That is the main thing that I saw on my trip around the country--unbeatable spirit."

Forgotten were the ill tempers of the first day at his desk (TIME, Oct. 12), when the shock of returning from the open spaces to bureau-cramped Washington led the President to lash at Congress, the press and his own officials. Only for the press and radio did he reserve a few lingering words of sarcasm: "I can say one thing about our [military] plans: they are not being decided by the typewriter strategists. . . ." He served notice that his future trips would be veiled in the same censorship which the press had objected to in this one.

Otherwise Franklin Roosevelt was in a fine, mellow mood. He had glowing praise now for the speed with which Congress had passed his anti-inflation bill. He had kudos for the Selective Service system and his military advisers. And he gallantly assured American women that the old saws about female curiosity were a canard: "The first people to look up from their work were the men--and not the women. It was chiefly the men who were arguing whether that fellow in the straw hat was really the President or not."

Although this was not a major policy speech, the President did touch on a few issues:

18-Year-Olds. "I believe that it will be necessary to lower the present minimum age limit for Selective Service from 20 years down to 18. We have learned how inevitable that is--and how important to the speeding up of victory."

Manpower Draft. "We shall be compelled to stop workers from moving from one war job to another as a matter of personal preference; to stop employers from stealing labor from each other; to use older men, and handicapped people, and more women. . . ."

But the President was not yet ready to make this final wrench in American life. He talked now of "voluntary" methods, with only the warning: "It may be that all of our volunteer effort--however well intentioned and well-administered--will not suffice to solve the problem. In that case we shall have to adopt new legislation. ..."

Second Front. "Many major decisions of strategy have been made. One of them --on which we have all agreed--relates to the necessity of diverting enemy forces from Russia and China to other theaters of war by new offensives against Germany and Japan. An announcement of how these offensives are to be launched, and when, and where, cannot be broadcast. . . ."

War Aims. "There are a few people in the country who, when the collapse of the Axis begins, will tell our people that we are safe once more; that we can tell the rest of the world to stew in its own juice . . . that the future of civilization can jolly well take care of itself insofar as we are concerned.

"But it is useless to win battles if the cause for which we fought those battles is lost.

"We, therefore, fight for the restoration and perpetuation of faith and hope throughout the world. . . . We are united in seeking the kind of victory that will guarantee that our grandchildren can grow and, under God, may live their lives, free from the constant threat of invasion, destruction, slavery and violent death."

The President also:

>Welcomed Ethiopia as the 30th United Nation.

>Received the new Chinese Ambassador, short, smiling, 45-year-old Dr. Wei Tao-Ming. Said Dr. Wei: "China must--and China certainly wants to--start an offensive, an offensive that cannot be started without adequate supplies and the complete cooperation of the United States. Such an offensive, I am fairly convinced, would end the War of the Pacific in a year or less."

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