October 14, 1948
[1.] MANKATO, MINNESOTA (8:08 a.m.)
Good morning! I can't tell you how very much I appreciate this wonderful reception this early in the morning. It shows very conclusively that you are interested in the welfare of this great Republic of ours or you wouldn't come out to hear the facts. It proves to me that you people here in southern Minnesota are just as much concerned about the problems that the country has to face today as are the people everywhere else I visited.
You know, I warned the people of this country not to risk entrusting their destiny to recent converts to the principles of our foreign policy--I did that last night in St. Paul--converts who would seek to curry favor by putting on the mantle of such principles in order to further their own political ambitions. You want to watch that closely. They are coming across now with a "me too," because I smoked them out. I am telling the facts and the facts are things they can't stand. They don't want you to know the facts.
Mankato is a good example of the close dependence of farms on cities and cities on farms in this country. Farm prosperity makes for more business in the cities, just like that great city here, and more jobs in the great factories in your town. By the same token, when production and employment are high and workers are receiving good pay, the farmer is able to find a ready market for his products. Whatever helps the worker naturally helps the farmer, and whatever helps the farmer, in reverse, helps the worker.
Look at the farm prosperity here in Minnesota today. I am going to give you some figures that will startle you. Back in the last Republican depression year of 1932, the farmers' income in the whole State of Minnesota was less than $250 million. Last year the farmers of Minnesota made $1½ billion, six times what they made in 1932. Now, that was not by accident. The prosperity didn't just happen. It was carefully planned and carefully administered by the Democratic administrations of the last 16 years. And this Republican 80th Congress tried its best to tear up that program.
Study the situation--the Democratic plan which helped to develop the cooperatives through the Rural Electrification Act. We made loans to farmers cooperatives to bring electric power to the farms. Back in the Republican days only 1 Minnesota farm in 14 had electricity. Now, thanks to REA and the great work done by the farmers cooperatives since then, 6 out of every 10 Minnesota farms has electricity--and we're going to get those other 4 before we get through.
But in order to do that you've got to vote for yourselves. You've got to put somebody in the White House and somebody in the Congress that will look after your interests. You have got a good man running for Congress, running here in this district, and I hope you'll send Mr. Manwell back to the Congress to help to do these things I am talking about; and you must, by all means, send the man from Minneapolis, Mr. Humphrey, to the Senate in place of that liberal Mr. Ball who has been converted to reactionaryism since he has been in the Senate--and I'm sorry to have to say that.
No one here doubts that cooperatives are a good thing. They have been a tremendous boon to the farmer. They have improved the farmer's bargaining position in dealing with the huge corporations that farmers must sell to and buy from. Despite the immense benefits cooperatives have brought to the people of Minnesota and to the Midwestern States, the Republican Party in the last Congress, and every time they have had a chance, has fought them bitterly. For example, 9 out of every 10 Republicans voted against rural electrification last year. Three out of four Republicans in Congress voted against REA this year. Not quite so many of them voted against it this year because they had to go out and ask you for votes. The reason for Republican opposition is plain. Big business is opposed to cooperatives, and the big power companies are particularly opposed to rural electrification. You see, they don't get the rake-off when the farmers cooperatives run the electric power for the farmers, and that's true of all municipal plants.
You will find the big electric trusts, electric power trusts, fighting every municipal plant in the country. They try to surround them and choke them off.
Of course, the Democrats supported REA. The Democratic Party is always on the side of the people, just as you'll find the Republican Party always on the side of special interests. That has been the case ever since the Republican Party got power in Washington. The Republican Party will not admit in an election year that it is opposed to cooperatives. They put a weasel-word into the cooperatives plank of their platform when they said they would support--now listen; this is a direct quote from the Republican platform--"The principle of bona fide farmer-owned, farmer-operated cooperatives."
Now, the Democratic Party indulges in no such double-talk. We say flatly that we will encourage farm cooperatives, period.
Yet, only a third of the registered voters turned out to vote in 1946. The Republicans took over Congress as a result. The Republicans began their attack on cooperatives. They started an investigation of cooperatives in an effort to smear them. I know something about congressional investigations. I was chairman of that special committee that was formed to investigate the national defense program during the war, and I think I carried on more investigations than any other Senator in the history of the Senate over that 3-year period. And we didn't carry on smear investigations. We carried on investigations for the purpose of introducing legislation to cure ills of the country. You won't find that the case with these present-day investigating committees. They are trying to investigate us out of office. They are after Democrats--they are not after the welfare of the country.
Do you know how you can stop this attack on cooperatives? It's very easy. There's only one way. That is to come out and vote on November the 2d, and get your friends to come out and vote; and as I said all over the country, vote in your own interests, vote for yourselves. When you vote the Democratic ticket, you are not only voting for me and this good man who is running for the Senate in Minnesota, and the Congressman--you are voting for yourselves and your own interests.
You, the people, are the Government; and when you exercise your right to vote, you run the Government, and when you don't exercise your vote--as you didn't exercise it in 1946--you get such things as that 80th Congress, and you get just what you deserve when you do that because you shirked your duty.
Now, get up early on election day, go down to the polls, and vote for yourselves. And when you do that, you'll vote a straight Democratic ticket and you'll have the country in safe hands for another 4 years, and the President won't be obliged to be troubled by the housing problem--I can stay in the White House another 4 years.
[2.] WASECA, MINNESOTA (9:06 a.m.)
Good morning! It certainly is a pleasure to meet so many of you so early in the morning. It shows that you are interested in the welfare of this great Nation of ours or you wouldn't turn out to see the President and to hear what he has to say.
I have been on a crusade up and down this country, telling the people just exactly what the issues in the campaign are. You know, the Republicans won't discuss the issues. They can't afford to discuss the issues because they have been wrong on all of them. Therefore, I am going up and down the country and explaining to the people just exactly what the issues in this campaign are.
I spent some time in St. Paul last night explaining what the Republican Congress had done to the people and what they have not done for the people. They don't like to hear that because they have no comeback. They can't defend the action of the Republican Congress, which is a pattern of what we're going to get unless people take an interest in their own affairs and get out and vote for their own interests. Now, if you vote for your own interests here in this district you'll send Karl Rolvaag to the Congress, and you'll send Hubert Humphrey to the Senate, and then there will be people in the Congress with whom your President can work in the public interest, for your interest.
