Davis Denounces Blocs, Condemns Corruption, Praises Labor, Urges League 1
- — - -— ■ -I . ' 1 1 ' " " 9
Nominee Is
for Lower
U. S. Taxes
Pledges Himself to Industrial
Democracy, Honesty in Ap
pointments; Says No
Promises Made.
You come to give me official notice
that I have been chosen by the demo
cratic party as lta nominee for the
highest office In the gift of the Amer
ican people. You Invite me to take
the reins of leadership and marshal
lta hosts for the coming campaign.
No weightier commission could be laid
on any man. He must be vain In
deed who does not feel his own un
aided strength inadequate to such a
task, and he must be ambitious be
yond reason whom thought of fame
or honor tempts to undertake It with
out the fullest sympathy with his
party and its alms. I reflect, how
ever, that you are the representatives
of millions of Americans who are dis
satisfied with existing conditions,
who long for the day \vhen America
will set Its face to the front again and
who are ready to follow whenever
the forward march begins.
The allied forces of greed and dis
honesty. of self-seeking and partisan
ship, of prejudice and Ignorance,
threaten today as they have rarely
done before the perpetuity of our na
tional Ideals, traditions and Institu
tions. Men are looking askance at
one another; are mistrusting one an
other; are doubting each the other’s
good will and honesty of purpose.
I thank God and take courage. I
take note, Mr. Chairman, In passing,
of what you were good enough to say
concerning my past career and con
duct as a lawyer.
I have no apology to offer for eith
er. The answer to any criticism on
that score must come not only from
those who, like yourself, have won
the highest distinction at the bar, but
also from the more than 100,000 other
honest and patriotio men and women
who make up the legal profession In
this country. They “know and they
will gladly Join you In testifying that
the upright lawyer sells his services,
but never his soul. A word of personal
history In thie connection, however,
may not be out of place.
When I wan advised of the purpose
of President Wilson to appoint me to
the high office of solicitor general,
my first act was to surrender all pri
vate employment and to sever my
connection with the law firm of
which I was then a member and of
which my revered father was the
head.
From that day until my duties as
ambassador to Great Britain were
ended, eight years later, I had no
other client or employer than the
government and the people of the
United States. Whether X served
them well or faithfully, not I, but
others must say.
Blocs Selfish.
The solidarity of the great war has
given way to a chaos of blocs and
sections and classes and Interests,
each striving for Its own advantage,
careless of the welfare of the whole.
Government Itself, In which the hum
blest citizen has the right to turn
with confident reliance in Its even
handed Justice, has fallen under the
prevalent distrust. There Is abroad
In the land a feeling too general
to be Ignored, too deep-seated for any
trifling, that men In office can no
longer be trusted to keep faith with
those who sent them there, and that
the powers of government are being
exercised In the pursuit of personal
gain Instead of the common service.
Out of this and because of It there
has developed an alarming tendency
to take the administration of the law
out of the hands of constituted of
ficials and to exercise its processes
through Individuals or through or
ganized societies, by methods little
different from those of private re
venge. To bring the government
back to the people is and always has
been the doctrine of democracy. To
day, In addition, It is the supreme
need of the hour to bring back to the
people confidence in their govern
ment.
The search for the causes of this
state of affairs leads us at once to
the history of the last four years.
In 1920 we passed through a poli
tical campaign In which materialism
was preached as a creed and selfish
ness as a national duty. All the
forces of discontent were marshaled
a^d the embers of every smoldering
hate were fanned Into burning flame.
We have eaten of the fruit of the
tree that was planted and It has been
bitter In the mouths of even the
most Indifferent. I speak with re
straint when I say that It has brought
forth corruption In high places;
favoritism In legislation; division and
discord In party councils; impotence
In government and a hot struggle for
profit and adantage which has be
wildered us at home and humiliated
us abroad.
-\
Charges G. 0. P. With Corruption j
It Is not a welcome task to re
count the multiplied scandal* of these
melancholy years; a senator of the
United States convicted of corrupt
practice in the purchase of hit sena
torial seat; a secretary of the Interior
In return for bribes granting away
the naval oil reserves so necessary to
the security of the country; a secre
tary of the navy Ignorant of the
spoliation in progress If not Indiffer
ent to it; an attorney general admit
ting bribe-takers to ths Department
of Justice, making them his boon com
panions and utilizing the agencies of
the law for purposes of private and
political vengeance; a chief of the
veterans bureau stealing and helping
others to steal the millions in money
and supplies provided for the relief
of those defenders of the nation most
entitled to the nation's gratitude and
care. Such crimes ar* too gross to
bs forgotten or forgiven.
