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The address by Vice-President Wallace reprinted below was
delivered recently before the Lowa State Democratic conven
tion. Since it deals with the vital question of farmerlabor
unity; the relations of the predominantly agrarian South with
the largely industrialized North, and the role of Wall Street
finance as a politico-economic and social factor in the daily
life of the South; since, too, it intimately touches upon the
question and continuity of organization. especially in the rural

areas, and the importance of

Party finance as part and parcel

of the progressive citizens’ political responsibility both in and
out of the party, we are glad of this opportunity to publish it.
You will find in it many parallels between the American and
Canadian scenes, but these must not be pursued as if they
were identical. It is enough to know that the problems which

confront progressive Americans
grounds for believing in the po
many facets in common with

_ and the ‘high hopes and good

ssibility of their solution, have
our work.

“Your choice of me as permanent chairman is deeply ap-
preciated as a token of respect and affection. It is good to
be with old friends to plan for victory on November 7 here
in Iowa. The prospects for a Roosevelt victory in the Mid-
west and especially here in Iowa are brighter than they
were four years ago. At that time we were not in the war.
Now we are, and the most reactionary Republican has reason
to be concerned as to what might happen to the war effort
if we should lose the skilled leadership of the President.
Roosevelt will win next fall in lowa provided you do your
part in getting out the full Democratic vote and provided,
furthermore, you conduct the campaign on a high plane
which does not alienate Republican voters who otherwise
‘would be with you. This plan of campaign will give several
Midwestern States to Roosevelt, but it is not enough to win
many congressional seats or many State or county tickets.

“To do a real job on this
“front it will be necessary to
-make the Democratic Party a
“vital continuously functioning
organization through which
“farmers, workers, and small-

‘town business and protessional*

“men can come to agreement and
make their wants Imown. The
Republican Party and its or-
gans of publicity have always

Destiny In A

tried to separate the farmer
and the worker. The Democra-
tie Party can succeed only if it
brings the farmer and worker
together on a liberal, construc-
tive platform. Those Demo-
erats who fight such a program
are Republicans wearing false
faces.

“Tt is important to say a
word about my southern

By Joseph North

allot Box

friends. The farmers of the
Middle West owe a lot to the
farmers of the South. We would
never have gotten satisfactory
agricultural legislation if it had
not been for men like Marvin
Jones, Senator John Bankhead
and Senator Alben Barkley.
True, there are certain reaction-
ary leaders, but these men are
usually financed directly or in-

directly from the North. More

and more an intelligent, con-
structive, liberal leadership
will arise in the South which
will not owe anything directly
or indirectly to Wall Street or
to outworn prejudices. Claude
Pepper, of Florida, and Gov.
Elliss Arnall, of Georgia, illus-
trate what I mean. Watch these
men. They are young and have
a sense of future trends.

“One function of a Jiberal,
constructive Democratic Party
is to keep the West and the
South united. Another function
is to keep the farmer and labor
united. Im carrying out this
second function the Democratic
Party of Iowa should preach to
the farmers every day in every
county seat town in Iowa —
“your income from hogs, but-
ter, eges and cattle goes up and
down precisely with the total
pay rolls of labor. The moment
labor gets into trouble you
get into trouble also. You must
have a sympathetic understand-
ing of labor’s problems if you
are to understand your own.

(Excerpts from an article in New Masses)

SE brilliant spotlight swung wildly across twenty-five thousand faces and focused

on a blind woman. The great crowd cheered her, but she could not hear its roar,
for life had robbed her of hearing as well as\ sight. But she stood before the people,
and she knew their. faces, understood their voices, and she searched their souls, [I

thought, as I sat in the press
box at Madison Square Garden
where I had seen many of the

great, that never had I seen so
clearly the grandeur of man’s
spirit. This woman had groped
and crawled and clawed her
way out of the abyss of dark-
ness into ,which she was born
and here, today, she stood like
a goddess, shining on a moun-
tain top. Here, I thought, look-
ing at Helen Keller, was Man.

It was extraordinarily fitting
that she spoke at this meeting
of America’s cultural leaders;
nere she belonged, for she epi-
tomized what they strove for:
the emancipation of man, the
freedom of his spirit. That, at
bottom, proved the agenda of
accounted
for the.men and women who
came here from all corners of
the land, and who brought a
crowd such as Madison Square
Garden had rarely seen; a
erowd that spilled out onto the
Side streets and stayed for
every word. The speakers had

come sensing that America
stood at the crossroads and
they, there on the platform,

pointed the way. The meaning
of our time had spiraled down
to two names, Roosevelt and
Dewey.
low Shapely, the astronomer
whose feet are planted solidly

In the words of Har-~

on earth: “Do we go forward
with the social evolution that
inspires at this time most na-
tions of the earth: or do we
return to stagnancy?” That, he
said, was the issue we faced in
November. Will we choose
those “who recognize that a
dazzling new day is dawning —
the most important epoch yet in
our country’s great career?” Or
will we, like the bullfrog in his
parable, return to the “rotting
log in the swamp ?”