This 80th Congress had no interest except special privilege. They had more lobbies in Washington around this Congress than it has ever had before in the history of the country, and they spent more money than ever before in the history of the country. It is one of the most shameful sessions that this country has ever had. I name it the second worst Congress in the history of the United States. Of course, they don't like that. And that means not that all the men in that Congress were not the right sort of people. It means that the leadership, the Republicans who controlled that Congress, are the ones who stand for that Congress. There were a number of able men in that Congress who fought tooth-and-nail to prevent it from acting as the worst Congress in the history of the country, and those men are going to be reelected on their record. But I sincerely hope that you will not send any of that leadership back there, because if we have an 81st Congress as bad as the 80th the country will be in an awful fix.
The best way to remedy that situation is to get out early on election day and exercise your privilege in this country to run the Government. You are the Government when you exercise that privilege, and you run it by voting.
I am very happy and very glad to see so many young people out here because it shows that they are interested in the welfare of the country. You know, the country is going to be in the hands of these young people in the next generation, and if they understand just exactly what our Government stands for it will be safe for generations to come, and that's what I am working for.
I appreciate highly your coming out here, and I want you all on election day to get up early and go to the polls--and so as to be on the safe side and so as to vote in your own interest, just vote the Democratic ticket straight; and then the President won't have any housing problem--he'll still be in the White House another 4 years.
[3.] ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA (10:25 a.m.)
Thank you very much. I appreciate the warm welcome which the Mayor of this great city has extended to the Presidential party, and I appreciate the introduction of your candidate for Congress who I know will be the next Congressman from this district. You are going to elect Karl F. Rolvaag. He told me that I was going to get a good reception here, and he didn't mean it half as strong as it is. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means that Karl Rolvaag is going to be in the House of Representatives in the next Congress, and that you are going to send Hubert Humphrey to the Senate. If you send men like that to the Senate and House, there won't be any trouble getting along with the President because they believe in the same things I do.
Thousands and thousands of Americans, distinguished Americans and plain citizens, have come to this great city to recover their health. I am on a crusade across the country, to see that we don't have to send the Federal Government itself to Rochester to get it put back together after 4 years of Republican rule in Washington. I am here to tell you that if we have 4 more years like that, it will take all the clinics in the country to put it back together again.
I wish the whole Nation could have the opportunity to enjoy the kind of medical care that is available here in Rochester, Minn. Unfortunately, we haven't reached that point yet, but I have been trying ever since I became President to use the powers of the Federal Government to improve the health of the American people. In fact, I started on a program of that sort while I was in the Senate, and I have been working on it ever since.
Last January, I asked Mr. Oscar Ewing, who is the Federal Security Administrator, to make a careful study of the present level of the national health. I also asked him to report to me on what we might hope to accomplish in the next 10 years for the health of the Nation. Mr. Ewing has just finished his study, and has submitted a long report entitled "The Nation's Health--A Ten Year Plan." That report I have a summary of it right here--is an impressive document. It tells about the progress we have been making, but at the same time it reveals some shocking facts.
Every year--now listen to this--every year, more than 325,000 Americans die who could have been saved if they had had the right kind of medical attention and care that we know how to provide.
Only 20 percent--one-fifth of our population is able to afford the medical care they need. Now that means that there are 110 million people in this country who can't afford proper medical attention. That is a disgrace to the richest country in the world.
The United States loses $27 billion a year in national wealth through sickness and disability alone.
These facts should make every one of us resolve to do all that we can to improve our medical facilities. I think these facts point to the need for the national health program that I have been urging the Congress to adopt.
I would like to remind you of the main points of that program. I want you to listen carefully to this. Every one of you is interested in some way or other in this program.
First, we ought to have adequate public health services including an expanded maternal and child health program.
Second, we need more medical research and more medical schools.
Third, we need more hospitals and more doctors in nearly every area in the country.
Fourth, we should have a system of insurance to cover the cost of medical care.
Fifth, we need insurance which will protect workers against loss of earnings during illness.
Of course, I know that Federal laws to help the five objectives are not enough. State and local governments, medical schools and hospitals, doctors and civic groups, will all have to work together to accomplish the purpose I have in mind.
I know that this country can provide better health care for the American people. I want to see that every man, woman, and child on a day not too far off will be able to get the kind of care provided here in Rochester.
The people who can afford better health will make greater prosperity and a strong Nation. It is our responsibility to lead the world to a lasting peace. We need all our health and all our strength to reach that goal. And I want you to help me reach that goal by sending the men to Congress who believe in the welfare of the people as a whole, and who are not just interested in some special interest program.
This 80th Congress is a shining example of how the Republicans work. That Congress legislated absolutely for the special interests, and the people, well, I can't say the word I would like to say to what they did to the people.
Don't do that again. If you send the 80th Congress back with that same old gang in control, you will have an 81st Congress with exactly the same program that the 80th Congress had.
Now, do your duty on election day. Get out and show your interest in the Government. You are the Government when you exercise the right to vote.
If enough of you vote, I am just as certain as I stand here that we will have a Democratic President in the White House and we will have a Democratic Congress in the 81st Congress.
[4.] WINONA, MINNESOTA (11:45 a.m.)
Thank you--thank you very much. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate the cordial welcome which has been extended to me by the citizens of Minnesota. It is evident that the citizens of Minnesota are interested in the welfare of this great Nation, and that they want to know what the issues are in this campaign. And believe me, I have been telling them what the issues are! I have been traveling through Minnesota since yesterday at noon, when I crossed the St. Louis River and arrived in Duluth. It has been a thrilling experience. It has not only been fine to see your rich farmland, and the great grain elevators, and your cities enjoying greater prosperity than ever before in history, but it has been especially rewarding to travel through Minnesota and meet your fellow Minnesotans, and your great candidate for the Senate, Mayor Hubert Humphrey, and your fine candidates for Congress, and Karl Rolvaag, whom I am sure you are going to send to the Congress. You are also going to send Mayor Humphrey of Minneapolis to the Senate, and then we will have people in the 81st Congress with whom the President can work.
The crowds that have come down to the stations prove beyond any doubt that you people are determined to elect a liberal, Democratic President and a liberal, Democratic congressional delegation when you go to the polls on November 2.
You know that this prosperity that I have seen all through Minnesota did not just happen. It was brought about by 16 years of control of the Government by Democratic administrations. Back in the Republican depression year of 1932, Minnesota farmers made less than a quarter of a billion dollars. Last year, the income of Minnesota's farmers was a billion and a half dollars. That is the difference between the right side of a proposition so that everybody gets his fair share of the national income, and that approach which gives only the special privileged few the national income.
