Transcript of Speech of Congressman Joseph W. Martin

SPEECH OF HONORABLE JOSEPH W. MARTIN, JR. CHIVES AMD RECORDA SERVICE"S FEBRUARY 12, 1951 MR. VORYS. Mr. Speaker, under leave granted to extend my remarks in the Record, I include the following address of Honorable Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Republican leader of the House of Representatives, at the Lincoln Day dinner of the Kings County Republican Committee at Brooklyn, N. Y., on Monday evening, February 12, 1951: It is a privilege to join tonight in this tribute to the great and noble spirit of Abraham Lincoln. It is an especial privilege to do so here in Brooklyn, a community of good will, good people, good homes, good churches--and the Dodgers. In this great Borough of Brooklyn lies a great cross section of families and homes that in themselves are a monument to the freedom and individual dignity for which Lincoln fought and died. In Lincoln breathed the hopes and prayers of ordinary people like ourselves in all parts of the world. His uncom- promising opposition to human slavery gave birth to a new political party which has served this Nation well through generations of constant development and progress: Today, after 90 years of political service, the Republican Party still is the only party of freedom in these United States. It is still the only party which steadfastly has refused to accept the alien doctrines of socialism and communism, either in part or in whole. Across this land of ours, the American people, weary of the trend toward a total state, have come to realize more and more that the lone champion of the basic freedoms that have made America great is the Republican Party. And they are going to translate that belief into action and elect a Republican Congress and a Republican President in 1952? And why shouldn't they? Is there a person within the range of my voice who does not realize deep inside him that some- thing is fundamentally wrong with the Denocratic leadership in Washington? Is there anybody within the range of my voice who does not fervently hope that out of the election in 1952 will come an administration possessing the basic characteristics that made Abraham Lincoln great -- intelligence of purpose, unflinch- ing devotion to ideals, and, above all else, the courage to carry out what the brain and heart and soul dictate? It is the great tragedy of our day that in a period of crisis we have an administration in Washington which is so bankrupt in leadership that its first measurement of every under- taking is whether it will help perpetuate those in power. Votes have become the yardstick of their policies. This is not the true spirit nor the wisdom of our fine American heritage. And I am proud to stand here and tell you tonight that there are patriotic Democrats in and out of Congress, in and out of government, who tell me with the deepest sincerity that the only way to save America, the only way to achieve the leadership we so desperately need, is by a landslide Republican victory next year. We welcome Democrats and independents everywhere to this crusade: Our task far transcends party lines.