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    "ocrText": "Ronald Reagan Presidential Library\nDigital Library Collections\nThis is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.\nCollection: Reagan, Ronald: Gubernatorial Papers,\n1966-74: Press Unit\nFolder Title: 1970 Campaign - Eureka College\nBox: P19\nTo see more digitized collections visit:\nhttps://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library\nTo see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:\nhttps://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection\nContact a reference archivist at: [email protected]\nCitation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing\nNational Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nwashington 5/17am 1983\nmally\nEnclosed are the\ntranscrysts we had made of\nthe Eureka stapes. We've\ntaken copies, so the originate\nare yours. Sadly enough\ntheyve not been proofed too\nwell, but I hope they can\nstill be of help to you.\nI'll he sending the tapes\nunder separate cover today\nor tomorrow so you can\nre-use them.\nThanks for the help /\nMisty\nphotocopy may not & further reproduced and distributed\nREMARKS OF GOVERNOR REAGAN\nEUREKA COLLEGE LIBRARY DEDICATION\nEureka, Illinois\nSeptember 28, 1967\nTHE PRESIDENT: Senator Dirksen, you're a tough act to\nfollow. (Laughter.) You know, when you got going on the birthdays\nthere, I looked down at our friends of the press to see that they\nwere contemplating with great delight the next press conference when\nwe shall meet.\nI am most grateful to you for words I don't deserve.\nGrateful, as all of us are, that you would be here.\nSenator Percy, Senators Darins (phonetic) and Michel\n(phonetic), other distinguished guests who are here, Trustees,\nDe Langston (phonetic), members of the administration, the faculty of\nEureka, oh, somany friends, new students who are here, you know this\nhas been a wonderful experience, is a wonderful experience and I'm sure\nyou recognize now and a kaleidoscope, a montage of pictures and memories\nthat are going through my mind in this particular spot.\nYou know, the roots go very deep in the blue-black soil\nof this prairie heartland. It must be evident to most of you that\nthere's only a very thin wall of waivering will power standing between\nyou and an engulfing flood of nostalgia, but I'll try to resist.\nTen years ago, in cap and gown I was in this place just\nacross the campus there to receive an honorary degree. It was a\nhappening which compounded an already heavy sense of guilt I bore,\nas I told some of you at that time. I'd always figured the first\ndegree you gave me was honorary. (Laughter.)\nThat first degree was 35 years and a few months ago.\nAnd as far as the students here are concerned now, that makes it definite\nthat I'm not of our generation.\nIt isn't true, however, that when Captain Burgess (phonetic)\nfor whom Burgess Hall is named, stood out under Old Recruiting Elm,\ncalled up to what is now the windows of what is now the Administration\nBuilding and urged the students to come down and join him and enlist in\nthe Union Army, that I was among the first to go. (Laughter.)\nOf course, there are those whose viewpoint politically\ndiffers from mine somewhat who'd suggest that I go farther back than\nthat, to the Ice Age. Some would even suggest it's farther than that,\nthe time of McKinley. (Laughter.)\nBut there are some here today who can bear witness, some\nI've already seen, such familiar faces, old friends, who also share\nthe memories of those dark Depression days here on this campus. And\nthey know 35 years are like 35 minutes, so clean and fresh is memory.\nAnd no matter how much you students may want to believe this, your\nimaginations aren't up to it. You just have to wait and find out\nfor yourselves, but you will find out that this is true.\nNow, if I seem to direct my remarks tonight mostly to the\nstudents, to that generation, bear with me because I too am laboring\nhere under a little misapprehension. Somehow this didn't live up to\nmy picture of it or my anticipation. I have pictured coming back, as\nI have before, meeting with the students and a few old friends of my\nown time, some of the good townspeople and I would address myself to\nthe students.\nBut there's a tendency in today's world to put more than\nyears between us. Somehow as humans, we've been stratified into\na horizontal society instead of a veritcal one. All the layers of\nhumanity today are separated into groups -- age groups -- from pre-\nschool to those the social tinkerers would refer to as \"senior citizens.\"\nMORE\n- 2 -\nAnd somehow we are losing our ability to establish communication be-\ntween these layers. What is even worse, there is a growing hostility\nbetween the layers. Now this is an unnatural situation. Humanity is\nvertically structured. The teenager will become the young married or\nthe junior executive, and in turn the middle-aged then eventually\nthe senior citizen, and each will take the faults and virtues as\npluses and minuses through the years being at all times nothing\nmore than the sum total of all that he has experienced.\nSeparation into these horizontal groupings or layers\njust doesn't make any sense at all.\nMORE\n- 3 -\nFor example, this wide-spread talk today from one end of\nthe country to the other that no one over thirty understands the youth\nof today. Well, now if that is true, what happens when you reach\nthirty? Do you suddenly join us and quite understanding those who\nhaven't quite made the magic age? Each generation is critical of\nits predecessor and as the day nears when the classroom and the play-\ning field will give way to the larger arena, the problems of inequality,\nhuman misunderstanding it is easy to look at those in that larger\narena and demand to know why the problems remain unsolved. We who\npreceeded you asked that question of those who preceeded us, and\nanother generation will ask it of you, and I sincerely hope that there\nwill be less justification for the questions when it is your turn to\nanswer.\nBut what I am trying to say is that no generation has\nfailed completely nor will yours succeed completely, but at the same\ntime don't get me wrong -- when the generation of which I am a part\nleaves the stage of history, history will record that seldom has any\ngeneration fought harder or paid a higher price for freedom.\nWe have known three wars in our lifetime and now a fourth;\na cataclysmic depression that toppled governments and reshaped the map\nof the world. And because we couldn't find a single cure-all for\nman's inhumanity to man or the answer to human frailty, we ourselves\nhave downgraded our performance and we have confused you in so doing\nas well as ourselves. It is easy to point to our failures and to talk\nof the mess of our times and even to promise that we will do better.\nBut for the record, since we are the generation that exploded an atomic\nbomb and brought permanent terror to the world, we are also the genera-\ntion that harnessed the atom for peaceful purposes. Some of those peace-\nful purposes are in medicine and industrial power and we have brought\nman to the threshold of a fabulous era.\nWe have defeated polio and tuberculosis and most of the\nplague diseases that held even more terror for mankind than the threat\nof the bomb. And it is a certainty that in this vertical structure,\nyour generation and ours will overlap in defeating cancer.\nWe point an accusing finger at the list of smog and water\npollution and poverty and civil rights and inequality of opportunity,\nand we still seek the answers. While many disagree as to the solutions\nlet us make it plain that we were the ones who faced up to those prob-\nlems and we charged ourselves with finding the answers and no one in\ntoday's public life can fail to treat them and remain in public life\nvery long.