October 29, 1952
[1.] WATERLOO, IOWA ( Rear platform, 9:10 a.m.)
You know, I certainly do appreciate this turnout, and I hope it means this town is going to be as good to Adlai Stevenson as it was to me 4 years ago when I was running for office. You know, I had a personal and kindly feeling--you know, when I went to the farm, after being educated in the high school in Independence, Missouri, I had a little experience in the bank in Kansas City. So about 1906 I went back to the farm, and my father and brother and I ran that farm for many, many years. My brother and sister and I still own it. And we bought our first manure spreader from Waterloo, Iowa, in 1906. I heard Bill Bryan make a statement, one time, at a country meeting. They didn't have any platform for old Bill to stand on, so they wheeled out a manure spreader, and he said that was the first time he ever made a speech from the Republican platform.
I understand that the Republican vice presidential candidate was here in Waterloo just a week or so ago. I have been told that the trend has been strongly Democratic ever since. Now I would be delighted to have Mr. Nixon continue his campaign in our behalf, but I am afraid there isn't time enough left for him to let all the voters find out just exactly what he is like. Besides, I want to be sure that the people of this country understand all the real issues in the campaign.
Next Tuesday, the voters are to participate in the most important election, in my opinion, since the Civil War. They are to decide whether the progressive programs of the New and the fair Deals are to continue to bring the country the greatest prosperity in its history. If the reactionary Old Guard now running the Republican campaign and the Republican candidate get into power in Washington, you can't count on them to keep the country prosperous. They are against measures that are of direct benefit to the farmers and to the workingmen; and you can't count on them to keep us out of the danger of a general war.
We are in a fight to stay out of world war III, but if we follow the Old Guard Republicans as they vote in Congress, we would lose our allies, and we would be face to face with the Russians, all alone. We just can't put ourselves in that position. You can see that the Republicans never learn anything.
Ever since 1932 the Republican Old Guard has been voting against progress--progress in the mutual aid programs. And that story never changes. Take farm price supports. The farmers in this area are bringing in a record corn crop this year, and the Democratic farm price support program will establish a floor for corn prices at $1.60 a bushel. But over half of the House Republicans this year voted against this price support level. And if Senator Taft has his way--and will if the Republican candidate for President is elected--the price support will go down to $1.18 a bushel under the sliding scale provision invented by that awful "do-nothing" 80th Congress.
Take the country's labor laws. The American workingman gained security and higher wages through the Wagner Act. But the 80th Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which is a constant threat to the gains the workers have made under the New Deal and the fair Deal. The Taft-Hartley Act is another invention of that Republican 80th Congress.
And believe it or not, the Republican platform this year brags about the accomplishments of that 80th Congress, and endorses the Taft-Hartley law. It says we should set parity in the marketplace. Now, what does that mean? What do you think it means? It shows you how the Republicans would act if they obtained control of the Government in this election.
You can't expect anything better from the Republicans when it comes to foreign policy. Our troops are fighting in Korea today. They are fighting in Korea to keep war away from our own borders, to prevent having to fight in Waterloo, Iowa. They are fighting to keep an attack on one country from developing into another world war. So far, that is what we have done. We will finish the job and put down this danger in Korea without plunging the whole world into war. But it's a hard struggle, and it costs us some bitter losses. We can't come through unless we help our allies and help them to defend themselves. Strong allies are an important part of our national defense. They will help prevent world conflict. They will save the lives of American soldiers.
But if we let the Republican Old Guard run things, we will be left without a single ally in this struggle. The Republican Old Guard in Congress voted time and again to slash the appropriations for the very programs that have strengthened the free nations and kept them on our side and enabled them to defend themselves. If we cut out that aid to foreign nations, we would have to fight the Russians alone. That's the fix the Republican Old Guard will put us in.
All I ask the people of this country is to inform themselves on the facts. I wish you would get the record. I wish you would get the record and inform yourselves on just exactly how the votes in Congress have been by the Democrats and the Republicans. I wouldn't have to talk to you if you would do that. You owe it to yourselves to look at the voting records of both parties. Study the qualifications of all the candidates. Find out which party works in the interest of all the people and which party faces up to the responsibility of leadership for world peace.
If you will just do that, I know very well what you will do. You will vote the Democratic ticket on Tuesday. You will have Representatives in Congress who were just introduced to you--you will elect Herschel Loveless to be Governor of the great State of Iowa, and this country will have 4 years of good government under the leadership of John Sparkman and Adlai Stevenson.
[2.] CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (Rear platform, 10:30 a.m.)
I appreciate very much this fine turnout here this morning. I have been greeted by crowds like this all over this great Nation, even though I am not a candidate for office in this campaign. I have made more than 180 appearances since I set out on these campaign trips this fall. And every day the mail pouch from Washington has brought my regular work to me as President of the United States. I do the same amount of work as if I were sitting at the desk in Washington, and do this on the side.
So I have done a lot of extra work and speech-making for a man who is not running for office. But I will tell you why I am working so hard in this campaign, because I consider the election that takes place next Tuesday the most important one this country has had since the Civil War. I am doing everything in my power to see that the people of this country understand what the stake is in this election.
I have been in the White House for 7 years now in one of the most difficult periods in the history of the country. We have had to face up to the tasks of keeping our economy sound and strong, and of avoiding a depression that has followed every war in the past. We have succeeded in that task.
We have had to face up to a new threat of aggression from abroad, at a time when our people were still recovering from the great sacrifices of the Second World War. We have had to mobilize our strength at home and give help to the other free nations of the world. And we have done just that.
We have had to meet armed aggression by fighting in Korea. And we are fighting there so that we won't have to fight closer to home--so we won't have to fight in San Francisco or Wichita--or Cedar Rapids.
But our tasks are far from completed. We are still in danger. We have to bring this Korean conflict to an end without appeasement, and without bringing on a general war. I believe we are going to do just that. But we won't succeed if we turn the Congress over to isolationists who don't see our danger, and the White House over to a man whose professional training is for war.
We need courageous, farsighted leadership to continue our fight for lasting prosperity at home, and security and peace throughout the world.
All I ask is that before the people of this country cast their ballots on next Tuesday, they look at the records of both parties and both candidates, so they can choose the right leaders for the 4 tough years that are ahead of us.
We cannot trust the Republican Party to keep the country prosperous.
I don't believe the farmers of this country will put their trust in the Old Guard Republicans. These are the men who voted time after time to cripple rural electrification programs. Only this year they voted for slashes in soil conservation funds, and voted against price supports at 90 percent of parity. That's their record. Don't take my word for it--read the record and convince yourselves that your friends are not in the Republican Party.
I don't believe the workers of this country will place their confidence in the Old Guard Republicans who put the Taft-Hartley Act on the statute books in the 80th Congress, and voted against the bill that would increase social security payments this very year.
I don't believe the housewives of this country will look to the Old Guard Republicans to protect their family pocketbooks. For the past 2 years these men have been wrecking price controls with crippling amendments and budget slashes every time they got a chance.
I don't believe the people of this country will rely upon the statesmanship and vision of the Old Guard Republicans to keep us out of war. These are the men who have fought our efforts to strengthen the defenses of the free world against communism. They would lose us our allies. And we need allies for the purpose of preventing war and saving the lives of our own men.
But you are the people who must make the decision. You owe it to yourselves to study the record and the issues. Find out which party has worked for the plain, everyday people all the time, and has led the fight for world peace.
