Evening star., 1944-09-10
sy the Associated Press. i.

i MUST be UnSnoC|
by the Associated Press.
FRENCH LICK. Ind, Sept. ..
-The tert OF Gop. John W
L Bricker's speech opening his
1cdmpdign for Vice President to-
might follotos.,
It Is an appreciated privilege te
meet again with the Indiana Re.
publican Editorial Association. Tha
Republican Party, of which you are
SO strong - part, has honored me
with the nomination for Vice Pres
ident. Our cause is a noble one and
ctr goal a worthy one. Humbly
and sincerely, hereby dedicate my
self to our party and our country
in this campaign and to public
service in the years ahead.
For six years I have been priv
ileged to serve the people of Ohio
as Governor. Half of them were
unsettled years of peace; half were
tragic years of war. I shall always
cherish the opportunity for leader
ship which Ohio gave to me in this
critical era.
I likewise cherish the opportunity
which my party now gives me to
have a part in serving our Nation
in the difficult days Of reconstruc-
ton. I pledge to you, the people
Of America, the same constant de-
votion to constructive public service
that I have always tried to main-
tain as chief executive of my State.
Sure Of Dewey Victory.
I am profoundly happy to march
to victory in this campaign with
q candidate who can win. who will
win, our next President-Thomas E.
Dewey. He will lead this Nation
not from one crisis to another-but
to solid ground whereon America
once more may become the exemplar
Of free representative government
We have a war to win. We have
q peace to achieve. We have free
strong, self-reliant and cooperative
America to rebuild. Tom Dewey al
ready has demonstrated his ability
to unite men and women for such
tremendous tasks. He can be trusted
with leadership. I pledge to him
my complete and enthusiastic sup
port.
Indiana has provided great lead
ers in our party. Two new great
leaders in our political life are aris-
ing in your State, your next Gov
ernor-a great soldier and states
man-Ralph< Gates. and your next
United States Senator-an able bus
inessman and stalwart Republican
Homer Capehart. They, too, may be
counted upon to strengthen our Gov
ernment for the great tasks before
US.
During recent months I have been
deeply inspired by the sober interest
Of our people in the vital questions
of our time-in the issues which
you alone will decide next Novem-
ber-and by your determination to
preserve at home that freedom and
opportunity which your sons and
daughters are fighting and dying
to secure on battlefronts all over
the world. That spirit should give
all of us renewed confidence and
faith in representative Government.
so long as it survives, our republic
will be secure.
Year of Vital Decisions.
Truly, this is a year of vital de-
cisions There are many issues, but
they all add up to the one tram
scendent issue. of representative
government. Shall our American
constitutional system be restored?
Or shalI Congress and the courts
be permanently relegated to minor
roles? Shall government be kept
close to the hearts and hands Of
the American people? Or shall 10
cal authority be irrevocably usurped
by a highly centralized national
government? Shall America again
become a land of freedom and op-
portunity for the individual? Or
will 1t continue to be land in which
the individual is becoming more and
more a pawn Of bureaucracy? In
short. the issue of 1914 is: Shall the
United States continue to be q
republic?
To keep the peace of the world to-
morrow is a sacred obligation. War
destroys. ONLY in peace can we
build for better living. Soon in this
calppaign I shall discuss how
America can take her rightful place
in preserving world peace. But to
be helpful In the world, America
must be strong and free at home
Domestic freedom and opportunity
are the foundation. This I shall
discuss tonight. .+.-
Election Will Decide Issue.
This is the issue we in America
must decide in this election. We
remember that our system of rep
resentative government was born
and nurtured IN critical years, when
men had only an ideal of govern
ment that was yet to be proved in
the turmoil of human experience.
Because those who founded this
Nation had the courage to try out
government by the people, on these
shores and midst the storms of the
18th century, each generation that
followed has courageously sought to
keep it alive
1t is for us, this year, to prove
again that representative govern
ment can wage war and remain
free-that to defeat tyranny in the
world we need not sacrifice our con-
stitutional rights and traditional
freedom-and that America pos
sesses a reservoir of fresh leader
ship to which 1t can safely turn,
even in the heat Of conflict, and
upon which it must rely to keep us
q virile Nation.
The most liberal government the
world has ever known is that in
which the individual citizen is the
source Of all power The Americas
republic was intended to be that
kind of system. 1t was called ''gov-
ernment by the consent of the gov
erned."
The most reactionary system oi
government is that in which the
individual lives and moves and has
his being only by sufferance of the