One key in the Democratic prosperity program was the Commodity Credit Corporation. One job of the Commodity Credit Corporation was to increase grain storage facilities, so that bumper crops could be marketed over a longer period of time, thus making it unnecessary for the farmer to sell all his wheat or his corn to big speculators, at very cheap prices.
The Commodity Credit Corporation did a wonderful job for years, and then something happened to it. Two-thirds of you stayed at home from the polls in 1946, and the Republicans got control of the Congress. That Both "do-nothing" Congress came about because you didn't do your duty as voters.
The farmers are just now beginning to realize what that means to them. Big business is against any aid to the farmers, and the Republican leaders in Congress are the errand boys of big business and special privilege.
That is why the Republican 80th "donothing" Congress--I mean do nothing for the people, they did something for the special interests all right--that is why that Congress cut the Commodity Credit Corporation grain storage program down to almost nothing. Now there is a bumper crop, and the Commodity Credit Corporation no longer has the authority to provide storage space, and the farmers are being forced to sell their grain to speculators way below support prices. And that situation will get worse. It has just now started. Right now, speculators are buying corn below the support price. That is just plain robbery of the farmers, and the farmers owe that to the 80th Congress. Now, if you send an 81st Congress back like that one, you will get treated worse than that.
This Republican sabotage of the Commodity Credit Corporation has not only hurt the farmer. It has also hurt every industry and every business in the State of Minnesota, because as you all know, your prosperity depends upon farm prosperity.
It is up to you whether or not this Republican special interest domination of Congress is going to continue. If you don't vote on November 2d, the chances are that the special interests will proceed to control the country and the Congress and the Government.
Now, two-thirds of you didn't vote in 1946--and look what you got! Don't do that again. Go out and do your duty on election day. This election will decide the future of the Commodity Credit Corporation, and the farm program. It will decide much more than that for the whole country. It will decide whether soil conservation and reforestation go forward with the Democrats, or go backwards with the Republicans. It will decide whether we will be able to bring down the cost of living with the Democrats, or keep on with skyrocketing prices under a Republican program.
It will decide whether we have slum clearance, and low-rent housing, and good rural housing with the Democrats, or whether we shall have a housing shortage under a Republican administration. It will decide whether we will have full development of our great river system, so that cities like Winona can develop into great river ports, or whether eastern power and railroad lobbies get control under the Republicans and stop the development of our great waterways.
Every one of these issues is at stake in this election. When you realize how much this election means to you, and to your own prosperity, I am confident you will turn out on election day and vote for your own interest. You are voting for yourselves. When you vote for yourselves, you will vote for the interests of all the people, and that is you, and me, and everybody else.
When you do that, you can't help but send a Democratic Congress back to Washington, and you can't help but have a Democratic President in the White House; and then your President won't be troubled with the housing shortage, he will have a house to live in for the next 4 years.
This is one of the most important elections this country has faced in 40 years, and it will have its effects for generations to come. So be sure and do your duty on that election day. Go out and vote, and I am here to tell you that if everybody in this country expresses his opinion and votes, I am not worried about the result.
[5.] SPARTA, WISCONSIN (1:03 p.m.)
Thank you very much. I certainly do appreciate this reception. You know, in every State people have turned out just like this because I think they are interested in the welfare of the country, and they want to know what the president looks like, and what he thinks. And I want to say to you I have been very frank in telling them just what I think--and you'll have to make up your mind as to what I look like.
I have enjoyed very much coming through Wisconsin this morning from Winona, Minn. We have come through some most beautiful country. And I was most happy to make the acquaintance of your candidate for Governor, Carl Thompson, and your candidate for Congress in this district, Frank Antoine. I hope you'll elect them both, and I believe you will.
All your farms seem to be prosperous and from the crowd here today, I'd take it that this town is doing a pretty good business, too.
You know, in years gone by, when I was a kid--21 or 22 years old--the National Guard used to come to Sparta, Wis. I belonged to a battery over in Missouri. We used to come up here to do some shooting with old 3-inch guns that the artillery was then equipped with; and I had many a good time in this town in those days.
The fact is that after 16 years of Democratic Government, this whole country is prosperous, and I want to keep it that way. We can keep this country prosperous if we continue and extend the Democratic programs started under the administration of President Roosevelt.
One of these programs that the people of Wisconsin know a great deal about is soil conservation. I am very proud of the Democratic record for the past 16 years with regard to the conservation of natural resources.
You all know what conservation has meant to the American farmer. By 1932, America had lost one-third of her rich topsoil, and there was real danger that our farms would lose their productivity. You know, Wisconsin and Minnesota and Iowa and Missouri and Illinois were letting the farms wash away and were making counties in Louisiana. Well, we have stopped that. Now, that danger is nearly passed. The Democratic soil conservation program has been extended to nearly three million farms in this country. But we ought not to rest until every acre in the country is properly managed so that it will retain its fertility permanently.
Now, you would think every sensible person would favor soil conservation. But, believe it or not, some men have been attacking this work for years. They have been the Republican politicians. The majority of the Republicans in Congress opposed the original Soil Conservation Act of 1936 and did not want to see it passed. I was in the Senate at that time and the Republicans fought that bill tooth-and-toenail. The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate voted almost solidly for soil conservation, and pushed that law through the Congress at that time.
But in the Republican 80th Congress, the soil conservation program has received a serious setback. The Republicans cut out the funds which are used for payments to farmers who follow sound conservation policies. The Democrats tried to restore those funds, and I am proud to say that every Democrat in the House and every Democratic Senator voted for that restoration. But, 9 out of 10 Republicans voted against soil conservation, and the funds were seriously cut. They weren't content with the cut. The Republican leaders in the Senate wanted to abandon the present system of soil conservation payments; and I am proud again that every Democrat in the Senate voted against this Republican attack. Thirty-eight of the Republicans voted to abandon the system, but three Republicans came over to the Democratic side and saved the soil conservation program from destruction. The American farmer was lucky that the Republicans didn't have a larger majority in the 80th Congress than they did. The farmer would certainly have been in a bad fix if that had been the case.
But, although the Democrats in Congress have saved the program by their solid support, the Republicans still have prevented the program from being carried forward by cutting down appropriations.
I understand you have a Republican running for Governor in this State who is running on a program of soil conservation. Can you imagine that! And yet, they tell me this man doesn't even belong to the group of soil conservation farmers in his own district. Yet he is running on a conservation program. You better elect Thompson and save yourselves. Don't be fooled by Republican promises. Look at the record.
