No Appeasers They

To the oft-heard charge that appeasement sentiment is strong among tycoons, businessmen gave the lie this week. Sounding board for the nation's 35,000 top management men is FORTUNE'S Forum of Executive Opinion, and its fifth poll gave overwhelming evidence that U.S. executives want no part of Adolf Hitler or his New Order, believe their future is tied up with a British victory, see eye to eye with their old enemy Franklin Roosevelt on aid to Britain.

Key question in the current Forum concerned the consequences of a German victory over Britain. Only 8.5% of FORTUNE'S businessmen believed the U.S. could do business with a Hitlerized Europe on a pre-war basis; another 5.3% thought the nation could get along with Hitler without worrying much about attack, by switching to barter methods. A whopping 84.1% foresaw danger in degrees ranging up to outright disaster: 36.5% believed that the U.S. would have to adopt barter methods and maintain a costly military program; 22.6% believed the nation would have to arm at top speed for an eventual war with the Nazis; 25% believed every nation in the world would face continuous conflict and economic chaos.

On the question of defense, 40.3% wanted the arms program pushed full speed at any cost, taking precedence over business-as-usual. Another 50.3% wanted vigorous armament, but believed it could and should be attained with a minimum of disruption to normal domestic economy. Thus 90.6% favored a full defense program, disagreed only on how much it should be allowed to interfere with the normal economy.

Whatever businessmen have thought of President Roosevelt in the past, the Forum showed that they are strongly behind his foreign policy. Giving full or qualified approval were 71.9%, with only 17% disapproving. Verdicts on the foreign pol icy of other prominent Americans: Wendell Willkie (who has supported the President on this issue), 81.9% in favor, 11.6% opposed, rest noncommittal; Isolationist Charles Lindbergh, 31.4% in favor, 55.4% opposed; Isolationist Senator Burt Wheeler, 26.6% in favor, 55.4% opposed.

Also asked of FORTUNE'S Forum was an opinion on rearmament progress. Results: 50.2% believed the program was or soon would be in satisfactory stride; 34.7% thought it was "spotty" or seriously behind schedule. Critics listed these chief causes of delay: attempts by labor unions to exploit defense needs (named as a primary or secondary cause by 66.3%); Government methods of placing defense orders, notably red tape and labor restrictions (64.2%); long-standing lack of mutual confidence between Government and business (62.9%); shortages of production equipment like machine tools (56.3%); lack of reasonably adequate military planning (52%).

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