70% 20% 10% Middle Atlantic 70% 20% 10% East Central 65% 25% 10% West Central 57% 25% 18% South 71% 18% 11% West 70% 20% 10%
To emphasize the voluntary unpaid nature of such work, the Institute put a further question to the same individuals – stating the same general idea in different form:
Would you personally be willing to spend five hours each week on some kind of defense work without pay?
Yes…. 66%
No…. 23%
No opinion…. 11%
What use the country makes of this potential reservoir of civilian energy depends, of course, on what crisis the United States may face in the months ahead. It also depends on the drafting of civilian programs, either officially or by citizen groups, in which such aid could be enlisted.
Confirms general mood
Yet the revelation of the public’s willingness to contribute time and effort is striking confirmation of the general mood of the American people as they enter 1941. Institute surveys have recently shown that the public is dissatisfied with the speed of defense preparations, that the great majority think both business and labor should think of defense first and wages and profits second, and that the average American is personally ready to dig into his pocket for considerable extra taxes.
Voters interviewed in the Institute survey generally had little comment to add to their categorical replies, amde few speeches. But there can be no doubt that the frequent remark, “It’s our job to do all we can” summed up the position of the average man or woman.
In New York City, a 28-year-old office worker thought that:
…defending democracy is the people’s job – there’s no one else to do it for them in the long run.
Willing to give time
The survey revealed virtually no differences whatsoever in the sentiments of the wealthiest and the poorest sections of the American public. Although capabilities and the amount of leisure differed somewhat from group to group, 66% of those in the upper-income group, 68% of those in the middle group and 66% in the lower group said they would be willing to volunteer their time.
Since many civilian defense occupations would be open to women, such as first-aid training, sewing and nursing, it is interesting to note that the question drew even more “yeses” from women than from men.
Yes No No opinion Men 66% 22% 12% Women 68% 22% 10%
If these figures are applied to the population, they indicate something like 27.5 million women and 26.5 million men saying they would be willing to give at least an hour a day for defense training.
According to Red Cross Chairman Norman Davis, more than 600,000 people – mostly women – are already enrolled in civilian assistance divisions of the Red Cross, and are now largely occupied with speeding clothing and medical supplies to war sufferers overseas.
One of the cardinal principles of American opinion today is, of course, that the United States should not engage in the wars in Europe and Asia as an active belligerent; in the most recent Institute survey on this question, reported Dec. 29 in The Press, only 12% said they would vote for war at this time. Nevertheless, without uniforms, bugles or fanfare a surprisingly large majority of Americans are willing to enlist their own time and effort toward “making America strong.”