You know, the Republicans write a platform to get votes. They don't write a platform to be carried out in a policy after the election is over. That is the sort of platform they have got right now--the most hypocritical, deceitful document that has ever been written, and trying to be foisted off on the American public by the Republican candidate for President. Remember 1932 and what the Democratic program has meant to the United States since that time. Think, for example, what the Department of Agriculture is doing this year to help some of your local people here, north of Sparta, your cranberry growers. There is a great surplus, and the Department is doing a terrific job of promotion to help sell that surplus. Cranberry growers never received that kind of help from a single Republican administration that I know of.
The story I have told you about soil conservation is just one of many stories like it. Take rural electrification. They have tried their best to strangle rural electrification; and I am told by the head of your rural electrification setup here in Wisconsin that if it were not for rural electrification, some of your private power companies would be on a brownout right now--and yet, they would like to strangle it to death.
They have tried also to choke farm housing, rural education, farm-to-market roads, and cooperatives. On all those issues the story is just the same, and that is the reason I have to go around over the country and tell you about it. They are not going to tell you about it because they couldn't get a single vote if they did tell the truth about how they stand on these issues.
The Democratic Party has been fighting to carry these measures forward, but Republican leaders have done their best to slow down or stop completely the progress we have been making. That 80th Congress-oh, that awful 80th Congress--proved that. That Congress shows what Republican policy will be under a Republican administration. And the Republican candidate for President says he's proud of the 80th Congress. Can you imagine that!
Now, the best way for you to take care of the situation is to vote in your own interests. Vote for yourselves, and when you vote for yourselves, you can't help but go to the polls on the second of November, and vote a straight Democratic ticket. You will be voting in your own interests, and you'll have a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President that will look after the interests of the people, and not the special interests. That's the issue in this campaign.
Remember that and study it because it means everything in the world to the people who live in this country.
Thank you very much.
[6.] ELROY, WISCONSIN (1:55 p.m.)
I certainly do appreciate your coming out here. This was supposed to have been a water stop. I didn't think that we would be here long enough for me to speak to you, but I am happy that we did stop long enough, and I appreciate your interest and I appreciate your coming out here to see the president.
I wish I had the chance to discuss with you all the issues in this campaign, but I haven't the time now.
I hope you've been reading the speeches and statements I have been making over the country. They are in your interest, and if you vote for your own interests on the 2d of November you'll elect a Democratic Governor and a Democratic Congressman from your district--and you'll elect a Democratic administration in the whole United States Government. And then things will be safe and in the hands of the people.
[7.] MADISON, WISCONSIN (Address at the University of Wisconsin, 4:25 p.m., see Item 238)
[8.] WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN (6:46 p.m.)
Mr. Chairman:
This certainly is a wonderful reception here in Waukesha. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate it. It shows conclusively that you are interested.
I hope--I sincerely hope that all you young people over here on the right will be as quiet as possible so I can tell the people what I think, because when the train goes out, I'll promise to stay out here on the back platform, and every one of you will get a chance to look.
This great city is the center of a fine progressive area, and it pleases me very highly to get this kind of a reception from you. I am glad, too, to hear that you are lining up solidly behind Horace Wilkie for Congress, and Carl Thompson for Governor. I know Horace Wilkie's record. He is an outstanding liberal and a leader of the veterans of World War II, and I am highly pleased that a leader of the old Progressive Party of Wisconsin, Carl Thompson, is the Democratic candidate for Governor. He certainly will be elected. I'm just as sure of that as I stand here.
In this crusade I'm on I like to think that the Democrats are following in the pattern of the vital progressive crusades that have come out of Wisconsin throughout the history of the State. You have always been on the side of the people and not on the side of special interests.
Waukesha is an industrial city in the center of a rich agricultural area. You know what I mean when I say you're for the people. Industry, the farm, the small merchant, are all in the same boat. Their interests are all with the Democratic Party, which looks after the welfare of the people as a whole. You know that the people don't want any more negative legislation like the Republican Congress has given you. You want progressive legislation and leadership, leadership that's exemplified by the Democratic Party.
I often refer to that Both Congress as the "do-nothing" Congress. When I say "donothing" I mean they have done nothing for the people. They've not listened to the people's demands for decent, low-cost housing. They haven't listened to the people's demands for bringing down the high cost of living. They have not listened to the people's demands for continuing the fair and equitable farm price support program. They have not listened to the people's demands for a fair break for labor. That's what I mean by "do nothing."
On the other side, that Congress did plenty. They've started a move to set labor back to the pre-Wagner Act days. They want to turn the clock back. They have worked all the time, this 80th Congress has, for 2 years, to turn the clock back, and the clock won't run backwards. You know that. They put our farmers behind the 8-ball again by making it impossible for the Commodity Credit Corporation to get the storage facilities necessary to handle this year's bumper crops, and they did that with malice aforethought, and they did it for the speculator's lobby.
The real progressive movement in the Nation today is in the Democratic Party. Horace Wilkie, Carl Thompson, Andy Biemiller, and all the rest--these are the progressive Americans of today. We stand for laws to bring down the cost of living, laws to insure that the farmer receives a parity income, comprehensive housing laws to clear away slums and provide decent low-rental housing, and better rural housing, a genuine national health program, better schools in both cities and rural areas, and a fair labor-management law to replace that shameful Taft-Hartley Act.
Now, in 1946, two-thirds of the qualified voters of the United States stayed at home, and one-third of the voters gave us that terrible 80th Congress. Now, I hope sincerely that two-thirds of you won't stay at home this time. I want 100 percent of the voters in this county to go out and express their opinions at the polls. And if you do that, the country will be in safe hands cause when the people express their opinions and their will at the ballot box, you'll get the right sort of results. It's when you do not exercise your privileges that things such as the 80th Congress come along. Let's have everyone get out to the polls on election day. If we are going to elect Democratic candidates who will work for the people and for prosperity, every one of you must go to the polls.
All I ask is that you look at the record. And then get your friends and your neighbors and be sure that everybody votes on the 2d of November and if you do that, your President won't be troubled with the housing shortage--I'll be in the White House for another 4 years. And you'll have a Congress who will work in your interest and not for special privilege.
NOTE: In the course of his remarks on October 14 the President referred to Democratic candidate for Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Democratic candidates for Representative Milton Manwell and Karl F. Rolvaag, Senator Joseph H. Ball, and Mayor Claude McQuillan of Rochester, all of Minnesota; Democratic candidate for Governor Carl Thompson and Democratic candidates for Representative Frank Antoine, Horace Wilkie, and Andrew J. Biemiller, all of Wisconsin; and Federal Security Administrator Oscar R. Ewing.
