Philadelphia convention sets record; G. E. president challenges industry

Marning his listeners that the American free-enterprise system — in fact the whole democratic way of life — is in imminent peril of being lost in one way or another through the present world-wide upheaval, Charles E. Wilson, president of the General Electric Company, speaking January 29, at the 1941 AIEE winter convention, urged prompt, thoughtful, and courageous action by American industry and all liberty-loving individuals. Mr. Wilson urged realistically that the mirage of the hoped-for “return of normal times” be discarded as a goal, before it has led its self-blinded followers too far, and he challengingly presented as a basis for discussion a proposed program of step-by-step action for a more probable future. The full text of this thought-provoking address appears elsewhere in this issue.