If you do that, you will vote the straight Democratic ticket next Tuesday. You will send T. W. Mullaney to Congress. You will elect Herschel Loveless to be your new Governor. And this great country of ours will go on to 4 years of good government under the leadership of Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
[3.] WEST LIBERTY, IOWA (Rear platform, 11:28 a.m.)
It's nice to see you--a pleasure to see you. Thank you very, very much--it is nice to see you young people. You may have guessed, I judge, the purpose of my visit. I am campaigning for the Democratic ticket, and I am campaigning as hard as I can because this is one of the most important elections in the history of the country. I am out trying to get you people to do a little thinking for yourselves. I am trying to get you young people to understand that we are faced with either turning the clock back, or going forward; and I want you to do a little thinking on this subject.
During the past 20 years we have made great social and economic progress in this United States of ours. This has been possible because you had a National Government that adopted specific programs to help bring it about--programs like farm price supports, minimum wage laws, social security, soil conservation, and rural electrification.
The Republican Party has fought us on all these programs every step of the way. They have always been against the New Deal and the fair Deal when it came to voting, although they are inclined to give you a little double-talk on the subject when the campaign for election comes around. They begin to get very good then, and want to love all the people. But the real attitude of the Republicans slips out sometimes, even in their campaign oratory. At their convention in Chicago last July, Senator Bricker said that the last vestiges of the New Deal and the fair Deal must be destroyed. The Republicans have some plans for doing that, too. For one thing, they are talking about selling the Government's big public power projects and other Government projects to private companies.
The magazine U.S. News and World Report tells about this plan in its issue of September 26, and it says "it may get a try if the Republicans control the White House and the Congress after next January 20th." Believe it or not, they are even talking about selling out the post office. I don't know about the post office, but I do know what will happen to your rates for electric power, if the private power monopoly ever gets its hands on the great Government dams. The rates will go up in a hurry.
One thing these birds are sure to go after, if they get a chance, is your REA co-ops. You know the private power companies always have been against REA, and whatever the private power companies are against, most of the Republicans are always against it, too.
The Republican candidate for President has been talking about removing what he calls, "the sticky hands of Federal bureaucrats" from the REA co-ops. Now I don't know what he means by that, but perhaps he thinks it would be better to turn your co-ops over to the tender mercies of the private power companies.
Now I believe the Old Guard Republicans in Congress are quite sincere in their opposition to the fair Deal. I think they really would set out to destroy all we have done for the last 20 years, if they had half a chance. I have just given you one example of how that would work, and I could give you many more. The result of the whole business would be to take us right back to the policies that brought on the Great Depression, the last time the Republicans controlled the National Government.
I want you to remember that. I want you to think about it. I want you to think in your own interests. I am just out here trying to get you to think, trying to get you to study what the issues are, trying to get you to investigate the records of these people in Congress.
Investigate the records of the Democrats, and see whether they have been for the farmer, the laborer, and for the small businessman. Investigate the record of the Republicans, and I think you will find they have voted against every measure that has been in the interests of these very people I am talking about.
That's all I am asking you to do. If you remember this: We are in the midst of a great struggle for peace. We cannot win this struggle unless we maintain our prosperity here at home. The Russians know this. That is why they have been hoping we would have in this country another Great Depression.
That is why it is so important for you to keep your Government in the hands of a party that shows it knows how to. keep the country prosperous.
I want you to think about these things. Think about which party has proved itself by results. Think about which party has done most for your interests, and for the country's welfare.
When you think about these things I know what you will do. You will go to the polls on election day, and you will elect Herschel Loveless as Governor, you will send Clair Williams to Congress--and you will elect Adlai Stevenson President of the United States, and we will have 4 more years of good government.
[4.] DAVENPORT, IOWA (Municipal Stadium, 12:25 p.m.)
Mr. Chairman:
I am very happy to be back in Iowa today. Three weeks ago, when I spoke at Shenandoah, I only had time to spend one day in this great State. But I promised myself then that I'd get back here before the campaign ended.
You see, as a Missourian, I can claim you Iowans as neighbors. And I like to get around and see my neighbors, particularly when I have something on my mind which I think you ought to know.
Now the thing that is on my mind today is the election coming on the 4th of November. That's next Tuesday, just 6 days away. This election will decide who sits in the White House for the next 4 years. And it will decide which party controls the Congress for the next 2 years.
My friends, it's going to make a lot of difference how this election comes out--a lot of difference to you personally, each and every single one of you.
Let me give you a very concrete illustration of what's at stake for you in this election. This has to do with something close to home for everybody around here. That's the corn crop here in Iowa.
The corn crop this year in Iowa is going to be a big one. And that's a very good thing. Corn is the Nation's principal feed grain and we need a good supply of corn always.
But we also know that a big corn crop puts a heavy downward pressure on corn prices. We have learned, through years of experience that when the farmers turn out big crops and provide the Nation with abundant supplies, their prices generally fall.
We can feel fortunate that this is not going to happen this year. It will not happen because the Democratic Party has protected the farmers through price supports.
Our price support program serves as a safety net to catch farm prices and keep them from falling to dangerously low levels. It helps to stabilize farm markets and to prevent the Nation's economy from falling out of balance.
That's what the price support program is going to do for the corn crop this year. It's going to hold the corn price at a level of $1.60 a bushel for every farmer who participates in the corn loan program. Without the support program, there is no telling how low corn prices might go. For it is expected that the crop this year will be one of the largest in history--second only to the huge crop of 1948.
Now, I'm telling you this story for a very good reason. I'm telling it because it is a very good example of how the Democratic Party has been using the powers of government for the benefit and welfare of all the people.
This program was brought into being by the Democrats, over the opposition of the Republican Party. And its very existence would be endangered by a Republican victory on November 4th.
The Republican candidate for President has been traveling all over the Midwest trying to pull the wool over the farmers' eyes. He says the Republican Party stands behind the price support laws on the books. And he says specifically this includes the present amendment to the basic farm act assuring price supports at 90 percent of parity throughout 1954.
Well, that's fine talk. But, my friends, what are the facts ?
I want you young men over there, who are having so much fun being discourteous to the President, to listen to this, because it will be a lesson to you.
The Republican Party had the opportunity to stand behind the support law, just a few weeks before the Republican candidate was nominated last July. It stood behind it, all right--a mighty long way behind. The recorded votes in the House of Representatives show that a majority of Republicans voted against continuing supports at 90 percent of parity.
As usual, it was the Democratic Party that pushed this legislation through for the benefit of the farmer.
Now the Republican Party had another opportunity at its convention in Chicago to stand behind price supports at 90 percent of parity. But it didn't take that stand. The Republican platform just talks vaguely about "aiming" at fair farm prices "in the marketplace." The platform doesn't even attempt to say what the Republicans would do to maintain fair prices.
And that Republican platform, by the way, is the best piece of gobbledegook I have ever read. I have been reading platforms for 40 years, and that one caps them all for saying nothing.
As usual, it was the Democratic platform that spelled out a firm position on price supports, stating specifically that the Democratic Party would maintain price supports at 90 percent of parity.
Senator Taft--who is the Republican leader in Congress--says he's against price supports at 90 percent of parity. He said that in New York, on the day the Republican candidate for President surrendered to him. Just as you might suspect, Taft once again endorsed the discredited "sliding scale" enacted by that Republican 80th Congress-the "sliding scale" which would have allowed farm prices to sink to 60 percent of parity.
I think I ought to tell you that if the "sliding scale" provision were in effect at this time, under present supply conditions, the support price for corn would not be $1.60 a bushel--it would be $1.18 a bushel. Now, which is best for you, Democratic policy or Republican policy?
furthermore, Republican opposition is aimed not only at price supports. The majority of the Republicans have fought almost every one of our great farm programs, in general and in detail, from 1933 right down to the present time.