\nThis horizontal stratification has led to a lateral communi-\ncation. And I think that it is highly important that we restore vertical\ndialogue if not outright recognition of the naturalness and the rightness\nof the vertical structure in a society. How well do you young people\nunderstand those whose defect today is that they have reached age thirty-\nplus? Can you possibly believe that your fathers who knew the savagery\nof World War II, or your grandfathers who came of age in the muddy trenches\nof the Great War could have an affection for war? That we could callously\nsend our sons to war? Permit me here to try and build at least a foot-\nbridge between the age groups of parent and offspring, and remembering\nall the time that bridges are open to traffic both ways.\nYou young people that fellow with the thickening waist-\nline or the thinning hair sometimes is a little unreasonable about your\nallowance or letting you have the family car; if life seems a little\ndull to you as he reports to his daily nine-to-five chores and looks\nforward with great excitement to lowering his golf handicap or catching\na fish that no one in the family wants to eat. I wish that you could\nhave known him a few years back. I wish that you could have known him\nwhen he was on a landing barge off the shores of Normandy or Terawa, or\neven just on a weekend pass in Peoria, he was quite a guy.\nWinston Churchill said of him, \"He was the only man in the\nworld who could laugh and fight at the same time.\" General Marshall\ncalled him our secret weapon. And if you will forgive the bluntness of\nthe language, remembering the time in which it was spoken and that he\nwas a military man, General Marshall said of this young fellow from\nAmerica, \"He and his friends, they were just the best damned kids in the\n- 4 -\nHe hated war more than he hated the enemy, but he did\nwhat had to be done.\nAnd a few years after the end of World War II -- I have to\npause for a little personal anecdote -- I was in a pub, a little, rural\npub in England and there was a motherly soul waiting on the trade\nthere and she finally figured out that I was an American. I can't\ntell how she knew that for the life of me. And then, she started\ntelling me a little story. She was reminiscing. She sat there and\nher eyes kind of far away and she said, \"Oh, you know,\" she said, \"during\nthe war, there were a great many of your chaps stationed just\nacross the road here.\" And she said, \"They used to come in to see us\nall the time and they'd have songfests every night.\" And she said,\n\"They called me Mom and called they old man Pop.\" And she said, \"Christ-\nmas eve we were sitting here and we were all alone and,\" she said,\n\"the door burst open and in they came. And she said, \"They had presents\nfor me and Pop.\" And she said, \"Then they sang some more and, oh,\"\nshe said, \"it was a wonderful Christmas.\" And she said, \"There was\ngreat big strapping lads from a place called Iowa.\"\nWell, now, these fellows they knew what it was to dream.\nThis fellow I'm talking about, to say good-bye to a girl and wonder\nwhen, if ever, he'd see her again. They cussed the world that let\nthings like that war happen and they swore to do better when they\ngot back and were running the show themselves.\nThey came back from the war and they created an organization\nto outlaw war and we haven't known a single moment's peace since.\nBut they had a dream and it was a good dream and no effort was spared\nand we continue to pour out our treasure to make that dream come true.\nProving again the vertical structure of society, this\nproblem will be yours as well as ours to solve. It wasn't that we\nfaltered or lacked in willingness. There are organizational difficulties\nin that structure they created that was to bring peace, organizational\ndifficulties they couldn't have foreseen, new and emerging nations\nwith neither the power nor the responsibility for controlling world\nforces, but that have a disprportionate voice in the world councils.\nA two-thirds majority can be mustered among a half hundred nations\nwho represent less than 10 percent of the world's population.\nThere are problems to be solved in the urban ghettos\nand poverty. Are these the result of selfishness on our part or\nindifference to suffering? No people in all mankind's history have\nshared so widely of their material resources. We've taxed ourselves\nmore heavily year after year and extended aid at home and abroad.\nAnd when, instead of shrinking the problems grew larger, we planned\nmore, we passed more legislation, we added scores of new programs\nuntil today, they're listed in a federal government catalog with\nhundreds and hundreds of pages.\nWe, who are charged with being materialistic money\ngrubbers, have tried to solve the human problems, I'm afraid, with\nmaterial means and we've forgotten man's spiritual heritage too much.\nWe've placed security above freedom and we've confused\nthe citizens' responsibility to society with society's responsibility\nto the individual.\nWe have to have a restudy of our social legislation.\nThe legislation meant well, but it's failed. It's failed its goals\nor has created greater problems than the ones it was meant to cure.\nWe have to re-examine our individual goals and our aims.\nWhat do we want for ourselves and what do we want for you of that\nother generation? Is it enough to have material things? Aren't\nliberty and morality and integrity and high principles and a sense\nof responsibility more important?\nThe world's truly great thinkers haven't pointed toward\nmaterialism. They dealt with great truths, with high questions of\nright and wrong and morality and integrity and they've dealt with the\nquestion of man, not the acquisition of things. And when civilizations\nMORE\n- 5 -\nhave disregarded their findings, when they've turned to the things of\nthe flesh, they've disappeared.\nNow, you, of this younger generation, you who are\nstudents, are concerned with us and you see what seems to be hypocrisy\nand a lack of purpose on our part. Well, that's fair enough. We, in\nturn, are pretty concerned about you.\nWe're seeing a rising spirit of unrest and aimlessness\ninto drifting, a feeling of rebellion without real cause that results\nsometimes in meaningless, but violent action.\nMORE\n- 6 -\nNow, let me make it plain. I'm aware as are most of us that all of\nyou are unfairly suspect because of a very small percentage of\ndissidents across the country of your particular age group.\nAt the same time, though, I think it's safe to say\nabout most of you, all of you, that you do seek a purpose -- a\nmeaning to life. And apparently we have failed somewhat in giving\nthat to you. But again our failure wasn't one of bad intent.\nWe're a classic example of giving you what we never had -- from TV\nto wheels, from dental care to Little League. But I'm afraid that\nwe short-changed you on responsibilities -- for the right to earn\nfor yourselves.\nAll too often, because we had to earn, we wanted to\ngive. Our motives have been laudable, our judgement's been pretty\nbad. \"No\" was either a dirty word or dropped from the vocabulary\nentirely.\nSometime ago out in California in a beach city known\nas Newport Beach, something took place I'd like to tell you about\nit. There was a row of rather luxurious expensive ocean-front\nhomes. And they were being threatened by an abnormally high tide\nand heavy surf. And all through the day and on into the late night\nand early morning hours, hundreds of people were there running as the\ngreat waves came in and brought with them back as fast they could --\nwith sandbags, piling them up, trying to save these homes. And TV,\naware of the drama of that struggle was there throughout the day\nand the night covering this so that all could sit in the comfort\nof their own homes far away from the ocean and see. And we watched\nand watched and about two o'clock in the morning one of the TV\ncommentators grabbed a young fellow -- obviously in his teens,\nattired only in a wet pair of bathing trunks had been there all\nday and all through the night until about two o'clock in the morning.