Rear Platform and Other Informal Remarks in Massachusetts and Connecticut

[1.] PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (Station platform, 8:14 a.m.)

Mr. Mayor, Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, and my good friends of Pittsfield:

It's good to be back in this great State again. I have always had a great respect for the citizens of Massachusetts. It's good to be in a State that has given every Democratic Presidential candidate for the last 20 years a majority--and I think you're going to do it again.

And I am most happy to have with me today in this great State its former Governor and my Secretary of Labor, Maurice Tobin. He is an able and distinguished public servant, and it is an honor to any President to have him in the Cabinet.

I am particularly pleased to be in Berkshire County. The Republicans probably are trying to keep it a secret. But you know, it was always here in western Massachusetts that the real progressive movement began in this country, and it began just after the Revolutionary War.

I remember hearing about a Congressman from this district who represented you for a long time in the Congress, and they tell me that that Congressman was very astute-that was before the invention of the radio and television and things of that kind--and he used to tour the mill towns of Berkshire County and tell them how strong he was for Roosevelt and the New Deal. Then he would go up in the hard-shell Republican hills and tell them he was against it. I think that is where the Republican candidate got his ideas this year--that the smart way to campaign is to be on both sides of every issue and never discuss it.

But we have learned a good deal about the world since your old Congressman used to get himself elected with double talk. This year you should send Pat O'Malley down to Washington to help me in the big job of cleaning out the special interests and their lobbies down there in Washington. And I'm very sure that's what you are going to do--I mean, cleaning out the mess made by the Republican 80th Congress. "The Great Lobby Congress," I call it. There were more lobbies in Congress with more money than ever before in the history of this great Nation, and it's a disgrace. You ought to dean them out. I think you're going to do it.

I would like to tell you a little bit about what this Republican Party did to mess up your interests, the interests of the people. I want to tell you what they did to the United States Department of Labor, to which I have just appointed Maurice Tobin. The Democratic Party sponsored the creation of the Labor Department way back in 1913 under a Democratic President, Woodrow Wilson. The Democrats in Congress passed the law that created the Labor Department against the violent opposition of the Old Guard Republicans. Woodrow Wilson named a Pennsylvania Democrat, William B. Wilson, to be the first Secretary of Labor. And after World War I, when the Republicans gained control of the Government, they favored, as they always do, labor-baiting, union-busting, open shop, yellow-dog contract policies. That is the Republican history whenever they get control of the Government. The gains made by the workingmen and women under 8 years of Democratic administration, from 1913 to 1921, were lost.

Twelve years later, in 1933, when we had 12 million able-bodied Americans out of jobs as a result of Republican misrule, we elected a great Democratic President, Franklin Roosevelt. The new Democratic administration began immediately to build up the Labor Department. One of the first steps was to create the United States Employment Service in 1933 to deal with unemployment. And I want to say to you that I set up the United States Employment Service in the great State of Missouri. Miss Perkins called me up and asked me if I wouldn't set it up on a-dollar-a-year basis--and I never got the dollar. This Service did great work during the 1930's, finding jobs for men and women and jobs they were best fitted to fill. During the war the United States Employment Service placed 39 million workers on war jobs. That Service helped to win the war. After the war it helped to shift 10 million workers from warwork to peace employment. In the reconversion period that United States Employment Service did a wonderful job for the welfare of this country.

And what did the Republican 80th "donothing" Congress do for the United States Employment Service? Why, they took it away from the Labor Department, where it belongs--they took it out of the Labor Department where it belongs, and deliberately weakened it. They deliberately weakened the Labor Department by doing that.

Another great part of the Labor Department built up by Democratic administrations of the last 16 years is the Conciliation Service. It has settled--now listen to this--it has settled more than 15,000 labor disputes, involving nearly 8 million workers, since the end of World War II. That's a record. It settled 15,000--more than 15,000-labor disputes. What do the Republicans think of this kind of work? What do they think of this fine work of the Conciliation Service? Well, the 80th Congress showed its contempt for labor by taking the Conciliation Service away from the Labor Department. That's another straight blow at labor. Only a few nights ago in Pittsburgh the Republican candidate for President said he would replace the present head of the Conciliation Service, who has done a magnificent job and who, incidentally, happens to be a New England Republican, but he doesn't belong to the Old Guard--that's what's the matter with him.

