Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, Albany, New York

IMMIDIATE RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE REAR PLATFORM REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT AT ALBANY, NEW YORK 'NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND OCTOBER 8, 1948, 8.25 AM EST RECORDS SERVICE" SOVERNMENT Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for that introduction, I appreciate it most highly. I am very glad to be in Albany this morning, and I want to say to you that this is the first real Democratic day we have had on this trip. I am more than happy to have your Mayor, your Congressman William T. Byrne and State Senator Peter Telesandro here" on the platform with me. The Mayor of Baltimore has almost that same name, and I always have trouble saying it. I understand that Peter Dalesandro owns the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in combat against the enemies of the United States. I hur G that Medal around his neck at the White House about two years ago, and I told him at that time that I would much rather have that Medal of Honor than to be President, and I feel the same way about it today. That is the greatest honor that can come to any man. That means that he is willing, and has been willing, to do thingsoutside the line of duty in the service of his country. Since I have been President of the United States, it has been my privilege to present that Modal to more heroes than it has ever been presented to before. I have had some wonderful conversations with those men about their ideas and what they believe about the welfare of the world and their country. Everyone of them is a solidicitizen of the United States, and believes in what this Government stands for -- and that is a wonderful thing. I have been told that Albany is a very prosperous city. You know, the main issue in this campaign is simple. Are we going to keep on the high road to prosperity together, or are we going to let ourselves be bamboozled into another depression. Here in New Y ork State, the Republican Party has been forced to take a few steps along progressive lines, laid down by Alfred E. Smith, Herbert Lehman and Franklin D. Roosevelt. They had to go along whether they wanted to or not. But the Republican Party still stands for the old policies of taking care of the rich and letting the rest of us shift for ourselves. The people of Albany know the difference between a Republican administration and a Democratic administration. You know it, because you have been voting for Democratic candidates in your city for a long, long time. I know that most of you will recall the difference in prosperity under the Republicans and the Democrats. In 1946, under a Democratic Administration, and before the Republicans killed our price control bill and brought on high prices, the total personal income of New York residents amounted to nearly 23 billion dollars. In 1932 it amounted to 8 billion dollars. You are getting three times as much income now in the State of New York as you did under the Republicans. Do you want to go back to that situation? All right then you had better vote the Democratic ticket! The total national income is now 217 billion dollars. 61 million people have jobs -- more people at work than ever before in the history of the country. The farmers are more prosperous, the business men are more prosperous. Why in the world do you want to upset the apple cart now and throw the Administration out that brought on this situation? The total national income of 217 billion dollars is the great- est in the history of all the world, and that income is distributed on a fair basis, everybody gets his fair share of that income. It is not a special privilege distribution. That is the reason the Republicans don't like it. We also believe in making investments for peace. The Democratic Party has taken the lead in working to create conditions of peace through- out the world. The first requirements of peace are sound and prosperous free nations all over the world. We are rebuilding war-torn countries, and strengthening the free nations against Communism by such programs as the policy in Greece and Turkey, the Marshall Plan, and the extension of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements. The Republicans at this last session OVER