the people, their shortsighted unwillingness to get down to hard work and to make the sacrifices that an intellectually honest analysis indicated as indispensable. Do we find within ourselves any evidence of a real willingness to work and to make real sacrifices?" Koehler questioned his audience. "The American Youth Congress inculcates an underlying mood of sullen rebellion in youth against their elders for failure to see to it, that the pleasant and easy-going conditions of these years are continued indefinitely. It would be to rely on the mood of a lot of spoiled children to rely on the youth of today even in part, for the defense of the country. No amount of external armaments can give us safety until first we are strong internally. We need sufficient force to ensure that our help will enable the British fleet completely to control the Atlantic Ocean. Until our planned two-sea navy is ready we should accept the idea that our front lines should not be on our own doorsteps, but close enough to those of the enemy to make the blockade really effective, and now." Addressing a musician's union local in January 1941, Koehler urged, "We've got to get in, the sooner the better for our defense." He warned that if Britain were defeated, the "problem" would be left with the United States. Calling Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor "one of the greatest leaders of this country", Koehler spoke of the importance of music in life. In one of his last public addresses on the "International Situation", given at Newport before a group of 250 at the "Monday Night Club" in April 1941, Koehler encouraged his audience that, "We as individuals will pour out our treasures until it more than hurts, but it will be worth it." He warned that America must make its stand clear on the lend-lease program, referring to it as a "magnificent gesture", and saying that in the First World War, the "altruism" of the United States was "not appreciated" and was overridden by the national and economic policies and the political expedients of Europe and the East. He called for a "definite policy this time, when the U.S. has the power to demand guarantees of future world stability." He noted that at the end of this war, (World War II) the world will either be totalitarian under Hitler or democratic under Britain.