And that is only a part of what the 80th Congress did to the Labor Department. The Republicans slashed so much off the Department budget that it is scarcely able to run. They cut 25 percent off the Wage and Hour Division. They cut the Unemployment Service by 60 percent. They cut the Conciliation Service by 20 percent. They cut the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 60 percent. Do you know why they did that? They don't want the facts about the cost of living, employment, and high prices. That's the reason they cut down the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They just don't want the facts. The facts knock them in the eye, and they can't stand them. They completely wiped out the Division of Labor Standards.

There you have a fine example of how the Republican Party keeps its campaign promises. In 1944 the Republican platform promised a strong Labor Department, and they are promising a strong Labor Department now. But you can only judge them by their acts--and their acts say they don't want a strong Labor Department. They don't want any other department that's strong enough to protect the interests of the people. When the Republicans got control of the Congress they tore up the Labor Department.

In 1948 the Republicans are again promising a strong Labor Department. You ought to read their platform. It's the most hypocritical, deceitful document that was ever written in the history of political parties. The Republican candidate has already given away the plot this time. He has already said during this campaign that he would like to take away just about everything else that is left in the Labor Department.

So that's why I ask you to turn out on November 2d and send Pat O'Malley down to Washington. Help me to get back some of the real gains which we made during the last 16 years, and which the Republican Party will sabotage if it ever gets complete control of the Government. Think of your interests, your own interests, the people's interests, and then vote for yourselves. You know, you are the Government when you exercise your rights and privileges. In 1946 two-thirds of you stayed at home and didn't vote. And that's what caused the 80th Congress. Now, I sincerely hope that all of you, three-thirds of you, will vote on election day, on November 2d, and be sure that you vote for yourselves. Vote for lower prices, and better homes, vote for better health and educational facilities. Don't stay away from the polls and then wonder what happened when you get a Government that works for special interests and doesn't work for you.

I am asking you with everything I have: Go to the polls on November 2d, and to be absolutely sure you're right, just vote the Democratic ticket straight and you will be all right.

[2.] THOMPSONVILLE, CONNECTICUT (Rear platform, 10:35 a.m.)

Thank you very much. Thank you. would like very much just to stand here and listen to those cheers all day, but I know you want to hear a little something from me.

I would like to tell you just what the Republican Party has done to the Labor Department in which you are vitally interested. I want to tell you what they did to the United States Department of Labor. The Democratic Party sponsored the creation of that department in 1913 under Woodrow Wilson. That department was inaugurated and Woodrow Wilson appointed William B. Wilson the first Secretary of Labor, and I have just appointed the last Secretary of Labor, former Governor Tobin from Massachusetts. After World War I, when the Republicans gained control of the Government, they favored, as they always do, labor-baiting, union-busting, open-shop, yellow-dog contract policies. The gains made by the workingmen and women under 8 years of Democratic administration, from 1913 to 1921, were largely lost. Twelve years later, in 1933, we had 12 million able-bodied Americans out of jobs as a result of Republican misrule. We elected a great Democratic President who remedied that. We put Franklin D. Roosevelt in office.

Now, the new Democratic administration of 1933 immediately began to build up the Labor Department. One of the first steps was to create the United States Employment Service in 1933 to deal with unemployment. This service did great work during the 1930's finding jobs for men and women, jobs they were best fitted to fill. During the war the United States Employment Service placed 39 million workers on jobs. That Service helped materially to win the war. After the war it helped shift 10 million workers from warwork to peacetime employment.

Now, what did the Republican "donothing" 80th Congress do to the Labor Department and the United States Employment Service? The Republicans took it away from the Labor Department where it belongs. They deliberately weakened the Labor Department by taking the Employment Service away from it.

Another great part of the Labor Department built up by the Democratic administrations of the last 16 years was the Conciliation Service. It settled more than 15,000 labor disputes involving more than 8 million workers since the end of World War II. Now, that's a record. What did the Republicans do with that Service? Why, the 80th Congress showed its contempt of labor by taking the Conciliation Service away from the Labor Department. And that's another blow at labor.