All of them asked this ques-
tion: Davidson the sculptor,
Koussevitzkhy the musician,
Bette Davis the actress, Sin-
clair Lewis the novelist, Henry
Wallace the statesman. All the
brave company. It was inevit-
able that they turn up in the
Same camp. For the culture of
America is humanist at its
base; through the years our
great- artists have marched
with the people; here was the
legacy of Paine and Emerson
and Whitman. These were the
children of Walt, who sang, in
his poem “Long, Too Long,
America”:

To ljearn from crises of an-
guish, advancing grappling
with direst fate and re-
coiling not,

And now to conceive and

show to the world what

your children en-masse really
are... .

I don’t believe Henry Wall-
ace will ever forget the ovation
Ihe got here; to these thous-
ands he represented the cham-
Pion of America’s cultural
strivings. And I believe Mr.
Wallace learned as much here
as he taught. The men and wo-
men understood him totally
when he said: “I urge all Am-
ericans to register so that the
largest number of Americans
in history may reach the polls
on November 7—each to have
his part in deciding the leader-
ship for the most critical period
this country and this world
have ever faced.”

Yes, these were men of the
spirit, artists, writers, scien=
tists; but they know the spirit
is not disembodied. They know
it lives in a frame that re-
quires nourishment — requires
work, and peace, and joy. The
davs of the Ivory Tower are
forever gone; these are no dis-
ciples of St. Simeon Stylites
who sat on a pillar for seven
years mortifying the flesh to
evoke the spirit. They, know
that the possession of a soul

does not connote the loss of
common sense.
Thus they know, that im

their time, America’s soul lives
in a ballot box.

You have never been able and
never will get satisfactory agri-
culture legislation without la-
bor’s help.”

“After saying this, ask if it
is not true that the Republicans
are more interested in balanc-
ing the budget than in pre-
venting unemployment. The Re-
publicans were in charge after
the Civil War and after World
War No. i, and on both oc-
easions proceeded on the as-
sumption that depression and
unemployment were necessary
correctives. The world-wide
economic whirlwind unleashed
sooner or later after the end
of this war will be of such 4
magnitude as to require vigor-
ous action of a type which the
Republicans have never been
willing to take. :

“EES! segment of the press

and radio which is control-
led by evil monetary interests
continually fans every flame of

prejudice which will maintain ©

hatred between the farmer and

worker. It is easy to state the

fundamental: Democratic thesis
of unity between the farmer
and the worker and contrast it
with the Republican thesis of
hatred between the farmer and
worker. The problem is to do
something effective about it.
It is not enough to make fire-
eating speeches—- for three
months onee every four years.
The money behind the Repub-
lican press and radio subtly
spreads its poison every day.
To counteract this we must be
on the job forming constructive
public opinion. We do not have
much money and our avenues
of press and radio publicity are,
therefore, seriously limited. But
we do haye manpower, woman-
power and the enthusiasm of
youth on our side. All that is
necessary is to formulate a lib-
eral program for constructive
democracy which is so compel-

attle For the Common Ma

_ling im its appeal to fa:

and workers in both the |
and South that they -w:
anxious to give personal
their time and money to
ing a precinct by precine
county by county organiz
with channels of publici
service the members of +t
ganization. In doing such

“we must enlist the’ servic

the forward looking

_ among the lawyers, the <

teachers, the doctors, the
ers and all the other p:
sions. You wall find help 3
most unexpected places
vided your program is bas
the full use of manpowe
resources and all techno:
for the purpose of equal o
tunity and a higher stands
living for all. ;

“The liberal cause has
been defeated and will no:
It merely is in process of
ing reborn. I ask you to
up—not down; ahead—
backward. When we b:
for full production and e
opportunity we battle for
common man. That ce:
cannot die no matter y
may happen temporarily
eertain individuals, —

“And so for the sake of
boys I ask the members of
convention to work with a]
fervor that is in them f
Roosevelt victory in the co
tion that only by such 4
tory can the war be termi
promptly and rightly. A DB
victory, no matter how e
able Mr. Dewey himself m:

personally, will inevitably
hope to the wrong elemen
Germany and Japan. A D
victory, just as was the
with the Harding victor
1920, would make difficuli
building of a world order «
acterized by abiding peace.
Republicans betrayed the

mon man of the United §
after the Civil War and

World War No. 1 We shai

let them do it again. We
Win with Roosevelt.”

PATE
POS NETL. C/O NEWS

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