Address on Radio Program Sponsored by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union Campaign Committee

[Broadcast from the White House at 10:05 p.m.]

I certainly appreciate the cordial introduction and support of Miss Bankhead. Miss Bankhead's father, the great Speaker of the House, Honorable William Bankhead, was a very good friend of mine. Miss Bankhead's uncle, the Honorable John Bankhead, with whom I sat for years in the Senate, was a fine gentleman and a great Senator. Also, I appreciate most highly the support of Miss Barrymore, the first lady of the stage, whom I've seen and admired in all her great roles.

I am happy to be on this program tonight to pay tribute to the liberal spirit of the forces of labor in the United States.

On such a program I want to reiterate emphatically my faith in the liberal philosophy of the Democratic Party.. That philosophy is service for people--the greatest good for the greatest number. And upon that philosophy we have erected during the past 16 years a great progressive body of laws. We call those laws the New Deal.

The New Deal represents not merely our pride in what we have done, but the pattern for what we want to do.

It is a program for going forward. True liberalism looks to the future. True liberalism is more than a matter of words. It cannot hide behind the catch phrases of the Republican candidate for President--catch phrases like "unity" and "efficiency." Unity for what? And what kind of efficiency?

You remember that Mr. Hoover was an "efficiency expert," too. Also, as the Republicans presented him, he was the "Great Engineer."

We have been hearing about engineers again recently from the Republican candidate. He objects to having engineers back up. He doesn't mention, however, that under the "Great Engineer" we backed up into the worst depression in our history.

The Republican politicians never have liked the New Deal, and they would like to get rid of it--repeal it--put it out of existence.

When, in 1946, the Republicans gained control of the Congress, they began to whittle away at the New Deal laws. Now, they have tasted blood, and they are waiting eagerly for the time, when they can go ahead with a Republican Congress and a Republican President and do a real hatchet job on the New Deal.

Their candidate for President is the chief prosecutor against the New Deal. He has spoken against it, he has campaigned against it. He wrote a book called "The Case Against the New Deal." And now he wants to come to Washington and destroy it.

Now, let's take a look at the way the Republicans launched their attack on the New Deal as soon as they gained control of the Congress.

First, they started out after labor. One of the cornerstones of the New Deal was the Wagner Labor Relations Act, which gave national protection to the right of collective bargaining. Under its provisions, the labor movement had grown strong and healthy.

Well, our old reactionary friends didn't like that. They didn't have the courage or they didn't have the votes to repeal the Wagner Act outright. The fact was they knew that they didn't have the votes to pass a straight-out repeal bill over my veto. So they passed, over my veto, the Taft-Hartley law. It converts the Wagner Act from a charter protecting the basic rights of workers into an instrument for union busting by antilabor employers.

The Taft-Hartley law is not the only attack the Republicans have made against the New Deal. It is not the only attack in which they have been successful. It is only the beginning of the attacks they plan.

Mr. Hartley of the Taft-Hartley team has written a book about it. The title of this book is "Our New National Labor Policy, the Taft-Hartley Act and the Next Steps."

Get that: "the next steps." They aren't satisfied to stop with the Taft-Hartley Act. They are going even further.

On page 171 in Mr. Hartley's book appears a very frank confession. This is what Mr. Hartley says:

"No sooner had the Taft-Hartley law been enacted over the Truman veto than the Republican leaders of both House and Senate"--now get this!--listen to it very carefully!--"the Republican leaders of both House and Senate decided that no more legislation to which organized labor could object would be passed until after the Presidential election of 1948."

Mr. Hartley goes on. On page 193, he says: "I am well aware of the political difficulties of eliminating the New Deal social legislation. It cannot be repealed at a single stroke."

That should give you an idea of what to expect, if the Republicans get control of the Presidency, also.

The time has come for the working people and all the progressive forces of this Nation to realize the grave danger that confronts them.

For myself, and for the Democratic Party, I completely reject the idea that we should "eliminate" the New Deal. Instead, we should build upon it a better way of life. Let me be specific.

We should repeal the Taft-Hartley Act.

Then we should increase the minimum wage from 40 cents an hour to at least 75 cents an hour.

Social security insurance should be extended to the large groups of people not now protected.

The insurance benefits should be increased by approximately 50 percent.

We should expand our facilities for looking after the Nation's health.

The Federal Government should provide aid to the States in meeting the educational needs of our children.

The Congress should provide aid for slum clearance and low-rent housing.

We should do something, at once, about high prices.

All these things are on the record, my friends. I have made my position clear to the American people. The Republican candidate hasn't done that.

This is the program you can expect from the Democratic Party. You can expect it only from the Democratic Party.

Our program is for the people. And that's why we're going to win this election on November the 2d.