\nAnd he grabbed him and he was asking him some questions. No, the\nboy didn't live in one of those houses. Yes, the boy was wet and\ncold and tired. And eventually he had to get to the question of\nwhy then. And out came an answer, a line that I think should have\nbeen bannered, should have been billboarded across this nation it\nwas so poignant, so meaningful.\nThe kid stopped for just a minute and then he blurted\nout as only a young fellow can. \"Well, I guess it's the first time\nwe've ever felt like we were needed.' You are needed. We need your\ncourage, your idealism, your new and untried viewpoint. You know\nmore than we did at your age. You're brighter. You're better\ninformed and you're even healthier. Since humankind is vertically\nstructured we can take a little credit for that.\nBut you do want a purpose. You want a cause. You want\na banner to follow and we owe you that. A few years ago a national\nmagazine did a series of articles by prominent people including the\nPresident of the United States and the Vice President and a number\nof other distinguished statesmen and other people of great prominence.\nEach wrote his idea of what was our national purpose. Somehow nothing\nvery exciting or profound came out of those articles. And I've always\nfelt personally that maybe it was because they all tried to invent\nsomething that we already have -- that we've had for 200 years. The\nnational purpose of this country is to unleash the full talent and\nthe genius of every individual, not to create one after the other,\nmass movements, subjecting each one of the citizens to the whims of\ngovernment thinking that it's only right if we're marching in the\nranks shoulder-to-shoulder trying to achieve something in the name\nof the state.\nHere as nowhere else in the world, we're established\nto provide the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law\nand order. Now, we're here to dedicate a library. This wouldn't\nbe possible if humanity was indeed horizontally structured instead\nof vertically structured. This dedication tonight began more than\na 100 years ago when a man named Ben Major struck an axe into a tree\nand said, \"On this spot we'll build our school.\" According to the\nhistory as I learned it here, the wagon train that had brought them\nto this place hadn't even been unloaded. They hadn't built their\nhomes. But still they started by choosing a site for a school.\n- 7 -\nAnd Walnut Grove Academy became Eureka College because\na great many others followed Ben Major's footsteps, giving and\nbuilding, not for themselve, but others who would come later,\nwould take their place higher up in the vertical column of mankind.\nTonight, we dedicate a library because Wesley and\nClinton Mallock have fought, not in horizontal lines, not just a\ncommunicating with their own associates in time and age, but because\nthey, too, have thought of that vertical structuring of mankind,\nthat ever upward building of the column.\nYou want a purpose, something to believe in? Well,\nyou might try resolving that you will contribute something to\ngenerations unborn. Give a handhold above your own achievements so\nthat another generation can climb higher and achieve more.\nThis library is more than a beautiful and functional\nbuilding. It's first and foremost a repository of knowledge and\nculture. More facts will be available in this library than were\navailable in all the libraries of the world a hundred years ago.\nThat shouldn't surprise you. Man's knowledge has increased at such\na rapid rate since the turn of the century that any book of facts\nwritten then would be obsolete now, both in terms of what we know\nto be true and, also, what we know to be true no longer.\nThe library, though, is more than a place to go for\nfacts. The library is also a place to go for wisdom and the purpose\nof an educational institution is to teach, not only knowledge, but\nalso wisdom.\nSomeone said once that people who want to understand\ndemocracy should spend less time in a library with Aristotle and\nmore time on buses and subways. Well, in a way, that may be true,\nbut to understand democracy is not necessarily to solve it's problems.\nI'd venture to say that Aristotle and those others you'll not find\non the buses and the subways, but instead, in this building will give\nmore answers and more clues to the solution of our problems than you're\nlikely to find on the bus and the subway. But maybe the best answer\nis to be found in a combination of both. But don't you let the\nlibrary go to waste because you're awaiting the completion of Eureka's\nfirst subway. (Laughter.)\nNow, when I suggest that you turn to books and the\naccumulated knowledge of the past, I'm not suggesting that we turn\nback the clock or retreat into some dim yesterday that's remembered\nonly with nostalgia, if at all. But we must learn from yesterday\nif we're to have a better tomorrow.\nWe're beset by problems in a complex world. We're\nconfused by those who tell us that only the new and the untried ways\noffer hope. This isn't true. The truth is the answers to all the\nproblems of mankind, every one of them, even the most modern and\nthe most complex, can be found in this building by those who desire\nto find them and have perception enough to recognize them when they\ndo find them.\nThere will be the knowledge of Aristotle and Plato and\nSocrates and from the vantage point of history, there will also be\nthe record of their mistakes. We can look back and see where their\ndream of pure democracy became as dictatorial as a sultan and majority\nrule, 11 find, without protection for the minority became just mob rule.\nOne of mankind's problems is that we keep repeating the\nsame errors. In every generation someplace there have been people who\nhave found that two and two added up to three or in another place to\nfive. And four seemed always to elude some of us. It happened in my'\ngeneration and I predict, without smugness, it'll happen in yours.\nNow, let us truly honor two men who have given something\nalmost beyond our comprehension. Do you doubt that all the answers\ncan be found here, all the answers to modern day confusion?\nMORE\n- 8 -\nWell, from the 11th century Hebrew philosopher and\nphysician, Memonides, we can learn why, perhaps, the failure of\nour well-intentioned effort to help the less fortunate in what's\nbecoming a welfare state because Memonides gave us eight steps which\nmake it plain that you can only help the needy if you help them to\nhelp themselves.\nIf you're one who still rejects the so-called simple\nanswers and says they won't fit anymore in these complex problems,\ncan any one of us dare name a single problem that can't be solved if\nwe'll simply follow the teachings of the Man from Galilee? The\nentire pattern for all mankind is laid out there.\nWe can redirect the nation's course in the paths of\nfreedom, morality, and high principle and, in SO directing it, we\ncan build better lives for ourselves and our children and a. better\nnation for those who come after US. Or we can ignore history and\nwe can go the way of Greece and Rome.\nI think that's the significance of this library --the\nfact that we can use it to rechart our course, not into great unknown,\nbut unto paths that are clear and which, if followed, can show us\nhow to cope with the new problems that always confront each generation,\ncan lead us as a people onto continued greatness.\nThere were many who had a hand in this structure here,\nthe building of this library. It represents cooperation between\ngovernment and the private sector. It represents the efforts of\nmany here in the college and many who are just friends of the college,\nbut I think all of those would be the first to say it happened because\nof you, Clint, and because of your brother, Wes.