There Is, first, the fact that the
revelation of these crimes was not
tbs result of any action taken by
the executive. Nd burning Indigna
tion there put In train the forces
of Investigation and of punishment.
Ths disclosures came only as the re
sult of the painstaking effort of faith
ful public servants In the legislative
branch of the government who could
not close their eyes even when others
chose to slumber.
Dark Tags Blackened.
Again, when discovery was threat
ened, Instead of aid and assistance
from the executive branch there were
hurried efforts to suppress testimony,
to discourage witnesses, to spy upon
Investigators, and finally, by trumped
up Indictment, to frighten and deter
them from the pursuit. The spying on
senators and congressmen; the hasty
interchange of telegrams in the de
partment code; the refusal of those
accused to come forward, under oath,
to purge themselves—all these things
serve to blacken a page that was al
ready dark enough.
Different perhaps In moral quality,
but hardly less painful to the coun
try, has been the attitude of some
of those in high places whoae effort
it has been to weaken the effect
of these exposures by crying out not
against the guilty hut against those
who exposed them. What shall we
say when a statement comes from
one who of all men should have been
most deeply stirred that the wonder
Is not that so many have fallen but
that so few have been shown untrue?
W'ith what patience shall we greet
the libelous suggestion that, after all,
these are but Incidents provoked by
the demoralization attendant upon the
great war?
I charge the republican party with
this corruption In office. I charge it
also with favoritism in legislation. I
do more, I charge It with that
grossest form of favoritism which
gives to him who hath and takes
away from him who hath not. In the
passage of the Fordney-MoCumber
tariff act, Imposing the highest rates
and duties In the tariff history of the
nation, there was an unblushing re*
turn to the evil days of rewarding
party support and political contribu
tions with legislative favors.
r
Favors Importing Foreign Goods
k/
Is there not something of humor
as well as honesty lacking In those
who in one and the same breath can
promise a reduction of the cost of
living and praise a statute which
raises the price of the elemental
necessaries of life; who can demand,
as they should, the payment of our
foreign debts but refuse to accept
from the debtor the goods in which
alone payment can be made; who
clamor for an American merchant
marine but deny It the cargoes neces
sary for Its existence?
When a reduction In the burden of
Income taxes could no longer be
denied the country was presented
with the Mellon bill, offered by the
administration to the people as the
last word on that subject.
I charge the republican party with
corruption In administration; with
favoritism to privileged classes In
legislation. I charge It also with
division in council and Impotence In
action.
Congress Overrides Coolldge.
Need I dwell on the picture that
the last 12 months presents: On one
side the executive, on the other the
members of his party In both houses
of congress, seeking different alms,
entertaining different views; advocat
ing different measures? The execu
tive proposes adherence to the exist
ing world court. The request fulls on
dull ears until finally the leader ol
his party In the senate brlnga for
ward, manifestly for obstructive pur
poses, an entirely different scheme
The executive demands the Mellon
bill and members of his purty In both
bouses of congress, regular and In
surgent, hasten to reject It. lie die
approves the adjusted compensation
act, but congress re-enacts It by the
required two-thirds majority. Con
l j grass passes a measure granting to
postal employes an Increase In their
meager salaries; the president disap
proves It. He protests against the re
striction On Japanese Immigration;
congress adopts It.
Nor Is It in domestic matters alone
that the symptoms of this creeping
paralysis have appeared.
Four years ago we were promised
a new association of nations to be
created In order to protect and pre
serve the peace of the world. No
single proposal of this sort has yet
appeared from any of those who so
loudly promised It. With the recon
struction of Europe weighing heavily
on the world; with American eeonlmlc
life dwarfed and atunted by the in
terruption of world commerce; with
the agricultural regions of tha west
sinking into bankruptcy because of
the loss of their foreign markets; we
have rtood by as powerless specta
tors, offering to the world nothing
but private charity and Individual
advice.
The Washington conference alone
aside, find that of more than doubtful
value, what single contribution has
the United States of America, ns an
organized nation among nations, made
to world piece in the last four yuars?
