Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-24

yUuI BeIlcTOuS WelCOII1e, anu IUI
the high honor you have
accorded me in entrusting me
once more with your nomination
for the presidency. I pledge you
my best efforts to bring victory
to our cause next November.
When Abraham Lincoln was
nominated in 1860, and a COM
mittee brought the news to him
at his home in Springfield,
Illinois, his reply was two SEN
fences long. Then. while his
friends and neighbors waited in
the street, and while bonfireS lit
up the May evening. he said
simply, And now 1 will not
longer defer the pleasure of TAX
ing you, and each of you. by the
hand"
wish I could do the same
speak two sentences, and then
take each of you by the hand,
all of you who are in sound of
my voice. If l could do SO, l
would first thank you individ-
ually for your confidence and
trust. Then. as am sure Lincoln
did as he moved among his
friends in the light of the bon
fires, we could pause and talk a
while about the questions that
are uppermost in your mind.
am sure one topic would
dominate all the rest. That topic
Is: The future.
This is a good time to think
about the future !"
This is good time to think
about the future, for this con-
vention is celebrating its one
hundredth anniversary. And a
centennial is an occasion not
just for recalling the inspiring
past. but even more for looking
ahead to the demanding future.
Just as on New Years Day we
instlnctively think. Il wonder
where I will be year from
now" so it is quite natural for
the Republican party to ask to-
day, What will happen, not
just in the coming election, but
one hundred years from now?"
My answer is this: If we and
our successors are as courageous
and forward-looking and as mil
itantly determined, here under
the klieg lights of the twentieth
century, as Abraham Lincoln
and his associates were in the
bonfire-light of the nineteenth,
the Republican Party will con-
tinue to grow in the confidence
and affection of the American
people, not only to November
next. but indeed, to. and beyond,
its second centennial.
OF course, in this convention
setting, you and I are momen-
tarily more interested in Novem-
Der. 1856, than in 2056. But
the point is this: Our policies
are right today only as they are
designed to stand the test of
tomorrow.
The Republican Porty is the
party of the future"
The great Norwegian, Henrik
1bsen, once wrote:
Il hold that man is in the
right who is most clearly in
league with the future
Today I want to demonstrate
the truth of a single proposition:
The Republican Party is the
party of the future.
hold that the Republican
Party and platform are right in
1856, because they are most
closely in league with the flu
ture." And for this reason the
Republican Party and program
are and will be decisively APP
proved by the American people
in 1856!
OF special relevance, and to
me particularly gratifying, is the
fact that the country's young
people show a consistent prefer
ence for this administration.
After all. these young people are
Americas future. Parenthet-
ically. may l say I shall never
cease to hope that the several
States will give them the voting
privilege at a somewhat earlier
age than is now generally the
case.
Now. I shall give you five rea-
sons why the Republican Party
Is the party of the future-and
therefore carries special appeal
for the young, who have so much
OF the future before them.
First: Because it is the party
OF long-range principle, not
short-term expediency.
-. A good woy to run q foot :
ball game, but :. no woy to
run a government"
One of my predecessors is said
to have observed that in making
his decisions he had to operate
like a football quarterback-he
could not very we'll call the next
play until he saw hof the last
play turned out. That may be a
good way to run a football game.
but in these times it is no way
TO run a government.
Why is it so important that
great Government programs be
based upon principle rather
than upon shifting political OPP
portunism?
1t is because what Government
does affects profoundly the daily
lives and plans Of every person
In the country. If governmental
action is without the solid guide
lines of enduring principle, ma
tional policies founder in con-
fusion. And more than this, the
millions of individuals. families
and enterprises. whose risk
taking and planning for the flu
ture are our country's very life
force. are paralyzed by uncer-
tainty. diffidence and indecision
Change based on principle is
progress. Change without prin-
ciple can become chaos.