\nAnd on behalf of all who knew Eureka down through the\nyears and those who still have Eureka to know, I'd like to usurp the\nprivilege if I could at this moment in behalf of all those people\nsay from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.\nEureka means we have found a way of life and, Clint,\nyou and your brother, Wes, have helped in the search and made the\nfinding of that way a great deal easier.\nGod bless you and thank you.\n(Applause.)\nEND\nREMARKS OF GOVERNOR REAGAN\nAT\nFUND RAISER\nEureka, California\nMarch 3, 1970\nGOVERNOR REAGAN: Assemblyman Frank Belotti, Mrs. Belotti,\nReverend Clergy, my own Chairman here from the counties of Humboldt and\nDel Norte, Bob Barnam, Darryl Schroeder, and our County Chairman, Jerry\nScott, you ladies and gentlemen.\nThis is wonderful to be back here again and to have such a\nwarm welcome, and I thank you for the kind things you said. And I think\nyou ladies and gentlemen should know that it may not seem as if some of\nus get up here too often to visit, but I can assure you that as long as\nFrank Belotti is in Sacramento the northwest coast is on the mind of\npeople in Sacramento and in the capital a great deal of the time. He\nsees to that. (Applause.)\nI know we all miss Congressman Don Clausen, but it was good\nto hear from him and to have his greetings here tonight.\nYou know, I've been sitting here remembering because it\ndoesn't seem as if it's been so long between dinners here in this\nparticular room. But I was remembering the first one and that was back\nin the 1964 campaign. And right after dinner, several of us rushed into\nanother little room here where they had taken a tape off the -- a sound\ntape off the television debate between Senator George Murphy and that\nother fellow, whatever his name was. (Laughter.) And then we listened\nto the sound tape that we'd had to miss by being in here for the dinner.\nOh, when you get remembering, though.\nI even go back so far I can remember when people use to\nbrag about only living a stone's throw from the campus. (Laughter and\napplause.)\nSometimes, you know, I believe that insanity is inherited.\nWe catch it from our kids. (Laughter.)\nBut, no, let me seriously say something about that: Don't\nbe fooled and let the tiny dissident minority that has been creating so\nmuch trouble. Don't accept them as a stereotype of our young people\ntoday. I can say that and I've had a little experience in that line.\nBut let me just remind you of this one encouraging thing: When you see\na demonstration of that kind of lawlessness, remember you're seeing all\nthe force they can muster. There are no more or they'd be out there.\nAnd the vast majority are just what we want them to be -- just the fine\nyoung men and women that we can find on our campuses and in our society.\nAnd keep your eyes focused on them because they have problems, too, and\nit's about time we started devoting some time to their legitimate\nproblems instead of spending all of our time trying to appease that\nhungry little mob of dissidents. (Applause.)\nI know that in the few times I've been here since the '66\ncampaign and all, I've now and then taken advantage of you to tell you\na little bit about some of our troubles in Sacramento and some of the\nproblems of the job. And yet I keep thinking back and now that we've\ngotten a little farther away from them, I keep thinking back to those\nfirst dark days.\nI remember a story of an old-timer in the woods who was\nteaching a tenderfoot in the woods how to catch a porcupine. And he\nsaid the big thing was to avoid that flapping tail with all those\nspears on it. And he said, \"You watch out for the tail and you slip in\nreal quick and you drop a tub over him.\" And the fellow said, \"A tub?\"\nAnd he said, \"Yeah, that's so you got something to sit on while you\nfigure out what to do next.\" (Laughter.) It's a little like that.\n- 2 -\nI've had some days when I felt like the scuba diver that\nwas on his way down to set a new record. And he'd gotten down beyond\nthe fish. And there he was with all his breathing apparatus and his\ntanks of oxygen and he looked over and here was a fellow with nothing\nbut a pair of bathing trunks, no breathing equipment at all. And he\nswam over to him and he took that slate they have, and he wrote on the\nslate. And he said, \"How is this possible?\" He says, \"You're down\nhere without any equipment. What are you doing?\" And the fellow took\nthe slate from him and wrote back, \"I'm drowning.\" (Laughter.)\nWell, there's one thing I learned, though, these last three\nyears: If at first you don't succeed, you get an awful lot of advice.\n(Laughter.)\nYou know there was a -- one of the things that's the\nhardest, I guess, to move in government is -- when I was talking out on\nthe campus about the day the permanent structure of government -- the --\nthose people that have been there and doing things the way they've\ndecided to do them through several administrations. And then you try\nto change things.\nThere was a young bridegroom once who asked his bride why\nin cooking a ham she always cut both ends off. She said, \"Because that's\nthe way my mother did it.\" So one night the mother-in-law was over for\ndinner and he said, \"Is this true that you always cut both ends?\" And\nshe said, \"Yes.\" And he said, \"Why?\" And she said, \"Because that's the\nway my mother did it.\" So came the holidays and grandma dropped in. And\nhe couldn't wait. And he told her about this and he said, \"And you were\nthe one -- you always cut both ends off the ham before you cooked it?\"\nAnd she said, \"Yes.\" And he said, \"Why?\" And she said, \"I didn't have\na pot big enough to put the whole ham in.\" (Laughter.)\nOh, I tell you, there was a time up there in Sacramento\nwhen I was taking so many tranquilizers that I found myself being nice\nto people I shouldn't have been speaking to. (Laughter.)\nSpeaking of Jess -- (laughter and applause) -- Jess has\na great gift for finding things that no one has tried to hide. (Laughter.\nWell, I had a letter the other day from a little girl.\nShe was in fourth grade and I thought it was wonderful. They'd been\nasked to write what they thought the Governor did. And she wrote and\nsaid, \"The Governor gets up in the morning and has his breakfast, and\nthen his friend comes over and they walk together -- walk to work\ntogether. His friend is named Jesse.\" And then she said, \"The Governor\nis twenty-five years old.\" Well, of course, she's a little wrong about\nme and Jess going to work together, but she's right on that other part.\nA few months ago, I got a strong feeling that there might\nbe an election in the offing. It was quite a surprise because it seemed\nlike we'd just had one. But then the days are shorter in Sacramento,\nand things have a way of sneaking up on you. What caused all this was\nthe loud scream that greeted my reference to the environment in this\nyear's State of the State Message. Those fellows that Frank was\nmentioning who'd been in the majority and been in charge of things for\nabout eight years prior to 1967 suddenly were screaming that I was a\n\"Johnny come lately\" in this field, that environment was their bag.\nWell, I apologize. But with trying to find the Eel River and to pick\nout that one redwood tree I wanted to save, I wasn't aware that\nCalifornia's air had been preserved until 1967 in wine-like purity,\nthat every stream and river that was crystal clear, with even the\nSan Francisco Bay untouched by sewage, until our administration. And\nthat somehow the trash and the garbage had never cluttered California's\nmeadowlands prior to my Inauguration.\nWell, now having discovered all this, you got to admit\nthat we've been pretty forthright about offering to clean it up and\ndo something about it since we've been there.