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Show SMITH SPEECH IS PROGRESSIVE, HUMAN, STAND Democratic Nominee Pledges Self to Administration for Benefit of All the People. AGRICULTURAL PROBLEM TO GET PROMPT ACTION Will Enforce Dry Law, Stamp Out Corruption Cor-ruption and Recommend Change to Congreii Promisee Honest Hon-est Tariff. ALBANY, N, Y Aug. 22. Before an immense throng which gathered to hear his first pronouncement on the Issues of the Presidential campaign, Governor Alfred E. Smith accepted the Democrats nomination for President here tonight In an address which was as progressive in character as It wa? courageous in Its terms. Governor Smith pledged himself nqo his party to the restoration of honesty In government; to the promotion of real prosperity for the whole people-through people-through actual rather than fancied economies and reorganization In pv ernment and the enactment of h.-hhh. tariff legislation; to the establishment of a foreign policy opposed to un-.var ranted Intervention In Latin Americn countries and for the outlawry of vm. and to the stamping out of cornip'lo: in prohibition enforcement. The Democratic candidate pl-iceii himself squarely on record f'tr finr relief and promised to cull togelliet the best Informed minds among farm ers, business men and economists l'-u mediately following the election to devise a practicable plan for the con trol of surplus crops for submission to Congress at the beslnnlng of his administration. "Upon the steps of this Capitol where twenty-five years ago I first came Into the service of the state, I receive my party's summons to lead It In the nation," said Governor Smith In accepting his party's call. "Within this building I learned the principles, the purposes and the functions of government gov-ernment and to know that the greatest great-est privilege that can come to any man Is to give himself to a nation which has reared him and raised him from obscurity to be a contender for the highest office In the sift of Utj people. f !r '-. ''With a gratitude too strong lof words and with humble reliance upon the aid of Divine Providence, I accept your summons to a wider field of activity." ac-tivity." Ho sounded the keynote of his entire en-tire address when he said: Constructive Government "Government should be constructive, construc-tive, not destructive; progressive, not reactionary." "I am entirely unwilling to accept the old order of things as the best unless and until 1 become convinced that It Sannot be made better," he con tlnued. "It Is our new world theory that government exists for the people as against the old world conception that the people exist for the government,'-he government,'-he said. The candidate reaffirmed his belie In the soundness of "deliberate action of an Informed electorate." He referred re-ferred to the public issues he carried to the voters In New York State and added: . - J ' "That direct contact with the people peo-ple I propose to continue In this campaign cam-paign and, If I am elected, la the conduct con-duct of the nation's affairs." j He said he would strive to make the , nation's policy a reflection of the nation's na-tion's Ideals. Cleveland's phrase, "Public office Is a public trust," now : takes on new meaning, he said. ' "The Republican party today stands , responsible for the widespread dishon-esty dishon-esty that has honeycombed Us administration," admin-istration," Governor Smith asserted. The Governor attacked the claim of 1 Republican prosperity. "The Republican party builds Us case upon a myth," he said. Four million men out ot work, whole Industries prostrate and widespread wide-spread business discontent do not spell prosperity, he continued. "Prosperity to the extent that we nave It is unduly concentrated and has not equitably touched the lives ot the farmer, the wage-earner and the Individual Indi-vidual business man," said Governor Smith. Republican leaders have tried to divert di-vert attention from the real situation by a propaganda of governmental economy, he asserted. The Republican party promised reorganization re-organization of the government, he aald, yet after aeven years the structure struc-ture la worse than It was in 1921. Governor Smith pointed to the increase in-crease in federal appropriations, against which, he said, the official spokesman answers only, "We have given an economical administration." "I assert that there Is no proof," 1 Governor Smith declared. After giving a summary of the government gov-ernment finances, he pointed out that aj against the claim, of, Uix reductions (Continued on page four). "The money actually appropriated for flood relief is too small to mak even a start," Governor Smith asserted. assert-ed. "Too much time has been spent in squabbling over who shall pay the bill." Governor Smith pledged himself "to a progressive, liberal conservation policy based upon the same principles to which I have given my support in the State of New York," and to fight against selfish aggression "wherever It appears and Irrespective of whom it may involve." "The sources oi water power must remain forever under public ownership owner-ship and control," be said. Benefits growing from the development develop-ment of water power as an incident to the regulation of the Colorado River Riv-er should be "equitably distributed among the states having right of ownership," own-ership," Governor