Texts of Landon's New York Addresses (Evening Star, Oct. 30, 1936, p. 41)

Texts of Landon's New York Addresses

Republican Nominee Challenges Roosevelt to Answer Queries on A. A. A,, N. R. A., and Executive Powers. 8t the Associated Press. NEW YORK, October 30.--The text of the address by Gov. Alfred M. Lan don, Republican nominee for President, In Madison Square Garden last night, follows: We are drawing to the end of a great campaign--a campaign that transcends all party lines. Tonight I am here not alone as the repre sentative of a great party: I am here as the representative of a great cause--a cause in which millions-- of my fellow citizens are joined--a cause in which Democrats, inde pendents and Republicans are fighting shoulder to shoulder. Let me begin by i-estating the basic principles of my political creed. I believe In our Constitutional form of government--a Govern ment established by the people, responsible to the people and alter able only in accordance with the will of the people. I believe in our Indivisible union of indestructible States I believe in the American system of free enterprise, regulated by law. I believe in the liberty of the in dividual as guaranteed by the Con stitution. I believe in the rights of minori ties as protected by the Consti tution. I believe in the liberties secured by the Bill of Rights and in their maintenance as the best protection against bigotry and all intolerance, whether of race, color or creed. Supreme Court Should Be Free From Invasion. I believe in an independent Su preme Court and judiciary, secure from executive or legislative in vasion. I believe that in the futuse, as In the past, the hopes of our people can best be realized by following the American way of life under the American Constitution. I believe in the principles of civic righteousness exemplified by Theo dore Roosevelt and I pledge myself to go forward along the trail he blazed. In the light of this creed I have already outlined my stand on the chief Issues of the campaign: To night I am going td review my posi tion and contrast it with that of my opponent. 1 It is fitting that I should start with the problem of agriculture. Your city of New York is the great est market for farm products in the country. As consumers you want an ample supply of foocj at fair prices. As wage earners you need the- buying power of a prosperous farm population. The welfare of agriculture is also the welfare of industry. A fair ad justment between the two is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of national necessity. Triple A Enacted in Defiance of Democratic Platform. Now let us look at the record. In direct defiance of the 1932 Democratic platform, which con demned the unsound policy of crop restriction, the triple A was enacted. The triple A restricted agricultural production by 36,000,000 acres. This administration has re warded scarcity and penalised plenty. Not only has it failed to correct the basic ills of agriculture, it has added to them. I am from a great agricultural State and I know. I know how this program dis located our agricultural system. I know, for instance, that almost over night, It forced the Southern farmer out of cotton into crops competing with the North and West. It led him into dairy farming and the raising of livestock. This affected not only the fanner of the North and West. It also affected the farmer of the South, who lost a large part of his cotton export market. Luckily for this administration the full damage of its program has been hidden by the droughts. Government has a moral obliga tion to help repair the damage caused to the farmer by this ad ministration's destructive experi ments. Farming, by its very na ture, cannot readjust itself as rap idly as industry to the after effects of economic planning. During the period of readjustment and until foreign markets are reopened the Government must help the fafmer. Renews Promise to Balance Budget, If Elected. We can do this without violating the Constitution. We can do this' without imposing such burdens as the processing tax upon the con sumer. We can do this within the limits of a balanced budget. And don't forget I am going to balance the budget. poses a sound, long-term program of conservation and land use. This is the only permanent solution of the farm problem and is essential to the preservation of the Nation's land resources. We propose to stop muddling and meddling and to be gin mending'. And what does the President mean to do for agriculture? Is he going to continue the policy of scarcity? The answer Is: No one can be sure. Now let us turn to industry. What was the basic declaration of the Democratic platform of 1932? It was that the anti-trust laws-- the laws protecting the little fel low from monoply--should be strengthened and enforced. And what did the administra tion do? It created the N. R. A. This law gave the sanction of Gov ernment to private monopoly.