Evening star., 1932-10-29
R|TCH|E DECLARES
c. 0. P. IS DANGER
"0nIy Hope in America Is
in EIecting Democrats,
He Says in Indiana.

Continued From First Page)
longer; the farmer who has no market
for his crops will not; the merchant
who finds himself without customers
will not: the factory owner whose fires
arc banked will not"
The address of Gov Ritchie, in part,
follows:
At the close of this campaign the
Republican spokesmen, beginning with
the President himself, are endeavoring
to convince the American people that
the country will not be safe in Demo-
cratic hands. The party OF Jefferson
and Jackson. of Cleveland and OF Will
son. the only party which has survived
the lifetime of our Republic, that party
these gentlemen who are seeking re-
election or reappointment tell us cannot
be trusted to direct and guide the Amer
ican Government with sanity and high
purpose.
II is to this effort to spread fear and
alarm among the electorate that / wish
to address myself. I pronounce the ef-
fort an unworthy one. and I want to
ask what the American people have to
be cfraid of in getting rid of national
administration whose unsound political
policies have Steered the country into
the valley of depression and despair.
First let me say 1t has become the
fashion for Republican orators. from
President Hoover down, to belittle the
candidate Of the Democratic party for
President of the United States, and 1
want to say that as an American citizen
and as a Democrat l resent this.
Roosevelt Praised.
A great heart breadth of view and
synpathetic understanding of the aver
age American man and woman whose
champion he iS--these are outstanding
qualities of Franklin D. Roosevelt. His
training for the presidency was ac
ouired in the school from which all
great Presidents have come-the school
of American politics-and his expert
ences in that school have qualified him
for the larger tasks which attach to
the presidency.
A State Senator in New York, As
sistant Secretary of the Navy, his partys
candidate for Vice President of the
United States and twice elected gov
ernor of New York State, he has de-
voted his life to public service-Ameri-
can public service-and step by step his
training and experience grew and his
abilities developed. He has forced to
the front. and now in the zenith Of his
pONCAS, A4NAA AL SON iAAAiNA4lhA oiiN ouSA
ness experience. tried and tested in the
crucibe of American politics, he is
called in this time of stress and trouble
to lead the American people out of the
wilderness created by the mistakes and
unfulflled promises of the Republican
administration.
That is his record. What is the mat
ter with 1t? I ask the administration
spokesmen to answer and to specify;
and at the same time 1 say that in
cluded in Gov. Roosevelt's qualifications
is the ability to translate his sympa-
thetic feelings into actual measures for
the relief of the suffering American
people.
Hoover Address Quoted.
Now as to this endeavor to arouse the
fears of the voters by claiming that the
election of a Democrat will endanger
the country. Mr.. Hoover assumed re-
sponsibility for this effort at Cleveland,
when, in closing his argument on the
tariff. he said this:
I dwell on this point not only be-
cause I believe it is important to cor
rect current misStatements of our op
ponents but because the policies of our
opponents are founded upon miscon-
ceptions Of the utmost gravity for the
future of the United States
Perhaps the most fragrant instance
of this campaign strategy was when
President Hoover made his now diScred-
tied statement that the Nation was
within two weeks of being forced off the
gold standard and that he had fought
the battle for sound money and had
Won Nobody seemed to know any,
thing about this peril or the battle
which averted it, and Senator Carter
Nf n,y,in oy1I nth Nj motto
authorities quickly showed that nothing
Of the kind had occurred.
SO the American people refused to be
frightened, but the statement did
frighten people in other countries and
deprecated the value of the American
dollar abroad.
An Unworthy Charge.
In the first place. the ridiculous
charge that the Democratic party would
leopardize the future of our country
comes with particularly poor grace from
Mr.. Hoover.
He became food dictator during the
war by the appointment of Demo-
cratic President, woodrow Wilson. He
Joined President Wilson in asking the
country to elect 4 Democratic Congress
in 1918, and he allowed his name to be
entered i'll a Democratic presidential
primary in 1920 His devotion to the
Republican party is thus little more
than 10 years old, and his fear of the
Democratic party is certainly no older
I have been a Democrat all my life,
and l believe in the political principles
of the Democratic party. but l do not
take the position that my party is the
repository of all human wisdom, or
that it never makes mistakes. 1 recog-
Yoizn tho CinCnritIr and n9trlOtlCO1 of
millions of Republicans. l have often
differed with many of them as to the
best political course to follow, although
I do not differ with so very many of
them this Fall. For there are millions
of Republicans who agree that the hope
of America lies in putting Democratic
administration which can succeed in
the place of a Republican administra-
ton which has demonstrated it cannot
What L say is that the failure of the
Republican administration in Washing
ton to maintain prosperity, as it prom
ised to do: its failure to Go anything
long after the depression came, except
to say that it was not here, and its lack
of any adequate policy even now to
cope with the depression. warrant
Americans of every shade of political
belief in placing new administration
in charge. and that. OF course, means
electing Franklin D. Roosevelt and
John N. Garner.
Danger in Not Changing.
Since when, may I ask, has it been
dangerous to change a national admin
istration which has shown itself in
capable? The danger lies in continuing
such an administration, not in chang
ing it.
The crash came in october. 1929.
That was an unmistakable signal. Al
most any one could foresee then that de-
creased revenues and falling values
which we're causing deficits in business
would soon cause deficits in government,
too
Did the President, or did anybody in
that administration. show any signs
of realizing the danger and guarding
a~n;,,s+ II 1hn,, did not INhat H0nNer