That's only a part of what the 80th Congress did to labor. The Republicans slashed so much money off the department budget that they were scarcely able to run. They cut 25 percent off the Wage and Hour Division. They cut the Unemployment Service by 60 percent. They cut the Conciliation Service by 20 percent. They cut the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 60 percent. They don't want the facts about the cost of living, employment, and high prices. That's the reason they cut the Statistics Department. They completely wiped out the Division of Labor Standards. There you have a fine example of how the Republican Party keeps its campaign promises.

Now, out in Pittsburgh--out in Pittsburgh, Pa.--the Republican candidate for President said that he was going to institute a Labor Department equal to the Commerce Department and the Agricultural Department. Five days later, in Rensselaer, Ind., when he was speaking for Charlie Halleck, he gave away the last thing in the Labor Department. If he could get elected he said he would put that in a new department that he was going to set up.

Now, my Republican opponent's logic reminds me of a story at a New England town meeting. There was a citizen at the town meeting who made a motion to appropriate $50,000 to build a new city hall. An old gentleman got up and made an amendment to the motion and said that he would like to make it $100,000, but that he wanted to make some conditions before they had the $100,000. He said he would like to build a new town hall--this was condition one--on the site of the old one. Then he said he wanted to use every stone in the old town hall to go into the new hall. Then he said he didn't want the old town hall torn down till the new one was built.

Now, that's the way the Republican candidate feels about the Labor Department. That's the way he feels about all the issues in this campaign. He's afraid to discuss them. You haven't heard him mention a single Republican administration or a single Republican President. He can't point to them with pride because whenever they have had the chance, they have tried to give the country to special interests. The Democratic Party stands for you and for your interests.

Now, if you believe that, get out early in the morning on election day, elect Chester Bowles Governor and the whole Democratic ticket in Connecticut, and send me back to the White House with a Democratic Congress so we can get things done.

[3.] HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT (11 a.m.)

Thank you very much. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate this warm and cordial welcome in Hartford today. It is-well, words just can't express it. You can't say what's in your heart, because there aren't words to express that sort of feeling. Thank you for this fine reception.

I've always enjoyed being in the great State of Connecticut, and I'm especially happy to be here today when there are so many fine Democrats traveling with me.

On the way down here from Springfield, I've been visiting with Chester Bowles and talking to him about high prices. If anybody in the country knows what soaring prices mean, and what high prices will do to the country, it's Chester Bowles.

I was highly pleased to see my friend and colleague, Brien McMahon on the train. He is noted, as you know, for the law that bears his name that controls atomic energy in these United States--and the Republicans are trying to tear it up, don't forget that!

Now, Chester Bowles and I fought many a tough battle in Washington, trying to keep strong, effective laws on the books so that people wouldn't suffer from postwar inflation.

You know what happened. Too many people wanted easy profits. Not enough people were alert to the danger, and so the Republican leaders in the Congress led the successful fight against price control.

Those Republican leaders, I remember, used to boast about how they'd kill OPA. They have been pretty quiet about it recently, with an election coming up. I haven't even heard the Republican candidate for President mention the fact that there are high prices.

But don't think for one minute that they have done all they are going to do to you. They're not through yet!

They refused to reestablish price controls and other curbs on prices that I repeatedly asked for. I even called the Congress back into special session twice just for that purpose.

You got no relief from the Republicans at all. And you won't get any.

If the Republican Party wins this election-and they aren't going to--you'll have to expect some more of the same bad medicine from them--medicine to pep up special privilege--medicine to lull you to sleep while they shake out your pockets.

We already have been given a preview of what to expect from the next Republican Congress.

It has been given to us by the real estate lobby, which has always found it easy to get what it wants from this Republican Congress.

The National Apartment Owners Association held a convention, which ended just 2 weeks ago, in California. And the Wall Street Journal, which is a good paper to read if you want to know what the Republicans have in mind, carried a full report of this
Convention,

I have a copy of that Wall Street Journal for October 13 right here in my hand, and I want to read you a quotation:

"Coronado, California"--And it says, "The Nation's landlords are going after rent control this year with a double-barreled shotgun.