^ It indorsed the vicious policy of price fixing. It disregarded the interest of 130.000,000 Americans as con sumers. It attempted to tell every business man, large and small, how to run his business. N. R. A Held Attempt to Supplant American Initiative. The N. R. A. was the direct oppo site of the American system of free competition. It was an attempt to supplant American initiative with Washington dictation. And what happened? Monopolies prospered and a little New Jersey pants presser went to jail. I am against private monopoly. I am against monopolistic prac tices. I am against the monopoly of an all-powerful central Govern ment. And while I am President I intend to see that the anti-trust laws are strengthened and en forced without fear or favor. I Intend to see that Government bureaucracy' never again starts choking business. I intend to see that American initiative has a chance to give Jobs to American workers. And 1 intend to broaden the market for American products by encouraging freer interchange of goods in world trade. And what program does the President propose for industry? He pays tribute to' free initiative at Chicago on a Wednesday and to planned economy at .Detroit on a Thursday. One day the President's son says the N. R. A. will be revived. The next day the President's son says it will not. When the Presi dent was asked about N. R. A. last Tuesday in a press conference, he said: "You pay your money and you take your choice." What does he mean? The answer is: No one can be sure. Growing out of the troubles of agriculture and industry is the in tensely human problem of unem ployment. What is the record on this? Unemployment Problems Held No Nearer Solution. In 1932 the President said that 11,000,000 Americans were looking for work. Today, according to the American Federation of Labor, there are still 11,000,000 Americana looking for work. Yet the President boasts of recovery--in one city in terms of a base ball game and in another city in terms of a patient he has cured. rr*i_s.ii UUWU5 Ol UUT5 can and will be re-employed. There Is no need for one-flfth of our working population to be con demned to live In an economic world apart. There is work to be done In this country--more than enough to give Jobe to all the unemployed. This work will start Just as soon as uncertainty In Government policies Is replaced by confidence. There can be no confidence when the Government Is proud of spend ing more than It takes In. There can be no confidence when the Government creates un certainty about the value of money. There can be no confidence when the Government threatens to con trol every detail of our economic life. There can be no confidence when the Government proclaims that the way to have more is to pro duce less. In short, there can be no confi dence while this administration remains In power. As Chief Executive I Intend to follow a course that will restore confidence. I intend to be open and above board on the policies of my administration. I Intend In the task of recon struction to make use of the best talent available Irrespective of party. I intend to throw out all plana based on scarcity. I Intend to put an end to this administration's policy of "try any thing once." The time has come for a steady hand at the wheel. And what does the President propose to restore confidence? An other "breathing-spell"? The answer Is: No one can be sure. Of course re-employment cannot come over night. In the meantime those In need must have relief. Consider the administration's rec ord here. The Democratic platform in 1932 condemned the "improper and excessive use hf money in po litical activities." In defiance of this pledge we have had an outrageous use of public money for political purposes. Public funds appropriated for re lief have been used in an attempt to buy the votes of our less fortu nate citizens. But it will not do them any good. The votes of the American people are not for sale. Promises to Grant Relief Purged of All Politics. As Chief Executive I intend to see that relief is purged of poli tics. There is ample money in this country to take care of those in need. When I am President they will be taken care of. This is the plain wUl of the Amer ican people. And what does the President propose to do about relief? How does he propose to free the victims of the depression from political exploitation? The answer is: No one can be sure. In a highly industrialized so ciety we must provide for the pro tection of the aged. The present administration claims it has done this through its social security act. But the act does not give security. It is based upon a conception that is fundamentally wrong. It assumes that the American people are so Improvident that they must be compelled to save by a paternal government. Beginning next January 1, workers, no matter how small their wages, will have their pay docked--they will have their pay docked for the purpose of building up a phantom reserve fund--a fund that any future Congress can spend any time it sees lit and lor any purpose It sees fit. Calls Tax on Pay Rolls Fraad Upon Watters. I cannot understand how any administration would dare to per petrate such a fraud upon \>ur workers. The Republican party proposes to replace this unworkable hodge podge by a plan that Is honest, fair and financially sound. We propose that the funds for security pay ments shall be provided as we go along. We propose that they shall be obtained from a direct and spe cific tax widely distributed. We propose that all American citizens over 85 shall receive whatever addi tional Income Is necessary to keep them from need. I repeat: Thq workers will start to pay for the present plan next January 1. They will pay as wage earners through a direct deduction from their pay. They will pay both as wage earners and consumers through the tax levied on their employers' pay rolls. And