October 8, 1952
[1.] PACIFIC JUNCTION, Iowa (Rear platform, 8:15 a.m.)
Well, I am happy to be back here in Pacific Junction once again. You know, I was here on my 66th birthday, back in May 1950. And I received a fine birthday cake. I understand you have running as the Democratic candidate for Congress this year the man who presented me with that birthday cake--here he is right here: Thomas J. Keleher. He will represent you well, and I hope you will send him to Congress.
And, I am very much interested in your fight for the governorship here in the great State of Iowa. You have a wonderful man running for that job in Mr. Loveless, and I am sure that you will take everything into consideration and put a Governor in the Governor's chair that you can trust.
This year your choice for President may well determine whether you and your children and grandchildren will enjoy peace in the world. I feel very deeply that the best way to preserve world peace and continue prosperity here at home is to elect Adlai Stevenson as President and John Sparkman for Vice President.
Now the Republican campaigners have been running around saying that the New Deal and the fair Deal have brought us a lot of problems. Along that line, somebody sent me a magazine here that discusses one of these problems. And it is most interesting. It is a slick Republican magazine called the farm Journal, and I am sure some of you read it. This is the issue of September 20, 1952. Right at the front of this issue there was an editorial--it was a Republican editorial--and it follows the line of the Republican campaign. It said things are just terrible in the country, that the country has gone to the dogs, all because of the present administration. "A change is needed," it says, "to rescue the Nation . . . from an administration . . . helplessly lost" . . . "groggy" . . . full of "intrenched ineptitude" . . . and so forth--just the usual thing you hear from a Republican orator.
This is very interesting, but a little later on, in the same issue of that magazine, you get a good illustration of what this "helpless, groggy, inept" administration of mine has done for this country.
On page 46 there is an article, and its title reads: "What To Do With Surplus Money." And it starts off by saying "for farmers, as for many others, the question of what to do with surplus cash is often a problem."
Now that certainly sounds like we have got the country in a terrible fix. We have created a new problem for the farmer: what to do with his surplus money. Then this magazine goes on to say, "Every farmer has plenty of uses for cash. He may buy additional land, if this seems necessary for more efficient operation, or for an investment. Debts can be reduced or paid off. Life insurance must be maintained, and a reasonable working cash balance kept on hand. His home should be well equipped and comfortable. But after these essentials have been taken care of, the working farmer often has cash remaining that should be earning something."
Yes, sir!--it sure is a tough life for the farmer after 20 years of helpless Democratic ineptitude.
If I remember correctly, I was up here in Iowa when there were so many mortgages being foreclosed you couldn't get in the courthouse. And the farmers got into the frame of mind to take things into their own hands--and some of them did.
Now I am going to tell you something, at Shenandoah, Iowa--which will show you that the condition now is--instead of the signboards in the courthouse corridors being lined with foreclosures that are going to take place this day or this week, there are no foreclosures. And if one did come up there would be so many buyers for the farm they would jump all over one another to get it.
And if you want to continue that situation of prosperity for the farmer, prosperity for the man who works and uses his hands, prosperity for business, big and little--where profits never were so great--you have the problem of voting in your own interest on election day, because you control the Government when you exercise your franchise. And if you do the right thing by yourselves, by your State, and by your country, you will go to the polls in November and vote for Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman, and the whole ticket--and we will have another 4 years of good government and prosperity for the farmers, the laboring man, and the businessman.
Thank you very much.
[2.] HAMBURG, Iowa (Rear platform, 9:10 a.m.)
Well, I am happy to be in Hamburg this morning. Back in 1948 I went up and down the State of Iowa, telling the people the truth about the terrible record of that 80th Congress. In fact, the Republicans are still twisting and squirming as they try to answer that speech I made in Dexter on that plowing contest day.
I just overlooked one important thing in 1948. I didn't come here to Fremont County. I really wished I had, because they tell me that I lost the county by only 60 votes. And I am sure the story in Fremont County is going to be different in 1952. But you are going to have to get out and work just as hard for the Democratic Party as the Democratic Party has worked for you. That is the way to get majorities. I know, because I have had a little experience in majorities.
Now you have got a good man running for Congress here in this district, and he gave me a prescription, which I think is an excellent one for everybody.
It says, "For. . .John Q. Public"--now this is on a regular drugstore prescription blank. Address... 7th Iowa Congressional District. New Congressman. . .Thomas J. Keleher. Dose . . . One Vote. Directions . . . Register before October 22, 1952. Vote on Tuesday, November 4, 1952. Doctor John Doe, the Voter."
Now that is up to you. That is a pretty good thing, and I am very sure that you will elect a Governor that you can trust in Mr. Loveless. He looks to me like he is going to make you a good Governor of Iowa; and I think he is going to be elected.
Now, the most important office in the world is the Presidency of the United States, and nobody knows that better than I do. We need a man who has integrity, respect for truth, and the wisdom and experience to carry us through these critical times.
The Democratic Party is offering you that kind of man, and I hope you will vote for him. The man is Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. For Vice President the Democratic Party has a real fighter for the common people-Senator John Sparkman. You couldn't vote for a better man.
I am going out to the fair at Shenandoah this morning, and I am going to read them a letter which recently came to the White House. That letter is so good, I thought maybe the folks here in Hamburg would like to hear it. I have known this fellow for 40 years.
It says, "Dear Truman." He didn't say, "Dear Mr. President." He said, "Dear Truman." Because he knows me.
"I am wondering when you might be on your way with some whistlestop talks to the voters of the western part of the country." This is dated September 4th. "When you do, I have some suggestions to shoot at the Republicans. They talk about deep freeze and mink coats, but they never mention Tea Pot Dome, 30-cent wheat, 10-cent corn, cent oats, 3-cent hogs, 3-cent cattle, 5-cent cotton, and the bank failures.
"Here is an instance where a man I knew well, shipped an old cow to the St. Louis market worth now from $150 to $200, but when she got to the market under Hoover, she had to send an SOS to her owner to send her 70 cents, as she lacked that much of paying her way. Well, the farmer didn't have the 70 cents"--that's the best part of it--"... the farmer didn't have the 70 cents, neither did any of his neighbors--so he rushed to the bank--he tried to get a loan of that much, but the bank failed before he got there .... So that poor old cow left the world owing 70 cents, and to this day it has never been paid.
"I was selling courthouse supplies and legal blanks at that period, and every billboard in the courthouse was plastered with farm mortgage sales. I had a tremendous business in that line, but the printing presses had a hard time filling such orders. Today you never see a farm sale under a mortgage. If so, there are a dozen buyers with the money to buy it.
"Now, do the farmers want a change back to those times?
"What about social security? Do those who are getting social security remember the speech Mr. Eisenhower made while president of Columbia University in which he stated the following"--and I state him verbatim-"'If all that Americans want is social security, why don't they go to prison where they will have a roof over their heads and food to eat and a bed to sleep in?' Now that is a fact, as printed in the Globe Democrat of St. Louis, a vicious partisan sheet."
