Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1945-04-27
By
Clayton W..
Fountain

FDR, because was convinced
that he had the interest of
the working people in his
heart.
The first three times that I
marked my x in the circle at
the top of the Democratic
ticket, l did so without reser-
vations, feeling that I was
casting a vote for progress
and democracy.
In 1914 I had few doubts.
1t seemed to me that FDR was
slipping; that he was making
too many compromises with
people who did not really be-
lieve in democracy; that he
was permitting his concern for
the forest to over-shadow his
original interest in the destiny
of the individual tree.
But still I voted for him
again in 1914.
SELF-STYLED MILITANTS
Some of my self-styled mill
tant friends in the labor
movement always chided me
for voting for the late Presi-
dent.
They tried to sell me the
notion that FDR was a son
of the capitalist class; that he
did not really and sincerely
desire to improve the lot of
the common man; that he was
deliberately misusing the faith
in him which working peo-
pie demonstrated each time
they swarmed to the polls to
return him to the highest Of
flee in the land.
They told me that FDR was
interested only in preserving
the power of the capitalists in
this country, and that his poll
tical motive was to increase
the size Of the crumbs in or
der to keep the workers from
getting their hands on the
cake.
But I rejected the cynical
counsel of my militant friends
and voted for FDR anyway,
because I believed, along with
millions of other workers, that
he sincerely wanted to bright
en- the lives of the working
people.
DEFINITE GAINS
The American working peo-
pie made many definite gains
under the Roosevelt Admins
tration, including the Wagner
Act, Social Security, insur-
ance of bank deposits, public
housing, rural electrification,
iva, soil conservation and
other progressive New Deal
measures.
l believe that the leadership
of the late President was
largely responsible for the
achievement of these vital So
cial gains. The fact that he
led the fight for these meas
ures seems to me to prove
that he was a democrat at
heart.
The workers instinctively
sensed that his heart was in
the right place. That is why
they supported him at the
polls when the going was
tough and the chips were
down. They knew that, in the
big fights over really impor-
tant issues, he was just about
90 per cent in their corner.
1t seemed to them that he was
really their guy.
IMPERFECT WORLD
Sometimes I thought that
FDR was wrong. / said so in
this column. l have written
pieces pointing a finger at
him and taking him to task
for acts with which person
ally disagreed.
But this is an imperfect
world, and no man in it is
perfect.
The important thing to re-
member about FDR is that he
believed in the democratic
system by which Americans
labor to improve this imper-
feet world in which we live,
and he knew that the right of
any citizen to criticize the
President is basic to this dem
ocracy of ours.
During the years of his
leadership land with his ac-
tive aid and approval, labor
has gained much strength
with which to wage the con-
tinuing battle for a better and
more democratic world.
To insure his resting in
peace, and to live up to his
faith in us, we must fight on
for a democratic world of
freedom, plenty, peace and
brotherhood.