Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-08-14

may be, to maintain the means or
adequate national defense until rea-
son is permitted to take the place
Of force; we cannot throw away the
sword when other scabbards are not
empty Nor can / reconcile it with
my ideas of the dignity of great
nation to be represented at interna-
tio1al gatherings only under the
poor pretense of unofficial observa-
ton
IF T become president Of the
i United States, America will sit as an
/ equal among equals whenever she
! sits at all.
| This brief outline of the views
and purposes of the party as [ I'M
| derstand them might well serve all
the demands of this occasion, but
in the platform we have adopted 1
find a further declaration concern.
ing which my own convictions are
| too profound for silence.
Liberty Assured
1--WE have taken occasion to reaf
! firm our belief in the constitutional
| guarantees Of religious freedom, and
to deplore and condemn any effort
| from whatever source to arouse
racial or religious dissension in this
right thinking American must in
dorse.
mo disaster that the mind can
picture equals in its hideous posi-
bilities the coming in this country
OF a separation of its citizenship in
| to discordant groups along racial or
utterly destroy our happiness and
| ty or
and influence abroad.
Let us thank God with reverence
that those who builded the inheri-
lance we enjoy dealt with that Ques-
ton and settled it long ago. Let
| it be said to the immortal glory Of
| those who founded the Province of
Maryland that religious freedom on
this side Of the water began with
the federation act which they adopt
ed in 1649. 1t broadened with the
years until it was written into the
Constitution in language too plain
to be mistaken that in this happy
land of ours every man might, with.
out loss or threat of loss, without
| lessening or threat of lessening his
civic, social or political rights, wor-
ship in his own way and fashion
| the one God and Father of US all.
This federation runs not only to
the creed protested by a majority
| but to every creed, no matter how
numerous or how few its adherents
1t was written, too, that church and
state should be. forever so far sep
arate that neither the right nor the
| duty of public service should be
diminished or enlarged by the re-
| ligiOuS belief of 9nV man
1T is the solemn duty OF every
| believer in American institutions to
| oppose any challenge of this sacred
doctrine, organized or unorganized
under whatever name or in what
ever character it may appear.
Honesty and Faithfulness
. From one who aSpires to the
| presidency, however, a DECLARE ton
even more direct than this may be
rightfully be expected [ wish, there
fore, not merely to denounce bigotry,
intolerance ard race prejudice as
alien to the spirit of America, L wish
also to state how and in what way
the views I entertain are to influ.
ence my actions. Into my hands
will fall, when am elected, the
power to appoint thousands of per-
sons to office under the federal gov
eminent.
when that time arrives I shall
set up no standard of religious faith
or racial origin as a. qualification
for any office. My only query con
corning any appointee will be wheth
er he is honest, whether he is com
petent, whether he is faithful to the
Constitution. No selection to BE-
made by me will be dictated, inspired
or influenced by the race or creed
! of the appointee.
"One word more and I am done
| and this of q personal character.
1T is known Of all men that the
| nomination which you tender me
was not made of my seeking. 1t
comes, | am proud to believe, as the
unanimous wish OF one Of the most
deliberate conventions in American
history, which weighed in the bal
ance with soberness my too scanty
virtues and my manifold shortcom-
ings. 1t is not for me to reject so
clear a call to duty.
Free to Serve Unhampered
Il am happy, however, in the
thought that it finds me free from
pledge or promise to any living man
haps my sense of obligation is all
the greater because of these things.
ITO those who saw fit TO present
my name to the convention for it's
consideration, and to the delegates
to that convention who accepted me,
! am under duty to justify their
choice which l fully realize: to the
party which honors me with it's
leadership / owe every effort which
my faculties will allow; and to my
felloWcountrymen whose support
you bid me to solicit.
II owe the duty, first, to speak
the truth as | see 1t, without fear,
favor or. evasion, and then so to
bear myself that every person in the
land, no matter how high or how
humble, may feel that he has in me
a friend, and that every citizen may
know that he can look to his gov
eminent for unflinching honesty in
thought and action.
No FavOrs for Sale
when it becomes necessary, as
no doubt il will, to raise funds for
the conduct Of the campaign they
VIII be contributed with this under
standing and this only: that neither
the Democratic party nor L as it's
leader have any favors for sale.
I've can make hut one promise
For Immediate Clearance