The first Agricultural Adjustment Act-passed less than 2 weeks after President Roosevelt took office--was opposed by twothirds of the Republicans in the House of Representatives.
In 1938 Republicans in both the House and the Senate voted 5 to 1 against the Agricultural Act of that year.
In 1939 House Republicans voted 7 to 1 against appropriations for parity payments.
In 1943 House Republicans voted 14 to 1 to obstruct farm price supports and other measures.
In that same year House Republicans voted 16 to 1 to kill the crop insurance program.
All of you remember what happened when the Republicans gained power in the 80th Congress. They cut into the price support program in four different ways. And the Republicans in the House voted to kill the agricultural conservation program altogether.
Now the moral of this story is very simple-and it has a direct bearing on the choice you make when you go to the polls next Tuesday.
The moral is this: You can trust the Democratic Party to do the things that need to be done for the welfare and prosperity of farmers, workers, businessmen--everybody in the country. But you cannot trust the Republican Party to do anything for the common man.
What is true of farm programs is also true of other domestic programs aimed at maintaining general prosperity. It is also true of our other great 'programs--those aimed at world peace. You can trust the Democratic Party to carry on sound programs for peace. But honestly I believe you cannot trust the Republican Party to lead us toward peace.
We are engaged in a hard and dangerous struggle to check communism and to prevent another world war. Communism turned to open aggression in Korea, and we had to stop it there. If we had not stopped communism in Korea, it would have swept out across the other free lands of the world.
We are fighting in Korea, my friends, so that we won't have to fight right here, in our own country, against invasion. Now, we can win this fight, and prevent world war Ill, if we don't give up as the Communists want us to do. We can win if we have strong defenses and strong allies to share the burdens with us.
We must have strong alliances among the free nations if we are to prevent world war III and save American lives.
Now the Republican Old Guard does not seem to understand what terrible danger the world is in. They talk as if the fighting in Korea was unimportant. They think we can get security cheap. They seem to believe that we can get along without allies.
That is the way they vote. They vote to cut down on the aid our allies need to defend themselves. They promise great reductions in our own military spending.
My friends, I want to say to you that these men are positively blind. If we let them run the country I am certain we would face far graver danger of a general war.
I urge upon you, do not trust your welfare to that kind of leadership. Do not trust them with your welfare as a farmer, or a worker, or an independent businessman. Do not trust them with your rights and liberties as citizens of this free America of ours. Above all, do not trust them with our defense against Communist aggression.
Fortunately, my friends, you have an alternative--a good alternative. You can cast your vote for the Democratic Party, which has proved by its record that it cares about your welfare and will take constructive action in your interests.
You can cast your vote for a presidential candidate who has proved beyond a doubt, before and during this campaign, that he has courage and wisdom and real understanding of our country's problems and the great issues facing this free world of ours.
Think about your choice, my friends. I would advise you to give it a lot of thought. I would advise you to study the record of these things I have been telling you, because it is up to you to use your head on election day. Give it some thought for your own interests. Give the welfare of this country we all love so much the thought that is necessary to keep it like we have it. Remember that the decision is yours to make, but once you've made it, you must live with it for 4 long years.
When you go to the polls next Tuesday, vote in your own interest. Vote for what helps you. Vote for what is best for the country and for the world.
If you do that, I have no doubt about the outcome of the election. You will vote to send Clair Williams to the Congress, where he will represent you well. You will vote for Herschel Loveless for Governor of this great State of yours.
And you will vote to send to the White House, that able, progressive Governor of your neighbor State, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
[5.] MOLINE, ILLINOIS (Rear platform, 1:02 p.m.)
I appreciate most highly this reception which you have given me. I didn't expect to be received so vociferously and so cordially. I have had a grand trip today, starting up north and coming all the way down. And what impresses me, and what I can't understand is why so many people will come out to see a "has been." I'm not running for anything.
But I guess you know the reason I am here. I am trying to help get the Democratic ticket elected next Tuesday. As a matter of fact, I am working harder in this campaign than I did in 1948 in my own behalf. I know this has troubled a lot of people-most of them are Republicans. They are worried sick, they are crying their eyes out. You know, they are crying their eyes out and trying to call me everything under the sun. And they can't find anything new to call me--it has already been said.
I am putting my heart and soul into this campaign for one reason. This election next week, in my opinion, is the most important one for the people of the country since the Civil War. World peace and the welfare of our country hang in the balance. That is just what is involved--make no mistake about it.
I have been traveling over this great Nation during the past few weeks, and I can tell you that this country is in very good shape. You wouldn't know that, though, from listening to the Republican campaign oratory--and what they tell you is just not so.
Today we have 62 million jobs in America, and our national production is $340 billion a year. We have a real prosperity, and this is due to the sound programs that have been provided under 20 years of New Deal and fair Deal management.
The Democratic Party believes in seeing that everyone gets a fair deal and a fair share of the national income--farmers, workers, businessmen, everyone. In this way, purchasing power is maintained and our production system keeps going at a steady pace-
Take the farmer, for example. When he is prosperous, he buys farm machinery and equipment and other things. That means employment and good times here in Moline, and all over the country as well. Some of you can remember how things were 20 years ago. The farmer was broke, and you people in Moline had unemployment and tough times.
Today, thanks to Democratic leadership, we have price supports, soil conservation, farm credit, and a lot of other things that helped the farmer. And that helps you.
But the Republican Party has fought most of our work for the farmers. They have fought it just like they fought social security, they fought minimum wages, they fought unemployment compensation, they fought the Wagner Act.
Just this spring, a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against continuing price supports at 90 percent of parity. The Republican Party just can't understand progress. They don't realize that you get prosperity by improving the welfare of all the people--all the common people, just like I am. I am going to need a job after the 20th, that's the reason I want the Democrats in there.
The Republicans have been just as shortsighted when it comes to a sound foreign policy. We are engaged in a great struggle for peace. One part of that struggle is military. That means defenses, and fighting against aggression. The other part is civilian. It means helping other countries, through economic aid and other assistance, to keep strong. If a friendly country goes bankrupt, or suffers economic collapse, it can't stand up against communism and stay free. You ought to bear that in mind--that is most important.
Over the last 6 years, in Europe and Asia, we have helped dozens of friendly countries in this way. This is a vital part of our national defense. By making other countries strong enough to stand up against communism, we are working to save the lives of American boys.
'This part of our struggle for peace is clearly at stake in this election. The Old Guard Republicans are against helping other nations in this way. And they will control the Congress if the Republicans are elected.
They have shown by their voting records that they do not understand how important other nations are to our national defense. In 1949 the Republican Congressmen voted almost 2 to 1 against the military aid program, including military aid to the Republic of Korea. In 1950 they voted 3 to 1 against point 4. In 1951 Republican Senators voted overwhelmingly, six different times, to cripple economic aid for Western Europe. And just this year, three-fourths of the Republican Senators voted disastrous slashes in the economic and military aid to our allies.
I urge you to inform yourselves on these issues. All I am out for is to get you people to do some thinking. I want you to think for yourselves, and when you do that and study the record, you can't do but one thing. Look at the voting records of both parties. Compare the qualifications of each candidate. Find out which party has always worked in the interest of all the people, and which party has faced up to the responsibilities of world leadership in the mid-20th century.
If you do, I have no fear about the future of this country. You will vote the straight Democratic ticket, and you will elect a Democratic Governor to succeed your good Democratic Governor who is going to be the next President.