"One barrel, repeating the single-shot blast used before, will renew a direct appeal to Congress to 'kill' this last remaining wartime control.

"The other, aimed at enlisting John Q. Public in the 'hunt' will pepper him with landlord laments and pleas to help get rid of restrictions which, he'll be assured, are working to his own disadvantage."

Now, that's the direct quote from the Wall Street Journal, as to what these people are going to do to you if they get a chance.

The apartment-house owners say that they intend to spend a quarter of a million dollars to get rent control repealed next month. Now, that is one of the most disgraceful things about this last Congress. In this Republican-controlled 80th Congress, there were more lobbies in Washington, and there was more money spent by lobbies in Washington than in all the history of the Congresses put together before that time. It is a disgrace to the country.

This real estate lobby predicts that, if it is successful in killing rent control in March, rents will not be increased more than 20 percent.

Now, is there anybody here in Hartford who wants his rent jumped 20 percent next March? All you have got to do is send that leadership back that ran the Both Congress.

I don't have a doubt in the world that rents would be that high, or maybe even higher, if the Republican Party should win this election.

If the same Republicans who ran the Both Congress are back there next spring, they'll kill rent control just exactly like this lobby wants them to.

The reason why rents would go up so quickly is that we still have a very bad housing shortage in this country. I don't have to tell you how hard it is to find a place to live at a price you can afford to pay.

Nearly 3 million veterans and other families are living doubled up. A great many of them are living in garages. As I said the other day, you remember when the Republicans promised "two chickens in every pot." Now they are promising "two families in every garage."

Five million American families are living in the slums.

To correct this shocking condition, I have been urging the Congress for 3 years to pass a comprehensive housing law. We need to clear slums. We need to build at least half a million low-rent housing units.

And we most definitely need to retain rent control until the housing emergency is over.

The housing bill was killed by the Republican leaders in the 80th Congress just the way price control was killed, just the way they will get rid of rent control next spring if they get a chance.

I think the people of Hartford and the people of Connecticut have had enough of that kind of Republican reaction.

You have had enough of Republican neglect of your interests in favor of special privilege.

What we need is a Democratic forward-looking Government that will keep this Nation strong and prosperous.

We must pass that Taft-Ellender-Wagner bill to provide houses that everyone can afford.

And we must repeal that other Taft-named bill, that Taft-Hartley Act.

We must have at least a 75 cents an hour minimum wage.

We must broaden and extend social security.

We must pass the Federal aid to education bill so that our States can provide our children with the best education it is possible to give.

These are some of the specific things we must do.

These are the issues in this campaign.

They are not generalizations. They aren't the things that the Republicans want to tear down. These are down to earth Democratic programs that will develop our country and our people.

You will listen in vain for any such specific recommendations or plans from the Republican Party.

This raises a question that you must ask yourself: What are the Republicans up to when they refuse to deal with the facts in this campaign ?

There is just one answer. The Republicans are afraid to take the people into their confidence. They know you wouldn't stand for it. You wouldn't elect a single Republican candidate, if he would come out squarely and tell you what the Republicans stand for in this campaign.

You need an administration that tells the people the facts of life and an administration that trusts them.

You will find no Democratic candidates talking about the "dead hand of Government," as the Republican candidate for president does.

That was the purpose of the Democratic Party. Thomas Jefferson had faith in the people. The Democratic Party is still the Jeffersonian Party that it always was--the party of the people. And it will always remain that way, as long as I have anything to do with it!

The Democratic Party believes in our form of government.

And we will defend it against all comers.

On November the 2d, it is up to the people of Connecticut to decide whether the Government in Washington will continue to serve the people's interests, or whether it will serve the special interests.

If every registered Connecticut voter makes it his personal responsibility to be at the polls on November the 2d, they need not worry that our country will be turned over to special groups.

Now, 2 years ago, in 1946, a lot of good Democrats stayed at home and didn't vote. Forty thousand Democrats right here in Connecticut didn't vote in 1946. You mustn't do that this time, because the Government is yours when you exercise your right to vote. It is in your hands--in nobody else's hands-to say whether we are going to have a government of, by, and for the people, or whether we are going to have a government by special interests.

