Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-09-22
Text Of Gov Deweys Speech San Francisco
Drastic Revision Of Our Repressive Tax Lows
Urged to Encourage New as Well as Old Businesses
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. "a
Following is Gov. Thomas
Dewey's text, delivered at the Civil
Auditorium here last night:
i 1t is mighty fine to come again t,
your great State of California an,
to see at first hand the progress yo1
are making under my good friene
your distinguished Governor, Ear
Warren. I am happy, too, to shar
this platform tonight with your abb
Lieutenant Governor, and mex
United States Senator from Cali
fornia, Frederick F. Houser.
As I have travelled here, acros
this magnificent country of ours,
find that men and women every
where are looking eagerly towart
the peace which will follow our tota
victory over Germany and Japan.
find that as they look ahead be-
yond the final victory, two grea
desires are paramount. We wan
political freedom and We also wan
economic security. The great ques.
ton Of the years ahead will be this
Can We have both political freedom
and economic security?
Must Have Both
believe we can. believe WI
must find a way to have both. II
solve that problem we need a new
administration. That's why it's tim.
for change.
The present administration ha!
failed utterly to find a solution fol-
that problem. Saturated as it i.
with the defeatist theory thai
America is past its prime, the New
Deal can see only two possibilitie.
for America-ever increasing regi
mentation as one alternative, anC
reaction as the other. 1t believes
that economic security can only bt
purchased at the price of freedom.
That argument is false. Oul
people do not want to see this coun.
try dragged farther and farther
toward complete government con-
troll over every aspect of our lives
Neither do we want to 60 back tc
the reactionary philosophy of dog
eat-dog.
Neither Necessary
Neither of these alternatives Is
necessary. There is a better way
There is an American way to meet
the modern needs for greater
economic stability and individual
security within the framework of q
free society
Let's consider a moment where
we are today. We speak of free
dom, but the farmer asks: Doe.
that mean freedom to 60 broke wher
there are peacetime SURPRISES ano
the prices of our crops fall ruin
ously?' Labor asks, Does tina,
mean freedom to walk the streets
in bad years, looking for work at
any price?'
These are questions which 60 tc
the heart of our problem. Nd mar
can be free when he stands in con-
slant danger of hunger. BY the
same token. no man can be either
free or secure under a government
which seeks to regulate his whole
life.
So what is the solution? Must we
accept the New Deal way of ever
increasing RECOMMENDATION as the
only escape from reaction? I think
not.
Three Examples
Whether we like it or not, and
regardless of the party in power,
government is committed to some
degree of economic direction. Ger
tain government measures to in
f1uence broad economic conditions
are both desirable and inevitable.
Let me give you just three
examples.
First, money and credit. Before
We have finished financing the war,
our national debt may be over three
hundred billion dollars. The annual
interest on that debt at current
rates will be six billion dollars. That
is more than the total annual cost
of our National Government in any
peacetime year before the New Deal
That six billion dollars a year must
be raised by taxes before we begin
to meet the current costs of govern
ment. We cannot affort a sub
stantial rise in interest rates which
would still further increase the cost
OF carrying our national debt.
So one result of this unpre-
cedented government debt which
now faces us is this: In order to
keep down taxes and prevent the
price OF Government bonds from
falling as they did after the last
war, the Federal Government is go
ing to have to keep interest rates
stable.
Another Vital Aspect
Now, let's take up another vital
aspect of our life-wages. In by
gone days, working men and women
worked for whatever they could get.
When a lot of people were looking
for work, wages went down. In
hard times people had to work for
literally starvation pay. That was
one of the brutal ways of our So
ciety adjusted itself to depressio rs
under the old-time dog-eat-doe
economy. Those days are never
coming back again.
They are not coming back be-
cause We are never again SONG to
submit tc mass unemployment. Gov
ernment's first job in the peacetime
years ahead will be to see that con-
ditions exist which promote wide
spread job opportunities in private
enterprise. There are many means
to that end, including the creation
OF foreign markets and the promo
ton OF foreign trade. If at any time
there are not sufficient Jobs in
private employment to 60 around,
then government can and must
create additional jobs opportunities.
IL