Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-22
FULL TEXT OF HARDZNC'S
SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE
Republican Calls for Stand Against Foes
From Within---Pleads for Thrift and
War on Luxuries

Senator Harding's speech. accepting
follows in full:
Chairman Lodge. members of the
notification committee, members of
the national committee. ladies and
gentlemen: The message which you
have formally conveyed brings to me
realization, of responsibility which
is not underestimated, 1t is a su-
preme task to interpret the covenant
of great political party. the actiy-
tiles of which are so woven into the
history of this republic, and a very
sacred and solemn undertaking to
utter the faith and aspirations of the
many millions who adhere to that
party The party platform has chart
ed the way. yet, somehow, We have
come to expect that Interpretation
which voices the faith of nominees
who must assume specific tasks.
Let me be understood clearly from
the very beginning. l believe in
party sponsorship in government. l
believe in party government as dis
tinguished from personal govern
ment, Individual. dictatorial. auto
cratic or what not. In citizenship
of more than a hundred millions it
is impossible to reach agreement
upon all questions. Parties are
formed by those who reach con-
sensus of opinion. 1t was the intent
of the founding fathers to give to
this republic a dependable and en-
| during popular government, repre-
| sentative in form. and it was de-
/ signed to make political parties not
only the preserving sponsors, but also
| the effective agencies through which
hopes and aspirations and convictions
and conscience may be translated into
public performance.
Peoples Will Supreme Authority.
| Popular government has been an
| inspiration of liberty since the dawn
and fallen, and transition from
party to personal government has
! preceded every failure since the
/ world began. Under the Constitution
we have the charted way to security
and perpetuity. We know it gave
eminence which no people in the
world ever rivaled. 1t has guaran-
teed the rule of intelligent, de-
| liberate public opinion expressed
masterfui leadership becomingly may
manifest it's influence. but a peoples
! will still remains the supreme au-
/ thority.
| The American achievement under
the plan of the fathers is nowhere
disputed On the contrary. the Amer
lean example has been the model
of every republic which glorifies the
progress of liberty, and is every
where the leaven of representative
! democracy which has expanded hu-
man freedom. 1t has been wrought
through party government.
No man is big enough to run this
great republic. There never has
been one. Such domination was
jnever intended. Tranquility. stabil-
ity. dependability-all are assured
in party sponsorship, and we mean
to renew the assurances which were
rendered in the cataclysmal war.
| Every Safeguard Swept Away.
1t was not surprising that we
1 went far afield from safe and pre-.
4 scribed paths amid the war anxietics
There was the unfortunate tendency
before; there was the surrender OF
congress to the growing assumpti )n
of the executive before the wol I'D
war imperiled all the practices we
had learned to believe in: and in the
war emergency every safeguard was
swept away. In the name of democ-
racy we established autocracy. We
lare not complaining at this extraor-
tdinary bestowal or assumption in
war; it seemed temporarily neces-
to restore the constitutional meth
DDS when the war emergency ended
our first committal is the restora-
ton of representative popular gov
ernment, under the Constitution
through the agency of the republican
party. Our vision includes more
than a chief executive; we believe in
a cabinet of highest capacity, equal tc
the responsibilities which our system
contemplates. in whose councils the
iVice President, second official of the
republic, shall be asked to participate
THE same vision includes a cordial
understanding and dco-ordinated activ.
iities with a House of Congress, fresh
from the people, voicing the convic.
tions which members bring from di
rect contact with the electorate and
cordial cooperation along with the
restored functions of the Senate, fl
to be the greatest deliberate body
of the world. Its members are the
designated sentinels on the towers
of constitutional government. Tht
resumption of the Senate's authority
saved to this republic it's indie.
pendent nationality, when autocracy
misinterpreted the dream of a worlt