Get out there on November the 2d and vote the Democratic ticket straight and the country will be in safe hands.

[4.] SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (12:25 p.m.)

Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate this wonderful reception you have given me here today. No man on earth could ask for more than that.

After a few hours in this part of Massachusetts, I sometimes wonder why anybody wants to leave here. It's beautiful here--it's almost as beautiful as Missouri !

But I didn't come to Springfield to talk about the weather or the scenery.

I am traveling about the country explaining what the issues in this campaign are. Here in Springfield, I'm going to talk about education and about our veterans of World War II, who are back in school getting a delayed education.

Maybe the schoolbooks don't talk about it, but right here in Springfield, Mass., was the first GI revolt in our history--Shays' Rebellion.

Captain Daniel Shays fought in the Revolutionary War. When that war was over, the men who had done the fighting faced a very bad inflation situation, and the great-grandfathers of the Republican Party had no more interest in their welfare than the Republican 80th Congress had in yours.

Shays' Rebellion didn't last long, but the conservatives were so frightened that they were scared into supporting the Constitution of the United States, and it accomplished that great thing for Massachusetts.

I don't suppose that any man has ever visited all the schools and colleges in New England. Some of them are maintained by the States, but most of them are independent.

Practically all of them are crowded with former servicemen on the GI educational grants. This program of helping veterans complete their education is tangible evidence of our gratitude to our veterans, for what they did to save the country in this great war.

Of course, they deserve much more than a good education, which we are doing our best to provide them with. They deserve decent housing. This, I am sorry to say, we have not yet provided, because the Republican 80th Congress refused to pass a housing bill which we so badly need.

Our veterans deserve relief from high prices, which we are making every effort to meet. They are the ones who are suffering the most from high prices. Everyone on a fixed income is suffering from high prices. They aren't getting any relief, because the Republican 80th Congress refused to restore price control.

And our veterans deserve assurance that they won't ever have to go to war again. I can't make the promise that this country will never be forced to defend itself again, but I can say that we are doing everything in our power to create a just and lasting peace in the world.

It only takes one nation to make war. But it takes two or more to make a peace. And we are having difficulties with some of our former allies to get this peace implemented. But we are going to succeed before we get through.

I am convinced that we are on the right track. So long as we are fair, firm, and friendly, there will not be another war.

There is something else that our veterans deserve, too. That is decent schooling for their children.

The first public schools in this country were founded here in Massachusetts. Ever since then, democracy and the public schools have gone hand in hand.

Today public schools all over the Nation face a tremendous crisis. Classrooms are overcrowded, buildings are antiquated, and teachers are underpaid.

Time and again, I urged the Republican Both Congress to pass legislation, to extend Federal assistance and aid to the States for the school systems, just like the Federal Government helps the States build highways. You'd think everybody would agree that schoolchildren are at least as important as the highways over which the school buses carry them to school. The Republicans didn't think so.

That Republican Congress said, "Nothing doing--we're against it!"

The Republican candidate has committed himself on this issue of education in words he cannot deny. He's against it, too.

I have right here in my hand a couple of telegrams from two great Governors of this great United States of ours. The Governors of the two great States are the Governor of Utah and the Governor of Maryland.

Both bear witness to the vicious attack which the Republican candidate for President made on this Nation's schoolteachers at the last Governor's Conference in Portsmouth, N.H.

Here is what Governor Lane of Maryland wired me. Governor Lane of Maryland says in his telegram that the Republican candidate said, and I quote:

"The school lobby," he said, "is the most vicious and dishonest lobby in the country. It is worse than all of the rest of them put together. One of the lies"--now, the schoolteachers tell lies--"they tell is that Russia spends more money on public education than we do in this country."

Now, that is the end of the quote, and that's what the present Republican candidate for President said right up here in your neighboring State.

Governor Lane of Maryland reports that the Republican candidate said that.

The Republican candidate made that statement in the presence of nine Governors of this great country.

Governor Maw of Utah confirms that fact. Governor Maw says in his telegram that the Republican candidate said that the teachers' lobby would destroy the State governments of the Nation by supporting only those candidates who would give them what they wanted.