Individual Americans have gone
abroad but they went without the
blessing of their government. "Unof
ficial observers" have appeared at In
ternational conferences where Amer
ica. If present at all, should have been
present as an equal among equals.
When but yesterday three Americans
went to the conference on repara
tlons, whose fruitful outcome all the
world desires, Washington whs
prompt to disclaim all responsibility
for their going though aager to take
credit for whatever they might ac
complish. We achieved only what
one of them has called a "bootlegging
participation."
Three weeks ago. In the city of
High Spots in Davis’ Speech
1. Criticises republicans, “who in the same breath
can * * * demand the payment of our foreign debts
but refuse to accept from the debtor the goods in which
alone payment can be made."
Thus in effect, Davis argues for the throwing down of
the bars which now keep out cheap foreign made
“goods."
2. Criticizes republicans for not encouraging im
portation of foreign “goods" as a means of building the
American Merchant Marine. Says republicans thus “deny
it (the merchant marine) the cargoes necessary for its
existence.”
3. Charges, Washington conference on limitation of
armament is only step taken by United States in four years
to advance world peace. No mention is made in the ad
dress of the work of the Dawes commission for restoring
life of Germany, thus making possible the recovery of
Europe through its own efforts.
4. Praises Wilson administration and democrats’
conduct of the war, says it was conducted “without
scandal or corruption." He overlooks in his speech the air
plane scandal that shook the nation and the many other
scandals that resulted in the overwhelming repudiation of
Wilson and the democratic administration.
5. Urges for labor, “the right to organize—the right
to bargain collectively, through agents' of its own
choosing."
6. Declares the rights of labor, “must not be im
paired by injunction or any other device.
7. Pledges democratic party to handle labor ques
tions, “moved by a sincere desire to make labor a part of
the grand council of the nation."
8. Pledges further that, “all those who work" will
be recognized as having a right “to share in all decisions
that affect their welfare." in “democracy in government
and democracy in industry alike."
Davis thus puts himself in opposition to the child
labor advocates in the southern states, who bitterly op
pose anti-child labor legislation, and who are the most
powerful leaders in the democratic party.
9. Declares for support to the farmers with “every
power which the government enjoys under the constitu
tion." He also says farmers are entitled to “demand"
from the railroads transportation service at “reasonable
rates”.
10. Pledges support of the 18th amendment and of
the Volstead law.
10. Pledges entrance into the world court, which he
supports “in sincerity” and not “for campaign purposes."
11. Pledges entrance into the league of nations and
says he has always and still believes America should join
the league. He is in no hurry about it, however, and de
clares we should enter only when “the common judgment
of the American people is ready for the step." He does
not mention the “referendum" on the league, pledged by
the democratic party, evidently believing such a thing is
impossible.
13. Is ardently opposed to the Ku Klux Klan. He
does not mention the klan by name, but denounces relig
ious and racial antagonisms.
14. Pledges himself not to make religion or race a
test for holding office in any appointment he may make.
15. Pledges support to the budget law, passed under
President Harding’s regime.
16. Declares there are no favors for sale either by
himself or the democratic party and warns campaign con
tributors not to expect any. >
._y
London, there cam* from the secre
tary of state himself an amazing con
fession of this impotence. Bald he.
"I may give it as my conviction that
had we attempted to make America’s
contribution to the recent plan of ad
Justment a governmental matter, we
should have been Involved In a hope
less debate and there would have been
no adequate action. We should have
been beset with demands, objections.
Instructions. This is not the way to
make an American contribution to
economic revival." If I can read these
words aright, they can mean only
this: That hy reason either of the In
ability of the executive to lead or the
unwillingness of hla party to follow,
the foreign affairs of the United
States, Including the great and vital
question of Kuropean settlement,
must be left In private hands. We
must face the humiliating fact that
we have a government that does not
dare to speak Its mind beyond the
three-mile limit.
No “Scandals” Under Wilson
_/
Our pledge will be the long roll of
beneficent legislation passed during
our years of power, nnd the conduct
without scandal or corruption of a
great and victorious war fought un
der the gallant and inspiring leader
ship of Woodrow Wilson.
The words '‘progressive'' and "re
actionary” have been much used In
American politic*. There has been
little effort to define their meaning.
