Evening star., 1936-09-13
Text of Landon Address in Maine
Candidate Declares Government in This Country Relation to
Business, Always Followed Principles Underlying
Free Enterprise System.

tenn under which this country Is
still . freer, Q happier place to
live In than any other country in
the world-a system under which
the humblest citizen can still rise
to the highest office in the world,
the Presidency Of the United
States.
On the other side Is a system
under which the minutest doings
Of every citizen are scrutinized and
regulated; under which the privacy
Of our homes Is invaded-our fields
lie idle by governmental edict-and
across the length and breadth of
America a million signs spring up
by order Of the Government. keep
or"
There is no halfway house be-
tween these two systems. We have
only to look at our history Of the
past four years to know that this
Is true. For instance. what has
happened on our farms? The Gov
ernment restricted the production
Of cotton. Farmers turned to
growing peanuts. There were too
many peanuts. The Government
restricted the growing of peanuts.
The farmers turned to raising po.
tatoes and the first thing we knew,
it was a criminal offense to grow
potatoes unless license was sc.
cured from the Government.
That is the record. That is what
must happen once we start the
-balling tendency Of q Gov
ernment planned economy.
We are being taken down road
that gets sleeper and sleeper. The
farther we 60. the harder it is to
turn back. We are being taken
down the road that leads to a CEN
traLzed Government Of unlimited
power.
The Republican party rejects this
policy. 1t denies that our present
system has failed. It refuses to
follow the present administration
in smashing the rights of the
States. 1t opposes the creation Of
q system of organized authority
welded by one man.
Pledged to Free
Competitive System.
We pledge ourselves to maintain
q free competitive system, with a
strict, impartial enforcement Of
Federal laws. Government must
protect the average man against
the aggressive exploitation by the
strong. We recognize that in the
past we have been too lax-that at
times we have even appeared to
forget that under modern condi-
tions, free enterprise system will
not automatically maintain itself;
that unless Government is con-
stantly on guard to defend compe-
tition against abuse, free enter
prise system tends to become a
tangle Of vested interest and rigid
prices.
But the solution Is not to aban-
don free enterprise system for a
system of Government monopolies.
The solution is to free the forces
of competition-to stamp out un-
fair trade practices and monopoly.
This will allow the American peo-
pie to resume their steady march
of progress. 1t will restore the
system which for generations has
given Americans the highest stand
ard Of living of any people in the
world.
We have but to look across the
waters to see the consequences Of
government domination over eco
nomic life. Step by step living
standards have fallen. Produc-
tivity has decreased. Human be-
ings have become more and more
dependent upon government
which in turn has become less and
less able to take care of them.
That is one reason why the Re-
publican party stands squarely
across the road down which we are
being driven by the present admin
istration.
Planned economy is incompar-
able with the democratic form of
government. It must lead to ever
increasing executive authority. If
a central government at Washing
ton is to direct all the infinite va
riety of factors which go to make
up our Nations business, it stands
to reason that this can not be done
without extreme concentration Of
quickly moving power in the execu-
tive.
1t was no accident that Congress
delegated its functions to the Pres
ident IF uo c q ponoec{tx, ~, dor tho