May 14, 1948
Mr. President of the Young Democrats, Mr. Chairman of the National Democratic Committee, distinguished guests, and Young Democrats:
It is a very great privilege for me to be here this evening, and it is a double pleasure to look down on so many smiling, shining faces, and to see so much enthusiasm among the Democrats.
You know, there are a lot of calamity howlers who have been going around over the country telling us a lot of things that are not so. The Republicans, you know, are expected to nominate a candidate for President. They are having a lot of trouble deciding on just who that candidate for President will be, and for just what he stands.
I am exceedingly anxious to see the Republican platform of 1948. You know, it has been their habit since 1936 of taking a few planks out of the old Democratic platforms and building a platform, and then saying, "Me too."
I want to say to you that for the next 4 years there will be a Democrat in the White House, and you are looking at him!
I was not mistaken when I said what I did about those bright, young faces here tonight!
You know, this great country of ours has been faced with emergencies, and it has been necessary to meet great causes. We have always succeeded in meeting them. That first one was in 1776, when the Republic was first conceived. In that year there was a great cause; and the people of the Thirteen Colonies met that situation. And then in 1787, when the next great crisis came, they met and constructed the Constitution of the United States, the greatest document of government that ever has been written--the foundation of this great republic.
It has been the custom of Democrats, since that Constitution was adopted, to meet the situations where the welfare of the common, everyday man has been at stake. Thomas Jefferson met that situation in 1801--the first people's candidate. Then old Andrew Jackson came along, and he took the United States Bank by the nape of the neck and threw it out of the city of Philadelphia. He was working in the interests of the common, everyday citizen. And Grover Cleveland met the situation in 1884 when he was elected, after a long period of Republican rule. Special privilege had become so well entrenched that it took a man of Cleveland's ability to throw the rascals out. And he did it!
And Woodrow Wilson came along with the New Freedom, and the ideal for world peace with the League of Nations to enforce it. And Woodrow Wilson went to his grave trying to show the people of this country what would be the best for their welfare, and their interest. One of the great Democrats of all history.
And then!--and then came "normalcy." Sick!--sick! a sick country, as the result of "normalcy." Twelve years of Republican special privilege rule!
And then it became necessary to meet the greatest financial crisis this country had ever faced. We came forth with one of the greatest leaders of all time: Franklin D. Roosevelt. He met that depression. He conquered it.
Then the world was faced with the greatest crisis in all history, and in 1939 Franklin Roosevelt met that crisis of the World War, and he met it in such a way that we have established a United Nations for the welfare of mankind, and for the welfare and the peace of the world.
And that United Nations is going to meet the ideals of which Woodrow Wilson dreamed for the League of Nations. And we are going to make it work!
What have the Republicans done in the last fifteen and a half years ?
They have been obstructionists. They spent most of their time while I was in the Senate--and I was there for 10 years--in obstructing progressive legislation that was for the welfare of the common man, and throwing bricks and mud at the greatest President that ever sat in the White House. That has been their record. And they haven't changed a bit! They haven't changed a bit! They were against social security. They were against TVA. They were against wages and hours. They were against a farm program.
I have often wondered what a so-called liberal Republican thinks. On election year they call him out and pat him on the back, send him around over the country to make speeches in support of a platform that he doesn't believe in--and just as soon as the election is over, they put him back in the doghouse, and he votes for the Democrats for the rest of the time.
I just wonder how this Republican Party is going to the country on rent control, and on housing, and on prices ?
Way back in 1945 I began making suggestions that we should release the price controls as production caught up with demand, and that in order to meet a situation which might develop into a price spiral that would cause inflation in this great Nation of ours, we should be very careful as to how we managed the release of those price controls.
Well, my advice was not followed. And if you will examine the costs of your market basket today, and examine it in 1946 when the price controls were lifted, you will find out exactly what I mean when I say that the Democratic administration was looking after the welfare of the Nation as a whole, and looking after the economy of this country-as it still is right now!
I have gone back time and again to this Republican Congress and pointed out to them the necessities for certain powers which the President should have. I don't know what they think of the President, but they are not willing to trust him with the necessary powers to meet the situations with which we are faced.
We have done one thing, however, with this United Nations program. We have a united country behind that program. That is not a political issue. And I pray God that it never will become a political issue. Political issues ought to end at the water's edge, as I have said time and again. And I am trying to impress you Young Democrats with that very thing. The welfare of this country is at stake in the policy which we follow, and that policy is the foreign policy of the United States, and that foreign policy is centered in the United Nations in New York City, in the support of the United Nations and in the European recovery program-which means that the free nations of the world shall remain free nations of the world. And that is the foreign policy of the United States.
The Republican platform of 1944 made the statement that they were for a strong Labor Department, and that they intended to see, if they got control of the Congress of the United States, that the Labor Department should have all the powers necessary for dealing with labor.
Well now, what has happened ?
