Montana labor news., 1937-09-09
ADDRESS OF MURRAY


lecL OF accurate IGCOIQ All LlNCSll-
cation of my record will demonstrate
that I have fully and faithfully car
ried out my campaign promises. 1
have supported the New Deal pro
gram throughout my term of office
and voted for every progressive mea-
sure, every economic and social re-
form that came before the Senate
for consideration.
II would be an interminable task
to attempt a review in detail of the
various measures and problems that
came before the Senate during the
past three sessions in which l served.
1t would be a review Of the whole
New Deal program.
1t has always been my belief that
the fundamental principle Of popu-
lar government is that the people
have a right to have what they want
in government because the people
are the source of power.
The people will of course, make
mistakes, but the people have a
right to make their own mistakes.
Mistakes will always occur no
matter what form of government we
have. In a monarchy, the king
makes mistakes for all the people,
and history shows that the kings of
the world have lived up fully to
their opportunities in this respect.
In an %aristocracy or %plutocracy the
few make mistakes for the rest of
the people. Sometimes they find
them so profitable that they refuse
to correct them, even when they are
pointed out, Many Of the wars of
the world have been waged for the
purpose of correcting mistakes
which the few found it profitable to
make.
The advantages Of the theory Of
popular government is that in the
first place, it never pays the people
to make mistakes, and therefore,
they are not as likely to make them
as those who find it profitable. In
the second place, if the people make
their own mistakes, they accept the
result and bear the punishment
more patiently than they do if some
body else makes the mistakes. That
is an element not to be overlooked
in the government. In the third
place, because they will suffer when
they make mistakes, the people will
seek to avoid them and will correct
them as soon as they find them out.
We have in this country now in
the present Democratic administra-
ton the nearest approach to genu-
inc popular government we have
ever had in our history. The great
mistake made by the people in the
past has been that they have been
misled and neglected their vital in
terest in government. While a spec
~tacular show of prosperity was being
made on the surface of our eco
nomic system, and while some of il
was leaking through to the masses
underneath, they allowed powerful
selfish interests to assume control
of our government and carry on the
most notorious exploitation Of the
nation ever recorded in history
Great corporate organizations and
monopolistic empires were built ur
in the country gradually bringing
about a concentration Of wealth in
the hands of the few and a general
empoverishment of the many. MI
merous Congressional investigation
in Washington have exposed many
Of the dishonest and corrupt manipu-
lations through which the country
was looted Of billions of dollars.
The laws of the nation were made
in the interests of these dominating
financial and industrial interests anc
were construed and enforced
through friendly courts to their en-
tire satisfaction. 1t was a regime
wholly swayed by property totally
ignoring any social, moral or hui
name obligations to the people. Il
was the perfection of rugged indi-
vidualism. They controlled oul
elections by means of powerful