They are becoming mere tags which
politicians fasten on themselves or
tholr opponents without Indulging In
tny mental process that remotely re
sembles thought. But. like shipping
tags, the thing which really counts
Is the destination written on them—
progress to what; reaction from what
—that Is the real question. Motion
may be either backward or forward.
It may even be going around In cir
cles.
From my point of view he only
deserves to be called a progressive
who cannot see a wrong persist with
out an effort to redress It. or a right
denied without an effort to protect
It; who feels a deep concern for the
economic welfare of the United
states, but realizes that the making
of better men and better women Is
a matter greater still; who thinks
of every governmental policy first of
all In Its bearing upon human rights
rather than upon material things;
who believes profoundly in humun
'-•lunllty and detests privilege In
whatever form or In whatever die
guise, and who finds the true test of
success In the welfare of the many
and not the prosperity and comfort
of the few. The civic unit of America
la not the dollar but the individual
man. All that goes to make letter
and happier and freer men and
women Is progress; all else Is reac
tion. Progressives of this sort, though
they may not caro to use the name,
nevertheless In their hearts are
democrats.
For Social legislation.
W# shall strive, therefore, for the
things that look to these great ends;
for ths education of our youth, not
only In knowledge gathered from
past ages, but In the wholesome vir
tue of self-help; for the protection of
women nnd children from human
greed and unequal laws; for the pre
vention of child Inbor and for the
suppression of the Illicit traffic In
soul-destroying drugs We shall con
serve nil the natural resources of the
country and prevent the hnnd of
monopoly from closing on them and
on our water powers, bo that our
ohclldren after us shall find tills still
a fair land to dwell within. And to
the veterans of our wnra, especially
to those who were stricken nnd
wounded In the country's service nnd
whose clnfldence has been so cruelly
and corruptly abused, we shall give.
In honor and In honesty, the grateful
care they have so Justly enrned.
r
Praises Labor and Farmers
_/
Concerning our sentiments toward
labor there la room for neither doubt
nor cavil In the light of our past his
tory. The right of labor to nn nde
uunte wage earned under healthful
conditions, the right, to organise In
order to obtain It and the right to
bargain for It collectively, through
agcnta and representatives of Its own
choosing, have been established after
many years of wenry struggle. These
rights are conceded now by all fair
minded men. They muet not be Im
paired either by Injunction nr by any
other device.
Democracy In Induatry.
The democratic party, however,
goes a step beyond thla. Its attitude
has been well described ns one In
aplred neither by deferenee on the
one hand nor by palronnge on the
other, hut by a elncere dcalre to make
labor part of the grand council of
the nation, to concede Its patriotism
and to recognise that Ita knowledge
of lta own needs gives It a right to
n. vole* In nil matter* of government
that directly or peculiarly affect It*
own right*. Till* attitude has not
changed, It will not chnnge. Democ
racy In government and democracy
In fndu*try alike demand the free
recognition of the right of all those
who work, In whatever rank or place,
to ahnre In all decision* that affect
their welfare.
To the farmer* of the United
State* nl*o w* proml** not patronage
but *uch law* *nd auch ndmlnlutrn
Mon of the law a a* will enable them
to prosper In their own right. They
aro not mendicant* and, fortunately
for all of u*. are willing to taka the
risk* that attend their all Important
calling. They are entitled In return
to a government genuinely Interested
In their problem* and keenly desirous
lo serve them to the limit of II*
power. They feel today, more severe
ly perhnp* than any others, the dr
pressing effect of discriminatory tn*
atjon. Uuylng In a piotcelfd murket
and selling in a market open to the
world, they have been forced to con
tribute to the profits of those in other
Industries with no compensating bene
fit to themselves.
Remove Tariff Discrimination.
We propose to see to It that the
discriminations which the tarlfT makes
against them shall be removed; that
their government by doing Its share
toward a European settlement shall
help to revive and enlarge their for
eign markets; that instead of lip
service to the principle of co-operative
marketing the forces of the govern
ment shall bp put actively at work to
lend assistance to these endeavors;
that the farmer shall be supplied not
only with information on problems
of production but with information
such as the dealer now receives con
cerning the probable use and demand
for his product, so that he may be
enabled to think as intelligently as
1 -
the dealer In terms of consumption
and demand; and that in times when
general and widespread distress has
overtaken him, every power which
the government enjoys under the con
stitution shall be exerted in his aid.