[1.] MANKATO, MINNESOTA (8:08 a.m.)
Good morning! I can't tell you how very much I appreciate this wonderful reception this early in the morning. It shows very conclusively that you are interested in the welfare of this great Republic of ours or you wouldn't come out to hear the facts. It proves to me that you people here in southern Minnesota are just as much concerned about the problems that the country has to face today as are the people everywhere else I visited.
You know, I warned the people of this country not to risk entrusting their destiny to recent converts to the principles of our foreign policy--I did that last night in St. Paul--converts who would seek to curry favor by putting on the mantle of such principles in order to further their own political ambitions. You want to watch that closely. They are coming across now with a "me too," because I smoked them out. I am telling the facts and the facts are things they can't stand. They don't want you to know the facts.
Mankato is a good example of the close dependence of farms on cities and cities on farms in this country. Farm prosperity makes for more business in the cities, just like that great city here, and more jobs in the great factories in your town. By the same token, when production and employment are high and workers are receiving good pay, the farmer is able to find a ready market for his products. Whatever helps the worker naturally helps the farmer, and whatever helps the farmer, in reverse, helps the worker.
Look at the farm prosperity here in Minnesota today. I am going to give you some figures that will startle you. Back in the last Republican depression year of 1932, the farmers' income in the whole State of Minnesota was less than $250 million. Last year the farmers of Minnesota made $1½ billion, six times what they made in 1932. Now, that was not by accident. The prosperity didn't just happen. It was carefully planned and carefully administered by the Democratic administrations of the last 16 years. And this Republican 80th Congress tried its best to tear up that program.
Study the situation--the Democratic plan which helped to develop the cooperatives through the Rural Electrification Act. We made loans to farmers cooperatives to bring electric power to the farms. Back in the Republican days only 1 Minnesota farm in 14 had electricity. Now, thanks to REA and the great work done by the farmers cooperatives since then, 6 out of every 10 Minnesota farms has electricity--and we're going to get those other 4 before we get through.
But in order to do that you've got to vote for yourselves. You've got to put somebody in the White House and somebody in the Congress that will look after your interests. You have got a good man running for Congress, running here in this district, and I hope you'll send Mr. Manwell back to the Congress to help to do these things I am talking about; and you must, by all means, send the man from Minneapolis, Mr. Humphrey, to the Senate in place of that liberal Mr. Ball who has been converted to reactionaryism since he has been in the Senate--and I'm sorry to have to say that.
No one here doubts that cooperatives are a good thing. They have been a tremendous boon to the farmer. They have improved the farmer's bargaining position in dealing with the huge corporations that farmers must sell to and buy from. Despite the immense benefits cooperatives have brought to the people of Minnesota and to the Midwestern States, the Republican Party in the last Congress, and every time they have had a chance, has fought them bitterly. For example, 9 out of every 10 Republicans voted against rural electrification last year. Three out of four Republicans in Congress voted against REA this year. Not quite so many of them voted against it this year because they had to go out and ask you for votes. The reason for Republican opposition is plain. Big business is opposed to cooperatives, and the big power companies are particularly opposed to rural electrification. You see, they don't get the rake-off when the farmers cooperatives run the electric power for the farmers, and that's true of all municipal plants.
You will find the big electric trusts, electric power trusts, fighting every municipal plant in the country. They try to surround them and choke them off.
Of course, the Democrats supported REA. The Democratic Party is always on the side of the people, just as you'll find the Republican Party always on the side of special interests. That has been the case ever since the Republican Party got power in Washington. The Republican Party will not admit in an election year that it is opposed to cooperatives. They put a weasel-word into the cooperatives plank of their platform when they said they would support--now listen; this is a direct quote from the Republican platform--"The principle of bona fide farmer-owned, farmer-operated cooperatives."
Now, the Democratic Party indulges in no such double-talk. We say flatly that we will encourage farm cooperatives, period.
Yet, only a third of the registered voters turned out to vote in 1946. The Republicans took over Congress as a result. The Republicans began their attack on cooperatives. They started an investigation of cooperatives in an effort to smear them. I know something about congressional investigations. I was chairman of that special committee that was formed to investigate the national defense program during the war, and I think I carried on more investigations than any other Senator in the history of the Senate over that 3-year period. And we didn't carry on smear investigations. We carried on investigations for the purpose of introducing legislation to cure ills of the country. You won't find that the case with these present-day investigating committees. They are trying to investigate us out of office. They are after Democrats--they are not after the welfare of the country.
Do you know how you can stop this attack on cooperatives? It's very easy. There's only one way. That is to come out and vote on November the 2d, and get your friends to come out and vote; and as I said all over the country, vote in your own interests, vote for yourselves. When you vote the Democratic ticket, you are not only voting for me and this good man who is running for the Senate in Minnesota, and the Congressman--you are voting for yourselves and your own interests.
You, the people, are the Government; and when you exercise your right to vote, you run the Government, and when you don't exercise your vote--as you didn't exercise it in 1946--you get such things as that 80th Congress, and you get just what you deserve when you do that because you shirked your duty.
Now, get up early on election day, go down to the polls, and vote for yourselves. And when you do that, you'll vote a straight Democratic ticket and you'll have the country in safe hands for another 4 years, and the President won't be obliged to be troubled by the housing problem--I can stay in the White House another 4 years.
[2.] WASECA, MINNESOTA (9:06 a.m.)
Good morning! It certainly is a pleasure to meet so many of you so early in the morning. It shows that you are interested in the welfare of this great Nation of ours or you wouldn't turn out to see the President and to hear what he has to say.
I have been on a crusade up and down this country, telling the people just exactly what the issues in the campaign are. You know, the Republicans won't discuss the issues. They can't afford to discuss the issues because they have been wrong on all of them. Therefore, I am going up and down the country and explaining to the people just exactly what the issues in this campaign are.
I spent some time in St. Paul last night explaining what the Republican Congress had done to the people and what they have not done for the people. They don't like to hear that because they have no comeback. They can't defend the action of the Republican Congress, which is a pattern of what we're going to get unless people take an interest in their own affairs and get out and vote for their own interests. Now, if you vote for your own interests here in this district you'll send Karl Rolvaag to the Congress, and you'll send Hubert Humphrey to the Senate, and then there will be people in the Congress with whom your President can work in the public interest, for your interest.