You will send Democrats to the Congress who will look after your interests, and this Nation will work for peace and prosperity for the next 4 years under the leadership of that outstanding American, that great Governor of the great State of Illinois--Adlai Stevenson.
[6.] CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (Negro War Memorial, 5:02 p.m.)
Congressman Dawson, Mr. Sengstacke, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I thank you. Thank you very, very much for this scroll. I wish I deserved all the things you said about me. All I can say is I will try to live up to them.
I am glad to be in Chicago's South Side this afternoon. This is an important anniversary. It was exactly 5 years ago today that the President's Committee on Civil Rights handed me its report. That report was courageous, and it was honest. It was prepared by men and women who sincerely wanted to make life better for all of and that is exactly what they did.
The civil rights progress that has been made in the last 5 years is the greatest since emancipation. There has been a great working of the American conscience, and what started it all is the civil rights report. I am proud of it, and I am proud of the Committee--but more than anything else, I am proud of the American people. They have taken the recommendations of that Committee to heart, and they are making them work. And today we are a better and stronger country because of it.
We are standing beside a monument to the brave Negro soldiers of the famous old 8th Regiment of the Illinois National Guard. In the first World War the 8th of Illinois proved its valor and gallantry on the field of battle. It was a much-decorated regiment, and we can all be very proud of the brave men to whom this monument is dedicated. The 8th of Illinois was a part of the old segregated National Guard. Today the Illinois National Guard is racially integrated-thanks to your great Governor, Adlai Stevenson. All the Armed forces of our entire active Federal service are rapidly being integrated. In the new integrated Armed forces, the old 8th of Illinois has become the 178th Regimental combat team.
It is not easy to wipe out segregation and discrimination in our Armed forces. Fortunately, I have had the help of one of the best Presidential committees that ever was assembled--the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services.
One of the members of that Committee was John Sengstacke, who is here today, and I want to tell you he did a mighty fine job on that Committee--and I appreciate it.
Any member of that Committee can tell you some hard facts about segregation in the Armed forces. It is wonderful how some of our generals go around talking about what they would do with one stroke of the pen if they got into the White House. What in the world were they doing when we had millions of men under arms and they were in command? I would like an answer to that.
The Republican candidate for President once told a committee of the Senate that a certain degree of segregation is necessary because Negro soldiers can't stand the competition with white soldiers. Today, our soldiers and sailors and airmen all over the world, but particularly in Korea, are proving that the Republican candidate didn't know what he was talking about--and there are a lot of other things he doesn't know what he is talking about, too.
The Democratic candidate--your own Governor, Adlai Stevenson--had already learned the truth about race relations from his service in the Navy. In the days before Adlai Stevenson was Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, Negroes were assigned only to the messmen's branch. Adlai Stevenson helped open up additional assignments to Negroes.
That was the beginning of the great change in the Navy. While we were still in the war, the Waves and Spars were opened to Negro women. In rapid order, the Navy assigned Negroes to auxiliary ships of the fleet, integrated the training schools, and opened up general service assignments, including duty on combat ships without any racial differentiation whatever.
At the present time, there is no segregation in the Navy or Marine Corps. The Army, too, has been moving ahead with the process of integration. Beginning in 1949 the Army opened all jobs to Negroes, opened all Army schools without racial restrictions or quotas; began to assign qualified Negroes to all types of military units, including those that were formerly all white; integrated the races in barracks and dining halls; and abolished the quota system which had limited Negroes to 10 percent of the Army's strength.
Since that time rapid progress has been made. Today integration is complete in all training divisions, in all replacement training centers throughout the United States. Our three regular Army divisions here have about completed racial integration, and so have many other units of similar size.
In May of this year, the far East Command completed the integration of all its forces. Our three other overseas Commands-the European, the Austrian, and Alaskan Commands--are progressively integrating their units. They are following the successful procedures used in the far East.
On the 11th day of May 1949, the Department of the Air force, following consultations with the President's Committee, announced a policy of equal treatment and equal opportunity. The Air force said its objective was total conversion from segregation to integration. As a measure of their success, let me tell you a few facts.
In January 1949, there were 167 Air force units that were mostly white but had some Negro personnel. In June of this year, the number of mixed units had increased to 3,466. That is an improvement of 20-fold, or 2,000 percent in 3 1/2 years.
My friends, these are big steps. They are forward steps, and they have not been done by magic. They have been done by getting down to the hard work of changing deeply rooted habits and procedures.
You have an important decision to make next Tuesday. You have to ask yourself which one of the two parties and which of the two candidates for President would be best for the country.
This year the Democratic Party offers to the people the great Governor of your own State of Illinois--Adlai Stevenson. He is the finest new presidential candidate offered by either political party for many, many years. He has had long experience in public affairs and government. He has been a great administrator of a great State. He will make one of the greatest Presidents we ever had.
Running with him is John Sparkman of Alabama. Together with your own Congressman Dawson, he helped put together the Democratic platform here in Chicago last July. That platform is the strongest civil rights stand ever taken by a major political party in this country. It favors effective Federal action on civil rights, including FEPC; and it urges a change in the rules of procedure in Congress so that a handful of men can't stand in the way when the others want to vote. John Sparkman helped write that platform. He has pledged himself to support it. He is an honorable man and will honor that pledge.
Now Stevenson and Sparkman will need sound men to support them in the Congress. Your own Congressman Dawson has made a great name for himself in Washington. As vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he sits in the highest councils of the Democratic Party. In addition, he has been the chairman of one of the most important committees in the Congress, the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments--and there isn't a better chairman in the Congress than Bill Dawson.
The people of Illinois are giving up a great Governor in order to get a great President. They must replace him in Springfield with an able and conscientious administrator. You have such a man in Sherwood Dixon, and I know you are going to elect him to be your next Governor. He is right now transacting the business of the State, and that is the reason he is not here. But he is like I am--he is blessed with a perfect helper in the form of Mrs. Dixon. I am one up on him--I have two helpers.
My friends, we are standing beside a monument to soldiers who fought in the old Army, the Army that followed the old segregated customs from days gone by. We owe it to them to put a man in the White House who will finish the job of integrating the armed services of our country.
Adlai Stevenson helped start this process in our armed services when he was in the Navy Department. He has continued the job as Governor of Illinois. He doesn't do it to get votes--he does it because it is the right thing to do. That is the kind of man you want for President of the United States.
The Republican candidate for President says he will take care of the civil rights problem by calling a conference of the Governors. I wonder who he would make chairman of that conference? How would you like his breakfast partner Governor Jim Byrnes of South Carolina--or his political allies in Governor Shivers of Texas, the head of the Shivercrats--or Governor Kennon of Louisiana, who is the top Dixiecrat?
I hope you are going to give this election a lot of thought, my friends. Our progress of the last few years must continue. You want a man in the White House you can trust, one who knows how to get things done, one who is not afraid to stand up and fight for your rights.
Think it over--and I know that you will vote to make Adlai Stevenson the next President of the United States on November the 4th.
NOTE: In the course of his remarks on October 29 the President referred to, among others, Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, Herschel C. Loveless, Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa, T. W. Mullaney and Clair A. Williams, Democratic candidates for Representative from Iowa, Martin McCarthy, local Democratic chairman of Davenport, Iowa, Representative William L. Dawson of Illinois, John H. Sengstacke, editor and publisher of the Chicago Defender, Sherwood Dixon, Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois, and Mrs. Dixon, and Governors James f. Byrnes of South Carolina, Allan Shivers of Texas, and Robert F. Kennon of Louisiana.
