Address in Chicago at the National Democratic Conference and Jefferson Jubilee.

Senator Lucas, Governor, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Vice President of the United States, fellow Democrats:

This pageant we have just seen shows the part that the Democratic Party has played in the building of our country.

The Democratic Party has helped to make this country great, and I am proud to be a Democrat.

In Jefferson's time, the American people created the Democratic Party to free themselves from the control of the privileged few. Since then, from time to time, the American people have chosen our party as their instrument to create the kind of nation that Jefferson dreamed of, a land of opportunity and justice for all.

The Democratic Party has always been the servant of the American people. It is still the servant of the people, working for equal opportunity and equal justice for all.

Since Jefferson's day our country has made great progress. We are now one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, nation in the world. We carry tremendous responsibility, as a result of that power.

The problems we face today are different from those of Jefferson's time. But the Democratic Party is still true to the great principles that shine through all that Jefferson said and wrote.

Thomas Jefferson had faith in the people. He believed that the people could govern themselves wisely, if they knew the facts.

The Democratic Party today still believes that. We believe in giving the facts to the people. That is what I have been trying to do on this trip to the Pacific Northwest.

I think it is a good thing for the President to get out around the country, as often as possible, and let the people know what he looks like and what he stands for. The President is elected by the people, and he has a duty to report to them.

Some Republican politicians don't seem to think the President should visit with the people. I was followed around on this trip by a representative of theirs. He had a private plane, and he showed up to see the crowds everywhere I stopped. I understand that he thought the crowds were disappointing-that is, disappointing to him.

The way he showed up everywhere reminds me of a little poem.

And it goes like this:

"I have a little shadow,

That goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him

Is more than I can see." ¹

¹See Item 137 [18] and footnote.

I don't know what my little shadow expected to find on this trip. But I'll tell you what he did find.

He found that the people like to have their elected officials come out and talk with them face to face. And that is what I propose to keep on doing.

I am going to express a personal wish now. I wish the opposition would come out for something and be a real opposition. A great political party cannot survive by being against everything that is for the good of the people. Remember the demise of the federalist Party, remember the Whig Party and how it passed into oblivion. We need a strong two-party system in this great Republic of ours, and I sincerely hope that the Republican Party will profit by the examples I have cited.

The Democratic Party believes today, as it has believed for 150 years, that if the people know the facts, they will solve their problems the right way.

The Democratic Party, today, is the party of the mainstream of American life. It is the party of progressive liberalism.

We do not share the delusions of the extreme left. We reject the godless theories of communism. We believe in the free will of man, and in the democratic exercise of his rights as a human being.

We do not share the prejudices of the extreme right. We do not share their fear of change, or their delusions that we can go back to the past. We believe in progress. We know that you cannot get along in the atomic age with horse-and-buggy ideas.

We are willing to tackle the problems that confront our country on the basis of the facts as they are now--not as they used to be a long time ago.

And, above all, we believe that our country has before it, for all its citizens, a glorious future.

I know there are some people who do not agree with us. I wish all these doubting Thomases could have gone along with me on the trip I have been making to the Pacific Northwest and back. That would have convinced them--if anything could--that this country has a wonderful future ahead of it. When that great dam--the Grand Coulee Dam--was started, some people said there was no future in that. They said there was no one there to use electric power except coyotes and jack rabbits.

I wish they could see that place now.

I wish they could see the homes and farms, the cities and plants, that are using the power from Grand Coulee today.

I wish they could talk to the people out there about the plans they have for the future.

The people in the Northwest know what the Democratic Party means when it talks about progress--about an expanding economy. And so do the people in the rest of the country.

Now, some sour critics have been saying lately that my hopes for the future of the country are just idle dreams. I admit that I do have some ideas about a wonderful future for this United States of America. I do dream of making our country a better place to live in.

And what's more, there are a lot of Americans who share those dreams. I believe that every American family has a dream of a better future, and is working to make it come true. I want those dreams to come true.