Now I have been asking these people if they would rather go to jail than have social security. I don't believe they would.
"Never before are the farmers getting more for their products. Almost everybody has money on deposit in the bank and safely deposited.
"If I remember correctly, Mr. Eisenhower announced that he was doing nothing to obtain his nomination, but he did return to the States, shed his uniform and made one of the most vicious campaigns for the nomination, calling the Taft supporters in Louisiana and Texas and Mississippi robbers and thieves. If they were robbers and thieves then why aren't they now? If not then, did not Eisenhower conduct a dirty campaign? I don't think we ought to vote for a general for President."
Now that's an old farmer down here in the center of Missouri, and as I say, I have known him for 40 years.
Now, after hearing that letter, I don't think you can do anything else but vote the Democratic ticket. You will never get into the shape that fellow and the country did under Hoover.
Remember this, the people are the Government. You get the kind of government you vote for. And I hope that in your own best interests you will go to the polls on November the 4th, and vote for yourselves.
Vote for your best interests. Vote for the welfare of this country; and if you do that, you can't do anything but vote the Democratic ticket.
[3.] SHENANDOAH, Iowa (Address at Shenandoah County Fairgrounds, 12:40 p.m., see Item 285)
[4.] ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI (Rear platform, 4 p.m.)
Well, I am always glad to come here to St. Joseph, and I certainly appreciate this welcome. Like old times. Makes me feel like I am running for something out in Missouri.
I want to pay a special tribute to the Pony Express Band over there, although it was pretty hard to know what they were trying to do while you were cheering me.
I am very anxious to have you send a Democratic delegation to Washington. I would like to see you elect this young man, Robert O. Richardson, to the Congress. And of course, you are going to send Stuart Symington to the Senate.
For Governor, you know Phil Donnelly-he doesn't need any comments from me because he made you a good Governor once, and he will again.
Now, this year, the Democratic Party has two of the best candidates who have ever run for President and Vice President in Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman. I understand that the Governor will be here tomorrow, and that you will have a chance to take a look at him and listen to him. And you will like him--just as I do.
They are men of peace, who have worked with the organization which is the world's best hope for peace, the United Nations. They are trained in the arts of peace. Stevenson and Sparkman also understand that the prosperity of this Nation rests on the welfare of all groups--farmers, laborers, and white-collar workers, and not just on the special interests.
The Republicans are trying to make you forget the terrible shape the country was in when they were last in power.
I have here a photostat of a page from the Kansas City Star--December 22, 1932; and the headline, as those up front can see, reads: Hogs Rally to Three Dollar Level. 1932!-it was on December 22d. Hogs had rallied to a $3 level. Yes, they were coming back. They had been down. They were going up 30 cents a hundred when this was put out. Imagine that!--hogs rally to $3. Going from lights, 130-160 pounds--you people in St. Joseph all know what they mean by that, and so do I--$2.70-$2.90. Light weights, $2.75-$3. Heavy weights, 290 pounds up--$2.70-$2.85.
Now those were great times, if you remember. That was the Republican notion of a real, honest-to-goodness price rally. Going up to 30 cents a hundred, to $3. Wasn't that something? I'll say it was.
Well, if you want to get that back again, vote the Republican ticket. That was their idea of a proper Christmas present for the Corn Belt farmers back there in 1932. No wonder some farmers of those days found it more profitable to burn their corn for fuel than feed it to the hogs. I just can't imagine hogs rallying to $3. I was somewhat interested in it myself, because I had some hogs at that time.
We have come a long way since 1932, over the bitter opposition of the Republicans who have fought every measure to improve the conditions of the farmer. Farm incomes are up, and farm ownership is rising. Farm prices are firmly supported, and electricity has helped to take the drudgery out of life on the farm.
You know, the reason I am emphasizing the farm so much in this neighborhood is because St. Joseph and Kansas City and Omaha depend absolutely on the prosperity of agriculture for their own prosperity. It is kind of hard to make these economic royalists in charge of these newspapers believe that.
Prosperity, my friends, is not confined .to the farms. I have a clipping here from the St. Joseph-News Press of September 28th, with this headline. It says, "Business Is Looking Up All Over the Country." "Reports of good business broke out all over this week. The retailer is talking a record Christmas, and industrial operations were close to their best 1952 figures. Some hit new high spots in places that hadn't had them before." The article starts out with those things I have been reading to you, and it goes on to state, "Salesmen's order books were well filled, employment was high, some industries were looking for more workers."
Now, my friends, all the scolding and screaming the Republicans have been doing in this campaign will never live down the fact that your pocketbooks are doing fine. You know, that just gripes the Republicans to death. They hate to see the country prosperous under the Democrats--and they have been that way for 20 years.
Now then, what I am trying to do is to convince the people of this country that they have had the best situation that has ever faced the country, for the simple reason that there has been a fair distribution of the income of this country. The laboring man, the farmer, the little business and the big business have all had their fair share of the profits and the good things of life.
Now that is not Republican doctrine at all. I am trying to prove to the people that this country is not going to the dogs. It is on the way up, and it is going to continue on the way up if you have the right sort of policymakers back in Washington. That is the reason I am out on this campaign. I have been in elective public office for 30 years, and I have had to fight for every office I ever had, and I never had one I wanted but when I got it I didn't let them take it away from me.
Now I want to show the people of this country that I am grateful for what has been done for me. I have had everything politically that a man can ask for, and I am not like some of these birds, I am not going to run out on the party that made me. I am going to be a Democrat to the day I die, and I am going to fight for the Democratic Party as long as I live.
Now, if you want to continue the country in its present greatly prosperous condition, vote for your own interests in November. You know, you the people are the Government. You have the say as to who shall be in power in all the offices which run the Government, from the city, the county, the State, and the Nation. And when you don't exercise your franchise you have got nobody to blame but yourselves when you get bad government. And you get just what you deserve.
Now what I am urging you to do is to get up early on November the 4th and go down to the polls and get that ticket. Look at the top of the Democratic ticket, where that round circle is, put an X in it and put it in the box. And then go back home and know that you have voted to put Stevenson and Sparkman in, and that you are going to elect a Democratic Governor in Missouri and a Democratic Congress that will keep this country on an even keel for another 4 years. And you can go home and sleep all right that night, unless you want to stay up and listen to the returns.
[5.] SEDALIA, MISSOURI (Rear platform, 8:40 p.m.)
Well, this is a real treat for me. This is coming back home, sure enough. You know, back in 1940 I opened the campaign for my reelection to the United States Senate right here in Sedalia. And the late Secretary of Labor was the man who made the speech for me, Senator Schwellenbach, of the great State of Washington, who afterwards became a Federal judge in that great State-President Roosevelt appointed him--and then I made him Secretary of Labor. And if you will remember, that 1940 campaign was a rough one, but we won it. It was like the 1948 campaign, and we won that. I always have had a soft spot in my heart for Sedalia. It's just like my hometown, because I feel like that campaign of 1940, which originated here, finally got me into more trouble than any man has ever been in before or since.
