Evening star., 1944-10-04


"A. p. Photos.
the relation of the Roman Catholic
Church to the state and TO the
great masses of men whose convic-
tions deny them the privilege of
membership in that church." Mr..
Smith replied through the same
publication, and summarized his
creed as an American Catholic thus:
Il believe in the worship of God
according to the faith of the Roman
Catholic Church. / recognize no
power in the institutions of my
church to interfere with the opera
tion Of the Constitution of the
United States, or the enforcement
of the law of the land. I believe in
absolute freedom of conscience for
all men and in equality for all
churches"
In another portion of his reply, he
said:
Il recognize the right of no church
to ask armed Intervention by this
country in the affairs of another,
merely for the defense of the rights
of the church. But I do recognize
the propriety Of church action to
request the good Offices OF this coun-
try to help the oppressed of any
land, as these good offices have so
often been used in the Orient for
the protection of Protestant mis-
sionaries and the prosecuted Jews
of Eastern Europe"
While Mr.. Smith was widely COM
mended for this reply. the exchange
was seen as fairly putting the Gov
ernor's religion into the campaign
as an issue.
So, with opposition to Mr.. Smith
evident because of his stand on pro-
hibition and because of his Tam
many relations. the action of the
Houston convention in naming the
New York Governor-an avowed
wet" and a devout Catholic-on
the first ballot was regarded by
many as bold move.
The religious opposition was al
legged by his managers to have been
propagated through what came to
be known as a whispering cam
paign." Public denunciation of that
form of opposition was made in a
later campaign speech by Mr..
Smith at Oklahoma City, in which
he attacked the Ku Klux Klan and
openly challenged those who as
sailed him because of his faith.
Raskob Made Campaign Director.
Prior to his nomination, Mr..
Smith was required to stick to his
desk in Albany, and the executive
mansion became the center of ma
tional political maneuvers. The
Governor was settled in his convic-
ton that concrete issues should be
determined before he would con-
slider the nomination. Contrary to
the general belief at the time, how
ever, Mr. Smith went into the con-
vention with nothing definitely set
tied.
After his nomination, Mr.. Smith
selected John J. Raskob, another
New Yorker by birth as his Ma
tional Democratic Committee chair
man and campaign manager. The
two men were in agreement on four
leading issues for the campaign,
namely:
/. Government ownership of wa
ter power sites.
2. Government relief for agricul-
ture.
3. Scientific and businesslike treat
ment of the tariff.
4. Amendment to the Constitution
and the Volstead law to hberalize
it in accordance with Smiths de-
sires for true temperance.
1928 Campaign Bitter.
The 1928 campaign was one of the
bitterest ever fought on the ma
tional political stage. chiefly be-
cause Of the unspoken words that
accompanied it.
Through it went the ready
tongued Mr.. Smith, wearing the fa-
nous brown derby, waving the omnl-
present cigar, coming new phrases
and entertaining the Nation outside
New York with his East Side accent.
He was popular with newspaper cor.
respondents, who found in him un.
bounded color" In his autobiog-
raphy, speaking Of the campaign,
Mr.. Smith wrote:
My picture was taken so often
during July and August that be-
gan to think there was nothing
more to a national campaign than
talking to newspaper reporters and
having your picture taken"
But he lost patience when =
cameraman asked him to pose as q
bricklayer, saying:
That's baloney! Everybody knows
I'm not sbricklayer." J"
Radio Boosted IS Campaign Medium
In this campaign Mr.. Smith and
his opponent made the first impor-
tant use Of the radio as q campaign
medium. 1t was q different picture
from the one Of Mr.. Smith as q
leather -lunged young man CAM
paigning for Assemblyman most
|of 1t carried on from my coattails. 2
His first "stumptng tour" went
into the Midwest, taking Mr.. Smith