\nSeriously, I would like to talk to you about what we've\naccomplished, what we're trying to do and how we're trying to maintain\na proper balance between those extremes in the field of environment,\n- 3 -\nfor example, which would on one hand would say, no more roads, no more\nfactories, no more cars, no more people, do nothing but preserve the\necology. And those on the other hand who would justify everything and\nevery kind of destruction in the name of progress. We're going to try\nextremely hard to avoid those extremes.\nProgress for our people and preservation of our environment\nare compatible goals. It is the refusal to work together for a proper\nbalance that is incompatible with the needs and the hopes of California.\nJobs and payrolls and our growing economy don't just happen.\nThey're the result of several dynamic forces: Risk capital, managerial\nknow-how, skilled labor and public demand for the product. Here in the\nnorthwest we have a good example of the vigorous industry that is bringing\nnew and better production facilities in providing the need for employment\nopportunities.\nThe investment in two new pulp and paper mills demonstrates\nindustry's confidence in the future and the future of the timber supply\nin the northwest. We must assure this supply by supporting a program\nfor increased timber production on public lands within our general\nconservation and multiple use concepts.\nMultiple use of our forest resources is the key. And\nthrough it, we can find the balance between conservation and production.\nNow, this will call for more creative policies on both the public and\nthe private owners of timberland.\nAn example of achieving a proper balance in our environment\nis the agreement that preceded the start of the construction of the\nHumboldt Bay Bridge. The importance of fish and wildlife values that\nare result now of a joint agreement between the state resources and the\nbusiness and transportation agencies.\nToday, esthetic and ecological values are given an equal\nweight with engineering and the cost factors as we build roads and\nbuild bridges. And we've managed to bring this about with this whole\nnew approach of saying no longer will highways just simply be the\nshortest distance between two points.\nWe will try to preserve the points of historical interest,\npreserve the ecology, preserve the esthetic values. And the proof that\nwe've succeeded in this is the fact that just recently the National\nTransportation Agency made nine national awards in the United States.\nFour highways and bridges that were built with regard to environment\nand that were built with regard to esthetic values, and California won\nfive of the nine awards and one honorable mention.\nIn December, the Mad River salmon and steel ad hatch reel\ngo into operation. It should revitalize the diminishing resource and\nstimulate both sport and commercial fishing interests.\nAs we enter the decade of the '70's, it's important to\ncontinue the development of the well-rounded program of conservation\neducation for our children. An initial step in this direction was taken\nin 1968 when the education code was changed to require studies of man's\nrelation to his human and his natural environment.\nLast October, the Advisory Committee on Conservation\nEducation called for a comprehensive program in this field. And this\nwill complement the work that is being done now by private and state\ngroups.\nThe State Board of Education has been asked to fund the\npilot program of conservation education as an experiment in 12 school\ndistricts in the coming year.\nNow I know that many of you are aware of the outstanding\nprograms in conservation education that have been undertaken by the\nRedwood Region Conservation Council. And now the cooperation with the\nState Department of Conservation we've developed Operation Springboard,\n- 4 -\nwhich is aimed at the kindergarten through third grade student.\nAll of these educational efforts, through both the public\nand the private programs, are designed to help us preserve the magic\nof California for future generations. I might add that our own park\npeople are going beyond this now in a kind of human salvage also. They've\nset up a program for our state parks of going into the disadvantaged\nareas of our crowded urban centers, our cities, and taking children to\nwhom outdoors and nature is -- are just words, and arranging tours of\nour state parks, taking them up into the camping areas and showing them\nthe magic that is this land of California.\nWe figure that it's time as this program continues they're\nseeing enough of the ugly side that they begin to see America the\nbeautiful.\nThree years ago I said that government could be run\nefficiently and economically, employing common sense -- the same common\nsense that we all apply to our businesses and in the running of our\nhomes. And I think we've proven that this can be done in these\nthree years.\nNow, it's been charged that in doing this, I have brought\nCalifornia to a halt, to a standstill. Or was it a standstill to move\nthis state in three years from eleventh to second among the states in\nthe rehabilitation of the physically and the mentally handicapped?\nWe're first in the nation in the treatment of the mentally\nill. We are achieving the new staffing standards of increased staffing,\nmedical treatment, medical personnel for the inmates in our hospitals\nfor the mentally ill. These are the American Medical Association\nStandards adopted in 1967, and we will achieve those standards in June,\nfour years ahead of the schedule that had been laid down for us.\nWas it a standstill to impose procedures that will require\nall state construction projects, from highways to the water program, to\nconform with the long-range environmental goals; to establish a\nmechanism for the protection of our coastline and our estuaries.\nWe've imposed the strongest controls for the purity of air\nand water that have ever been adopted by any government anywhere in the\nworld. And we did these things without practicing the prophecy of doom\nthat seems to be so popular among some these days that would have you\nbelieve that our days are numbered and that we can't achieve the\ncleaning of our air and our water. We've achieved them without becoming\npolitical stunt men and trying for publicity instead of results.\nNo, I didn't put on a wet suit and plunge into the Santa\nBarbara Channel to discover that there was oil on the water, nor did I\ngo over to the Bay area to be photographed standing by a sewer in time\nto make the 6:00 t.v. news. But it's true that we've brought some things\nin California to a halt.\nThree years ago this state was spending a million dollars\na day more than it was taking in, and we brought that to a halt. Three\nyears ago this state was adding five thousand or more employees each\nyear to the total staff of state government, and we brought that to a\nhalt.\nBy the end of this year there will be fewer employees in\nstate government than there were when we started three years ago. Three\nyears ago they were planning to build more buildings to house more\nbureaus, to give more programs to the people that the people never asked\nfor and I doubt if they want or need. We brought that to a halt. We\ncancelled the construction of the buildings and we eliminated more than\n30 bureaus and agencies.\nNow, they were going to build a bridge over Emerald Bay\nat Tahoe. And they were going to continue a fiscal program that was\nbased on gimmickry and deception and enlarged government by hacks and\n- 5 -\ncronies by bringing in more hacks and cronies, and we brought all of that\nto a halt.\nWe have moved from ninth lowest among the states to fifth\nlowest with regard to the size of government in proporation to population.\nAnd we're not going to stop until we're number one in that; having the\nsmallest government in proportion to our population. (Applause.)\nWe started a prairie fire. More than a dozen states have\nsent staff members out to California to find out how we've been doing\nsome of these things, and they would then go back and do likewise.