You people all know me pretty well, because you have seen me through some hard campaigns. But the one this year is the most important and most serious of my life. The whole future of this great country of ours may hang upon a Democratic victory this fall.
And that is why I am making this trip, working as hard as I can to elect the Democratic ticket. I am very grateful to the Democratic Party for what it has done for me. I am not like a lot of fellows, after he has had everything he can possibly get out of his party, I stay with it--and I am going to stay with it all the rest of my life.
I know all your candidates out here, and it is a good team. I hope you will put them in on November the 4th. I have known Stuart Symington for years and years, and I think very highly of him. He will make a good Senator. And I know Morgan Moulder, who has been one of the best Congressmen that ever has come to Washington. You won't make any mistake by keeping him there because he is in the position now where he can do some real good.
You don't need anybody to tell you about Phil Donnelly. He served one successful term as Governor, and he will make a good Governor again for the great State of Missouri.
This is a hard election--the toughest I can remember. And one of the reasons is that the Republicans are trying every trick in the book to win. They are trying to lie their way to victory. They are trying to buy their way to victory. They are pouring out money. I am told their candidate for President has an advance party of 60 people-and two of them do nothing but handle the confetti concession.
It would be nice to have all that money to spread around, but I am just as glad as I can be that the Democratic Party hasn't got it. I have never been in a campaign yet where money won it. It's the man himself that wins campaigns, and the right man will always win, money or no money.
The Republicans have to pay too high a price, and it isn't worth it. The Republicans get all this money from the big interests and big lobbies--the banks, the power lobby, the real estate lobby, the oil lobby, and all the rest. Naturally, since those people foot the bill, they expect service in return. And they certainly do get it from the Republican Party.
That party is owned body and soul by the lobby boys--and their record proves it.
One of the lobbies I am thinking about you might not even know about. That is the medical lobby--one of the least noticed of them all--but one that has put an awful lot of money into past Republican campaigns. Now this lobby does not include the overwhelming majority of devoted doctors in our country. Most of our doctors are the finest people in the world. The lobby doesn't really represent them. The medical lobby is nothing more or less than a small reactionary faction within the national leadership of the American Medical Association, plus a very slick public relations firm.
And what is the purpose of this lobby? It is very simple. The purpose is to keep all medical work in this country under the complete control of some rich doctors who want to decide for themselves how and when-and for what fee--our people shall pay for medical care.
There is a clique that has prevented the creation of new doctors in this country, and there never was a time in the history of the country when we were as short as we are now of proper medical care.
Now, this little outfit--this lobby--has been helping to subsidize the Republican Party for several years. And, as usual, they get good service for their money. Let me give you some examples--recent examples. In 1950, 58 percent of the Republican Congressmen voted against expanding our program to build hospitals with Federal aid. In 1951 the Republican Senators voted 9 to 1 to block Federal help to train more doctors-and there never was a time when we needed more doctors as badly as we do now. That same year they voted 4 to 1 against badly needed help for State and local public health units. And when I asked for an insurance program along the lines of social security, to help you to save to pay these doctor bills, the Republicans made a political football out of the whole thing.
Right now it happens that the medical lobby is just a bit embarrassed. You see, last year I set up a nonpartisan commission to go into the whole problem of the health needs in this Nation, including the cost of medical care. Some very fine and conscientious doctors are serving on that commission-and some good laymen, too. I told the commission to study the problem and come up with the best solutions. I said that I was not committed to any particular plan, but I did want to make some progress.
That sort of pulled the rug out from under the medical lobby. They tried to attack this commission in the meeting of the American Medical Association last summer, but their fellow doctors wouldn't go along. So this little group of reactionaries announced the other day that their work was ended.
Then you know what they did? They changed the sign on their office door, that's all they did, and now they are called the National Professional Committee for Eisenhower and Nixon.
It's the same crowd, with the same Republican affiliation, and the same purpose in life--with just a new name.
And they are hard at work trying to put their Republican friends over on us next November. I happen to have some evidence of that right here. I have a clipping from the Nashville Tennessean, dated September 26th, 1952. It shows the photostat of a letter dated 3 days before, on the stationery of a local Nashville doctor. Apparently this letter was sent to a lot of other doctors there, too.
The letter reads as follows--now this is the letter: "Dear Doctor. I have been asked as a member of Senator Nixon's Parade Committee to ask a few of my friends to drive their cars in the Nixon parade on Saturday, September 27. We want to count on you to be there, or if you can't participate to have someone come in your place. In order to make the best impression on the general public, we are asking that you use a small car if possible."
Use a small car if possible! Well, my friends, the Republicans have most of the big cars, I guess--and most of the big car vote-and they can keep it. We Democrats will be content to get the small car vote, from the genuine small car people--just as I have been saying that I am perfectly happy to have the Republican Party have the generals and the colonels in this campaign, but I will take the corporals and the privates, and win the election.
Now the Democratic Party has always been the party of the plain everyday man who drives a small car, because that is all he has--and that is the way our party will continue under Adlai Stevenson.
So, I urge you--just vote for your own interests now. You are the Government. It is you that controls the country, and when you don't exercise your right to vote and you get bad government, it is nobody's fault but yours, and you get just exactly what you deserve.
But if you go to the polls on November the 4th and do as I advise you: vote the Democratic ticket straight, here in the great State of Missouri; you will have good government at home and in Washington, and the world will be safe.
[6.] JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI (Rear platform, 10:10 p.m.)
I don't need to tell you how glad I am to be here. You have seen me in a lot of campaigns before, but I think this one is the most important one in which I ever took part. If I may be entirely frank with you, I am, if possible, more anxious that the Democratic administration should be continued this year than I was in 1948--and that's saying a lot.
I honestly believe that the whole future of this country, and the peace of the world, may depend upon a Democratic victory-- and that is why I am here. I think we have on the Democratic ticket in this State as fine a selection of men for the positions as we have ever had in the State's history. And, you know, I have been in State politics a long, long time--longer than I like to think about.
The candidate for Senator, Stuart Symington, I have known for many, many years. I think very highly of him. He will make a good Senator. He is familiar with the situation in Washington, and he will do a good job for Missouri. And I can speak from experience on that, because I was a Senator from Missouri one time myself.
Your Congressman, Morgan Moulder, is one of the best in the Congress. You can't get a better man for that position. I know you are going to send him back. And, of course, all of you know Phil Donnelly. He served capably and well as Governor of this State, and I know he will serve you well again.
I want you to go out and vote for the national ticket, too--Stevenson for President and Sparkman for Vice President. Adlai Stevenson is a skilled man and an experienced one. He knows a great deal about the art of civil government. He has convictions, and he is absolutely honest with himself. He is discussing the issues in this campaign, and talking sense to the American people. Listen to what he has to say, and you will know, as I do, that here is the man we want and need to be our President for the next 4 years.
