Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.
Alfred E. Smith vs Norman Thomas
| Issue | Alfred E. Smith | Norman Thomas |
|---|---|---|
| Child labor | — | Abolition of child labor specific_pledgenot_applicable Remove children 'of tender age' from mills and factories, particularly in the South, and give them schooling. |
| Federal responsibility for relief | — | A $5 billion federal appropriation for immediate relief of those in need specific_pledgenot_applicable Federal appropriation of $5,000,000,000 for immediate relief to supplement state and local appropriations. |
| Overall role and scale of the federal government | War on any candidate who makes 'demagogic appeals to the masses' setting class against class directional_stancenot_applicable Oppose, and refuse to support, any Democratic candidate whose appeal sets 'class against class and rich against poor' — the 'forgotten man' politics of Roosevelt's April 7 broadcast; by implication, a campaign on repeal and business-friendly economics rather than redistribution. |
— |
| Sickness and health insurance | — | National health insurance directional_stancenot_applicable Health insurance alongside improved workmen's compensation and accident insurance. |
| Independence of the Supreme Court | — | A Workers' Rights Amendment; curb the Supreme Court's power over Congress; proportional representation; direct election of the President specific_pledgenot_applicable Constitutional changes: a 'Workers' Rights Amendment' removing legal obstacles to nationalization and social insurance; limit the Supreme Court's power to void congressional legislation; proportional representation; direct popular election of the President. |
| Working hours and labor standards | — | The six-hour day and five-day week without reduction in wages specific_pledgenot_applicable Legislate a six-hour day and five-day week with no wage reduction, plus a comprehensive system of public employment agencies. |
| League of Nations and international organizations | — | Join the League and World Court; lead general disarmament; free the Philippines; withdraw from Nicaragua, Haiti and China; recognize the Soviet Union specific_pledgenot_applicable Enter the League of Nations and World Court; take the initiative for disarmament by international agreement and reduce American arms 'progressively and drastically to the point of complete disarmament'; grant immediate and full Philippine independence; withdraw armed forces from all foreign countrie |
| Farm and home mortgage relief | — | Government aid to farmers and small home-owners against foreclosure and tax sales; moratorium on interest debated directional_stancenot_applicable Governmental aid to farmers and small home-owners to protect them against foreclosures and non-payment of taxes (the 11th plank); a proposed moratorium on all interest charges was referred to the executive committee. |
| Old-age pensions and social insurance | — | Old-age pensions for men and women sixty and over specific_pledgenot_applicable Old-age pensions beginning at sixty; health insurance; improved workmen's compensation and accident insurance. |
| National Prohibition | Outright repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment — the issue Roosevelt was downplaying specific_pledgenot_applicable Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, as Smith had urged since 1928; make repeal the central Democratic issue. |
Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment — the candidate preferring a binding national referendum specific_pledgenot_applicable Platform plank for repeal (carried 81–71, then 84–77); Thomas personally favored a national referendum to which parties would pledge themselves, and would vote for repeal in it; a Hoan–Broun–Ameringer proposal for government ownership of the liquor industry with state local option was also offered. |
| Public works as employment policy | — | A $5 billion federal public-works program — roads, reforestation, slum clearance, workers' housing — and idle factories and land turned over to the unemployed specific_pledgenot_applicable Federal appropriation of $5,000,000,000 for public work and roads, reforestation, slum clearance and decent homes for workers, with states and cities; legislation turning over idle land, factories and equipment to unemployed workers to produce food, fuel and clothing (Hoopes amendment, carried 78–62 |
| Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | — | Economic, political and legal equality for the Negro; a federal anti-lynching law; enforce the First Amendment specific_pledgenot_applicable Full equality for Black Americans and an anti-lynching law; federal legislation to enforce free speech, press and assembly; full civil and political rights for all creeds. |
| Public ownership of major industries | — | Transfer the principal industries — banking, natural resources, utilities — to social ownership by compensation, not confiscation specific_pledgenot_applicable 'Transfer of the principal industries of the country from private ownership and autocratic management to social ownership and democratic control,' industry by industry, with planned and steady production; socialize banking, natural resources, basic industries and public utilities. The convention rej |
| Tariff levels | Endorsement of the Smoot-Hawley tariff directional_stancenot_applicable Accept the 1930 tariff rather than campaign against it — the position Raskob tried to write into party policy in March 1931. |
— |
| Income and inheritance tax progressivity | — | Steeply increased income and inheritance taxes directional_stancenot_applicable Raise income and inheritance taxes steeply, both for revenue and to fund unemployment insurance. |
| Unemployment insurance | — | Compulsory unemployment insurance funded by employers and by higher income and inheritance taxes specific_pledgenot_applicable An effective system of compulsory unemployment insurance with funds partly contributed by employers and partly raised from increased income and inheritance taxes (the convention debated insurance versus compensation and the funding basis). |
| European war debts and reparations | A twenty-year moratorium on the war debts, writing them off in proportion to each nation's purchases of American goods specific_pledgenot_applicable Suspend intergovernmental debt payments for twenty years and cancel debt in proportion to the debtor's trade with the United States — converting the debts into an instrument for reviving exports. |
Cancel the war debts (against cancellation of reparations) and raze the tariff wall specific_pledgenot_applicable Cancel all war debts of foreign governments conditional on cancellation of reparations; 'the razing of the dangerous and preposterous tariff wall.' |