Maybe the Republican candidate is afraid the teachers will support only those candidates who believe that teachers are entitled to good pay and a living wage.

Now, the Republican candidate has said that the teachers' lobby is more vicious than the power, or real estate, or oil, or liquor lobbies of this country. Now, I don't think the teachers deserve to be placed in that class. I think the teachers have a fight to an organization to present their petitions and to show what they believe to any legislative body in the country, if they so desire.

Those are the Republican candidate's views, as reported in this telegram from the Governor of Utah and the Governor of Maryland.

Now, I know only one way to combat that totally un-American point of view on the public schools.

That is to maintain a Government at Washington that represents the people, and not the special interests and the privileged groups.

Schoolteachers are people. Schoolchildren are, too. It is very distasteful to me to have them lumped in with oil and liquor.

We must have a Government that trusts the people, a Government that respects human rights.

That is the kind of government the Democratic Party stands for.

And if I know New England, you people here feel exactly the same way as I do about it. So all I ask you to do, not for me but for yourselves, is to do your duty and go to the polls on November 2d. And if you vote for your own interests, you can't do anything else but vote a straight Democratic ticket. I understand that Foster Furcolo is your candidate for Congress here. Send him down there so he can cooperate with the President in doing the right thing.

Vote for better schools and better homes.

Vote for the party that will carry on your fight for peace and freedom.

Remember, you are the Government when you exercise the control you should on election day. Two-thirds of you didn't do that in the last election in 1946. Two-thirds of you either were not interested, were too lazy to go to the polls, or just didn't care, and you got the 80th Congress--and look what you got! Now, the best thing you can do for your own interests is to go to the polls on election day, as I told you a while ago, and vote the straight Democratic ticket. And if you do that, I won't be troubled with the housing shortage--I'll be in the White House for another 4 years.

I am delighted to have here on the platform with me the former Governor of Massachusetts and my Secretary of Labor, the Honorable Maurice Tobin. And I am also highly pleased and delighted to have the Floor Leader of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives--who didn't go along with these Republicans on these things--John McCormack, from Massachusetts.

[5.] WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS (2:28 p.m.)

Mr. Mayor and ladies and gentlemen:

It is a real pleasure to be here in the heart of the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I wish I could stay longer. I had a fine reception, I remember, when I was here
4 years ago, and I have always had a warm spot in my heart for this great city.

You know, your Fourth Massachusetts Congressional District was one of three districts in the United States which unseated mossback, standpat Republican Congressmen in 1946, and you did a great thing by replacing them with able, enlightened, liberal Democrats.

I sincerely wish a lot more cities had done what you did in 1946. Your Congressman, Harold Donohue, has been a member of that group of Democrats in the 80th Congress which has fought for forward-looking measures in the people's interests. And I am assured that you are going to elect Paul Dever for Governor in this State and make a clean sweep of it. The country needs more men like these two gentlemen. I have the greatest privilege and pleasure today to have with me my new Secretary of Labor and former Governor of the great State of Massachusetts-Maurice Tobin. You are also lucky to have another distinguished Democrat here, your able Mayor, Charles Sullivan. He is going to be the next Lieutenant Governor of your great State. Mr. Sullivan tells me that for the first time in history you have a Democratic majority in both houses of the City Council. That shows that you are thinking right and you are acting right. I think that indicates that you people, like the vast majority of all the people in this great United States of ours, have lost faith in the Republican Party--and I am glad you have.

You have lost faith in the Republican Party because that party has failed to represent your interests--the interests of all the people. I don't need to go into your reasons for rejecting the Republican Party. You know all about the record of the "donothing" 80th Congress. I would like to talk to you about something more important than that. I would like to talk to you about peace. I would like to tell you about the only way we can make our will for peace prevail in this troubled world. That way is to keep the United States strong and prosperous. The greatest single factor working for peace today is our American standard of living. It is our high standard of living, achieved during the past 16 years, that enables us to help the free nations of the world to resist Communist aggression.

The Communists are all against me, and I am very happy that they are. It shows that I am right!

The policies of the Republican Party as demonstrated by the record of the 80th Congress and endorsed by the Republican candidate for President, would result in a drastic reduction in the American standard of living. That would be a catastrophe and a blow at our efforts to achieve world peace.

