Speech of Senator Harry S. Truman, Democratic Candidate for Vice President, at Providence, Rhode Island

RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT 9:40 P.M. MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1944 SPEECH OF HONORABLE HARRY S. TRUMAN, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESIDENT DELIVERED AT PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a great pleasure to be here in Rhode Island. Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States in area, but the industry and ability or its people have made it one or the greatest of all states. The very origin or your state evidences the independence and en ergy that have ever since characterized i ts people. Because Rhode Island is an industrial state I shall talk to you tonight about business and the action which the Democratic Administration proposes to take to make sure that our nation has a sound and lasting prosperity after the war ror the benerit of business and labor alike, In doing so I am not unmindful or the great importance or winning the war and securing the peace. We must constantly bear those issues in mind. The war must be/won, and won quickly, and our fighting men must be brought home at once and given good jobs. The war is being won under the superb leadership or the President as Commander-in-Chief. He has chosen good Generals and Admirals and has made wise decisions on those matters on which they differed and which had, to be determined by him as Commander-in-Chief in accordance with the authority vested in him by the Constitution. The President has headed our military missions in their discussions with our allies and has coordinated our efforts with those of our allies, so that the heaviest hammer-like blows can be struck at our en emies. It is always poor policy to send in substitutes wh en you have a winning team on the field. The Republican party asks you to elect to high office two men, neither of whom ever had any experience in military affairs and neither of whom ever had any experience in either national or international arfairs. You cannot take a chance on inexperienced leadership in the midst or a great war when the lives or our fighting men and the ruture of the nation are at stake. Wh en this war is won, we must see to it that your children and your grandchildren are not forced to right again twenty-five years from now because we failed to live up to our responsibilities, Those or us who rought on the battlerields or France in the last war thought we ended the war when we beat the Germans. We were mistaken. only an Armistice was signed, and this country believed Warren G. Harding and prominent Republican supporters of a strong foreign policy wh en they said that it was sare to trust Harding and the Republican party to secure the peace. 5. RUMAN NARA