[1.] WATERLOO, IOWA ( Rear platform, 9:10 a.m.)
You know, I certainly do appreciate this turnout, and I hope it means this town is going to be as good to Adlai Stevenson as it was to me 4 years ago when I was running for office. You know, I had a personal and kindly feeling--you know, when I went to the farm, after being educated in the high school in Independence, Missouri, I had a little experience in the bank in Kansas City. So about 1906 I went back to the farm, and my father and brother and I ran that farm for many, many years. My brother and sister and I still own it. And we bought our first manure spreader from Waterloo, Iowa, in 1906. I heard Bill Bryan make a statement, one time, at a country meeting. They didn't have any platform for old Bill to stand on, so they wheeled out a manure spreader, and he said that was the first time he ever made a speech from the Republican platform.
I understand that the Republican vice presidential candidate was here in Waterloo just a week or so ago. I have been told that the trend has been strongly Democratic ever since. Now I would be delighted to have Mr. Nixon continue his campaign in our behalf, but I am afraid there isn't time enough left for him to let all the voters find out just exactly what he is like. Besides, I want to be sure that the people of this country understand all the real issues in the campaign.
Next Tuesday, the voters are to participate in the most important election, in my opinion, since the Civil War. They are to decide whether the progressive programs of the New and the fair Deals are to continue to bring the country the greatest prosperity in its history. If the reactionary Old Guard now running the Republican campaign and the Republican candidate get into power in Washington, you can't count on them to keep the country prosperous. They are against measures that are of direct benefit to the farmers and to the workingmen; and you can't count on them to keep us out of the danger of a general war.
We are in a fight to stay out of world war III, but if we follow the Old Guard Republicans as they vote in Congress, we would lose our allies, and we would be face to face with the Russians, all alone. We just can't put ourselves in that position. You can see that the Republicans never learn anything.
Ever since 1932 the Republican Old Guard has been voting against progress--progress in the mutual aid programs. And that story never changes. Take farm price supports. The farmers in this area are bringing in a record corn crop this year, and the Democratic farm price support program will establish a floor for corn prices at $1.60 a bushel. But over half of the House Republicans this year voted against this price support level. And if Senator Taft has his way--and will if the Republican candidate for President is elected--the price support will go down to $1.18 a bushel under the sliding scale provision invented by that awful "do-nothing" 80th Congress.
Take the country's labor laws. The American workingman gained security and higher wages through the Wagner Act. But the 80th Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which is a constant threat to the gains the workers have made under the New Deal and the fair Deal. The Taft-Hartley Act is another invention of that Republican 80th Congress.
And believe it or not, the Republican platform this year brags about the accomplishments of that 80th Congress, and endorses the Taft-Hartley law. It says we should set parity in the marketplace. Now, what does that mean? What do you think it means? It shows you how the Republicans would act if they obtained control of the Government in this election.
You can't expect anything better from the Republicans when it comes to foreign policy. Our troops are fighting in Korea today. They are fighting in Korea to keep war away from our own borders, to prevent having to fight in Waterloo, Iowa. They are fighting to keep an attack on one country from developing into another world war. So far, that is what we have done. We will finish the job and put down this danger in Korea without plunging the whole world into war. But it's a hard struggle, and it costs us some bitter losses. We can't come through unless we help our allies and help them to defend themselves. Strong allies are an important part of our national defense. They will help prevent world conflict. They will save the lives of American soldiers.
But if we let the Republican Old Guard run things, we will be left without a single ally in this struggle. The Republican Old Guard in Congress voted time and again to slash the appropriations for the very programs that have strengthened the free nations and kept them on our side and enabled them to defend themselves. If we cut out that aid to foreign nations, we would have to fight the Russians alone. That's the fix the Republican Old Guard will put us in.
All I ask the people of this country is to inform themselves on the facts. I wish you would get the record. I wish you would get the record and inform yourselves on just exactly how the votes in Congress have been by the Democrats and the Republicans. I wouldn't have to talk to you if you would do that. You owe it to yourselves to look at the voting records of both parties. Study the qualifications of all the candidates. Find out which party works in the interest of all the people and which party faces up to the responsibility of leadership for world peace.
If you will just do that, I know very well what you will do. You will vote the Democratic ticket on Tuesday. You will have Representatives in Congress who were just introduced to you--you will elect Herschel Loveless to be Governor of the great State of Iowa, and this country will have 4 years of good government under the leadership of John Sparkman and Adlai Stevenson.
[2.] CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (Rear platform, 10:30 a.m.)
I appreciate very much this fine turnout here this morning. I have been greeted by crowds like this all over this great Nation, even though I am not a candidate for office in this campaign. I have made more than 180 appearances since I set out on these campaign trips this fall. And every day the mail pouch from Washington has brought my regular work to me as President of the United States. I do the same amount of work as if I were sitting at the desk in Washington, and do this on the side.
So I have done a lot of extra work and speech-making for a man who is not running for office. But I will tell you why I am working so hard in this campaign, because I consider the election that takes place next Tuesday the most important one this country has had since the Civil War. I am doing everything in my power to see that the people of this country understand what the stake is in this election.
I have been in the White House for 7 years now in one of the most difficult periods in the history of the country. We have had to face up to the tasks of keeping our economy sound and strong, and of avoiding a depression that has followed every war in the past. We have succeeded in that task.
We have had to face up to a new threat of aggression from abroad, at a time when our people were still recovering from the great sacrifices of the Second World War. We have had to mobilize our strength at home and give help to the other free nations of the world. And we have done just that.
We have had to meet armed aggression by fighting in Korea. And we are fighting there so that we won't have to fight closer to home--so we won't have to fight in San Francisco or Wichita--or Cedar Rapids.
But our tasks are far from completed. We are still in danger. We have to bring this Korean conflict to an end without appeasement, and without bringing on a general war. I believe we are going to do just that. But we won't succeed if we turn the Congress over to isolationists who don't see our danger, and the White House over to a man whose professional training is for war.
We need courageous, farsighted leadership to continue our fight for lasting prosperity at home, and security and peace throughout the world.
All I ask is that before the people of this country cast their ballots on next Tuesday, they look at the records of both parties and both candidates, so they can choose the right leaders for the 4 tough years that are ahead of us.
We cannot trust the Republican Party to keep the country prosperous.
I don't believe the farmers of this country will put their trust in the Old Guard Republicans. These are the men who voted time after time to cripple rural electrification programs. Only this year they voted for slashes in soil conservation funds, and voted against price supports at 90 percent of parity. That's their record. Don't take my word for it--read the record and convince yourselves that your friends are not in the Republican Party.
I don't believe the workers of this country will place their confidence in the Old Guard Republicans who put the Taft-Hartley Act on the statute books in the 80th Congress, and voted against the bill that would increase social security payments this very year.
I don't believe the housewives of this country will look to the Old Guard Republicans to protect their family pocketbooks. For the past 2 years these men have been wrecking price controls with crippling amendments and budget slashes every time they got a chance.
I don't believe the people of this country will rely upon the statesmanship and vision of the Old Guard Republicans to keep us out of war. These are the men who have fought our efforts to strengthen the defenses of the free world against communism. They would lose us our allies. And we need allies for the purpose of preventing war and saving the lives of our own men.
But you are the people who must make the decision. You owe it to yourselves to study the record and the issues. Find out which party has worked for the plain, everyday people all the time, and has led the fight for world peace.