There will be troubles in those years-and he is the one man to deal with them.
One of the most fundamental issues in this campaign is the great difference in outlook and approach between our two political parties. The Democratic Party has always been the party with a heart for the people-concerned about their wants and their needs. With us, the people come first.
With the Republicans, property and profits come first--ahead of the people. The Republican Party has a calculating machine where its heart ought to be. And the calculator only works for the big lobbies and the special interest organizations who pay the party's bills and call the tune.
Because our parties differ in this way, you will find a large majority of the Democrats in favor of programs that bring progress for the people. And usually a great majority of the Republicans will be lined up on the other side--against the people.
For nearly 2 weeks now, I have been going across the country telling the people how our two great parties differ on the issues that affect our daily lives. Here in Jefferson City I want to talk to you about one of the most important issues of all; that is, education in this country, and the proper part our Government should play in it.
I think most of you realize--those of you with children surely do--that the schools of our Nation are in trouble. It has been getting worse for years. Soon it will 'become a catastrophe, if we do not act to meet it fast.
We have had prosperity in this country for many years. The proportion of children attending school is higher than it ever was before in our history. High school enrollments are up 60 percent in 20 years. And with the birthrate up 50 percent since 1940, the total of school age children is climbing very, very fast.
This calls for a great expansion in the school buildings. But the building costs and maintenance costs have been increasing greatly in recent years--far beyond the budgets most school districts can afford.
Not only have building costs gone up, but living costs for teachers have risen also-while their salaries have lagged way behind. Teaching is so poorly paid in most places today, that literally thousands of potential teachers are being lost to other jobs.
The schoolteacher, my friends, is the most important asset, next to the mother of a child, that he has. The teachers of children in the lower grades--the primary grades-makes a greater impression on the children of the country than any other person with whom he comes in contact. And I speak from experience. I can still remember my first and second and fourth and fifth grade teacher--who made a tremendous impression on me--got me started in the right direction. And I will have to admit that I may not have ended up as well as I thought I should. But then they were not to blame for that.
But the importance of keeping the teachers in a financial position and an economic position where they can afford to continue to teach is one of the most important things in this country. And you will find that most teachers are people who have their hearts set on the rising generation, and they are not out for money--but they certainly ought not to be allowed to starve to death.
These are the factors that have combined to bring on the crisis in our schools: more children to teach, not enough schools to put them in, and too few teachers to instruct them.
Now, everybody recognizes that the education of our children is a job for the States to control--I don't know anybody who wants Federal control of education.
But the States and the towns and the cities are not equally equipped to meet the present crisis in their schools. It takes money to do that, a lot of money. Some States can scrape it together, others cannot. None of them has the reserves to do an ideal job. The poorest States can hardly get by at all.
The States have done a lot--taken altogether-and they deserve great credit for it. The volume of school building has never been higher than it is now. The same is true of teachers' salaries, on the average. But it still isn't enough, and it certainly isn't spread widely enough around the country. Some places have first-class schools, but too many others have substandard schools. And a lot of them are too poor to do much about it.
That is why I have tried, for 7 years, to start a program of Federal financial aid to all the States, in proportion to their needs. The Democratic platform of 1948 endorsed that program. Our party platform for 1952 states that the Federal Government must play its proper part in helping to carry the financial load of building schools and teaching our children.
Now, how have the Republican calculating machines responded to all this? They have mostly been against it, year after year.
Even Senator Taft, "Mr. Republican" himself, was unable to force through the Republican 80th Congress the Federal aid to education program he had borrowed from his Democratic colleagues.
In 1949 the present Republican candidate, then head of Columbia University, lent his prestige to the Republican Congressmen opposing Federal aid--and his action helped to defeat the bill. That was the famous occasion when Senator Morse, the liberal Republican from Oregon, called the candidate's views "sophomoric." Senator Morse also said, and I quote: "A background of leadership in military affairs is not, to my mind, the background for making pronouncements upon the public school system .... "
To what Senator Morse said, I can only add "amen."
As the crisis in our schools has deepened, the stand of the Republicans has actually grown worse, not better. In 1948 the Republican platform had the grace to favor "equality of educational opportunity." And that is a quotation: "equality of educational opportunity." That, at least, implied some form of Federal aid, since equality can be achieved no other way.
But now, in 1952 with the school crisis made more serious by inaction, the Republican platform, following the lead of the Republican candidate, states flatly: "The responsibility for sustaining this system of popular education has always rested upon the local communities and the States. We subscribe fully to this principle." In other words no Federal aid of any kind to help finance good schools.
That is an attitude which would condemn many of this country's children to poor education, or none at all--merely because of where their families live. The Republican policy is violently unfair. It is wrong. It is worse than wrong; it is just plain stupid!
Thomas Jefferson knew better, a long time ago. He said: "If a nation expects to be free and ignorant--it expects what never was and never will be."
That is just as right as it can be. The Republicans are always talking about freedom--but they take their stand on the side of ignorance, every time. And ignorance is freedom's worst enemy, and always will be. And that's the reason I'm a Democrat. There is no leadership, no forward vision in a party or a candidate that takes a stand like this.
You young people are vitally interested in that. You must, in making your decision of how you are going to work for the welfare and continuation of this Republic of ours, ally yourself with the party that believes in progress, a party that looks forward, a party that has ideas for progress, and not a party that is always looking back to 1896 and wishing for William McKinley to be President again. These are not people for you to trust. They are not people who understand your interests--or this country's interest.
And I say to you, don't trust them and don't vote for them. Vote for the party that has always worked for you and always will. Vote for men who have been great friends of education and the true friends of the people.
Now you are the fundamental basis of the Republic of the United States. The power of government rests in the people by the Constitution--the greatest document of government that ever was written. And it is your duty to exercise your prerogative as a voter to see that we have the right kind of government. When you don't go to the polls and vote, when you don't exercise that prerogative, and you get bad government, you have got nobody in the world to blame but yourselves--and you deserve what you get.
Now I say to you, on the 4th day of November, exercise your right. Go to the polls and vote for progress, vote for the welfare of this country for another 4 years, by putting Stevenson and Sparkman in the White House.
NOTE: In the course of his remarks on October 8, the President referred to Thomas J. Keleher, Democratic candidate for Representative, and Herschel C. Loveless, Democratic candidate for Governor, both of Iowa. He also referred to, among others, Robert O. Richardson, Democratic candidate for Representative, W. Stuart Symington, Democratic candidate for Senator, former Governor Phil M. Donnelly, Democratic candidate for Governor, and Representative Morgan M. Moulder, all of Missouri, Lewis Schwellenbach, Senator from Washington 1935-1940 and Secretary of Labor from June 1, 1945, until his death on June 10, 1948, and Senator Richard M. Nixon of California, Republican candidate for Vice President.