He is entitled, too, to demand an
adequate service of transportation at
reasonable rates. In spite of the fail
ures and shortcomings of existing
laws, this is an ideal which I cannot
believe to be beyond the reach of
attainment. If the seasonal produc
tion of the farmer’s crops is the pulsa
tion of the nation's heart, the rail
roads of the country are the veins and
arteries through which its lifeblood
flows. Neither can hope to function
without the other's aid; and It is quite
as important to the railroads that
the farmer should prosper as it is
to the farmer that the railroads
should be adequately paid foV the
service that they render.
For Low Taxes—Anti-Booze
J
We have no hostile design toward
any legitimate industry; we purpose
no action that would tear down or
destroy. But we are resolved that
the laying and collecting of taxes
shall remain a public and not a pri
vate business nnd that monopoly shall
find no section of the law behind
which to hide itself. The rates of
the Income tax should be further
lowered. Unnecessary taxation is un
just taxation no matter on whom
the burden falls. I am ready to agree
that there Is no right in government
to tax any man beyond its needs
solely because he is rich; and yet I
stoutly hold that every dictate of
reason and morality suports the rule
that those who derive from the
common effort of society a greater
share of its earnings than their fel
lows must contribute to tho support
of the state a proportionately larger
share of that which they have re
ceived. Nor will we overlook tho
sound distinction which exists In prin
ciple between those Incomes gathered
without effort from Invested capital,
and those which are the product of
exertion day by day.
And with reduction, Indeed as a
condition precedent to It, there must
be economy In every part of the
governmental establishment. I shall
If elected welcome the opportunity
to support and strengthen the be
ginnings which have been made in
the direction of a national budget
and to co operate with congress to
that end. We must have, in addition,
an economy which consists not mere
ly In securing a dollar's worth for
every dollar spent, but that far less
popular form of economy which
imitates the prudent householder in
doing without the things one wishes
but cannot at the time afford.
Keonomy, however, begins at the
wrong end when It attacks the pay
of government employes, who are
justly entitled to pay equal to that
they would receive from private em
ployers for similar work. Kvery busi
ness executive knows that underpaid
service is the dearest of all.
To the enforcement of the law,
and all the law, we stand definitely
pledged. We shall enforce It as fear
lessly against wealth that endeavors
to restrain trade and create monop
oly, as against poverty that counter
feits the currency; as vigorously
against ambition which seeks to climb
to office through the corrupt use of
money as against the lesser greed
that robs the mails. For no reason
that is apparent to me the ques
tion hag been asked, as perhaps It
will continue to be asked until It has
been definitely answered, what views
I hold concerning the enforcement
of the 18th amendment and the stat
utes passed to put It Into effect.
Why the question; is It not the law?
I would hold In contempt any public
official who took with uplifted hand
an oath to support the constitution of
the United States, making at the
same time a mental reservation
whereby a single word of that great
document is excluded from his vow
An administrative officer Is no more
entitled to choose what statutes he
will not enforce than is a citizen to
choose what laws he will or will not
obey. As well might he ask to strike
from the Ten Commandments those
he was not Inclined to keep. Obed
ience to the law is the first duty of
every good citizen, whether he be
rich or whether he be poor; enforce
ment of the law against every viola
tor, rich or poor, is the solemn obllga
tion of every official.
- ..
Should Join Court and League
J
But all that we do will be undone;
all that we build will he torn down
all that we hope for will be denied,
unless In conjunction with ths rest
of mankind we can lift the burden
of vast armaments which now weighs
upon the world and silence the re
curring threat of war. This we shall
not do by pious wishes or fervid
rhetoric. We will not contribute to
It as a nation simply by offering to
others no more concerned than our
selves, our unsolicited advice. Provi
dence does not give the gifts of peace
to those who will not labor to achieve
them. In the name of the democratic
party, therefore, I promise to the
country that no enterprise sincerely
directed to this end will lack our
approval and cp oper ation. We favor
the world court In sincerity and not
merely for campaign purposes or ns
an avenus of escape from the con
sideration of larger questions. We be
lieve it a real advance toward the
peaceful settlement of International
disputes; an advance from which
America cannot turn away without
proving herself false to tho teaching
of a century. We do not and we
cannot accept the dictum unauthor
ized by nny expression of popular
will that the league of nations Is a
closed Incident so far as ws are con
cerned. We deny the right of any
man to thus shut the gates of the
future against us and to write the
fatal word "Never" across the face
of our foreign policy.