If you do that, you will vote the straight Democratic ticket next Tuesday. You will send T. W. Mullaney to Congress. You will elect Herschel Loveless to be your new Governor. And this great country of ours will go on to 4 years of good government under the leadership of Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
[3.] WEST LIBERTY, IOWA (Rear platform, 11:28 a.m.)
It's nice to see you--a pleasure to see you. Thank you very, very much--it is nice to see you young people. You may have guessed, I judge, the purpose of my visit. I am campaigning for the Democratic ticket, and I am campaigning as hard as I can because this is one of the most important elections in the history of the country. I am out trying to get you people to do a little thinking for yourselves. I am trying to get you young people to understand that we are faced with either turning the clock back, or going forward; and I want you to do a little thinking on this subject.
During the past 20 years we have made great social and economic progress in this United States of ours. This has been possible because you had a National Government that adopted specific programs to help bring it about--programs like farm price supports, minimum wage laws, social security, soil conservation, and rural electrification.
The Republican Party has fought us on all these programs every step of the way. They have always been against the New Deal and the fair Deal when it came to voting, although they are inclined to give you a little double-talk on the subject when the campaign for election comes around. They begin to get very good then, and want to love all the people. But the real attitude of the Republicans slips out sometimes, even in their campaign oratory. At their convention in Chicago last July, Senator Bricker said that the last vestiges of the New Deal and the fair Deal must be destroyed. The Republicans have some plans for doing that, too. For one thing, they are talking about selling the Government's big public power projects and other Government projects to private companies.
The magazine U.S. News and World Report tells about this plan in its issue of September 26, and it says "it may get a try if the Republicans control the White House and the Congress after next January 20th." Believe it or not, they are even talking about selling out the post office. I don't know about the post office, but I do know what will happen to your rates for electric power, if the private power monopoly ever gets its hands on the great Government dams. The rates will go up in a hurry.
One thing these birds are sure to go after, if they get a chance, is your REA co-ops. You know the private power companies always have been against REA, and whatever the private power companies are against, most of the Republicans are always against it, too.
The Republican candidate for President has been talking about removing what he calls, "the sticky hands of Federal bureaucrats" from the REA co-ops. Now I don't know what he means by that, but perhaps he thinks it would be better to turn your co-ops over to the tender mercies of the private power companies.
Now I believe the Old Guard Republicans in Congress are quite sincere in their opposition to the fair Deal. I think they really would set out to destroy all we have done for the last 20 years, if they had half a chance. I have just given you one example of how that would work, and I could give you many more. The result of the whole business would be to take us right back to the policies that brought on the Great Depression, the last time the Republicans controlled the National Government.
I want you to remember that. I want you to think about it. I want you to think in your own interests. I am just out here trying to get you to think, trying to get you to study what the issues are, trying to get you to investigate the records of these people in Congress.
Investigate the records of the Democrats, and see whether they have been for the farmer, the laborer, and for the small businessman. Investigate the record of the Republicans, and I think you will find they have voted against every measure that has been in the interests of these very people I am talking about.
That's all I am asking you to do. If you remember this: We are in the midst of a great struggle for peace. We cannot win this struggle unless we maintain our prosperity here at home. The Russians know this. That is why they have been hoping we would have in this country another Great Depression.
That is why it is so important for you to keep your Government in the hands of a party that shows it knows how to. keep the country prosperous.
I want you to think about these things. Think about which party has proved itself by results. Think about which party has done most for your interests, and for the country's welfare.
When you think about these things I know what you will do. You will go to the polls on election day, and you will elect Herschel Loveless as Governor, you will send Clair Williams to Congress--and you will elect Adlai Stevenson President of the United States, and we will have 4 more years of good government.
[4.] DAVENPORT, IOWA (Municipal Stadium, 12:25 p.m.)
Mr. Chairman:
I am very happy to be back in Iowa today. Three weeks ago, when I spoke at Shenandoah, I only had time to spend one day in this great State. But I promised myself then that I'd get back here before the campaign ended.
You see, as a Missourian, I can claim you Iowans as neighbors. And I like to get around and see my neighbors, particularly when I have something on my mind which I think you ought to know.
Now the thing that is on my mind today is the election coming on the 4th of November. That's next Tuesday, just 6 days away. This election will decide who sits in the White House for the next 4 years. And it will decide which party controls the Congress for the next 2 years.
My friends, it's going to make a lot of difference how this election comes out--a lot of difference to you personally, each and every single one of you.
Let me give you a very concrete illustration of what's at stake for you in this election. This has to do with something close to home for everybody around here. That's the corn crop here in Iowa.
The corn crop this year in Iowa is going to be a big one. And that's a very good thing. Corn is the Nation's principal feed grain and we need a good supply of corn always.
But we also know that a big corn crop puts a heavy downward pressure on corn prices. We have learned, through years of experience that when the farmers turn out big crops and provide the Nation with abundant supplies, their prices generally fall.
We can feel fortunate that this is not going to happen this year. It will not happen because the Democratic Party has protected the farmers through price supports.
Our price support program serves as a safety net to catch farm prices and keep them from falling to dangerously low levels. It helps to stabilize farm markets and to prevent the Nation's economy from falling out of balance.
That's what the price support program is going to do for the corn crop this year. It's going to hold the corn price at a level of $1.60 a bushel for every farmer who participates in the corn loan program. Without the support program, there is no telling how low corn prices might go. For it is expected that the crop this year will be one of the largest in history--second only to the huge crop of 1948.
Now, I'm telling you this story for a very good reason. I'm telling it because it is a very good example of how the Democratic Party has been using the powers of government for the benefit and welfare of all the people.
This program was brought into being by the Democrats, over the opposition of the Republican Party. And its very existence would be endangered by a Republican victory on November 4th.
The Republican candidate for President has been traveling all over the Midwest trying to pull the wool over the farmers' eyes. He says the Republican Party stands behind the price support laws on the books. And he says specifically this includes the present amendment to the basic farm act assuring price supports at 90 percent of parity throughout 1954.
Well, that's fine talk. But, my friends, what are the facts ?
I want you young men over there, who are having so much fun being discourteous to the President, to listen to this, because it will be a lesson to you.
The Republican Party had the opportunity to stand behind the support law, just a few weeks before the Republican candidate was nominated last July. It stood behind it, all right--a mighty long way behind. The recorded votes in the House of Representatives show that a majority of Republicans voted against continuing supports at 90 percent of parity.
As usual, it was the Democratic Party that pushed this legislation through for the benefit of the farmer.
Now the Republican Party had another opportunity at its convention in Chicago to stand behind price supports at 90 percent of parity. But it didn't take that stand. The Republican platform just talks vaguely about "aiming" at fair farm prices "in the marketplace." The platform doesn't even attempt to say what the Republicans would do to maintain fair prices.
And that Republican platform, by the way, is the best piece of gobbledegook I have ever read. I have been reading platforms for 40 years, and that one caps them all for saying nothing.
As usual, it was the Democratic platform that spelled out a firm position on price supports, stating specifically that the Democratic Party would maintain price supports at 90 percent of parity.
Senator Taft--who is the Republican leader in Congress--says he's against price supports at 90 percent of parity. He said that in New York, on the day the Republican candidate for President surrendered to him. Just as you might suspect, Taft once again endorsed the discredited "sliding scale" enacted by that Republican 80th Congress-the "sliding scale" which would have allowed farm prices to sink to 60 percent of parity.
I think I ought to tell you that if the "sliding scale" provision were in effect at this time, under present supply conditions, the support price for corn would not be $1.60 a bushel--it would be $1.18 a bushel. Now, which is best for you, Democratic policy or Republican policy?
furthermore, Republican opposition is aimed not only at price supports. The majority of the Republicans have fought almost every one of our great farm programs, in general and in detail, from 1933 right down to the present time.