[1.] PACIFIC JUNCTION, Iowa (Rear platform, 8:15 a.m.)
Well, I am happy to be back here in Pacific Junction once again. You know, I was here on my 66th birthday, back in May 1950. And I received a fine birthday cake. I understand you have running as the Democratic candidate for Congress this year the man who presented me with that birthday cake--here he is right here: Thomas J. Keleher. He will represent you well, and I hope you will send him to Congress.
And, I am very much interested in your fight for the governorship here in the great State of Iowa. You have a wonderful man running for that job in Mr. Loveless, and I am sure that you will take everything into consideration and put a Governor in the Governor's chair that you can trust.
This year your choice for President may well determine whether you and your children and grandchildren will enjoy peace in the world. I feel very deeply that the best way to preserve world peace and continue prosperity here at home is to elect Adlai Stevenson as President and John Sparkman for Vice President.
Now the Republican campaigners have been running around saying that the New Deal and the fair Deal have brought us a lot of problems. Along that line, somebody sent me a magazine here that discusses one of these problems. And it is most interesting. It is a slick Republican magazine called the farm Journal, and I am sure some of you read it. This is the issue of September 20, 1952. Right at the front of this issue there was an editorial--it was a Republican editorial--and it follows the line of the Republican campaign. It said things are just terrible in the country, that the country has gone to the dogs, all because of the present administration. "A change is needed," it says, "to rescue the Nation . . . from an administration . . . helplessly lost" . . . "groggy" . . . full of "intrenched ineptitude" . . . and so forth--just the usual thing you hear from a Republican orator.
This is very interesting, but a little later on, in the same issue of that magazine, you get a good illustration of what this "helpless, groggy, inept" administration of mine has done for this country.
On page 46 there is an article, and its title reads: "What To Do With Surplus Money." And it starts off by saying "for farmers, as for many others, the question of what to do with surplus cash is often a problem."
Now that certainly sounds like we have got the country in a terrible fix. We have created a new problem for the farmer: what to do with his surplus money. Then this magazine goes on to say, "Every farmer has plenty of uses for cash. He may buy additional land, if this seems necessary for more efficient operation, or for an investment. Debts can be reduced or paid off. Life insurance must be maintained, and a reasonable working cash balance kept on hand. His home should be well equipped and comfortable. But after these essentials have been taken care of, the working farmer often has cash remaining that should be earning something."
Yes, sir!--it sure is a tough life for the farmer after 20 years of helpless Democratic ineptitude.
If I remember correctly, I was up here in Iowa when there were so many mortgages being foreclosed you couldn't get in the courthouse. And the farmers got into the frame of mind to take things into their own hands--and some of them did.
Now I am going to tell you something, at Shenandoah, Iowa--which will show you that the condition now is--instead of the signboards in the courthouse corridors being lined with foreclosures that are going to take place this day or this week, there are no foreclosures. And if one did come up there would be so many buyers for the farm they would jump all over one another to get it.
And if you want to continue that situation of prosperity for the farmer, prosperity for the man who works and uses his hands, prosperity for business, big and little--where profits never were so great--you have the problem of voting in your own interest on election day, because you control the Government when you exercise your franchise. And if you do the right thing by yourselves, by your State, and by your country, you will go to the polls in November and vote for Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman, and the whole ticket--and we will have another 4 years of good government and prosperity for the farmers, the laboring man, and the businessman.
Thank you very much.
[2.] HAMBURG, Iowa (Rear platform, 9:10 a.m.)
Well, I am happy to be in Hamburg this morning. Back in 1948 I went up and down the State of Iowa, telling the people the truth about the terrible record of that 80th Congress. In fact, the Republicans are still twisting and squirming as they try to answer that speech I made in Dexter on that plowing contest day.
I just overlooked one important thing in 1948. I didn't come here to Fremont County. I really wished I had, because they tell me that I lost the county by only 60 votes. And I am sure the story in Fremont County is going to be different in 1952. But you are going to have to get out and work just as hard for the Democratic Party as the Democratic Party has worked for you. That is the way to get majorities. I know, because I have had a little experience in majorities.
Now you have got a good man running for Congress here in this district, and he gave me a prescription, which I think is an excellent one for everybody.
It says, "For. . .John Q. Public"--now this is on a regular drugstore prescription blank. Address... 7th Iowa Congressional District. New Congressman. . .Thomas J. Keleher. Dose . . . One Vote. Directions . . . Register before October 22, 1952. Vote on Tuesday, November 4, 1952. Doctor John Doe, the Voter."
Now that is up to you. That is a pretty good thing, and I am very sure that you will elect a Governor that you can trust in Mr. Loveless. He looks to me like he is going to make you a good Governor of Iowa; and I think he is going to be elected.
Now, the most important office in the world is the Presidency of the United States, and nobody knows that better than I do. We need a man who has integrity, respect for truth, and the wisdom and experience to carry us through these critical times.
The Democratic Party is offering you that kind of man, and I hope you will vote for him. The man is Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. For Vice President the Democratic Party has a real fighter for the common people-Senator John Sparkman. You couldn't vote for a better man.
I am going out to the fair at Shenandoah this morning, and I am going to read them a letter which recently came to the White House. That letter is so good, I thought maybe the folks here in Hamburg would like to hear it. I have known this fellow for 40 years.
It says, "Dear Truman." He didn't say, "Dear Mr. President." He said, "Dear Truman." Because he knows me.
"I am wondering when you might be on your way with some whistlestop talks to the voters of the western part of the country." This is dated September 4th. "When you do, I have some suggestions to shoot at the Republicans. They talk about deep freeze and mink coats, but they never mention Tea Pot Dome, 30-cent wheat, 10-cent corn, cent oats, 3-cent hogs, 3-cent cattle, 5-cent cotton, and the bank failures.
"Here is an instance where a man I knew well, shipped an old cow to the St. Louis market worth now from $150 to $200, but when she got to the market under Hoover, she had to send an SOS to her owner to send her 70 cents, as she lacked that much of paying her way. Well, the farmer didn't have the 70 cents"--that's the best part of it--"... the farmer didn't have the 70 cents, neither did any of his neighbors--so he rushed to the bank--he tried to get a loan of that much, but the bank failed before he got there .... So that poor old cow left the world owing 70 cents, and to this day it has never been paid.
"I was selling courthouse supplies and legal blanks at that period, and every billboard in the courthouse was plastered with farm mortgage sales. I had a tremendous business in that line, but the printing presses had a hard time filling such orders. Today you never see a farm sale under a mortgage. If so, there are a dozen buyers with the money to buy it.
"Now, do the farmers want a change back to those times?
"What about social security? Do those who are getting social security remember the speech Mr. Eisenhower made while president of Columbia University in which he stated the following"--and I state him verbatim-"'If all that Americans want is social security, why don't they go to prison where they will have a roof over their heads and food to eat and a bed to sleep in?' Now that is a fact, as printed in the Globe Democrat of St. Louis, a vicious partisan sheet."