don't let any one tell you otherwise. Even the Democratic attorney gen eral of New "York admits this. Last March, before the New York Court of Appeals, he -said that a tax on employers' pay rolls, although levied on the employer, will be-- and I quote--"shifted either to wage earners or consumers or both." And what does the President pro pose to do about these taxes? Is he going to continue a plan that takes money from workers without any assurance that they will get back what they put In? The answer Is: No one can be sure. Since the N..R. A. was declared unconstitutional there haa been some improvement In business. Calls far Reduction in lato Of Government Spending. But there has been no reduction in the total of Government spend ing. In the year ending last June the Federal Government spent nearly $9,000,000,000. This is an all-time peace-time high. We will spend this year over $900,000,000 more for the ordinary routine expenditures of Govern ment than in 1934. And we will spend $1,500,000,000 more for reUef than In 1934. Under this administration 75 new agencies have been created. Two hundred and fifty thousand additional employes have been foisted on the taxpayers. The Fed eral pay roll has reached the stag gering sum of $1,500,000,000 a year. As I said at Chicago, any oqe at all familiar with what has been going on could almost count on the fingers of one hand foolish ex periments the Government could cut out and save at least a billion dollars any time it wanted to. I pledge myself to put an end to extravagance and waste. I pledge myself to stop the policy that glori fies spending. I pledge myself to balance the budget. And what Is the President going to do? Is he going to stem his policy of spending for spending's sake? The answer Is: No one can ba sure. New Deal Held Striking at U. S. Form of Government. I come finally to the underlying and fundamental Issue of this cam paign. This Is the question of whether our American form of Gov ernment is to be preserved. Let us turn once more to the record. The President has been respon sible for nine acts declared uncon stitutional by the Supreme Court. He has publicly urged Congress to pass a law, even though it had reasonable doubts as to its con stitutionality. He has publicly belittled the Su preme Court of the United States. He has publicly suggested that the Constitution Is an outworn document. He has retained its high office men outspoken in their contempt for the American form of Gov ernment. He has sponsored laws which have deprived States of their con stitutional rights. Every one of these aetlons--and the list is by no means complete strikes at the heart of the Ameri can form of Government. Our Constitution is not a life less piece of paper. It is the under lying law of the land and the char ter of the liberties of our people. The people, and they alone, gave it life. The people, and they alone, have the right to amend or destroy it. Until the people in their com bined wisdom decide to make the change, it is the plain duty of the people'* servants to keep within the Constitution. It is the plain mean ,lng of the oath of office that they shall keep within the Constitution. Our Federal system allows great leeway. But if changes in our civil ization make amendment to the Constitution desirable it should be amended. It has been amended In the past. It can be in the future. I have already made my position clear on this question. I am on record that if proper working con dition# cannot be regulated by the States, I shall favor a constitutional amendment giving the States the necessary powers. And what are the Intentions of the President with respect to the Constitution? Does he believe changes are required? If so. will an amendment be submitted to the people, or will he attempt to get around the Constitution by tam pering with the Supreme Court? The answer is: No one can be sure. Wants More Than Material Recovery In America. We want more than a material recovery In this country. We want a moral and spiritual recovery as well. We have been allowing ma terial things to obscure the great religious and spiritual values. But life is more than bread. Character Is the supreme thing. We have been weakening those very qualities upon which character Is built. It would be tragedy If In our attempt to win prosperity we should lose our own souls. It would be an overwhelming disaster If we should forget that it Is righteousness that exalteth a nation. Forty-eight hours from tonight, standing where I am standing, there will be a President of the United States. He will be seeking re-election. A little more than 48 hours after he has spoken, the American people will be streaming to the polls. Here once again I ask him to speak what is ih his mind. It Is his duty, as It Is my duty, to trust the "combined wisdom of the peo ple." For the Constitution, which he swore to uphold, stands squarely on the "combined wisdom of the people." The people of this country Win not trust a man who does not trust them. If he trusts them he will answer the questions being asked (Continued on Page C-4.) m -Mg "w^ 1 ^1 "M-tHiv-H I 'HW»«>lc",a^'B Bj8S£m In Casa and 15 Extra Prizes for Best Answers in the Kh and Final Coalesl which ends this week. Contest forms appeared in Monday's STAR and Wednesday's TIMES. Winners will be announced in Friday's STAR, November Bib.

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