The Democratic Party would deserve to be retired from office, and thrown into the ash heap of history, if it ever stopped dreaming of what we can do to make our country better.

But we in the Democratic Party are more than dreamers. We know that it takes hard work to make dreams come true.

The Democratic Party has never tried to tell the American people that they could make their dreams come true simply by sitting still and wishing.

Right now, the two biggest jobs this Nation faces are to assure an increasing standard of living for our people, and to achieve peace in the world. To do those jobs is going to take the hardest kind of work.

To achieve peace, we must cooperate with other free nations in maintaining a strong common defense against aggression. To achieve peace, we must cooperate with other free nations in building a prosperous world. To achieve peace, we must cooperate with other countries in strengthening and improving the United Nations.

These tasks are all difficult, long and expensive. But we will not shrink from them, for they are the way to peace. They are the way to create a community of nations, at peace with one another, working for the good of all men. And that is one of our greatest dreams!

To assure an ever-expanding standard of living for the American people, we must have better farms and better factories, more businesses, and more jobs. We must have better health, education, security, and recreation for all the people.

We in the Democratic Party know that these things will come about only through progressive action and hard work. But we know they can come about--that we can make our dreams come true. We know that, because of the progress we have already made.

Look at the progress that business has made already.

You often hear it said that the Democratic Party is unfair to business, is taxing it to death, and has taken all incentives away from private enterprise. A great deal of propaganda is issued to try to make you believe that private initiative and private profit are on the last mile to extinction. But what are the facts ?

In 1949 corporate profits, after taxes, were double what they were 10 years ago. In 1949 industrial production was 60 percent more than it was in 1939. In 1949 new investment in plant and equipment for business purposes was more than double what it was 10 years ago. These increases are in terms of real income, not just dollars. If it was in dollars it would be a lot bigger.

Business was never so productive, vital, and energetic as it is today. All this talk about weakening private enterprise is sheer political bunk.

One of the reasons why business is strong and prosperous is that the income of the average American family has greatly increased in recent years. Since 1939 the real income of the typical wage earner's family has gone up 50 percent.

The same kind of progress has been made by farm families. Their real incomes have risen as much as those of the wage earners.

All groups in the economy have made progress together: businessmen, wage earners, and farmers have been moving steadily forward. We have all shared in the economic progress of the Nation. Why, they even raised the salary of the President!

The Democratic Party knows that the prosperity of all groups within the country is interwoven: the prosperity of business is linked with the prosperity of the white collar workers, and farmers, and industrial workers, And we believe that the Government must work with all these groups and plan for the future.

It is not enough simply to stand still-merely to hold our own. In this great Nation of ours, with its vast wealth of resources, we can have--and we should have--a constantly improving standard of living for everybody.

Now, the Democratic Party is planning ahead to achieve that goal. We have a program--a definite, positive program--for increasing our national welfare. We propose to build upon the experience of the last 17 years and strengthen the measures that have so thoroughly proved their worth during that period.

Our program is founded firmly upon the proposition that it is the duty of the Government to serve all the people--not just the privileged few.

Our program is set out in the 1948 platform of the Democratic Party. That was the program on which I was elected to office, and I have been Working to carry it out. And I am going to keep right on working to carry it out.

In trying to get this program through the Congress, we have met strong opposition from various oddly assorted groups. In many cases we have successfully overcome this opposition. In others, we have not overcome it--at least, not yet. But we will keep up the fight, and I think we will be successful before long.

I say that much of the success we have already achieved is due to the fine work of your own United States Senator, Scott Lucas.

As majority leader, he has been responsible for guiding our program through the Senate. And I can tell you from my own experience, it is no easy job to guide things through the United States Senate. For the excellent manner in which he has measured up to that difficult task, Scott Lucas is entitled to the gratitude of the entire Nation. And he deserves to be returned to the Senate from the great State of Illinois.

And I am happy to say that the people of Illinois sent him a worthy partner when they elected a new Senator in 1948, Senator Paul Douglas.

