Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, Ashland, Kentucky

IMMEDIATE RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE REAR PLATFORM REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT AT ASHLAND, KENTUCKY, OCTOBER 1, 1948, 3:54 P. M., e.s.t. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. I particularly liked the cracker in that introduction -- "the next President of the United States." I'm certainly delighted to be in Ashland, and I am also very sorry because I'm leaving Kentucky. This will be my last stop in the great State of Kentucky -- and I had a reception almost as large as this when I came into the state. And at Owensboro and at Louisville, at Lexington, at Winchester, at nearly every place we stopped, it looked to me as if everybody in Kentucky was there - - and I think they are all here this time. You know, I'm going across the country, trying to explain to the people that there is a great stake in this campaign. The basic issue is whether our Government is to be an instrument for the welfare of the people or a tool in the hands of special privilege. Don't let anybody tell you that the Democratic and the Republican parties are just alike, and that it does not matter which party is in power. You need only to look at the record for the last 30 years and you can see the difference. Under Republican rule in the '20's the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. Under the Democratic administration of the past sixteen years all the people -- business and farmers and workers alike -- have marched forward toward a richer life. You know, last year we had the greatest National income in the history of the world. It amounted to 217 billion dollars. The farmer got his fair share of that income. Labor got its fair share of that income. And business got its fair share of that income. And that's what happens under the Democratic administraticn. Let's look at the Republican record on labor for just a moment. I wish I had time to discuss all the issues in this campaign, but it would take me all afternoon, so I'm only going to cite one or two instances. The '20's, under Republican rule, were days of sweatshops, when there was no floor under wages. In 1934 the Democratic administration put through the Wagner Act, the Magna Carta of labor. Labor began to get its rightful share of the National income. And that's what the Democrats believe in. It believes that every single person should have a rightful share of the National income. The Republicons want the big fellows at the top to get the income and let a little trickle down to the everyday fellow. Now, what did the Republicans do as soon as they got control of this do-nothing 80th Republican Congress? They passed the Taft-Hartley Act to weaken the strength of organized labor. The whole purpose of the Taft-Hartley Act is to undermine unions. And if labor is unable to secure decent wages so as to maintain its purchasing power our whole economy will suffer -- not just labor alone. That's why I vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act. You see, when the income is fairly distributed -- when the farmers get high prices and can have great production and are assured that they are going to get fair prices for that great production, when labor gets fair wages, when the merchants can sell their merchandise at a fair profit, when the white collar man has a fair salary -- that means that everybody is getting a fair share of the good things of life. And that's what the Democratic Party stands for. The Renublicans aren't satisfied with all the damage they have done in this 80th do-nothing Congress. They want to finish tearing up the Wagner Act. They want to finish putting the farmer back where he'll get 3c for his hogs, 8 for his tobacco, OVER