Bulwark of Peace.
My own beliefs on this particular
subject have been so frequently
avowed, nnd are 1 believe so well
understood, as hardly to need reten
tion. I yield to no man In my resolve
to maintain Amertra's Independence
or In my unwillingness to Involve It
In ths quarrels of other nations. Yet,
from the day when the proposal was
first put forward I believed that
American duly and American Inter
■ts alike demanded our joining, as a
free and equal people, the other free
peoples of the world In this enterprise
Nothing that has sines occurred has
shaken me In that belief. On the con
trary, the march of events has shown
not only that the league has within
It the seed of sure survival hut that
It Is destined more and more to be
come the bulwark of peace and order
to mnnklnd. Fifty-four nation* now
sit around its council table. Ireland.
I rejoice to aa.v, has shaken off her
long subjection, and once more a
nation haa made her entry Into the
league the sign and symbol of her
glorious rebirth. The time cannot be
*fnr distant when (lermany will take
tho seat to which It la rightly en
titled. Iiussla, Mexico and Turkey
will make the roll, with one excep
tion, entire and complete. None of
the nations In nil thin lengthening
Hat. have parted with their sovereign
ly or sacrificed their Independence,
or have Imperilled by their presence
their safety at homo or their aequilty
abroad. 1 cannot reconcile their ex
perlenco with fears of those who
dread a different fate for the United
States.
Attach* league Foe*.
There are In this country sincere
minds who oppose both the world
court nnd the league and. Indeed, any
organic contact with other nations,
because they wish the United Staten
to live a purely opportunist life They
They wish no obligation at nny time
to any other powers, even the slendei |
obligation to consult end to confer
I respeet such opinions even though
1 do not ehnre them. for. on sheerest
grounds of national safety, I cannot
think It prudent that the United
States should be absent whenever all
the other nations of the world as
semble to discuss world problems.
But I must be permitted to doubt
the Intellectual honesty of those who
profess to favor organized Interna
tional co-operation for peace and who
studiously turn away from the only
agencies yet created to that end.
In my own thought concerning the
league two aspects of the question
have been constantly before me. I
have never found it possible greatly
to concern myself as to the terms of
our adherence or the language In
which those terms ml£ht be phrased
Ix-eds are of more consequence than
words. Time and custom and the laws
of natural growth will have their way
In spite of language, provided a sin
cere purpose lies behind them. What
ever the character In which we shall
finally appear. It Is the fact of our
presence that will count. Neither
have I at nny time believed nor do
I now believe, that the entrance of
America Into the league can occur,
will occur or should occur until the
common Judgment of the American
people Is ready for the step. We wait
ed for this Judgment to ripen In or
Ider that w« might enter the war
I am content, If need be, to wait un
til It speaks for the agencies of
peace.
That a day can and will come when 1
this great question will finally be |
lifted entirely above the plane of i
partisan politics: when men will
cease to take counsel solely of their
passions, their pride and their fears;,
and when the voice of public approval |
will find means to make Itself heard,
I am serenely confident.
Until that day arrives I deem It the
duty of the chief executive to co-op
erate officially by every means at his
command with all legitimate endeav
ors. whether they come from the
league or from any other source, to
lessen the prospect of future wars;
to aid In repairing the ravages of
the wars that are past; to promote dis
armament and to advance the well
being to mankind. Equally, too. his
duty and the duty of congress, bur
densome ns It may he. to maintain
the means of adequate national de
fense until reason Is permitted to
take the place of force; we cannot
throw away the sword when other
scabbards are not empty. If t become
president of the United States, Ameri
ca will sit as an equal among equals
whenever she alts st all.
The storu
JACK LONDON
---was writing
when be died,
which tells of a
beautiful castaway
w ho drifted into j
love and riches—
“EYES OF ASIA,”
in September
(osmopolitan
Out Now
r—~- “ j
Race and Creed No Bar to Office
_
We have taken occasion to reaffirm
our belief In the constitutional guar
antees of religious freedom, and to
deplore and condemn any effort from
whatever source to arouse racial or
religious dissension In this country.
Such a declaration every right think
ing American must endorse. No dis
aster that the mind can picture
equals In Its hideous possibilities the
coming In this country of a separa
tion of Its citizenship Into discordant
groups along racial or religious lines.
