Press Release, Speech of President Harry S. Truman, Charleston, West Virginia

HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE HOLD FOR RELEASE October 1, 1948 CONFIDENTIAL: The following address of the President to be delivered in Charleston, West Virginia, this evening IS FOR RELEASE IN REGULAR "NATIONAL EDITIONS OF MORNING NEWSPAPERS of SATURDAY, October 2, 1948, except in ARCHIVES the Charleston area, where release is for 8:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, October 1. Radio release is 8:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Satur- day, October 1. PLEASE USE CARE TO AVOID PREMATURE PUBLICATION OR RADIO ANNOUNCEME NT. CHARLES G. ROSS Secretary to the President For the past two weeks I have been visiting the people of this country. I have met thousands of people and spoken to hundreds of thousands more. I have had a vital message to bring to the people of the United States, and tonight I want to bring that message to you. The heart of my message is this: The national election this fall will decide matters of grave importance to every man, woman, and child in the United States. It will affect the security of your jobs, your homes, your future. You have a choice between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Within the memory of most of us here, a clear record has been written that shows how much difference that choice can make. The Republicans wrote part of their record from 1921 to 1933. They led the country to depression, poverty, and despair. It is easy to forget what the black days of the depression were like. But let us recall a few bitter facts. In 1932, after twelve years of Republican bungling, more than twelve million men and women were unemployed. In 1932, the average worker in manufacturing industries was making 45 cents an hour - if he was lucky enough to have a job. In coal mining, the most hazardous of all occupations, miners were making 52 cents an hour - if they were lucky enough to have jobs. The working men and women in this country could not do much to help themselves because the strength of their unions had been broken by the re- actionary labor policies of Republican Administrations. The Republican bubble had burst in 1929, and when it burst: There was no minimum wage to cushion the blow. There was no unemployment compensation to carry the working man's family along. There was no work relief program to help the people through the crisis. But the party of privilege was ready to help carry big business through the crisis. It created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for that purpose. The banks, the railways, the insurance companies - they got relief, but not the American people. For the unemployed, it was Hoovervilles and soup kitchens. Veterans were encouraged to go into business for themselves - selling apples. (OVER)