This 80th Congress had no interest except special privilege. They had more lobbies in Washington around this Congress than it has ever had before in the history of the country, and they spent more money than ever before in the history of the country. It is one of the most shameful sessions that this country has ever had. I name it the second worst Congress in the history of the United States. Of course, they don't like that. And that means not that all the men in that Congress were not the right sort of people. It means that the leadership, the Republicans who controlled that Congress, are the ones who stand for that Congress. There were a number of able men in that Congress who fought tooth-and-nail to prevent it from acting as the worst Congress in the history of the country, and those men are going to be reelected on their record. But I sincerely hope that you will not send any of that leadership back there, because if we have an 81st Congress as bad as the 80th the country will be in an awful fix.
The best way to remedy that situation is to get out early on election day and exercise your privilege in this country to run the Government. You are the Government when you exercise that privilege, and you run it by voting.
I am very happy and very glad to see so many young people out here because it shows that they are interested in the welfare of the country. You know, the country is going to be in the hands of these young people in the next generation, and if they understand just exactly what our Government stands for it will be safe for generations to come, and that's what I am working for.
I appreciate highly your coming out here, and I want you all on election day to get up early and go to the polls--and so as to be on the safe side and so as to vote in your own interest, just vote the Democratic ticket straight; and then the President won't have any housing problem--he'll still be in the White House another 4 years.
[3.] ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA (10:25 a.m.)
Thank you very much. I appreciate the warm welcome which the Mayor of this great city has extended to the Presidential party, and I appreciate the introduction of your candidate for Congress who I know will be the next Congressman from this district. You are going to elect Karl F. Rolvaag. He told me that I was going to get a good reception here, and he didn't mean it half as strong as it is. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means that Karl Rolvaag is going to be in the House of Representatives in the next Congress, and that you are going to send Hubert Humphrey to the Senate. If you send men like that to the Senate and House, there won't be any trouble getting along with the President because they believe in the same things I do.
Thousands and thousands of Americans, distinguished Americans and plain citizens, have come to this great city to recover their health. I am on a crusade across the country, to see that we don't have to send the Federal Government itself to Rochester to get it put back together after 4 years of Republican rule in Washington. I am here to tell you that if we have 4 more years like that, it will take all the clinics in the country to put it back together again.
I wish the whole Nation could have the opportunity to enjoy the kind of medical care that is available here in Rochester, Minn. Unfortunately, we haven't reached that point yet, but I have been trying ever since I became President to use the powers of the Federal Government to improve the health of the American people. In fact, I started on a program of that sort while I was in the Senate, and I have been working on it ever since.
Last January, I asked Mr. Oscar Ewing, who is the Federal Security Administrator, to make a careful study of the present level of the national health. I also asked him to report to me on what we might hope to accomplish in the next 10 years for the health of the Nation. Mr. Ewing has just finished his study, and has submitted a long report entitled "The Nation's Health--A Ten Year Plan." That report I have a summary of it right here--is an impressive document. It tells about the progress we have been making, but at the same time it reveals some shocking facts.
Every year--now listen to this--every year, more than 325,000 Americans die who could have been saved if they had had the right kind of medical attention and care that we know how to provide.
Only 20 percent--one-fifth of our population is able to afford the medical care they need. Now that means that there are 110 million people in this country who can't afford proper medical attention. That is a disgrace to the richest country in the world.
The United States loses $27 billion a year in national wealth through sickness and disability alone.
These facts should make every one of us resolve to do all that we can to improve our medical facilities. I think these facts point to the need for the national health program that I have been urging the Congress to adopt.
I would like to remind you of the main points of that program. I want you to listen carefully to this. Every one of you is interested in some way or other in this program.
First, we ought to have adequate public health services including an expanded maternal and child health program.
Second, we need more medical research and more medical schools.
Third, we need more hospitals and more doctors in nearly every area in the country.
Fourth, we should have a system of insurance to cover the cost of medical care.
Fifth, we need insurance which will protect workers against loss of earnings during illness.
Of course, I know that Federal laws to help the five objectives are not enough. State and local governments, medical schools and hospitals, doctors and civic groups, will all have to work together to accomplish the purpose I have in mind.
I know that this country can provide better health care for the American people. I want to see that every man, woman, and child on a day not too far off will be able to get the kind of care provided here in Rochester.
The people who can afford better health will make greater prosperity and a strong Nation. It is our responsibility to lead the world to a lasting peace. We need all our health and all our strength to reach that goal. And I want you to help me reach that goal by sending the men to Congress who believe in the welfare of the people as a whole, and who are not just interested in some special interest program.
This 80th Congress is a shining example of how the Republicans work. That Congress legislated absolutely for the special interests, and the people, well, I can't say the word I would like to say to what they did to the people.
Don't do that again. If you send the 80th Congress back with that same old gang in control, you will have an 81st Congress with exactly the same program that the 80th Congress had.
Now, do your duty on election day. Get out and show your interest in the Government. You are the Government when you exercise the right to vote.
If enough of you vote, I am just as certain as I stand here that we will have a Democratic President in the White House and we will have a Democratic Congress in the 81st Congress.
[4.] WINONA, MINNESOTA (11:45 a.m.)
Thank you--thank you very much. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate the cordial welcome which has been extended to me by the citizens of Minnesota. It is evident that the citizens of Minnesota are interested in the welfare of this great Nation, and that they want to know what the issues are in this campaign. And believe me, I have been telling them what the issues are! I have been traveling through Minnesota since yesterday at noon, when I crossed the St. Louis River and arrived in Duluth. It has been a thrilling experience. It has not only been fine to see your rich farmland, and the great grain elevators, and your cities enjoying greater prosperity than ever before in history, but it has been especially rewarding to travel through Minnesota and meet your fellow Minnesotans, and your great candidate for the Senate, Mayor Hubert Humphrey, and your fine candidates for Congress, and Karl Rolvaag, whom I am sure you are going to send to the Congress. You are also going to send Mayor Humphrey of Minneapolis to the Senate, and then we will have people in the 81st Congress with whom the President can work.
The crowds that have come down to the stations prove beyond any doubt that you people are determined to elect a liberal, Democratic President and a liberal, Democratic congressional delegation when you go to the polls on November 2.
You know that this prosperity that I have seen all through Minnesota did not just happen. It was brought about by 16 years of control of the Government by Democratic administrations. Back in the Republican depression year of 1932, Minnesota farmers made less than a quarter of a billion dollars. Last year, the income of Minnesota's farmers was a billion and a half dollars. That is the difference between the right side of a proposition so that everybody gets his fair share of the national income, and that approach which gives only the special privileged few the national income.
