This is the kind of service in which all good Americans can join, for the guns have been taken out of industrial preparedness. It is not the kind of task prosperous Americans looking for appreciation will like. It is singularly devoid of the pleasures of the footlight and applause; it cannot be done by a committee meeting or sending a check; it is not to be accomplished by “interest” or spasmodic work. It means a full day’s work in the regular task at which each man earns a living, to which is added the overhead charge of Americanism and nationalism. I am convinced that no other service or method will make America again unashamed. We may fairly conclude that the real matter with America is that as a nation it has not achieved within itself a permanent national consciousness. It has no clear conception of its national power or its responsibility, having conformed too largely to the wishes of local governments and their representatives. The Congressman still represents, not America, but his district. This is illustrated by the retention of useless army posts and state militia doing police duty. The prevailing conditions in our political world have failed to make the Federal government master of its own resources and forces and the director of its own destinies. We are still propagandists occupying the field of debate on matters of preparedness. We are relying on the presidential campaign--the heat of battle, as usual--to tell us where “we are at,” after nearly two years of world conflict. America’s selfish preoccupation, its own growth and prosperity, have commercialized national sensibility. Our war-order prices show this. Citizenship has come to be the cheapest of its privileges and the football of politics. The country has been living unto itself while taking into its heart the outpouring of other nations. The American dollar has been the goal of success, and “Safety first” the national motto. Whether, in the absence of a great dramatic crisis, we shall attain that heroic spirit by which a nation is finally welded together remains to be seen. America needs nationalized vision and action. America needs universal service from each and every citizen. America needs to get together, to study itself, to have records of its needs and action, to organize, to plan, to standardize its efforts. America needs national incentives and national rewards outside of politics. America needs leaders who see its future in terms of international duties, Americanism, and efficiency--a synonym for preparedness.