\nNow, we've submitted a budget for the year that will begin\nJuly 1. And then a short time as that budget comes under discussion,\nbrace yourself. You're going to hear screams that would curdle your\nblood. They're going to be screams coming from the same people who have\nbeen complaining about high taxes in Sacramento among our opponents.\nBut the same ones who, when they were a majority until we achieved that\nbare majority that Frank told you about, passed legislation that would\nhave increased the spending of state government $330 million a year, all\nlegislation that I had to veto.\nBut these people are going to charge that we're selfish and\nthat we are lacking in compassion because we've asked the Legislature to\nhelp bring welfare under control. But unless it is controlled, welfare\nis going to put us in a position to where one day we won't even be able\nto help the deserving needy.\nWelfare is increasing in costs faster than our economy can\nexpand to bring us the revenues we need, and it has gobbled up all the\nsavings that we've been able to make in our economies in government.\nEdith Green, Congresswoman from Oregon, classifies herself\nas a liberal Democrat, asked the Library of Congress the other day to\ngive her a hypothetical case of how much could a single family in the\nUnited States legally get from the welfare programs that are available.\nAnd they gave her two cases: one, a widow with four children spanning\nthe ages from preschool to college; one, a widow with eight children\nspanning preschool to college. And they told her that the family of\nfour could legally take advantage of all of the available programs and\nthat family could get $11,500 a year tax free. And the family of eight\ncould get $21,193 tax free income legitimately in welfare programs.\nNow this is part of the importance. Incidentally, in our\nown state, we are faced right now with law suits against certain changes\nwe want to make in welfare and certain changes we have made to try and\nbring the spending under control. If these cases are decided against\nus, they will add more than $300 million immediately to the costs, the\nannual costs, of welfare. The cost now is one billion one hundred million\ndollars at the state level. And I think there is every reason to believe\nthose cases will go against us.\nTo show you how ridiculous this situation can be, there is\na man who has never been on welfare in this country, who is working,\nself-supporting, fully employed, and who is suing the United States\nGovernment claiming that they must give him the difference between his\nincome and what he could get on welfare if he could quit work and go\non welfare.\nThis is the importance or part of the importance of this\ncoming election. We've only begun to unravel what has been done in the\nrecent decades. But we have begun. And now it's necessary that we\ncarry on.\nLast year for the first time, you gave us a majority to\nshow what could happen for that first time and with that first majority,\nwe passed the most comprehensive anti-crime legislation that just went\ninto effect in January. We passed the anti-pornography laws that the\nLegislature had been trying to pass for eight years or more that I know\nof and certainly for the three that I've been there. All of this came\nabout just because we had a majority.\n- 6 -\nNow, I'd like to do something for a few remaining moments\nhere, if you don't mind rather than going on.\nI got another letter from a little girl. And this little\ngirl wrote and told me what the Governor does. She says, \"The Governor\nowns the state and he tells the people what to do and then he goes out\nand makes a speech.\" (Laughter.)\nWell, I don't own the state and I don't tell the people what\nto do and I'd like to stop trying to make a speech. And I would like to\nhave a dialogue that we haven't had for a long time. I don't know\nwhether you're prepared for this or not. But it just seemed to me in\ntalking about some of these things we've been doing that I'm bound to\nmiss some of the points or some of the things you'd like to know about.\nHow would you like to just finish out what limited time we have here by\nthrowing a few questions up here, and I'll try to answer them? Sing out\nif you have one. I'll repeat the question so the microphones can pick\nit up. Don't be bashful. Someone should ask a question because I've\nmissed a lot of points.\nREMARKS OF GOVERNOR REAGAN\nAT\nFUNDRAISER FOR DON PETERSON\nEureka, California\nAugust 29, 1974\nGOVERNOR REAGAN: Well, Don, I thank you very much for\nyour generous words. Madam Chairman, Reverend Clergy, our very dear\nfriend that we miss very much in Sacramento, Mrs. Bilotti, others\nhere at the head table and, of course, the man who has brought us\nhere, our candidate for the Assembly in this District, Don Peterson.\nI apologize. Have you ever had one of those days?\n(Laughter.) We waited and-- I've been an after-luncheon speaker on\nmany occasions. I am still an after-breakfast speaker at this\nparticular moment. (Laughter.)\nI remember they said the repair job would be four hours\nand then we found another plane and we got on that plane and we've\nbeen hedgehopping all the way here and I found myself remembering one\nof those classic old lines from some of the movies that I used to\nbe in years ago. Do you know that line? \"You're not going to send\nthe kid up in a crate like that?\" (Laughter.)\nBut I know how long you've been here and I'm not going\nto give you the whole load. (Laughter.)\nBut I would like to just say a few things. This is kind\nof nostalgic. We have been here a number of times and it's always\nvery heartwarming to come here. When I tell you it's a pleasure to\nbe here, I can tell you it's a pleasure just not to be in Sacramento.\n(Laughter.)\nAbout a year ago -- and I don't remember whether I've\ntold you this or not -- Nancy and I came to a moment in which with\nour son we decided that when the legislature left town for the summer\nthat we'd have a change. We'd get away from it all. And for the\nfirst time in our lives, we did a pack trip into the high Sierras\nand then found it wasn't all that different. We were still on an\nuphill, rocky road with a bunch of mules. (Laughter.) (Applause.)\nGovernment is said to be the second oldest profession\nand sometimes I find it very similar to the first. (Laughter.)\nI have learned, also, about some of the customs of\nancient Greece. I was fascinated with the study of Greece when I\nfound out that there was an ancient city-state in Greece that had\na custom whereby when anyone suggested a new program for government,\nhe had to make his proposal standing with a noose around his neck\ntied to the limb of a tree (laughter) -- standing on a chair.\nAnd, if they liked his proposal, they removed the noose. If they\ndidn't, they removed the chair. (Laughter.) And I developed a\nmorbid fascination with the customs of ancient Greece. (Laughter.)\nHave you ever stopped to think what kind of service\nwe'd get from government if the Internal Revenue Service had to do\nbusiness on a satisfaction or money back guarantee? (Laughter.)\nWell, let me tell you, speaking in politics at this\nparticular time, as you can imagine, is a little harrowing. It was\njust a few days ago that I had to go up to Seattle to speak to a\nRepublican gathering there and it was at the end of that 48 hours\nwhen the transition of authority had taken place in Washington.\nAnd the speech that I had and that I thought would do me through\nthe whole campaign -- it was pertinent to the affairs of the day --\nI took another look at it and it was about as appropriate as the\nCaptain of the Titanic saying, \"Never mind all that ice. It's for\nthe party Saturday night.\" (Laughter.)