The 81st Congress is still in session. It is not yet possible to tell what its final record will be. But one thing is clear already. The 81st Congress has reversed the backward trend of the 80th Congress.

Of course there are still many backwardlooking Senators and Representatives who have tried to defeat every progressive measure they could, and to obstruct and delay those they could not defeat.

Despite the efforts of these men, the 81st Congress is moving forward. Its record will be a great deal better than the record of the 80th Congress.

The accomplishments of the 81st Congress will contribute greatly to world peace and will substantially advance the welfare of the American people.

This Congress has ratified the North Atlantic Treaty and authorized a program of military assistance to the countries which are our partners in that treaty.

It has extended the European recovery program and the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act.

This Congress has approved an International Wheat Agreement which will greatly benefit our farmers.

It has strengthened the soil conservation and reclamation program.

It has restored the Government's power to acquire grain storage facilities necessary to carry out the farm price-support program.

It has taken action to make low-cost electricity available to more people.

This Congress has authorized a National Science Foundation.

It has increased the minimum wage under Federal law from 40 to 75 cents an hour.

It has enacted a far-reaching housing and slum clearance program that will benefit many of our citizens.

It has strengthened the program to aid in the construction of new hospitals.

The 81st Congress will pass other worthwhile legislation before it adjourns. One of the measures I expect to be passed is a displaced persons law--the need for which I pointed out in this stadium 2 years ago. I remember that night very well. You gave me a grand welcome then, just as you have tonight.

The Democratic Party will carry on its fight for its program during the remaining months of the 81st Congress, and after that is over we will carry on the fight in the 82d Congress.

Now I hope by next January that some of the worst obstructionists will be removed.

We will carry on the fight--this year, next year, and the following year--because we are a party that is not afraid to dream and plan and work for a better future.

We will carry on the fight for international cooperation and against a return to isolationism.

We will carry on the fight to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act and replace it with a law that is fair to both management and labor.

We will carry on the fight to improve social security laws.

We will carry on the fight for Federal aid to education, to help the States remedy the disgraceful conditions that exist in many schools.

We will carry on the fight for a program to assist low-income families and middle-income families to obtain better housing. And you sure need it here in Chicago.

We will carry on the fight for a program to improve the Nation's health.

We will carry on the fight to conserve and develop our natural resources for the benefit of all the people and not just for a privileged few.

We will carry on the fight for an improved farm law that is fair to producers and consumers alike.

We will carry on the fight for a program of aid to small business.

We will carry on the fight for laws that will guarantee all our citizens equal rights and equal opportunities, and will lessen the discrimination based on religion, color, or national origin.

Now all these measures will help to keep this Nation strong and prosperous and to make it possible for us to meet our responsibilities in the world.

We must meet these responsibilities if we are to have peace and preserve our freedom. The strength of the United States is the bulwark of the free world today. Our cooperation with other free nations is essential to forestall Communist aggression.

The Democratic Party is dedicated to the cause of peace and cooperation with other Nations. We do not regard this as a partisan matter. We have worked--and will continue to work--with like-minded men in both political parties, in Congress and out, in the interest of world peace. But, my friends, honest cooperation does not require the Democratic Party to sacrifice its basic principles.

The Democratic Party will remain firm in the faith upon which it was rounded.

We will continue to fight undemocratic elements in our society, whether of the left or of the right.

We will continue to seek progress through practical measures that are for the benefit of all the people.

I am convinced that this is what the vast majority of the American people want.

Now I have been making a crusade over this country, and I am going to issue an invitation right now--I am going to issue an invitation, which is always issued, for the spiritual revival of the people. I am going to invite all those who hold this view to join with us in the Democratic Party and work to the common good.

I am sure that this great party of ours will continue to serve the American people in their quest for a better life and the enjoyment of peace.

I am sure that our party will continue to follow the democratic way of Jefferson-the way based upon the faith in the people and their ability to solve their problems.

If we maintain this course, the people of the United States will move onward to accomplish greater things than we can now foresee, for the advancement of all mankind.