Smith declared. It would be the policy of his admin-' admin-' lstration to develop a method of operation oper-ation for Muscle Shoals which would reclaim for the government some fair revenue from the enormous expenditure expendi-ture already made, be said. Red tape and autocratic bureaucracy bureaucra-cy should be brushed aside in caring for veterans in distress, Governor Smith said. Likewise, he said he would continue his sympathetic interest inter-est in the advancement of progressive legislation tor working men and women, wo-men, the proper care of maternity, infancy and childhood, and the encouragement en-couragement of activities which advance ad-vance public health. His Labor Policy Turning to the labor question, Got-ernor Got-ernor Smith said: "The reasonable contentment ot 'hose who toll with the conditions under un-der which they live and work Is an essential basis of the nation's well-being. well-being. The welfare of our country, therefore, demands governmental concern con-cern for the legitimate Interest of labor." In conclusion the governor'sald in part: "I pledge a complete devotion to the welfare of our country and our people. peo-ple. I place that welfare above every other consideration and I am satis-fled satis-fled that our party is In a position to promote it To that end I here and now declare to my fellow countrymen, coun-trymen, from one end of the United States to the other, that I will dedicate dedi-cate myself with all the power and energy that I possess, to the service of our great republic." j "Our Canadian neighbors," he said, I "have gone far in this manner to solve ' this problem by the method of sale I made by the state itself and not by ' private individuals. ( Saloon Won't Return i "There is no question here of the re-, re-, tu; n of tho saloon. When I stated that ! the saloon Ms and ought to be a defunct de-funct institution In this country' I meant It. I mean it today. I will never nev-er advocate or approve any law which I directly or Indirectly permits the return re-turn of the saloon." "This country cannot be a healthy, strong, economic body if one of its members, so fundamentally Important 1 as agriculture, Is sl::k almost to the , point of economic death," said Governor Gov-ernor Smith, taking up the subject of farm relief. The Republican administration has made many promises of legislation to aid the farmer, but has kept none of them, he continued. "The tariff is Ineffective on commodities com-modities of which there Is exportable surplus without controlled sale of the . surplus," eaid Governor Smith. "Our platform points the way to make the tariff effective for crops of which we produce a surplus. "Co-operative,, co-ordinated marketing market-ing and warehousing of surplus farm products is essential Just as co-ordinated, co-operative control ot the flow i ot capital wat found necessary to the regulation ot our country's finances. "Our platform declares for the development de-velopment of co-operative marketing and an earnest endeavor to solve the problem ot the distribution of the cost of dealing with crop surpluses over ' the marketed unit of the crop whose producers are benefited by such assistance. as-sistance. Only the mechanics remain to be devised. I propose to substitute . action for InacUon and friendliness for hostility. In my administration ot the government of my state, whenever I was confronted with a problem ot this character, I called Into conference those best equipped on the particular subject in band. I shall follow that course with regard to agriculture. Farmers and farm leaders with such constructive aid as will oome from sound economists and fair-minded leader of finance and business must work out the details. There are varying vary-ing plans for the attainment ot the end which is to be accomplished. Such plans should be subjected at once to searching, able and fair-minded analysis, analy-sis, because the Interests ot all require re-quire that the solution shall be economically eco-nomically sound." Will Call Conference Governor Smith then promised to summon an agricultural conference to work out the solution, saying: "If I am elected, I shall immediately immediate-ly after election ask lW.g 0 tQ"9 type I h mefl( Irrespective of par-I par-I ty," to Center upon this task. I shall I- join with them in the discharge of . their duties during the coming winter and present to OongTcss immediately upon its convening the solution recommended rec-ommended by the body ot men best fitted to render this signal service to i the nation. I shall support the ac tivities of this body until a satisfactory satisfac-tory law is placed upon the statute booku." On the subject of transportation Governor Smith said he believed In en-couratlng en-couratlng the construction and use of modern highways to carry the short haul of small bulk commodities and to aid in marketing farm products. Also of great importance, he said, is the development of transportation by our waterways, which are still in a highly undeveloped state. Linked with waterways development develop-ment Is the control ot floods, the governor gov-ernor said. He declared that the two Republican administrations had waited wait-ed for the Mississippi flood of last year Instead of tnklng leadership in this important work. SMITH SPEECH (Continued from page 1) there" we7eTctually 124,000,000 more federal