The first Agricultural Adjustment Act-passed less than 2 weeks after President Roosevelt took office--was opposed by twothirds of the Republicans in the House of Representatives.
In 1938 Republicans in both the House and the Senate voted 5 to 1 against the Agricultural Act of that year.
In 1939 House Republicans voted 7 to 1 against appropriations for parity payments.
In 1943 House Republicans voted 14 to 1 to obstruct farm price supports and other measures.
In that same year House Republicans voted 16 to 1 to kill the crop insurance program.
All of you remember what happened when the Republicans gained power in the 80th Congress. They cut into the price support program in four different ways. And the Republicans in the House voted to kill the agricultural conservation program altogether.
Now the moral of this story is very simple-and it has a direct bearing on the choice you make when you go to the polls next Tuesday.
The moral is this: You can trust the Democratic Party to do the things that need to be done for the welfare and prosperity of farmers, workers, businessmen--everybody in the country. But you cannot trust the Republican Party to do anything for the common man.
What is true of farm programs is also true of other domestic programs aimed at maintaining general prosperity. It is also true of our other great 'programs--those aimed at world peace. You can trust the Democratic Party to carry on sound programs for peace. But honestly I believe you cannot trust the Republican Party to lead us toward peace.
We are engaged in a hard and dangerous struggle to check communism and to prevent another world war. Communism turned to open aggression in Korea, and we had to stop it there. If we had not stopped communism in Korea, it would have swept out across the other free lands of the world.
We are fighting in Korea, my friends, so that we won't have to fight right here, in our own country, against invasion. Now, we can win this fight, and prevent world war Ill, if we don't give up as the Communists want us to do. We can win if we have strong defenses and strong allies to share the burdens with us.
We must have strong alliances among the free nations if we are to prevent world war III and save American lives.
Now the Republican Old Guard does not seem to understand what terrible danger the world is in. They talk as if the fighting in Korea was unimportant. They think we can get security cheap. They seem to believe that we can get along without allies.
That is the way they vote. They vote to cut down on the aid our allies need to defend themselves. They promise great reductions in our own military spending.
My friends, I want to say to you that these men are positively blind. If we let them run the country I am certain we would face far graver danger of a general war.
I urge upon you, do not trust your welfare to that kind of leadership. Do not trust them with your welfare as a farmer, or a worker, or an independent businessman. Do not trust them with your rights and liberties as citizens of this free America of ours. Above all, do not trust them with our defense against Communist aggression.
Fortunately, my friends, you have an alternative--a good alternative. You can cast your vote for the Democratic Party, which has proved by its record that it cares about your welfare and will take constructive action in your interests.
You can cast your vote for a presidential candidate who has proved beyond a doubt, before and during this campaign, that he has courage and wisdom and real understanding of our country's problems and the great issues facing this free world of ours.
Think about your choice, my friends. I would advise you to give it a lot of thought. I would advise you to study the record of these things I have been telling you, because it is up to you to use your head on election day. Give it some thought for your own interests. Give the welfare of this country we all love so much the thought that is necessary to keep it like we have it. Remember that the decision is yours to make, but once you've made it, you must live with it for 4 long years.
When you go to the polls next Tuesday, vote in your own interest. Vote for what helps you. Vote for what is best for the country and for the world.
If you do that, I have no doubt about the outcome of the election. You will vote to send Clair Williams to the Congress, where he will represent you well. You will vote for Herschel Loveless for Governor of this great State of yours.
And you will vote to send to the White House, that able, progressive Governor of your neighbor State, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois.
[5.] MOLINE, ILLINOIS (Rear platform, 1:02 p.m.)
I appreciate most highly this reception which you have given me. I didn't expect to be received so vociferously and so cordially. I have had a grand trip today, starting up north and coming all the way down. And what impresses me, and what I can't understand is why so many people will come out to see a "has been." I'm not running for anything.
But I guess you know the reason I am here. I am trying to help get the Democratic ticket elected next Tuesday. As a matter of fact, I am working harder in this campaign than I did in 1948 in my own behalf. I know this has troubled a lot of people-most of them are Republicans. They are worried sick, they are crying their eyes out. You know, they are crying their eyes out and trying to call me everything under the sun. And they can't find anything new to call me--it has already been said.
I am putting my heart and soul into this campaign for one reason. This election next week, in my opinion, is the most important one for the people of the country since the Civil War. World peace and the welfare of our country hang in the balance. That is just what is involved--make no mistake about it.
I have been traveling over this great Nation during the past few weeks, and I can tell you that this country is in very good shape. You wouldn't know that, though, from listening to the Republican campaign oratory--and what they tell you is just not so.
Today we have 62 million jobs in America, and our national production is $340 billion a year. We have a real prosperity, and this is due to the sound programs that have been provided under 20 years of New Deal and fair Deal management.
The Democratic Party believes in seeing that everyone gets a fair deal and a fair share of the national income--farmers, workers, businessmen, everyone. In this way, purchasing power is maintained and our production system keeps going at a steady pace-
Take the farmer, for example. When he is prosperous, he buys farm machinery and equipment and other things. That means employment and good times here in Moline, and all over the country as well. Some of you can remember how things were 20 years ago. The farmer was broke, and you people in Moline had unemployment and tough times.
Today, thanks to Democratic leadership, we have price supports, soil conservation, farm credit, and a lot of other things that helped the farmer. And that helps you.
But the Republican Party has fought most of our work for the farmers. They have fought it just like they fought social security, they fought minimum wages, they fought unemployment compensation, they fought the Wagner Act.
Just this spring, a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against continuing price supports at 90 percent of parity. The Republican Party just can't understand progress. They don't realize that you get prosperity by improving the welfare of all the people--all the common people, just like I am. I am going to need a job after the 20th, that's the reason I want the Democrats in there.
The Republicans have been just as shortsighted when it comes to a sound foreign policy. We are engaged in a great struggle for peace. One part of that struggle is military. That means defenses, and fighting against aggression. The other part is civilian. It means helping other countries, through economic aid and other assistance, to keep strong. If a friendly country goes bankrupt, or suffers economic collapse, it can't stand up against communism and stay free. You ought to bear that in mind--that is most important.
Over the last 6 years, in Europe and Asia, we have helped dozens of friendly countries in this way. This is a vital part of our national defense. By making other countries strong enough to stand up against communism, we are working to save the lives of American boys.
'This part of our struggle for peace is clearly at stake in this election. The Old Guard Republicans are against helping other nations in this way. And they will control the Congress if the Republicans are elected.
They have shown by their voting records that they do not understand how important other nations are to our national defense. In 1949 the Republican Congressmen voted almost 2 to 1 against the military aid program, including military aid to the Republic of Korea. In 1950 they voted 3 to 1 against point 4. In 1951 Republican Senators voted overwhelmingly, six different times, to cripple economic aid for Western Europe. And just this year, three-fourths of the Republican Senators voted disastrous slashes in the economic and military aid to our allies.
I urge you to inform yourselves on these issues. All I am out for is to get you people to do some thinking. I want you to think for yourselves, and when you do that and study the record, you can't do but one thing. Look at the voting records of both parties. Compare the qualifications of each candidate. Find out which party has always worked in the interest of all the people, and which party has faced up to the responsibilities of world leadership in the mid-20th century.
If you do, I have no fear about the future of this country. You will vote the straight Democratic ticket, and you will elect a Democratic Governor to succeed your good Democratic Governor who is going to be the next President.