Now I have been asking these people if they would rather go to jail than have social security. I don't believe they would.
"Never before are the farmers getting more for their products. Almost everybody has money on deposit in the bank and safely deposited.
"If I remember correctly, Mr. Eisenhower announced that he was doing nothing to obtain his nomination, but he did return to the States, shed his uniform and made one of the most vicious campaigns for the nomination, calling the Taft supporters in Louisiana and Texas and Mississippi robbers and thieves. If they were robbers and thieves then why aren't they now? If not then, did not Eisenhower conduct a dirty campaign? I don't think we ought to vote for a general for President."
Now that's an old farmer down here in the center of Missouri, and as I say, I have known him for 40 years.
Now, after hearing that letter, I don't think you can do anything else but vote the Democratic ticket. You will never get into the shape that fellow and the country did under Hoover.
Remember this, the people are the Government. You get the kind of government you vote for. And I hope that in your own best interests you will go to the polls on November the 4th, and vote for yourselves.
Vote for your best interests. Vote for the welfare of this country; and if you do that, you can't do anything but vote the Democratic ticket.
[3.] SHENANDOAH, Iowa (Address at Shenandoah County Fairgrounds, 12:40 p.m., see Item 285)
[4.] ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI (Rear platform, 4 p.m.)
Well, I am always glad to come here to St. Joseph, and I certainly appreciate this welcome. Like old times. Makes me feel like I am running for something out in Missouri.
I want to pay a special tribute to the Pony Express Band over there, although it was pretty hard to know what they were trying to do while you were cheering me.
I am very anxious to have you send a Democratic delegation to Washington. I would like to see you elect this young man, Robert O. Richardson, to the Congress. And of course, you are going to send Stuart Symington to the Senate.
For Governor, you know Phil Donnelly-he doesn't need any comments from me because he made you a good Governor once, and he will again.
Now, this year, the Democratic Party has two of the best candidates who have ever run for President and Vice President in Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman. I understand that the Governor will be here tomorrow, and that you will have a chance to take a look at him and listen to him. And you will like him--just as I do.
They are men of peace, who have worked with the organization which is the world's best hope for peace, the United Nations. They are trained in the arts of peace. Stevenson and Sparkman also understand that the prosperity of this Nation rests on the welfare of all groups--farmers, laborers, and white-collar workers, and not just on the special interests.
The Republicans are trying to make you forget the terrible shape the country was in when they were last in power.
I have here a photostat of a page from the Kansas City Star--December 22, 1932; and the headline, as those up front can see, reads: Hogs Rally to Three Dollar Level. 1932!-it was on December 22d. Hogs had rallied to a $3 level. Yes, they were coming back. They had been down. They were going up 30 cents a hundred when this was put out. Imagine that!--hogs rally to $3. Going from lights, 130-160 pounds--you people in St. Joseph all know what they mean by that, and so do I--$2.70-$2.90. Light weights, $2.75-$3. Heavy weights, 290 pounds up--$2.70-$2.85.
Now those were great times, if you remember. That was the Republican notion of a real, honest-to-goodness price rally. Going up to 30 cents a hundred, to $3. Wasn't that something? I'll say it was.
Well, if you want to get that back again, vote the Republican ticket. That was their idea of a proper Christmas present for the Corn Belt farmers back there in 1932. No wonder some farmers of those days found it more profitable to burn their corn for fuel than feed it to the hogs. I just can't imagine hogs rallying to $3. I was somewhat interested in it myself, because I had some hogs at that time.
We have come a long way since 1932, over the bitter opposition of the Republicans who have fought every measure to improve the conditions of the farmer. Farm incomes are up, and farm ownership is rising. Farm prices are firmly supported, and electricity has helped to take the drudgery out of life on the farm.
You know, the reason I am emphasizing the farm so much in this neighborhood is because St. Joseph and Kansas City and Omaha depend absolutely on the prosperity of agriculture for their own prosperity. It is kind of hard to make these economic royalists in charge of these newspapers believe that.
Prosperity, my friends, is not confined .to the farms. I have a clipping here from the St. Joseph-News Press of September 28th, with this headline. It says, "Business Is Looking Up All Over the Country." "Reports of good business broke out all over this week. The retailer is talking a record Christmas, and industrial operations were close to their best 1952 figures. Some hit new high spots in places that hadn't had them before." The article starts out with those things I have been reading to you, and it goes on to state, "Salesmen's order books were well filled, employment was high, some industries were looking for more workers."
Now, my friends, all the scolding and screaming the Republicans have been doing in this campaign will never live down the fact that your pocketbooks are doing fine. You know, that just gripes the Republicans to death. They hate to see the country prosperous under the Democrats--and they have been that way for 20 years.
Now then, what I am trying to do is to convince the people of this country that they have had the best situation that has ever faced the country, for the simple reason that there has been a fair distribution of the income of this country. The laboring man, the farmer, the little business and the big business have all had their fair share of the profits and the good things of life.
Now that is not Republican doctrine at all. I am trying to prove to the people that this country is not going to the dogs. It is on the way up, and it is going to continue on the way up if you have the right sort of policymakers back in Washington. That is the reason I am out on this campaign. I have been in elective public office for 30 years, and I have had to fight for every office I ever had, and I never had one I wanted but when I got it I didn't let them take it away from me.
Now I want to show the people of this country that I am grateful for what has been done for me. I have had everything politically that a man can ask for, and I am not like some of these birds, I am not going to run out on the party that made me. I am going to be a Democrat to the day I die, and I am going to fight for the Democratic Party as long as I live.
Now, if you want to continue the country in its present greatly prosperous condition, vote for your own interests in November. You know, you the people are the Government. You have the say as to who shall be in power in all the offices which run the Government, from the city, the county, the State, and the Nation. And when you don't exercise your franchise you have got nobody to blame but yourselves when you get bad government. And you get just what you deserve.
Now what I am urging you to do is to get up early on November the 4th and go down to the polls and get that ticket. Look at the top of the Democratic ticket, where that round circle is, put an X in it and put it in the box. And then go back home and know that you have voted to put Stevenson and Sparkman in, and that you are going to elect a Democratic Governor in Missouri and a Democratic Congress that will keep this country on an even keel for another 4 years. And you can go home and sleep all right that night, unless you want to stay up and listen to the returns.
[5.] SEDALIA, MISSOURI (Rear platform, 8:40 p.m.)
Well, this is a real treat for me. This is coming back home, sure enough. You know, back in 1940 I opened the campaign for my reelection to the United States Senate right here in Sedalia. And the late Secretary of Labor was the man who made the speech for me, Senator Schwellenbach, of the great State of Washington, who afterwards became a Federal judge in that great State-President Roosevelt appointed him--and then I made him Secretary of Labor. And if you will remember, that 1940 campaign was a rough one, but we won it. It was like the 1948 campaign, and we won that. I always have had a soft spot in my heart for Sedalia. It's just like my hometown, because I feel like that campaign of 1940, which originated here, finally got me into more trouble than any man has ever been in before or since.