One key in the Democratic prosperity program was the Commodity Credit Corporation. One job of the Commodity Credit Corporation was to increase grain storage facilities, so that bumper crops could be marketed over a longer period of time, thus making it unnecessary for the farmer to sell all his wheat or his corn to big speculators, at very cheap prices.
The Commodity Credit Corporation did a wonderful job for years, and then something happened to it. Two-thirds of you stayed at home from the polls in 1946, and the Republicans got control of the Congress. That Both "do-nothing" Congress came about because you didn't do your duty as voters.
The farmers are just now beginning to realize what that means to them. Big business is against any aid to the farmers, and the Republican leaders in Congress are the errand boys of big business and special privilege.
That is why the Republican 80th "donothing" Congress--I mean do nothing for the people, they did something for the special interests all right--that is why that Congress cut the Commodity Credit Corporation grain storage program down to almost nothing. Now there is a bumper crop, and the Commodity Credit Corporation no longer has the authority to provide storage space, and the farmers are being forced to sell their grain to speculators way below support prices. And that situation will get worse. It has just now started. Right now, speculators are buying corn below the support price. That is just plain robbery of the farmers, and the farmers owe that to the 80th Congress. Now, if you send an 81st Congress back like that one, you will get treated worse than that.
This Republican sabotage of the Commodity Credit Corporation has not only hurt the farmer. It has also hurt every industry and every business in the State of Minnesota, because as you all know, your prosperity depends upon farm prosperity.
It is up to you whether or not this Republican special interest domination of Congress is going to continue. If you don't vote on November 2d, the chances are that the special interests will proceed to control the country and the Congress and the Government.
Now, two-thirds of you didn't vote in 1946--and look what you got! Don't do that again. Go out and do your duty on election day. This election will decide the future of the Commodity Credit Corporation, and the farm program. It will decide much more than that for the whole country. It will decide whether soil conservation and reforestation go forward with the Democrats, or go backwards with the Republicans. It will decide whether we will be able to bring down the cost of living with the Democrats, or keep on with skyrocketing prices under a Republican program.
It will decide whether we have slum clearance, and low-rent housing, and good rural housing with the Democrats, or whether we shall have a housing shortage under a Republican administration. It will decide whether we will have full development of our great river system, so that cities like Winona can develop into great river ports, or whether eastern power and railroad lobbies get control under the Republicans and stop the development of our great waterways.
Every one of these issues is at stake in this election. When you realize how much this election means to you, and to your own prosperity, I am confident you will turn out on election day and vote for your own interest. You are voting for yourselves. When you vote for yourselves, you will vote for the interests of all the people, and that is you, and me, and everybody else.
When you do that, you can't help but send a Democratic Congress back to Washington, and you can't help but have a Democratic President in the White House; and then your President won't be troubled with the housing shortage, he will have a house to live in for the next 4 years.
This is one of the most important elections this country has faced in 40 years, and it will have its effects for generations to come. So be sure and do your duty on that election day. Go out and vote, and I am here to tell you that if everybody in this country expresses his opinion and votes, I am not worried about the result.
[5.] SPARTA, WISCONSIN (1:03 p.m.)
Thank you very much. I certainly do appreciate this reception. You know, in every State people have turned out just like this because I think they are interested in the welfare of the country, and they want to know what the president looks like, and what he thinks. And I want to say to you I have been very frank in telling them just what I think--and you'll have to make up your mind as to what I look like.
I have enjoyed very much coming through Wisconsin this morning from Winona, Minn. We have come through some most beautiful country. And I was most happy to make the acquaintance of your candidate for Governor, Carl Thompson, and your candidate for Congress in this district, Frank Antoine. I hope you'll elect them both, and I believe you will.
All your farms seem to be prosperous and from the crowd here today, I'd take it that this town is doing a pretty good business, too.
You know, in years gone by, when I was a kid--21 or 22 years old--the National Guard used to come to Sparta, Wis. I belonged to a battery over in Missouri. We used to come up here to do some shooting with old 3-inch guns that the artillery was then equipped with; and I had many a good time in this town in those days.
The fact is that after 16 years of Democratic Government, this whole country is prosperous, and I want to keep it that way. We can keep this country prosperous if we continue and extend the Democratic programs started under the administration of President Roosevelt.
One of these programs that the people of Wisconsin know a great deal about is soil conservation. I am very proud of the Democratic record for the past 16 years with regard to the conservation of natural resources.
You all know what conservation has meant to the American farmer. By 1932, America had lost one-third of her rich topsoil, and there was real danger that our farms would lose their productivity. You know, Wisconsin and Minnesota and Iowa and Missouri and Illinois were letting the farms wash away and were making counties in Louisiana. Well, we have stopped that. Now, that danger is nearly passed. The Democratic soil conservation program has been extended to nearly three million farms in this country. But we ought not to rest until every acre in the country is properly managed so that it will retain its fertility permanently.
Now, you would think every sensible person would favor soil conservation. But, believe it or not, some men have been attacking this work for years. They have been the Republican politicians. The majority of the Republicans in Congress opposed the original Soil Conservation Act of 1936 and did not want to see it passed. I was in the Senate at that time and the Republicans fought that bill tooth-and-toenail. The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate voted almost solidly for soil conservation, and pushed that law through the Congress at that time.
But in the Republican 80th Congress, the soil conservation program has received a serious setback. The Republicans cut out the funds which are used for payments to farmers who follow sound conservation policies. The Democrats tried to restore those funds, and I am proud to say that every Democrat in the House and every Democratic Senator voted for that restoration. But, 9 out of 10 Republicans voted against soil conservation, and the funds were seriously cut. They weren't content with the cut. The Republican leaders in the Senate wanted to abandon the present system of soil conservation payments; and I am proud again that every Democrat in the Senate voted against this Republican attack. Thirty-eight of the Republicans voted to abandon the system, but three Republicans came over to the Democratic side and saved the soil conservation program from destruction. The American farmer was lucky that the Republicans didn't have a larger majority in the 80th Congress than they did. The farmer would certainly have been in a bad fix if that had been the case.
But, although the Democrats in Congress have saved the program by their solid support, the Republicans still have prevented the program from being carried forward by cutting down appropriations.
I understand you have a Republican running for Governor in this State who is running on a program of soil conservation. Can you imagine that! And yet, they tell me this man doesn't even belong to the group of soil conservation farmers in his own district. Yet he is running on a conservation program. You better elect Thompson and save yourselves. Don't be fooled by Republican promises. Look at the record.
