Ready For It

The U.S. people are overwhelmingly convinced that Adolf Hitler is a menace to the Americas, and they are ready to fight Germany to stop him. But they are not sure what lands they are prepared to defend, or where they are willing to fight.

This is the sense of FORTUNE'S latest (August) survey, published this week. Unlike most other polls, FORTUNE'S did not attempt to present the issue in the one over-simplified question: "Do you favor war or peace?" Instead, FORTUNE sampled as many attitudes as possible on war, on strategy, on the peace that is to follow. Allowing for all these individual differences, FORTUNE still found that "the man on the street . . . has come to believe that war is necessary. . . ."

Since December 1939, when only 2.5% of the people wanted war at once, only 17.2% were willing to fight at all, war sentiment has steadily risen. Today only 16.3% are against any warlike move at all. Eliminating the 7.6% who "have no opinion," more than 58% are ready to accept armed intervention, if necessary, to defeat Hitler. More than 76% are willing to follow President Roosevelt's foreign policy, even if it leads to war.

How Far? To find out how far the biggest group (41.3% who said they would "back England until Hitler is beaten") are now willing to go, FORTUNE asked them what steps they would approve of taking. More than 89% of this group would agree to use the U.S. Navy, nearly 87% would use the air forces. More than 69% would use the U.S. Army. Including those who are for going to war regardless, these figures mean that 55% of the population who have definite opinions are ready to risk some kind of shooting war at once.

Even among last-ditch, Lindbergh isolationists, 38% believe that Hitler will attack the Americas if he wins his war in Europe. Altogether, a solid 72% of the U.S. people think that Hitler will try to conquer the world. But the U.S. is not sure where its defense should begin. A bare majority (51.6%) would use force to defend Britain. A few more (59%) would fight to hold the Philippine Islands (see p. 11). But 83% would defend some part of South America, 67.7% would defend it all. More than 98% would fight for the U.S. itself.

What Sacrifices? If the U.S. goes to war, what hardships will its luxury-loving people endure with a good heart? FORTUNE found that almost 89%, men and women alike, will gladly give one day out of seven for home defense or Red Cross work. Nearly 79% will cheerfully labor 60 hours a week. The U.S. is willing to pay double the present taxes on liquor and tobacco (77.7%), will agree to cut its use of gasoline by one-third (74.5%).

But only 38% would support an income tax on small incomes ($500 a year) and 22.7% would actively oppose it. U.S. men are willing to be drafted for an expeditionary force abroad (53.3%) but their mothers (37-9%) and wives (26.7%) are not so willing. More than 36% of their womenfolk would accept an A.E.F. unwillingly; 22% of their mothers, 32% of their wives would actively object.

In their peace aims, U.S. citizens are most divided. The biggest group (36.7%) would like to see Germany made impotent forever. Only a few favor a Federal Union of the democracies (6.9%) or of the nations in the Western Hemisphere (5.7%). A sizeable 21.7% would like to see the U.S., without forming any ties, dominate the world in the interests of peace.

Said FORTUNE: "The U.S. may . . . be willing to fight. But for peace--not for a peace. And so the most interventionist findings the Survey has yet published prove also to be tenaciously isolationist."

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