Evening star., 1932-10-02
Text Of Roosevelt Speech
Democratic Nominee, at Chicago Rally, Restafes
Position Regarding Dry Repeal-PrGises Windy
Ciy's Law Enforcement.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
CHICAGO, October 1.-THE text OF
Gov Roosevelt's speech here tonight
follows, in part.
Your city has not only been built
on a grand and magnificent scale. 1t
is meeting, like some other cities, a
difficult problem of government, and
not only just like other cities but other
states and the Federal Government
in Washington itself. I have often
said that / am more interested In gov
ernment than I am in politics. The
task of governing city OF this size
is enormous. You have felt the imam
c,al strain like everybody else.
| Your taxes have not yielded enough
/ to supply the necessities of govern
nlent
Critical situations have arisen in
which all interested people, high and
| low. have had to join hands in bring
| ing the structure of government
through the crisis without precipitating
| wreck.
Your mayor. my friends. backed by
the enthusiastic and united democracy
and most of the citizens OF Chicago,
has been meeting the situation as we
in other parts Of the Nation realize,
in the right spirit. With hard, prac-
| tical experience he has been cutting
expenses, and believe me, it takes cour-
age to do that.
An Example to the Country.
He has been giving an example to
/ the country, which it sorely needs in
these days This country OF ours, as
l have often pointed out. is in the
process Of reducing itself to common
|. sense basis of expenditure. Cities have
been hit hard-their credit is thing,
of course, that does not permit OF
| deficits. They have had to cut and cut
| bravely, and one of the things that !
| think is more worthy Of note than any
thing else is the fact that while Mayor
| Cermak has been compelled to reduce
expenditures with an iron hand, he
has at the same time been getting
as regards the most important function
| of city government-preserv of MW
and order-getting better results.
| And, indeed, you have done even
| more than that. You have been get
| ting more and better law enforcement
| for less money and that is an even
! greater achievement.
| Now, speaking of law enforcement,
| my friends, here as in other great
| cities, it is only fair to say that a
primary need is not only to do as you
/ have been doing-increase the efficiency
] of law enforcement and keep your costs
! down-what we must do is to make
| the job easier to perform. And the
way to do that is to recognize frankly
| that the power Of State to maintain
1 order-to enforce law-depends not
| only on the power of law enforcement
| but upon the nature of the law itself.
/ If a law is imposed on law enforce
ment agencies that vast proportion OF
the people do not regard as moral
| obligation. the great orderly force OF
/ public opinion that must stand behind
4 law enforcement is lost. And, on the
contrary, this force runs counter to
the. process of law enforcement, and it
must meet not only the problem of re-
| Straining the offender-it must restrain
the offender in spite of the fact that
the people In the community do not
| think the offender is an offender at
all. That, my friends, is serious to our
process of government, because when
ever we have admitted this kind OF
regulation We have met with extreme
/ difficulty For example. we have
found after a long and bitter trial that
we cannot in a city like Chicago en-
force prohibition.
| CIteS FlatIOTm fTOmlSc.
Now. I am not going to discuss this
at length. I have touched on 1t occa-
siona1ly since the first day of July, and
notice that people are required to
talk at length on it only when they
have something to explain away. The
Democratic platform adopted here in
Chicago leaves nothing to be explained
1t is direct. It is simple. 1t is for the
right. 1t is a promise of relief and
am going to let the Republican leaders
try to explain their stand on prohibl-
ton.
take 1t that they are having suf-
ficient trouble doing that about great
many things, but for myself, stand or
the Democratic platform, as have sale
4 before. 100 per cent I mean to in
clude also the proposed modification Of
the Volstead act.
Now, when prohibition is out of the
way as national issue. and I am conf.
dent it will be SO, those who are inter.
ested in public affairs can give redoublee
effort to the larger and more funda.
mental more far-reaching questions O.
economic readjustment and relief.
wish 1 had time tonight to outline
to you once more that portion OF the
program that I have elaborated since
my nomination. have spoken on 6
number of occasions of the major prob
lens that confront our economic nft
in this country. of agriculture-anc
may say here that you people in thi
city and in New York City and OF thu
other great cities are coming more ane
more to realize that Industrial prosperit!
is in very large part dependent upor
the return Of the purchasing power o.
those engaged in farming Throughout
the Nation.
I have spoken Of saving the railroad!
frone receiverships; I have spoken o
the tariff in words I think that laymer
like myself can understands; and
talked about power, and you people II
this city know something about power
Go. P. Leaders Reaction.
have stated my position, my friends
in simple terms. These terms have II
fact been sufficiently clear, SO that w
have been receiving overwhelming re
sponse from people In every section Q
the country, from people In every wall
Of life, responses to my statements OF
these questions, and about the onl,
people who say they don't understand
are the Republican leaders themselves
and when, perchance, they do under
stand, they say, 1T is good, very good
but it is taken from just what Presiden
Hoover said"
1t Is a strange thing, my friends
that this campaign comes down to
point where the only answer that the
have for a reasonably and CAREFUL
drawn up economic program for re
covery can be answered only by sayin
that it either cannot be understoo
: or that it is taken from some one elst
It sounds to me a little like this
The opposition this year has found itsel
confronted with an unscaleable wall
not tariff, but of solid fact. as hav
often made it clear In my economl