You will send Democrats to the Congress who will look after your interests, and this Nation will work for peace and prosperity for the next 4 years under the leadership of that outstanding American, that great Governor of the great State of Illinois--Adlai Stevenson.
[6.] CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (Negro War Memorial, 5:02 p.m.)
Congressman Dawson, Mr. Sengstacke, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I thank you. Thank you very, very much for this scroll. I wish I deserved all the things you said about me. All I can say is I will try to live up to them.
I am glad to be in Chicago's South Side this afternoon. This is an important anniversary. It was exactly 5 years ago today that the President's Committee on Civil Rights handed me its report. That report was courageous, and it was honest. It was prepared by men and women who sincerely wanted to make life better for all of and that is exactly what they did.
The civil rights progress that has been made in the last 5 years is the greatest since emancipation. There has been a great working of the American conscience, and what started it all is the civil rights report. I am proud of it, and I am proud of the Committee--but more than anything else, I am proud of the American people. They have taken the recommendations of that Committee to heart, and they are making them work. And today we are a better and stronger country because of it.
We are standing beside a monument to the brave Negro soldiers of the famous old 8th Regiment of the Illinois National Guard. In the first World War the 8th of Illinois proved its valor and gallantry on the field of battle. It was a much-decorated regiment, and we can all be very proud of the brave men to whom this monument is dedicated. The 8th of Illinois was a part of the old segregated National Guard. Today the Illinois National Guard is racially integrated-thanks to your great Governor, Adlai Stevenson. All the Armed forces of our entire active Federal service are rapidly being integrated. In the new integrated Armed forces, the old 8th of Illinois has become the 178th Regimental combat team.
It is not easy to wipe out segregation and discrimination in our Armed forces. Fortunately, I have had the help of one of the best Presidential committees that ever was assembled--the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services.
One of the members of that Committee was John Sengstacke, who is here today, and I want to tell you he did a mighty fine job on that Committee--and I appreciate it.
Any member of that Committee can tell you some hard facts about segregation in the Armed forces. It is wonderful how some of our generals go around talking about what they would do with one stroke of the pen if they got into the White House. What in the world were they doing when we had millions of men under arms and they were in command? I would like an answer to that.
The Republican candidate for President once told a committee of the Senate that a certain degree of segregation is necessary because Negro soldiers can't stand the competition with white soldiers. Today, our soldiers and sailors and airmen all over the world, but particularly in Korea, are proving that the Republican candidate didn't know what he was talking about--and there are a lot of other things he doesn't know what he is talking about, too.
The Democratic candidate--your own Governor, Adlai Stevenson--had already learned the truth about race relations from his service in the Navy. In the days before Adlai Stevenson was Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, Negroes were assigned only to the messmen's branch. Adlai Stevenson helped open up additional assignments to Negroes.
That was the beginning of the great change in the Navy. While we were still in the war, the Waves and Spars were opened to Negro women. In rapid order, the Navy assigned Negroes to auxiliary ships of the fleet, integrated the training schools, and opened up general service assignments, including duty on combat ships without any racial differentiation whatever.
At the present time, there is no segregation in the Navy or Marine Corps. The Army, too, has been moving ahead with the process of integration. Beginning in 1949 the Army opened all jobs to Negroes, opened all Army schools without racial restrictions or quotas; began to assign qualified Negroes to all types of military units, including those that were formerly all white; integrated the races in barracks and dining halls; and abolished the quota system which had limited Negroes to 10 percent of the Army's strength.
Since that time rapid progress has been made. Today integration is complete in all training divisions, in all replacement training centers throughout the United States. Our three regular Army divisions here have about completed racial integration, and so have many other units of similar size.
In May of this year, the far East Command completed the integration of all its forces. Our three other overseas Commands-the European, the Austrian, and Alaskan Commands--are progressively integrating their units. They are following the successful procedures used in the far East.
On the 11th day of May 1949, the Department of the Air force, following consultations with the President's Committee, announced a policy of equal treatment and equal opportunity. The Air force said its objective was total conversion from segregation to integration. As a measure of their success, let me tell you a few facts.
In January 1949, there were 167 Air force units that were mostly white but had some Negro personnel. In June of this year, the number of mixed units had increased to 3,466. That is an improvement of 20-fold, or 2,000 percent in 3 1/2 years.
My friends, these are big steps. They are forward steps, and they have not been done by magic. They have been done by getting down to the hard work of changing deeply rooted habits and procedures.
You have an important decision to make next Tuesday. You have to ask yourself which one of the two parties and which of the two candidates for President would be best for the country.
This year the Democratic Party offers to the people the great Governor of your own State of Illinois--Adlai Stevenson. He is the finest new presidential candidate offered by either political party for many, many years. He has had long experience in public affairs and government. He has been a great administrator of a great State. He will make one of the greatest Presidents we ever had.
Running with him is John Sparkman of Alabama. Together with your own Congressman Dawson, he helped put together the Democratic platform here in Chicago last July. That platform is the strongest civil rights stand ever taken by a major political party in this country. It favors effective Federal action on civil rights, including FEPC; and it urges a change in the rules of procedure in Congress so that a handful of men can't stand in the way when the others want to vote. John Sparkman helped write that platform. He has pledged himself to support it. He is an honorable man and will honor that pledge.
Now Stevenson and Sparkman will need sound men to support them in the Congress. Your own Congressman Dawson has made a great name for himself in Washington. As vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he sits in the highest councils of the Democratic Party. In addition, he has been the chairman of one of the most important committees in the Congress, the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments--and there isn't a better chairman in the Congress than Bill Dawson.
The people of Illinois are giving up a great Governor in order to get a great President. They must replace him in Springfield with an able and conscientious administrator. You have such a man in Sherwood Dixon, and I know you are going to elect him to be your next Governor. He is right now transacting the business of the State, and that is the reason he is not here. But he is like I am--he is blessed with a perfect helper in the form of Mrs. Dixon. I am one up on him--I have two helpers.
My friends, we are standing beside a monument to soldiers who fought in the old Army, the Army that followed the old segregated customs from days gone by. We owe it to them to put a man in the White House who will finish the job of integrating the armed services of our country.
Adlai Stevenson helped start this process in our armed services when he was in the Navy Department. He has continued the job as Governor of Illinois. He doesn't do it to get votes--he does it because it is the right thing to do. That is the kind of man you want for President of the United States.
The Republican candidate for President says he will take care of the civil rights problem by calling a conference of the Governors. I wonder who he would make chairman of that conference? How would you like his breakfast partner Governor Jim Byrnes of South Carolina--or his political allies in Governor Shivers of Texas, the head of the Shivercrats--or Governor Kennon of Louisiana, who is the top Dixiecrat?
I hope you are going to give this election a lot of thought, my friends. Our progress of the last few years must continue. You want a man in the White House you can trust, one who knows how to get things done, one who is not afraid to stand up and fight for your rights.
Think it over--and I know that you will vote to make Adlai Stevenson the next President of the United States on November the 4th.
NOTE: In the course of his remarks on October 29 the President referred to, among others, Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, Herschel C. Loveless, Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa, T. W. Mullaney and Clair A. Williams, Democratic candidates for Representative from Iowa, Martin McCarthy, local Democratic chairman of Davenport, Iowa, Representative William L. Dawson of Illinois, John H. Sengstacke, editor and publisher of the Chicago Defender, Sherwood Dixon, Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois, and Mrs. Dixon, and Governors James f. Byrnes of South Carolina, Allan Shivers of Texas, and Robert F. Kennon of Louisiana.