You know, the Republicans write a platform to get votes. They don't write a platform to be carried out in a policy after the election is over. That is the sort of platform they have got right now--the most hypocritical, deceitful document that has ever been written, and trying to be foisted off on the American public by the Republican candidate for President. Remember 1932 and what the Democratic program has meant to the United States since that time. Think, for example, what the Department of Agriculture is doing this year to help some of your local people here, north of Sparta, your cranberry growers. There is a great surplus, and the Department is doing a terrific job of promotion to help sell that surplus. Cranberry growers never received that kind of help from a single Republican administration that I know of.
The story I have told you about soil conservation is just one of many stories like it. Take rural electrification. They have tried their best to strangle rural electrification; and I am told by the head of your rural electrification setup here in Wisconsin that if it were not for rural electrification, some of your private power companies would be on a brownout right now--and yet, they would like to strangle it to death.
They have tried also to choke farm housing, rural education, farm-to-market roads, and cooperatives. On all those issues the story is just the same, and that is the reason I have to go around over the country and tell you about it. They are not going to tell you about it because they couldn't get a single vote if they did tell the truth about how they stand on these issues.
The Democratic Party has been fighting to carry these measures forward, but Republican leaders have done their best to slow down or stop completely the progress we have been making. That 80th Congress-oh, that awful 80th Congress--proved that. That Congress shows what Republican policy will be under a Republican administration. And the Republican candidate for President says he's proud of the 80th Congress. Can you imagine that!
Now, the best way for you to take care of the situation is to vote in your own interests. Vote for yourselves, and when you vote for yourselves, you can't help but go to the polls on the second of November, and vote a straight Democratic ticket. You will be voting in your own interests, and you'll have a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President that will look after the interests of the people, and not the special interests. That's the issue in this campaign.
Remember that and study it because it means everything in the world to the people who live in this country.
Thank you very much.
[6.] ELROY, WISCONSIN (1:55 p.m.)
I certainly do appreciate your coming out here. This was supposed to have been a water stop. I didn't think that we would be here long enough for me to speak to you, but I am happy that we did stop long enough, and I appreciate your interest and I appreciate your coming out here to see the president.
I wish I had the chance to discuss with you all the issues in this campaign, but I haven't the time now.
I hope you've been reading the speeches and statements I have been making over the country. They are in your interest, and if you vote for your own interests on the 2d of November you'll elect a Democratic Governor and a Democratic Congressman from your district--and you'll elect a Democratic administration in the whole United States Government. And then things will be safe and in the hands of the people.
[7.] MADISON, WISCONSIN (Address at the University of Wisconsin, 4:25 p.m., see Item 238)
[8.] WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN (6:46 p.m.)
Mr. Chairman:
This certainly is a wonderful reception here in Waukesha. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate it. It shows conclusively that you are interested.
I hope--I sincerely hope that all you young people over here on the right will be as quiet as possible so I can tell the people what I think, because when the train goes out, I'll promise to stay out here on the back platform, and every one of you will get a chance to look.
This great city is the center of a fine progressive area, and it pleases me very highly to get this kind of a reception from you. I am glad, too, to hear that you are lining up solidly behind Horace Wilkie for Congress, and Carl Thompson for Governor. I know Horace Wilkie's record. He is an outstanding liberal and a leader of the veterans of World War II, and I am highly pleased that a leader of the old Progressive Party of Wisconsin, Carl Thompson, is the Democratic candidate for Governor. He certainly will be elected. I'm just as sure of that as I stand here.
In this crusade I'm on I like to think that the Democrats are following in the pattern of the vital progressive crusades that have come out of Wisconsin throughout the history of the State. You have always been on the side of the people and not on the side of special interests.
Waukesha is an industrial city in the center of a rich agricultural area. You know what I mean when I say you're for the people. Industry, the farm, the small merchant, are all in the same boat. Their interests are all with the Democratic Party, which looks after the welfare of the people as a whole. You know that the people don't want any more negative legislation like the Republican Congress has given you. You want progressive legislation and leadership, leadership that's exemplified by the Democratic Party.
I often refer to that Both Congress as the "do-nothing" Congress. When I say "donothing" I mean they have done nothing for the people. They've not listened to the people's demands for decent, low-cost housing. They haven't listened to the people's demands for bringing down the high cost of living. They have not listened to the people's demands for continuing the fair and equitable farm price support program. They have not listened to the people's demands for a fair break for labor. That's what I mean by "do nothing."
On the other side, that Congress did plenty. They've started a move to set labor back to the pre-Wagner Act days. They want to turn the clock back. They have worked all the time, this 80th Congress has, for 2 years, to turn the clock back, and the clock won't run backwards. You know that. They put our farmers behind the 8-ball again by making it impossible for the Commodity Credit Corporation to get the storage facilities necessary to handle this year's bumper crops, and they did that with malice aforethought, and they did it for the speculator's lobby.
The real progressive movement in the Nation today is in the Democratic Party. Horace Wilkie, Carl Thompson, Andy Biemiller, and all the rest--these are the progressive Americans of today. We stand for laws to bring down the cost of living, laws to insure that the farmer receives a parity income, comprehensive housing laws to clear away slums and provide decent low-rental housing, and better rural housing, a genuine national health program, better schools in both cities and rural areas, and a fair labor-management law to replace that shameful Taft-Hartley Act.
Now, in 1946, two-thirds of the qualified voters of the United States stayed at home, and one-third of the voters gave us that terrible 80th Congress. Now, I hope sincerely that two-thirds of you won't stay at home this time. I want 100 percent of the voters in this county to go out and express their opinions at the polls. And if you do that, the country will be in safe hands cause when the people express their opinions and their will at the ballot box, you'll get the right sort of results. It's when you do not exercise your privileges that things such as the 80th Congress come along. Let's have everyone get out to the polls on election day. If we are going to elect Democratic candidates who will work for the people and for prosperity, every one of you must go to the polls.
All I ask is that you look at the record. And then get your friends and your neighbors and be sure that everybody votes on the 2d of November and if you do that, your President won't be troubled with the housing shortage--I'll be in the White House for another 4 years. And you'll have a Congress who will work in your interest and not for special privilege.
NOTE: In the course of his remarks on October 14 the President referred to Democratic candidate for Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Democratic candidates for Representative Milton Manwell and Karl F. Rolvaag, Senator Joseph H. Ball, and Mayor Claude McQuillan of Rochester, all of Minnesota; Democratic candidate for Governor Carl Thompson and Democratic candidates for Representative Frank Antoine, Horace Wilkie, and Andrew J. Biemiller, all of Wisconsin; and Federal Security Administrator Oscar R. Ewing.