\nMORE\n- 2 -\nAnd then I found a story in a paper and this paper,\nthis news story, was on the front page of the Sunday paper found in\nthe airplane as I was riding up to Seattle. It had to do with a\ngentlemen named Richard Conlin who was a campaign strategist for\nthe Democratic Party and the Democratic Party Study Committee in\nWashington consists of about 170 Senators and Congressman and high\nparty functionaries. He, on that night of resignation, was leaving\nhis office to go home and met a young couple who were celebrating\nthe resignation. And, gleefully, they told him they had voted\nfor McGovern. And Mr. Conlin, Democratic strategist, said, \"Swell.\nAnd we lost that election and now we're going to lose the '74 and\nthe '76 elections.\"\nNow, he might have been exaggerating, but what he was\nspeaking of was the fact that for a year and a half we've been\nbludgeoned with one thing called Watergate. We've lost special\nelections, five out of six for the Congress alone, simply on the\nemotionalism of that one issue. And our opponents were hopeful that\nthey were going to be able to carry out the '74 election on that one\nissue. The candidates would be chosen by the the people who will\nhave an effect on our lives and the lives of our children for years\nto come and they wouldn't be questioned on the issues or where they\nstood philosophically. They would be selected on that one issue\nalone.\nThen someone shot Santa Claus and now they have to get\nout and stand up and be counted on the issues that really confront\nus. And one of the reasons they were sorry that this was going to\nhave to happen because in '72 the issues were more clearcut than\nthey have been in the lifetime of any one of us in a national\nelection.\nIn 1972, it was not so much a selection between candidates\nas it was a choice of two widely divergent philosophies and the\nAmerican people, Democrats -- and I hope there are many present --\nand Independents -- and I hope they're present, also because I hope\nthey aspire to a better life -- and fellow Republicans all crossed\nparty lines to repudiate and reject the the confiscation and\nredistribution of the peoples' earnings, the final step into a\nwelfare state, the running of our entire lives by government to an\nextent greater than we've known so far. This was the thing they\ndidn't want to have to campaign on.\nThere has been no change in the philosophy of the\nleadership on the other side, the state or the national level. They\nstill lack faith in our ability to govern ourselves. Arrogantly,\nthey count on the peoples' lack of knowledge to help them continue\nin office. And I'm afraid they're justified in counting on that.\nA recent poll revealed that only 46 percent of the\npeople polled could name their United States Congressman. Even less\ncould name their State Representatives. But of the people who could\nname their Congressmen, 86 percent of them could not tell you a single\nthing he stood for, not a single policy that he represented.\nWe've had too much of this and that's why for 40 years\nwe've had social tinkering by social experimenters that have distorted\nthe relationship between the levels of government and have badly\ndistorted the relationship of the people to their government.\nSmall businessmen in America spend 130 million manhours\na year filling out government paperwork. It adds $50 billion a year\nto the cost of doing business which all turns up in the price of\nthe products we buy and contributes to the thing we call inflation.\nA druggist in my original state of Illinois says it takes\nhim more time to fill out the government paperwork every time he fills\nout a prescription than it does to fill out the prescription.\nAnd the State is no different. Last week I vetoed a bill.\nThis was a bill passed by the majority in the lesgislature and a bill\nMORE\n- 3 -\nthat would have mandated by the State for every community in California\nexactly the type of sign and the size sign that a person could put on\nhis lawn in front of his house if he wanted to sell his house. And\nmy veto was based on one thing only. When the bill was presented to\nus at the cabinet meeting and I heard it for the first time I said,\n\"What business is that of the State government?\" And so we vetoed it.\nBut there are other things that are going on. There is\na bill now within the last couple of days that came to my desk --\nour opponents are frantic. The law of the State of California says\nthat every political party will in the month of August before an\nelection hold a platform convention so that the people of this State\nknow what the party platform is they' voting on. The Republicans\nhave held theirs. The Peace and Freedom Party has held its convention.\nThey're supposed to register the date of that convention and their\nintention to hold it on July 1st. Our opponents made no such declaration\non July 1st and the Secretary of State who would now be Governor\nhas not upheld the law or enforced the law and here we are coming\nto the end of August and they have not held a convention and the\nother day he was asked by the press why he was not enforcing the law\nand he said, \"Maybe we don't need one.\"\nBut the law is the law. So, hastily, a bill was passed\nby the majority in the legislature and laid on my desk with four days\nto go in August that would have excused their party from holding such\na convention until after the election, come next January.\nLast night, the Chairman of the Democratic Party called\nfrantically and said, \"What is the Governor going to do about that\nbill because, if he's not going to sign it, I'm going to have to\nhastily call some kind of a convention and, if I have to, kick\nthe Governor's brains out for making us do it.\" Well, they can go\nahead and kick because I'm still studying that bill. (Laughter).\n(Applause.)\nYou know, some of the progress we've made has been\nmentioned. It has been mentioned the fact, also, that we've been in\nan uphill fight against a hostile legislature on most of it. I know\nthat I've spoken to you about these things before. Let me just briefly\nrefresh your memory what it was like eight years ago.\nI know that our Republican philosophy works because I've\nseen it work for the last seven years and eight months. The cost of\nliving in California was higher than it was in the rest of the nation.\nAnd it had been so for the previous six years.\nThe State was adding 5,500 new employees each year to\nthe State payroll.\nWelfare, which was runaway, was increasing at a rate\nof 40,000 new cases a month. That's what we were adding to the\nwelfare rolls.\nWe instituted our program that they called, \"Cut, Squeeze,\nand Trim\" and we tried everything we could to get welfare under\ncontrol. Finally, after a few years of trying, we turned to the people\nof this State for a task force and told them to find out and bring\nto us a plan by which we could control this runaway program.\nYou know, when you find people that are earning $16,500\na year and were still considered legally eligible for welfare, you\nhad to believe something was wrong with the regulations that were\ngoverning it.\nAnd so, we came with our welfare reform, again, to that\nsame legislature. And they denied me the permission to even present\nthe reforms to them, to a joint session of the legislature.\nBut we took our case to the people, as we have so many\ntimes. And government by the people works if the people work at it.\nAnd each time public opinion was such that our opponents had to give\nin. Oh, we always had to compromise a little. We couldn't get all\nwe wanted. We only got 70 percent of the welfare reforms.\nMORE\n- 4 -\nIncidentally, on those welfare reforms they told us that,\nif we got them, they said they would raise the caseload, not lower it.\nThey told us that it would dump the burden onto the counties, on\ngeneral relief and the county property taxes would go up and they\nsaid the needy would starve in the streets and we would have a $700\nmillion deficit at the end of the year. Other than that, they didn't\nfind much wrong with the whole program. (Laughter.)