You people all know me pretty well, because you have seen me through some hard campaigns. But the one this year is the most important and most serious of my life. The whole future of this great country of ours may hang upon a Democratic victory this fall.
And that is why I am making this trip, working as hard as I can to elect the Democratic ticket. I am very grateful to the Democratic Party for what it has done for me. I am not like a lot of fellows, after he has had everything he can possibly get out of his party, I stay with it--and I am going to stay with it all the rest of my life.
I know all your candidates out here, and it is a good team. I hope you will put them in on November the 4th. I have known Stuart Symington for years and years, and I think very highly of him. He will make a good Senator. And I know Morgan Moulder, who has been one of the best Congressmen that ever has come to Washington. You won't make any mistake by keeping him there because he is in the position now where he can do some real good.
You don't need anybody to tell you about Phil Donnelly. He served one successful term as Governor, and he will make a good Governor again for the great State of Missouri.
This is a hard election--the toughest I can remember. And one of the reasons is that the Republicans are trying every trick in the book to win. They are trying to lie their way to victory. They are trying to buy their way to victory. They are pouring out money. I am told their candidate for President has an advance party of 60 people-and two of them do nothing but handle the confetti concession.
It would be nice to have all that money to spread around, but I am just as glad as I can be that the Democratic Party hasn't got it. I have never been in a campaign yet where money won it. It's the man himself that wins campaigns, and the right man will always win, money or no money.
The Republicans have to pay too high a price, and it isn't worth it. The Republicans get all this money from the big interests and big lobbies--the banks, the power lobby, the real estate lobby, the oil lobby, and all the rest. Naturally, since those people foot the bill, they expect service in return. And they certainly do get it from the Republican Party.
That party is owned body and soul by the lobby boys--and their record proves it.
One of the lobbies I am thinking about you might not even know about. That is the medical lobby--one of the least noticed of them all--but one that has put an awful lot of money into past Republican campaigns. Now this lobby does not include the overwhelming majority of devoted doctors in our country. Most of our doctors are the finest people in the world. The lobby doesn't really represent them. The medical lobby is nothing more or less than a small reactionary faction within the national leadership of the American Medical Association, plus a very slick public relations firm.
And what is the purpose of this lobby? It is very simple. The purpose is to keep all medical work in this country under the complete control of some rich doctors who want to decide for themselves how and when-and for what fee--our people shall pay for medical care.
There is a clique that has prevented the creation of new doctors in this country, and there never was a time in the history of the country when we were as short as we are now of proper medical care.
Now, this little outfit--this lobby--has been helping to subsidize the Republican Party for several years. And, as usual, they get good service for their money. Let me give you some examples--recent examples. In 1950, 58 percent of the Republican Congressmen voted against expanding our program to build hospitals with Federal aid. In 1951 the Republican Senators voted 9 to 1 to block Federal help to train more doctors-and there never was a time when we needed more doctors as badly as we do now. That same year they voted 4 to 1 against badly needed help for State and local public health units. And when I asked for an insurance program along the lines of social security, to help you to save to pay these doctor bills, the Republicans made a political football out of the whole thing.
Right now it happens that the medical lobby is just a bit embarrassed. You see, last year I set up a nonpartisan commission to go into the whole problem of the health needs in this Nation, including the cost of medical care. Some very fine and conscientious doctors are serving on that commission-and some good laymen, too. I told the commission to study the problem and come up with the best solutions. I said that I was not committed to any particular plan, but I did want to make some progress.
That sort of pulled the rug out from under the medical lobby. They tried to attack this commission in the meeting of the American Medical Association last summer, but their fellow doctors wouldn't go along. So this little group of reactionaries announced the other day that their work was ended.
Then you know what they did? They changed the sign on their office door, that's all they did, and now they are called the National Professional Committee for Eisenhower and Nixon.
It's the same crowd, with the same Republican affiliation, and the same purpose in life--with just a new name.
And they are hard at work trying to put their Republican friends over on us next November. I happen to have some evidence of that right here. I have a clipping from the Nashville Tennessean, dated September 26th, 1952. It shows the photostat of a letter dated 3 days before, on the stationery of a local Nashville doctor. Apparently this letter was sent to a lot of other doctors there, too.
The letter reads as follows--now this is the letter: "Dear Doctor. I have been asked as a member of Senator Nixon's Parade Committee to ask a few of my friends to drive their cars in the Nixon parade on Saturday, September 27. We want to count on you to be there, or if you can't participate to have someone come in your place. In order to make the best impression on the general public, we are asking that you use a small car if possible."
Use a small car if possible! Well, my friends, the Republicans have most of the big cars, I guess--and most of the big car vote-and they can keep it. We Democrats will be content to get the small car vote, from the genuine small car people--just as I have been saying that I am perfectly happy to have the Republican Party have the generals and the colonels in this campaign, but I will take the corporals and the privates, and win the election.
Now the Democratic Party has always been the party of the plain everyday man who drives a small car, because that is all he has--and that is the way our party will continue under Adlai Stevenson.
So, I urge you--just vote for your own interests now. You are the Government. It is you that controls the country, and when you don't exercise your right to vote and you get bad government, it is nobody's fault but yours, and you get just exactly what you deserve.
But if you go to the polls on November the 4th and do as I advise you: vote the Democratic ticket straight, here in the great State of Missouri; you will have good government at home and in Washington, and the world will be safe.
[6.] JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI (Rear platform, 10:10 p.m.)
I don't need to tell you how glad I am to be here. You have seen me in a lot of campaigns before, but I think this one is the most important one in which I ever took part. If I may be entirely frank with you, I am, if possible, more anxious that the Democratic administration should be continued this year than I was in 1948--and that's saying a lot.
I honestly believe that the whole future of this country, and the peace of the world, may depend upon a Democratic victory-- and that is why I am here. I think we have on the Democratic ticket in this State as fine a selection of men for the positions as we have ever had in the State's history. And, you know, I have been in State politics a long, long time--longer than I like to think about.
The candidate for Senator, Stuart Symington, I have known for many, many years. I think very highly of him. He will make a good Senator. He is familiar with the situation in Washington, and he will do a good job for Missouri. And I can speak from experience on that, because I was a Senator from Missouri one time myself.
Your Congressman, Morgan Moulder, is one of the best in the Congress. You can't get a better man for that position. I know you are going to send him back. And, of course, all of you know Phil Donnelly. He served capably and well as Governor of this State, and I know he will serve you well again.
I want you to go out and vote for the national ticket, too--Stevenson for President and Sparkman for Vice President. Adlai Stevenson is a skilled man and an experienced one. He knows a great deal about the art of civil government. He has convictions, and he is absolutely honest with himself. He is discussing the issues in this campaign, and talking sense to the American people. Listen to what he has to say, and you will know, as I do, that here is the man we want and need to be our President for the next 4 years.
