The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-10-25

spect to the Eighteenth Amend ment. I am not sure that they have, and I am going to speak about it (applause). And. inciden- tally, I will compare, in. the course of my remarks, the two platforms, .lJ that we may understand deh- nitely just what the two parties promise, and why there is such a vast difference in them.
 It is 8 difficult thing to get into your mind how easy it is to fool so many people, but 1t has been done with such success in the past that l think we are all coming around to the belief that Barnum probably was right. (LaughterD
 Now, in 1928 both parties tucked the prohibition issue. They were both afraid. The democratic party was not a bit better than the re- publican party. They both laid down in fear of the consequences had they taken a decided step looking to the revision or repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment.
 Let us go back and see what hap pened. Do you remember my tele- gram to the convention at Houston defining my attitude? (Applause). ). I was advised to hold that telegram back, not to send l. until the con- vention was adjourned. I insisted that that telegram be read to the convention before it adjourned so that if the conventiorT>was not sat- isfied with my attitude on prohibi- ton, they could reconsider the vote by which they nominated me and nominate somebody else. (Ap- plause.) I think the record will clearly indicate that I did not duck 1t. I went into 1t head-on. And as a result of that, after the conven- tion was over, there sprang up all over the country a widespread op- position to me because of that tele- gram, which we all found out later was nothing more nor less than a cloak of bigotry. (Applause).
 We'll, we will always have some people in this country that have nothing to think with. Slaughter and applause.) I understand that and appreciate it fully. And in my time I have helped that kind of people as much ans any living man But what I found particular fault with was that the republican party, with it's money, it's power and its influence, insighted and encour- aged that spirit of bigotry. They should have discouraged 1t. But it meant votes and dissention within the democratic ranks, and it is a matter of record that it was en- couraged.
 The chairman tonight mentioned the name of a lady that had a large part in putting before the country the republican attitude with respect to that, and with a great deal of respect for her, de- sire to have little something to say about the career of Mabel Walker Willebrandt. (Boos).
 Do you remember the time that she appeared before the Methodist Conference in Ohio and urged the Methodist ministers to go out and preach to their people to bring about my defeat? That was on the theory that I had spoken against the Eighteenth Amend ment. We know why it was.
 Here is what she said: There are 2,OO0 pastors here. You have in your churches more than 6O0.- 900 members of the Methodist church in Ohio alone. That is enough to swing the election. The 6O0,000 have friends in other states. Write to them every day. with every ounce of your energy to arouse the friends of prohibition to register and vote.'
 A direct appeal.
 Well, what happened? When the campaign was all over, Mabel was being put on the shelf. (Laughter). The republican party was not quick or spontaneous in their re- ward for her questionable service.