\nSo, we started in. Now, we're coming to the end of the\neight years. We started enforcing our reforms just three years and\nfive months ago. The welfare rolls are not increasing at 40,000 a\nmonth. We have almost 400,000 fewer people on welfare in California\nthan we had just three years ago.\nThe property taxes in more than 40 of the 58 counties\nin California have gone down for two years in a row. The taxpayers\nhave been saved almost two billion dollars on welfare alone.\nSome of the men who were responsible for those reforms\nhave been taken to the government in Washington by Cap Weinberger\nat HEW. Their job is to go around the country and persuade other\nstates to implement the similar kind of reforms. And last year for\nthe first time in the history of welfare, it went down at the national\nlevel. Forty-seven percent of the decline was in California and the\nrest was in those states that had implemented our type of reforms.\nIt is still going up in the other states that have not yet been\nreached.\nAnd, oh, yes -- the $700 million deficit. That turned\nout to be an $850 million surplus and, as you know, we gave it back\nto you in the form of a one-time tax rebate. And that was the\nthird time we've done such a thing.\nTo my knowledge, no government has ever followed the\npractice of giving one-time rebates when it found itself with a\nsurplus, save we've done it three times. This last time at $850 million,\nwhen I proposed that, that was a little like getting between a hog\nand the bucket. (Laughter.) One Senator protested that giving the\nmoney back to the people was an unnecessary expenditure of public\nfunds. (Laughter.)\nWhen the eight years end in January, we will have\nreturned to the people of California in rebates, in tax cuts and\nthings such as the inventory tax being changed, even in the cutting\nof bridge tolls, $5.7 billion.\nThe credit for our bonds, the credit rating by Moody's\nhas been lifted to triple, triple A which is the highest rating\nyou can get -- credit rating. The raise from AA to AAA alone\naverages saving one and a half percent interest on the interest you\nhave to pay on your bonds and that means hundreds of millions of\ndollars of savings.\nIn the meantime, I have vetoed and our Republicans in\nthe legislature have upheld the vetos on over $151/2 billion in\nadditional spending proposed by our opponents. The budget today,\nwithout those vetos, would be over $13 billion, instead of the\npresent very extensive $10 billion.\nLet me tell you what it's like. I shouldn't do this\nbecause it might discourage Don and he might want to change his\nmind. (Laughter.) But I tell it to you because I want you to know\nhow much a Don Peterson is needed in Sacremento.\nSaturday, they'll recess and go home for the election.\nBetween now and then, in 48 hours, there will be pandemonium such\nas you've never seen in what are supposed to the the two deliberative\nbodies of our legislature. The clock will be stopped on Friday night\nand they will go into the small hours of the morning and they will\nbe considering and they will be passing judgment on more than 800\npieces of legislation, including bills that involve hundreds of millions\nof dollars in spending.\nMORE\n- 5 -\nAnd about in the wee, small hours of the morning before\nSaturday and their anxiety to get home, there will be rivalry and\nmirth on the floor, there will tricks played on other legislators,\nthere will be amendments added to bills that won't even be read.\nI speak from experience because this is what has happened under their\nleadership ever since I have been in Sacremento.\nLast year, one of our legislators had to leave the\nchamber in those small hours. When he came back, found he had voted\non four bills while he was gone. When he stood up to protest, he\nwas declared out of order.\nDown to my desk the last year came 450 bills that were passed\nin 18 hours of almost continuous sitting there. They included $250\nmillion in additional spending. The same thing will take place in\nthese next few days.\nYesterday, in a committee hearing, rushing its business\nthrough, having to do with appointments to the Parole Board and to\nthe Youth Authority, the committee refused to hear members of those\nboards as witnesses, but did give all the time they wanted to\nrepresentatives of the Prisoner's Union who wanted to complain about--\nregister their complaints as to some of the appointments suggested\nfor those particular boards. This is what takes place. This is\nwhy the people have got to know more about those who represent\nthem in government and what they stand for.\nThis is why you have to ask -- incidentally, ask Barry\nKeene -- you might ask him how did he vote on the bill to exempt his\nparty from telling the people of California what its platform was\nfor the coming election. Ask him where he has stood on a number of\nthe other things, where he stood on limitations.\nWhy should a legislator, for example, be able to introduce\na program that would cost $300 million additional in the first year\nand within four years would cost a billion dollars a year and pretend\nthat there is no additional cost and make no effort whatsoever to\npropose a method for paying for it? And, yet, these things take place.\nToday, a gathering like this in many circles is referred to\nas the gatheringoofithe fat cats. That's what Republicans are all\nsupposed to be. We've heard that for a year and a half. Look around\nyou. You're a pretty good cross-section of America. I've never\nbeen able to figure why a rich Republican is a fat cat and a rich\nDemocrat is a public-spirited philanthropist. (Laughter.)\nWe have a candidate running for the Controller's office\non the other side, Assemblyman Court. He spend $690,000 on the\nprimary to win the nomination and $600,000 of it came from two\ncontributors. And we're supposed to be party with the fat cats.\nNo, our party has an opportunity to represent the one\nspecial interest group -- and we've heard a lot about special interest\ngroups -- the one special interest group that hasn't had enough\nrepresentation in government. That special interest group is made\nup of Democrats, Independents, Republicans, you name it. It's made\nup, crosses every ethnic and racial line, every religious line,\ngeographic line, it's scattered across the whole United States and\nup and down this state. They're just Americans who ask of freedom\nnothing but freedom itself, who ask nothing of government except\nto be left alone to the extent possible. These are the Americans\nthat get up in the morning and send their kids to school, and go to\nwork, and pay their bills, and support their church and charity.\nThese are the unsung heros of America and they need representation\nin government. And I claim that the philosophy of our party, the\nmandate of 1972 that still exists, that philosophy is more akin to\ntheir hopes and dreams and aspirations than anything that our\nopponents can claim or that they represent.\nTherefore, I beg of you, send Don Peterson to\nSacramento. I know that the new governor, whoever he may be, in\nJanuary will be the first governor in 22 years who will inherit a\nbalanced budget and a surplus and will not have to face the necessity\nof a new tax program to pay for the previous year's spending.\nMORE\n- 6 -\nBut send him up there because we need to maintain that\npower. I don't say that we can get a majority in one election for\nthe legislature. We're too far outnumbered. But we can prevent them\nfrom passing that two-thirds mark to where they could override the\nvetos of a Republican governor and thus, be able to add their\n$151/2 billion in spending.\nSo, ring doorbells and knock on doors and contribute\nto the best of your ability and do everything you can to see that\nDon Peterson represents the Second District in the Assembly and you\nwill be doing yourself a very great favor.\nThank you very much.\n(Applause.)\nEND"
}