They have emasculated the Labor Department. They have cut its appropriations to such a point that there might as well not be a Labor Department.
Let me give you just two instances of how the Republicans have "strengthened" the Labor Department, and how they have taken care of labor, of whom they think so much in election year but think not very much of when it comes to legislation.
They cut the appropriation of the United States Employment Service to a point where it can't properly function for the welfare of those veterans who are coming out of school and need jobs. And they have done something else that is almost ludicrous. They have taken the appropriation away from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And you know why they did that? They got tired of seeing the facts as to what the prices are doing to the country. They are not satisfied to take the brakes off prices, but they tore the speedometer out of the car so they couldn't see how fast they were going.
I wish I had time this evening--I am limited on this air broadcast--I wish I had time to tell you all the things that have taken place since this Republican Congress took control of the country, January 3d, 1946. I wish I could explain to you how they have bungled the budget in every particular. I wish I could explain to you how they have hampered the enforcement of the law, how they made a phony cut in the Treasury Department. They took $900 million out of the Treasury appropriation, which was to be used to pay back the taxes that were overpaid. You know what they had to do the other day? They had to make an appropriation of $850 million to meet that situation, and they have to make another $850 million to meet this phony tax cut they made the other day!
I could go on all evening and tell you instance after instance of the great administrative ability of this Congress which has been trying to take over the powers of the President. So long as I am there, they are not going to get them!
What does the country really want?
Does the country want an administration under Republican control working for special interests, for higher prices, for greater profits, for fewer jobs, which will eventually end in boom and bust--the regular Republican program? Or does it want to go along with the Democratic administration, which is looking to the welfare of the country as a whole, which is willing to assume leadership where leadership is necessary, an administration which is willing to look out for the welfare of the common people, as the Democratic Party has always done?
You Young Democrats, as your president here told you a few minutes ago, must see the light, and you must see that the people of this country see the light.
Oh, I wish we had an Isaiah or a Martin Luther to lead us out of this moral despond into which we have fallen. I wish we could bring forth the political leaders from you Young Democrats who could preach the gospel of the welfare of the country first, and special interest never!
That is what we need, my friends, and that is what we must have.
That is what the Democratic Party stands for, and on November 2, 1948, the people of this country will have a chance to make that choice.
It is up to you!
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:30 p.m. at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. In his opening words he referred to Roy G. Baker, President of the Young Democrats, and to Senator J. Howard McGrath of Rhode Island, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The remarks were carried on a nationwide radio broadcast.
Mr. President of the Young Democrats, Mr. Chairman of the National Democratic Committee, distinguished guests, and Young Democrats:
It is a very great privilege for me to be here this evening, and it is a double pleasure to look down on so many smiling, shining faces, and to see so much enthusiasm among the Democrats.
You know, there are a lot of calamity howlers who have been going around over the country telling us a lot of things that are not so. The Republicans, you know, are expected to nominate a candidate for President. They are having a lot of trouble deciding on just who that candidate for President will be, and for just what he stands.
I am exceedingly anxious to see the Republican platform of 1948. You know, it has been their habit since 1936 of taking a few planks out of the old Democratic platforms and building a platform, and then saying, "Me too."
I want to say to you that for the next 4 years there will be a Democrat in the White House, and you are looking at him!
I was not mistaken when I said what I did about those bright, young faces here tonight!
You know, this great country of ours has been faced with emergencies, and it has been necessary to meet great causes. We have always succeeded in meeting them. That first one was in 1776, when the Republic was first conceived. In that year there was a great cause; and the people of the Thirteen Colonies met that situation. And then in 1787, when the next great crisis came, they met and constructed the Constitution of the United States, the greatest document of government that ever has been written--the foundation of this great republic.
It has been the custom of Democrats, since that Constitution was adopted, to meet the situations where the welfare of the common, everyday man has been at stake. Thomas Jefferson met that situation in 1801--the first people's candidate. Then old Andrew Jackson came along, and he took the United States Bank by the nape of the neck and threw it out of the city of Philadelphia. He was working in the interests of the common, everyday citizen. And Grover Cleveland met the situation in 1884 when he was elected, after a long period of Republican rule. Special privilege had become so well entrenched that it took a man of Cleveland's ability to throw the rascals out. And he did it!
And Woodrow Wilson came along with the New Freedom, and the ideal for world peace with the League of Nations to enforce it. And Woodrow Wilson went to his grave trying to show the people of this country what would be the best for their welfare, and their interest. One of the great Democrats of all history.
And then!--and then came "normalcy." Sick!--sick! a sick country, as the result of "normalcy." Twelve years of Republican special privilege rule!
And then it became necessary to meet the greatest financial crisis this country had ever faced. We came forth with one of the greatest leaders of all time: Franklin D. Roosevelt. He met that depression. He conquered it.