Nothing would so utterly destroy our
happiness and security at home and
our dignity and Influence abroad. Let
us thank God with reverence that
those who bullded the Inheritance'
we enjoy dealt with that question,
and settled It long ago. Let It be said
to the Immortal glory of those who
founded the Province of Maryland
that religious freedom on this side of
the water began with the toleration
act which they adopted In 1649. It
broadened with the years until It was
written Into the constitution In lan
guage too plain to be mistaken that
In this happy land of ours every
man might, without loss or threat of
loss, without lessening or threat of
lessening, his civic, social or political
rights, worship in his own way and
fashion the one God and Kather of us
all. This toleration runs not only to
the creed professed by a majority but
to every creed, no matter how numer
oue or how few its adherents. It was
written, too, that church and state
should be forever so far separate that
neither the right nor the duty of
public service should be diminished or
enlarged by the religious belief of any
man. It is the solemn duty of every
believer in American Institutions to
oppose any challenge of this sacred
doctrine, organized or unorganized,
under whatever name or In whatever
character it may appear.
From one who aspires to the presi
dency, however, a declaration even ,
more direct than this may be right
fully expected. I wish, therefore, not j
merely to denounce bigotry, Intoler
ance and race prejudice as alien to j
the spirit of America, I wish also to
state how and in what way the views
I entertain are to Influence my ac- j
tlons. Into my hands will fall, when
I am elected, the power to appoint
thousahds of persons to office under
the federal government. When that
time arrives I shall set up no stand- j
ard of religious faith or racial origin
as a qualification for any office. My
only query concerning any appointee
will be whether be is honest, whether
he is competent, whether he Is faith
ful to the constitution. No selection
to be made by me will be dictated.
Inspired or Influenced by the race or
creed of the appointee.
No Pledges Made—No Favors for Sale I
One word more and I am done,
and this of a personal character. It
Is known of all men that the nomina
tion which you tender me was not
made of my seeking. It comes, I am
proud to believe, as the unanimous
wish of one of the most deliberative
conventions in American history,
which weighed in the balance with
! soberness my too scanty virtues and
my manifold shortcomings. It Is not
for me to reject so clear a call to
duty.
I am happy, however, in the
thought that it finds me free from
pledge or promise to any living man.
I shall hold it so to the end. Per
haps my sense of obligation Is all the
greater because of these things. To
those who saw fit to present my
name to the convention for its con
sideration, and to the delegates to
that convention who accepted me. I
am under a duty to justify their
choice which I fully realize; to the
party which honor* me with its i
leadership I owe every effort which
my faculties will allow; and to my
fellow-countrymen whose support you
bid me to solict I owe the duty, first,
to speak the truth as I see. without
fear, favor or evasion, and then so J
to bear myself that every person in
the land, no matter how high or how
humble, Aiay feel that he has in mo ^
a friend, and that every citizen may
know that he can look to his gov
ernment for unflinching honesty in
thought and action. When it be
comes necessary, as no doubt it will. ^
to raise funds for the conduct of 1
the campaign they will be contributed
with this understanding and this
onli^ That neither the democratic
part? nor I as its leader have any
favors for saie. We can make but
one promise to all men alike, that of
an honest, an impartial and, so far
as human wisdom will permit, a juart
government.
Thompson -Belden J
Special Silk Hose
reduced $ 1 69 last day I 1
to pair J Tueaday
The final day of this sale offers an opportunity
which, if one takes proper advantage of it, will sup
ply the coming season’s hosiery needs at small
expense. i
Thompson-Belden special silk hose is full fashioned
of twelve strands of pure silk with triple-twisted
lisle sole and garter top. When sold at the regular
price, it is conceded by hosiery experts to be the
outstanding hosiery value of Omaha.
This sale includes all shades that remain from the
summer’s stock and black; regular and outsizes.
Street Floor
Dollar Day Specials, Page 7.
^Thompson Bel Jen H
jRmerican Beauty* I
ELECTRIC IRON 1
jP _ _ I
If you buy the right electric
iron you probably will have to
buy only once in a lifetime, so
it will be cheaper to pay a
trifle more at first and get an
“American Beauty"
Sold by I>oaUr» mnd Electrical
Companies Everyu'hora
Manufactured by
American Electrical Heater Company,
DETROIT
Oldest and Lartaat Eaduair* Makar*. Eatabliahad 1IS4.