taxes collected last year than in the first year of the Coolldge Ad-adminlstratlon. Ad-adminlstratlon. It Is not economy to refuse so make necessary expenditures to provide facilities fa-cilities for the transaction of government govern-ment business, he said, pointing out that scarcely a city in the country has adequate quarters for federal business it the present time. Anticipating Republican misrepresentation misrepre-sentation of the Democratic party's position on the tariff, Governor Smith declared : No Busincu Upheaval "The Democratic party does not and under my leadership will not advocate any sudden or drastic revolution in our economic system which would cause business upheaval or popular distress. "The Democratic party stands squarely for the maintenance of leglti mate business and a high standard ol - wages for American labor. "Pay no attention to the Republican propaganda and accept my assurance as the leader of our party that Democratic Demo-cratic tariff legislation will be honest," he declared. "It will play no favorites. It will do Justice to every element In the nation." Ho said foreign policy has Its roots In the approval ot the majority of the people and that he regarded it as a paramount duty to keep alive the Interest In-terest ot the people In questions ot foreign policy and to advise the elec- torate as to tacts. He promised to stress the necessity for restoration of cordial relations with Latin-America. The Republican administration hat signally failed In its endeavor to re move the causes of war, he continued. ' "I pledge myself to a resumption ot real endeavor to make the outlawry of war effecUve by removing 1U causes and to substitute the methods' of conciliation, con-ciliation, conference, arbitration, and Judicial determination," he declared. The President has two duties with respect to the prohibition question, he said. "The first is embodied in his oath of office," he went on. "If with one hand on the Bible and the other hand reaching up to Heaven, I promise the people of this country that 'I will faithfully execute the office, of President Presi-dent of the United States and to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,' you, may be sure that ajmll live up to that oath to the last degree. "I shall to the very limit execute the pledg of our platform 'to make an bones ndeMI 12 VtfW. the iith amendment and all other provisions provi-sions of the Federal Constitution ' 'felt laws "enaclea pursuant thereto.'" I ' the Governor promised "ruthlessly , to stamp out" the present corruption in prohibition enforcement "Such conditions cannot and will not exist under any administration presided presid-ed over by me," he asserted. Continuing, he said: "The second constitutional duty Imposed Im-posed upon the President Is 'to recommend recom-mend to the Congress such measures as he shall Judge necessary and expedient.' expe-dient.' "I shall advise the Congress in accordance ac-cordance with my constitutional duty ot whatever changes I deem 'necessary or expedient.' It will then be for the people and the representatives in the national and state legislature to determine deter-mine whether these changes shall be made." "I believe In temperance," he continued. con-tinued. "We have not achieved tern-perance tern-perance under the present system. The mothers and fathers of young men and women throughout this land know the anxiety and worry which has been brought to them by their children's use of liquor in a way which was unknown un-known before prohibition. I believe In reverence for law. Today disregard disre-gard ot the prohibition laws is insidiously in-sidiously sapping respect for all law. I raise, therefore, what I profoundly believe to be a great moral lssub Involving In-volving the righteousness ot our national na-tional conduct and the protection of our children's morals." The remedy Is to be found in the fearless application of Jeffersonlan principles, he continued, to allow for different habits and customs of different differ-ent parts of the country. "Some immediate relief would come from an amendment to the Volstead law giving a scientific definition of the alcoholic coutent ot an Intoxicating beverage," he said. "The preseut definition defi-nition Is admittedly Inaccurate and unscientific. un-scientific. Each state would then be allowed to fix its own standard ot alcoholic al-coholic content, subject always to the proviso that that staudard could not exceed, the maximum fixed by the Con- w ' r'.T:2- - "l believe, moreover, that there should be submitted to the people the question of some change in the provisions provi-sions of the 18th amendment. Certain-ly, Certain-ly, no one foresaw when the amendment amend-ment was ratified the conditions which exist today of bootlegging, corruption and open violation ot the law in all parts of the country. The people themselves should, after thla eight years of trial, be permitted to say whether, existing conditions should be rectified! I personally believe in an amendment to the 18th amendment which would give to each individual ttate itself only after approval by a referendum popular vote of Its people peo-ple the right wholly within its borders to Import, manufacture or cause to be manufactured and sell alcoholic beverages, bev-erages, the sale to be made only by the state itself and not for consumption consump-tion in any public place' |