There will be troubles in those years-and he is the one man to deal with them.
One of the most fundamental issues in this campaign is the great difference in outlook and approach between our two political parties. The Democratic Party has always been the party with a heart for the people-concerned about their wants and their needs. With us, the people come first.
With the Republicans, property and profits come first--ahead of the people. The Republican Party has a calculating machine where its heart ought to be. And the calculator only works for the big lobbies and the special interest organizations who pay the party's bills and call the tune.
Because our parties differ in this way, you will find a large majority of the Democrats in favor of programs that bring progress for the people. And usually a great majority of the Republicans will be lined up on the other side--against the people.
For nearly 2 weeks now, I have been going across the country telling the people how our two great parties differ on the issues that affect our daily lives. Here in Jefferson City I want to talk to you about one of the most important issues of all; that is, education in this country, and the proper part our Government should play in it.
I think most of you realize--those of you with children surely do--that the schools of our Nation are in trouble. It has been getting worse for years. Soon it will 'become a catastrophe, if we do not act to meet it fast.
We have had prosperity in this country for many years. The proportion of children attending school is higher than it ever was before in our history. High school enrollments are up 60 percent in 20 years. And with the birthrate up 50 percent since 1940, the total of school age children is climbing very, very fast.
This calls for a great expansion in the school buildings. But the building costs and maintenance costs have been increasing greatly in recent years--far beyond the budgets most school districts can afford.
Not only have building costs gone up, but living costs for teachers have risen also-while their salaries have lagged way behind. Teaching is so poorly paid in most places today, that literally thousands of potential teachers are being lost to other jobs.
The schoolteacher, my friends, is the most important asset, next to the mother of a child, that he has. The teachers of children in the lower grades--the primary grades-makes a greater impression on the children of the country than any other person with whom he comes in contact. And I speak from experience. I can still remember my first and second and fourth and fifth grade teacher--who made a tremendous impression on me--got me started in the right direction. And I will have to admit that I may not have ended up as well as I thought I should. But then they were not to blame for that.
But the importance of keeping the teachers in a financial position and an economic position where they can afford to continue to teach is one of the most important things in this country. And you will find that most teachers are people who have their hearts set on the rising generation, and they are not out for money--but they certainly ought not to be allowed to starve to death.
These are the factors that have combined to bring on the crisis in our schools: more children to teach, not enough schools to put them in, and too few teachers to instruct them.
Now, everybody recognizes that the education of our children is a job for the States to control--I don't know anybody who wants Federal control of education.
But the States and the towns and the cities are not equally equipped to meet the present crisis in their schools. It takes money to do that, a lot of money. Some States can scrape it together, others cannot. None of them has the reserves to do an ideal job. The poorest States can hardly get by at all.
The States have done a lot--taken altogether-and they deserve great credit for it. The volume of school building has never been higher than it is now. The same is true of teachers' salaries, on the average. But it still isn't enough, and it certainly isn't spread widely enough around the country. Some places have first-class schools, but too many others have substandard schools. And a lot of them are too poor to do much about it.
That is why I have tried, for 7 years, to start a program of Federal financial aid to all the States, in proportion to their needs. The Democratic platform of 1948 endorsed that program. Our party platform for 1952 states that the Federal Government must play its proper part in helping to carry the financial load of building schools and teaching our children.
Now, how have the Republican calculating machines responded to all this? They have mostly been against it, year after year.
Even Senator Taft, "Mr. Republican" himself, was unable to force through the Republican 80th Congress the Federal aid to education program he had borrowed from his Democratic colleagues.
In 1949 the present Republican candidate, then head of Columbia University, lent his prestige to the Republican Congressmen opposing Federal aid--and his action helped to defeat the bill. That was the famous occasion when Senator Morse, the liberal Republican from Oregon, called the candidate's views "sophomoric." Senator Morse also said, and I quote: "A background of leadership in military affairs is not, to my mind, the background for making pronouncements upon the public school system .... "
To what Senator Morse said, I can only add "amen."
As the crisis in our schools has deepened, the stand of the Republicans has actually grown worse, not better. In 1948 the Republican platform had the grace to favor "equality of educational opportunity." And that is a quotation: "equality of educational opportunity." That, at least, implied some form of Federal aid, since equality can be achieved no other way.
But now, in 1952 with the school crisis made more serious by inaction, the Republican platform, following the lead of the Republican candidate, states flatly: "The responsibility for sustaining this system of popular education has always rested upon the local communities and the States. We subscribe fully to this principle." In other words no Federal aid of any kind to help finance good schools.
That is an attitude which would condemn many of this country's children to poor education, or none at all--merely because of where their families live. The Republican policy is violently unfair. It is wrong. It is worse than wrong; it is just plain stupid!
Thomas Jefferson knew better, a long time ago. He said: "If a nation expects to be free and ignorant--it expects what never was and never will be."
That is just as right as it can be. The Republicans are always talking about freedom--but they take their stand on the side of ignorance, every time. And ignorance is freedom's worst enemy, and always will be. And that's the reason I'm a Democrat. There is no leadership, no forward vision in a party or a candidate that takes a stand like this.
You young people are vitally interested in that. You must, in making your decision of how you are going to work for the welfare and continuation of this Republic of ours, ally yourself with the party that believes in progress, a party that looks forward, a party that has ideas for progress, and not a party that is always looking back to 1896 and wishing for William McKinley to be President again. These are not people for you to trust. They are not people who understand your interests--or this country's interest.
And I say to you, don't trust them and don't vote for them. Vote for the party that has always worked for you and always will. Vote for men who have been great friends of education and the true friends of the people.
Now you are the fundamental basis of the Republic of the United States. The power of government rests in the people by the Constitution--the greatest document of government that ever was written. And it is your duty to exercise your prerogative as a voter to see that we have the right kind of government. When you don't go to the polls and vote, when you don't exercise that prerogative, and you get bad government, you have got nobody in the world to blame but yourselves--and you deserve what you get.
Now I say to you, on the 4th day of November, exercise your right. Go to the polls and vote for progress, vote for the welfare of this country for another 4 years, by putting Stevenson and Sparkman in the White House.
NOTE: In the course of his remarks on October 8, the President referred to Thomas J. Keleher, Democratic candidate for Representative, and Herschel C. Loveless, Democratic candidate for Governor, both of Iowa. He also referred to, among others, Robert O. Richardson, Democratic candidate for Representative, W. Stuart Symington, Democratic candidate for Senator, former Governor Phil M. Donnelly, Democratic candidate for Governor, and Representative Morgan M. Moulder, all of Missouri, Lewis Schwellenbach, Senator from Washington 1935-1940 and Secretary of Labor from June 1, 1945, until his death on June 10, 1948, and Senator Richard M. Nixon of California, Republican candidate for Vice President.