The policies of the Democratic administration in the last 16 years have resulted in the greatest prosperity this country has ever seen. No other country in the world has ever had such prosperity as we have had in the 3 years since the close of World War II.

You know, I think that we are living in the greatest age in history. We are living in an age like no other age in the history of the world; and because we are living in the greatest age in history, eventually we are going to get a permanent peace that will enable that to continue for our children and our grandchildren.

Now, our national income is nearly $220 billions this year. That income is fairly shared by workingmen and women, by farmers, by white-collar workers, and by small businessmen. The policies of the Republican Party as demonstrated by the record of the Republican 80th Congress, and as stated by the Republican candidate for President, would wreck that fair distribution.

The Republicans believe in what they call the "trickle down" theory. They want the big, rich, and wealthy, the privileged special interests groups to get the lion's share of the income and let the scraps fall down for the rest of us.

The first thing the Republicans tried to do in the Both Congress was to pass a rich man's tax bill which would have given tremendous benefits to the rich and left the heavy tax burden on low-income groups.

I vetoed their tax bill three times, but it was finally passed over my veto. And you know what the Republicans are doing now? They are sending out duns to everybody who got a cut in income tax to contribute something to the Republican campaign fund because they want to do it some more. If that is not bribery, I don't know what is.

You take a man making $60 a week, if he got a cut of a $1.50 a week in his income tax, that has been wiped out by high prices. But the fellow that got $100,000 a year got more than a $16,000 cut. Those are the guys they are trying to get money from--they want them to turn that $16,000 over to them; and I think they are doing it, because they have unlimited funds.

The Democrats never did win an election with money. We win it with votes!

The Republicans' next move was to pass harsh labor legislation. That shameful Taft-Hartley Act is a deliberate effort to crush the power of organized labor so that labor unions will not be able to bargain for better wages and better working conditions. That Taft-Hartley Act is only a first step. The Republicans have said that, if they get a chance, they will pass even more restrictive labor laws.

You know, Mr. Hartley published a book. You ought to read that book, all you people who are interested in the welfare of labor. He tells you just exactly what they are going to do to you, if they get control of this Government.

The Republican leaders have knocked the props out from under farm prosperity by refusing to pass permanent, long-range farm legislation, and by depriving many farmers of price supports to which they are entitled.

Corn, right now, in the corn belt, is selling for 47 cents below the support price, for the simple reason that the Republicans refused to allow the Commodity Credit Corporation to set up bins in which to store that corn, as they have always done in years past. Farmers are beginning to wake up. They are beginning to find out who their friends are, just as labor and the regular ordinary citizen is finding out, that the Democrats are for them.

The Republicans are for special interests, and if you don't believe that, just read the record of the 80th Congress. I have been putting it out all over the United States. I have faced more than 6 million people, just like I am facing this great audience today, and I have told them the facts. You can't get them from the newspapers, you can't get them from the radio commentators, but you can get them from me, all right, if you listen to what I have to say.

Every housewife in the country knows how the living standard of the family has been hurt by the Republican Congress' refusal to do anything about soaring prices. The Republicans killed price control, and they refused ever since to do anything to give you relief from skyrocketing prices. The Republican leaders seem to be so eager to help the special interests make a killing that they are endangering our future prosperity and our national safety.

We cannot remain a strong nation if the Republicans are allowed to continue their raid on the people's rights.

The only kind of unity they are thinking about is unity in behalf of a privileged few. I believe we should have unity on behalf of the people of this country, not just a few.

As next Tuesday approaches, give some thought to the Republican record on housing, their record on high prices, their record on labor legislation. Remember how weak we were in 1932, after 12 years of Republican rule. Twelve million people were unemployed-banks were failing by the dozen-farms were being foreclosed by the thousands

And now consider how prosperous and strong we are after 16 years of Democratic administrations. Sixty-one million people have jobs--nobody who wants a job but what can have one. No bank failures in 3 years--farmers practically out of debt, with the largest income they have ever had in their history. Only a strong and prosperous United States will remain a free United States. Only a nation where the government works constantly for the benefit of the people and not for just a privileged few will be able to lead the world to peace.

