Evening star., 1932-11-04
TEXT OF ADDRESS
BY GOV. ROOSEVELT
Promises Common S ems e
Rule in Speech at New
York Opera House.
Nv the Associated Press.

of Gov Roosevelt's speech last night
follows:
1 am here tonight at the invitation
of a group of publiC-minded citizens
who have placed principle above party
These citizens. whose party af1liation
has been Republican, have publicly de-
claTed that they consider that a change
in the administration Of this Govern
ment is neceSSary-that It Is, IN TACT,
indispensable to a restoration to normal
conditions On such an occasion 1t is
fitting to speak as a citizen rather than
as a partisan.
In this campaign. indeed, the per-
sonal view l have had of the condl-
tionS of need and distress in every
part Of the Union has broubht home to
me the deep conviction that IN TINS
crisis the national and not the partisan
objective must prevail.
To begin with. let me propose text
which, in my opinion, expresses a Sentl-
ment that is widely held this year 1t
is presented so clearly. so distinctly and
so admirably that 1 would not change
a word OF il. even though 1t was spoken
IL years ago. Coming from great
figure in our national life, 1t deserves
serious consideration, and coming from
a great Republican, 1t deserves partlcu-
lar consideration from Republicans:
For one reason or another, even a
wisely led political party, given long
enough tenure of office, finally fails to
express any longer the will of the peo-
pie, and when it does so fail to express
the will of the people it ceases to be
an effective instrument OF government
1t is far better for such political party
and certainly better for the state
that it should be relegated to the role OF
the critic and that the opposing political
party should assume the reins of gov
ernment. This condition appears to
have arrived in America"
That, my friends, Is the sober con-
clusion of a cautious public man, not
long ago President of the United States.
Calvin Coolidge. With every word OF
it heartily agree.
Policies Boiled Down
There are more reasons than that for
q change this year. There are ten mil
lion or more reasons embodied in the
blghted hopes of the ten million or
more of the unemployed. No doubt
seeking to extend the campaign OF fear
so foolishly and so Wickedly put in mo-
ton, the present Republican leader, the
President. the other night referred TO
the fact that if the policies he had so
The grass would grow on the streets
OF the cities" Well, the grass has lit
tie chance to grow in the streets OF our
cities now. 1t would be trampled into
the ground by the men who wander
these streets in search of employment.
You have heard in this very city the
Presidents eXhortation that TO abandon
or to change one letter or one word OF
his policies would mean the destruction
of this great Republic. But what do
those policies boil down to when an
alyZ5d by the average citizen?
First. the President takes enormous
credit for huge Federal loans TO pre-
vent the industrial and banking situa-
ton from getting worse. Well ana good,
But that IS a negative credit and does
nothing positive to make things better.
Then, he would eXhort employers who
have no markets for their wares to
start their factories, to employ more
labor, and thereby to increase produc-
ton. 1 ask the simple question, what
good is that if the purchasing power
Of the people to buy these products Is
not increased? And especially 1 point
to the fact that his program in no
shape, manner or form calls for resto-
ration Of the prices OF farm products
in order that the half Of our popula-
ton which lives directly or indirectly
by farming may have the wherewithal
to buy the factory products.
Next he brings out a brand-new sug-
gestion. He would have us sit like
Nicawber and wait for something to
turn up. He hints that some great
invention, hidden away, as he puts 1t,
in the lockers of science" may appear
overnight and put ten million people
to work.
Old Gambling Spirit.
This is no new fantasy. Many people
have been saying this for long time.
They hope for some new equivalent OF
the automobile or electric power to
pop out around the corner like magic.
The President asks that the Ameri-
can Government continue to be con-
Quoted in this faith and in this hope.
I assert that the American Govern
ment cannot be conducted on the spec
ulatIon of some new invention which
has not yet been made.
Faith and hope are splendid things,
but the hunger and suffering OF mil
lions of unemployed men are too in
sistent to Justify a governmental policy
that pins its faith on such mere
remote possibility. This expression Is
another example Of the old gambling
spirit of the speculative boom that has
so sorely nliSmanaged the country 1or
the last few years. 1t is the attitude
of mind that guessed in 1929 that we
might escape the consequences OF over
speculation. 1t Is the gamble with
fate that led to the Foreign Loans
Board. 1t is the gamble with fate
that led the administration to guess
in one budget after another that
business would suddenly improve, and
porvide by that gamble the taxable
means to meet an eXtravagant outlay
oI expenditure II is this kind OF gov
ernment by guess and by gamble that
the people of this country have re-
solved to put out of power. l rejoice
that Republicans everywhere have de-
cided to lay aside party, to put their
shoulders TO the wheel to achieve re-
covery. not by magic or gambling, but
by hard common sense and, above all
by serious and reSolute action.
To condense the sum of all OF the
arguments of the President for his re-
election into two sentences IS not haro'
He asks a vote of confidence, because,
he saws. that but fer him the situation
would have been worse. He asks the
Nation to wait and hope for some
miracle of invention to make things
better.
As you who have followed the Naticn-
wide campaign which I have conducted
for the past three months will fully
appreciate. both my political philosophy
and my chart of action for the country S
future differ widely from those OF Presl-
dent Hoover.
Throughout this campaign in every
State-and I have been in 81 OF them
I have insisted upon the theme tnat
there is a definite and distinct dit-
ference between his policies and mine
I have repeated that this program en-,
trusted to me is sentially a national
program. Its watchword is interdepen-.
denCe f all groups, of all sections, OF
all economic interests. Such program
permits Of no yielding to sectional or
immediate selich special interests. such
as those represented by the clients and
hackers Of Mr. Grunby. 1t represents
a recognition of the fact that neglected
group, submerged group, be 1t agrl-
1oh~ fr7a industry