Judge — October 1932 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Will Roosevelt Do It? SOR many of us who are disgusted with the course of the Ame n government, the choice this year is a tough one. Our instinct is to support Norman Thom We know he is strong, able, fearless, sincere. We also know he can't be elected. We should be charged with “throw- ing away our vote That moldy sophistry does not impress us. It would be a grand thing if Thon could get at least five million vot That would be a wholesome demon- stration that the radical sentiment of this nation is piling up. It might powerfully influence future legi: tion, executive action and judic decisions. Furthermor vote ¢ honestly according to conscience is never thrown away. One’s own in- tegrity is more vital than expediency. Yet expediency does have some claim in times as desperate as these. Therefore we are frankly impressed the argument that a vote for Thomas vote for Hoover. Ex- pediency suggests that we ought to help defeat the reactionary party and support Roosevelt who has a_ real chance of being elected, from whom alone we can get radical leadership. What troubles us is that we can't find out how radical Roosevelt is, er how capable of leade When his supporters talk to us, particularly in the West, they assert that his radicalism is genuine, that once he gets into the White House he will so further than he has ever indicated in behalf of the “forgotten man,” for the wider distribution of wealth and opportunity. But when Barney Baruch and his ilk talk to the timorous capi ts of the East, it is to give bland assurance that Roos velt is “safe and~ sound,” which "t sound safe to us. He himself, inter y given to the New astern consumption, talks old- fashioned liberalism with its tepid ideal of “avoiding alike the revolu- tion of radicalism and the revolution of conservatism.” This certainly i: not encouraging. We who now hesitate therefo mand of Franklin Roosevelt that he speak out more boldly. It is not enough for us to be told that “his heart is in the right place,” or even, as one disciple says, that his guts are in the right place. We want unequivocal assurance that those organs will stay in place and function staunchly. We want drastic change, a new deal, a fighting radical leader, a last chance to find out whether this nation can achieve a revolution within the Constitution before one is forced upon it outside the Constitution. If Roosevelt is to yet our vote, he must so pledge himself. Beyond that, we issue this warn- ing. We have been fooled often enough. We didn’t think we could ever again be lined up in support of cither of the old parties. We are sick and tired of them, of their straddling platforms, their two-faced candidates, their itch for spoils, their broken promis their bi-partisan conspiracies, If we should be per- suaded to support Roosevelt it will be for the sake of our country, and somewhat against our individual con- sciences. If then Roosevelt, elected by our votes, should prove to have been what we most fear and most bitterly despise—just another trim- mer—then we should indeed be 12 through. We should be through not only with Franklin Roosevelt, not only with the Democratic party, not only with the whole two-party system, but probably through with all effort to use the ballot as a peace ful means of making th decent land to live in. We would se hell Exhausted Recently we wanted a complete copy of the Constitution of th United States, and for purposes of ecuracy, We applied to headquarters We sent our request with 25 cent to the State Department at Wash ington. After a lapse of more than a week, we got the following letter. elaborately typed and signed: “The receipt is acknowledged of the letter of August 26, 1 fr your office enclosing 25 stamps and requesting a copy of the Constitution of the United States As the Department of State does not have any copies of the Constitution available for distribution your letter and the stamps which were enclosed therewith are being referred for ay propriate action to the Superinten- dent of Documents, Government Printing Office, this city, who is the authorized distributor of government publications.” Another five days passed. Then an envelope came from the Government Printing office, returning our 25 cents and ting that “the public ns not sent on your order are ex- ted.” We take this to mean that supply of printed copies of the Constitution is exhausted. We hope it doesn’t mean that the Constitution itself is exhausted by the strain put upon it in recent y In any case, we ourselves are exhausted by our effort to get from our government the document from which that sovernment derives its powers. So if you catch us doing or saying any- thing unconstitutional, don’t send us to jail for it. We wouldn't know. RIW. comicbooks.com