Now, the continuation of this situation is in your hands. You are the Government when you exercise your privileges. You did not exercise that privilege in 1946, and you got the 80th Congress. This district performed all right, but the majority of them in the United States did not vote. Twothirds of them stayed at home--look what we got!

Now you are the Government when you want to exercise that privilege, and you are the Government only when you go to the polls on election day and exercise that privilege to vote. Then you decide who and what your Government will be.

Now, on November the 2d, for your own interest, get up early and go to the polls and vote the straight Democratic ticket, and then you will have a Democratic administration in the great State of Massachusetts, you will have a Democratic administration in Washington, and I won't be troubled with the housing shortage.

[6.] FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS (Rear platform, 3:40 p.m.)

Thank you, thank you very much. I certainly appreciate most highly that cordial introduction. I have had a most wonderful reception in this great State, and I certainly wish I could visit every corner of New England and every town in it.

Now, this city of Framingham has a reputation of being a forward-looking community. I had heard about it long before I ever arrived here. I know that you want to keep right on going forward along the lines laid down by the Democratic Party in the last 16 years. You proved that in 1946 when you sent a fine Democrat to Congress, Harold D. Donohue. If more cities and congressional districts had followed your example, how much better off we would all be! We would never have had that backward-looking 80th Congress if every city and community had done what you did the last time.

I am satisfied that the American people are very sorry that they let so many mossback Republicans slip into that 80th Congress. I believe the voters all over the country are going to send those reactionary Republicans back to private life in November. I believe the voters are going to turn thumbs down on the Republican candidate for President, a candidate who won't tell you where he stands or what he believes in. He goes around preaching platitudes. You know, he has given "G.O.P." another meaning. It now means "Grand Old Platitudes." I believe the American people are entitled to hear from the Republican leaders the full and honest convictions of the candidate.

You certainly know where the leaders of the Democratic Party stand. I have gone all over the country, from one end to the other--north and south and east and west-and you understand exactly where I stand; and I have tried to make it perfectly clear to you where the Republicans stand too. I defy you to say what the Republicans stand for--what the Republican candidate for President stands for except for the Republican Party. And if he can stand for that, he can stand for anything!

In the last 16 years your Government has been headed by men who have done everything possible to 'promote the welfare of the people as a whole. By "the people" I mean all the citizens of the United States. We don't restrict our sympathies to the people who make $100,000 a year. We mean everybody in the country. We want to build millions of low-priced houses for workingmen and their families. We want to get rid of the vicious Taft-Hartley law, passed by the Republican Congress under the whip of the millionaire manufacturers. We want to provide Federal aid to education so that all our children will have a chance to get a decent schooling. We want to put a national health program into effect so that all Americans can get good medical care and good dental care.

We can do all these things if everybody goes to the polls and votes the Democratic ticket straight in November. You can vote for a Federal housing program, a Federal aid to education program, a Federal health program, by marking your ballot for the Democratic candidates.

You have a stake in this election. It will affect your job, your chance to get a raise, your chance to get a better home, your chance to control the high prices that rob you of all gains you had before those prices went up. It will mean the difference between moving ahead and going backward.

The people's campaign is rolling to victory. I can assure you of that. The West is with us, the Central States are with us, and the East is swinging into line. If you would see the people I have been talking to since I came East, you would understand what I mean when I say the East is beginning to find out what side its bread is buttered on.

All I ask you to do is vote for yourself, vote for your family. When you come right down to the analysis of our Government, our Government is the people, and when the people exercise their right to vote on election day they control that Government. When they don't exercise that right then you get-then you get an 80th Congress. So, twothirds of the people of the United States entitled to vote in 1946, stayed at home. They didn't have energy enough to go and look after their political interests on election day-and they got the 80th Congress. Don't do that again. Don't do that again.

The Democrats are not afraid of the people. The Democrats know that when the people exercise their rights the country is safe.

I am urging you with everything I have: on November 2d, everyone of you, get up early and go to the polls and vote the Democratic ticket straight--and then you'll have a Democratic President, a Democratic Congress, and a Democratic organization and government here in this great Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

I appreciate your coming out very much.