The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-08-07
GOV. COX TAKES
 FIRMSTAND ON CAMPAIGN ISSUE

it, then we can count on economies. Since the last national conventions | of the two great parties, world war | has been fought, historic, unpreced- ented. For many, many months, civil | lization hung in the balance. In the | despair of dark hours, it seemed as l though a world dictator was in- l evitable, and that henceforth men | and women who had lived in free dom would stand at attention, in the face of the drawn sword of military l autocracy The very soul of Amer | ica was touched as never before with | fear that our liberties were to be l taken away. What America did, needs no reiteration here. It is | known of all men. History will ac- | claim it-poets will find it an inspira- | ton throughout the ages. And yet there is not a line in the Republican platform that breathes an emotion of 1 pride, or recites our national achieve
 ment. In fact, if a man from Mars ! were to depend upon the Republican | platform it's spoken interpretation, 1 by the candidates of that party, as his first means of information, he
 would not find a syllable telling him | that the war had been won, and that | America had saved the world. How ungenerous, how ungracious all of | this is; how unfair that a mere group |
 selves in the name of the party of
 Lincoln and Mckinley and Roosevelt. | The discourtesy to the president Is
 an affair of political intrigue. His | tory will make it odious. As well
 might it be directed at a wounded
 soldier of the war. One fell in the
 trench; the strength of the other was l broken in the enormous labors of his l office. But others were ignored-the
 men and women who labored at home [ with an industry and skill that words cannot recount! Wbat of the | hands that moved the lathe by day 1 and the needle by night? What of | the organizations, superbly effective, 1 that conserved food and fed the world I-that carried nourishment to the
 very front trench in the face of helPs | furies--that nursed the wounded back | to life-that buried the dead in the | dark shelter of the night-that in spired business men and artisans of | all parties to work in harmony? What | of the millions of men, women and
 children of all creeds, religious and ! otherwise, who stood in the ranks as firm as soldiers overseas, undivided | by things they once quarreled about? | What of the government. itSelf-con- | firming the faith of our fathers as | sufficient to meet the storms of time? ! Why the sheer at labor with the | yelled charge that it was a mere | stacker? The spectacle is sufficient | to convince any unprejudiced man i that the Republican leaders who have taken charge of their party and | nominated it's candidate, are no | more possessed of the spirit of the
 hour than they were in 1912 when | they precipitated revolution within
 the rank and file of a great organiza- ton. If further proof were needed, action n supplies it. Not constructive law
 can be cited. Money and time were 1 wasted in seeking to make a mili-
 tary triumph odious chapter in history-and yet is it not significant that after two years of sleuthfuI in-
 quiry, there was nothing revealed in that vast enterprise, carrying billions of dollars in expense, upon which
 they could base even a whisper of dishonesty?
 The Mexican situation, trying to
 our patience for years, begins to show signs of improvement. Not the least of the things that have contributed to it, is a realization by the people of that country, that we have neither
 the lust for their domain, nor dis position to disturb their soverign rights. Peace smiles upon the bor-
 der and incentive to individual effort seems to be making a national aspira- ton.
 Many elements have made our re-
 public enduring; not the least of
 which is a sustained gratitude. The
 richest traditions of our land are
 woven from historic threads that tel! the bravery of our soldiers of every
 war. They make the first impressions
 of history upon the. minds of our chil-
 dren and bind the hearts of gener-
 at1ons together. Never in all time will
 the performance of our soldiers in
 the late war >be surpassed From
 farm, forest and factory they gather
 ed together in the training camps from countryside and city - men
 whose hands were calloused by labor. others whose shoulders showed the stoop of office task-the blood of
 many nations flowing in their veins
 and the same impulse ran from the
 front trench in Europe back to the first day in training. We must not forget that war breaks into the plans
 of young men, and their first chart
 of life is in a sense more important
 than any calculation later on. In
 college and shop-in every calling
 they were building the base for their
 careers. Thousands of them by the
 circumstance of injury or the disturb ance of domestic conditions which
 war always brings, were compelled to l
 owe debt to those who died, and to those the honored dead is left de-
 pendent. We owe debt to the
 wounded; but we must realize .that . considerable compensation is due
 those also who lost much by the
 break in their material hopes and as- . pirations. The genius of the nations mind and the sympathy Of its heart, must inspire intensive thoughtful ef-
 fort, to assist those who saved our all. I feel deeply that the rehabilita-
 tion of the disabled soldiers of the
 recent war is one of the most vital issues before the people and I, as a candidate, pledge myself and my par ty to those young Americans to do
 all in my power to secure for them without unnecessary delay, the inn mediate training which is so necessary to fit them to compete in their strug- gle to overcome that phYsical handi-