Then the world was faced with the greatest crisis in all history, and in 1939 Franklin Roosevelt met that crisis of the World War, and he met it in such a way that we have established a United Nations for the welfare of mankind, and for the welfare and the peace of the world.
And that United Nations is going to meet the ideals of which Woodrow Wilson dreamed for the League of Nations. And we are going to make it work!
What have the Republicans done in the last fifteen and a half years ?
They have been obstructionists. They spent most of their time while I was in the Senate--and I was there for 10 years--in obstructing progressive legislation that was for the welfare of the common man, and throwing bricks and mud at the greatest President that ever sat in the White House. That has been their record. And they haven't changed a bit! They haven't changed a bit! They were against social security. They were against TVA. They were against wages and hours. They were against a farm program.
I have often wondered what a so-called liberal Republican thinks. On election year they call him out and pat him on the back, send him around over the country to make speeches in support of a platform that he doesn't believe in--and just as soon as the election is over, they put him back in the doghouse, and he votes for the Democrats for the rest of the time.
I just wonder how this Republican Party is going to the country on rent control, and on housing, and on prices ?
Way back in 1945 I began making suggestions that we should release the price controls as production caught up with demand, and that in order to meet a situation which might develop into a price spiral that would cause inflation in this great Nation of ours, we should be very careful as to how we managed the release of those price controls.
Well, my advice was not followed. And if you will examine the costs of your market basket today, and examine it in 1946 when the price controls were lifted, you will find out exactly what I mean when I say that the Democratic administration was looking after the welfare of the Nation as a whole, and looking after the economy of this country-as it still is right now!
I have gone back time and again to this Republican Congress and pointed out to them the necessities for certain powers which the President should have. I don't know what they think of the President, but they are not willing to trust him with the necessary powers to meet the situations with which we are faced.
We have done one thing, however, with this United Nations program. We have a united country behind that program. That is not a political issue. And I pray God that it never will become a political issue. Political issues ought to end at the water's edge, as I have said time and again. And I am trying to impress you Young Democrats with that very thing. The welfare of this country is at stake in the policy which we follow, and that policy is the foreign policy of the United States, and that foreign policy is centered in the United Nations in New York City, in the support of the United Nations and in the European recovery program-which means that the free nations of the world shall remain free nations of the world. And that is the foreign policy of the United States.
The Republican platform of 1944 made the statement that they were for a strong Labor Department, and that they intended to see, if they got control of the Congress of the United States, that the Labor Department should have all the powers necessary for dealing with labor.
Well now, what has happened ?
They have emasculated the Labor Department. They have cut its appropriations to such a point that there might as well not be a Labor Department.
Let me give you just two instances of how the Republicans have "strengthened" the Labor Department, and how they have taken care of labor, of whom they think so much in election year but think not very much of when it comes to legislation.
They cut the appropriation of the United States Employment Service to a point where it can't properly function for the welfare of those veterans who are coming out of school and need jobs. And they have done something else that is almost ludicrous. They have taken the appropriation away from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And you know why they did that? They got tired of seeing the facts as to what the prices are doing to the country. They are not satisfied to take the brakes off prices, but they tore the speedometer out of the car so they couldn't see how fast they were going.
I wish I had time this evening--I am limited on this air broadcast--I wish I had time to tell you all the things that have taken place since this Republican Congress took control of the country, January 3d, 1946. I wish I could explain to you how they have bungled the budget in every particular. I wish I could explain to you how they have hampered the enforcement of the law, how they made a phony cut in the Treasury Department. They took $900 million out of the Treasury appropriation, which was to be used to pay back the taxes that were overpaid. You know what they had to do the other day? They had to make an appropriation of $850 million to meet that situation, and they have to make another $850 million to meet this phony tax cut they made the other day!
I could go on all evening and tell you instance after instance of the great administrative ability of this Congress which has been trying to take over the powers of the President. So long as I am there, they are not going to get them!
What does the country really want?
Does the country want an administration under Republican control working for special interests, for higher prices, for greater profits, for fewer jobs, which will eventually end in boom and bust--the regular Republican program? Or does it want to go along with the Democratic administration, which is looking to the welfare of the country as a whole, which is willing to assume leadership where leadership is necessary, an administration which is willing to look out for the welfare of the common people, as the Democratic Party has always done?
You Young Democrats, as your president here told you a few minutes ago, must see the light, and you must see that the people of this country see the light.
Oh, I wish we had an Isaiah or a Martin Luther to lead us out of this moral despond into which we have fallen. I wish we could bring forth the political leaders from you Young Democrats who could preach the gospel of the welfare of the country first, and special interest never!
That is what we need, my friends, and that is what we must have.
That is what the Democratic Party stands for, and on November 2, 1948, the people of this country will have a chance to make that choice.
It is up to you!
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:30 p.m. at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. In his opening words he referred to Roy G. Baker, President of the Young Democrats, and to Senator J. Howard McGrath of Rhode Island, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The remarks were carried on a nationwide radio broadcast.