The Pittsburgh Press (October 14, 1940)
WILLKIE FEARS WARLIKE TALK OF ROOSEVELT
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President Recklessly May Put U.S. in Conflict, Nominee Charges
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En Route to Syracuse, N.Y., Oct. 14 –
Republican presidential nominee Wendell L. Willkie said today that he feared President Roosevelt “by a reckless statement may do something or say something that drives this great peaceful country into a war at a time when it is wholly unprepared.”
Mr. Willkie made his charge against the President, without naming him specifically, in a speech as he campaigned across New York State.
“I hate war,” Mr. Willkie told an applauding Schenectady Railroad Station crowd estimated 6,500.
I pray with all my heart that this great free land may never become involved in war.
‘U.S. Wholly Unprepared’
My prayer is double that this country will never go into armed conflict until it is prepared.
To send a nation into war when it is not adequately prepared is worse than a betrayal of the country – it is just taking men to slaughter and murder. And this country is woefully unprepared.
I have a great disturbance that the third term candidate by a reckless statement may do something or say something that drives this great peaceful country into a war at a time when it is wholly unprepared. We must, if we possibly can, keep this great land at peace.
Repeats His Fear
At Amsterdam, where Commissioner of Public Safety John H. McClumpha estimated that the rear platform was between 3,500 and 4,000, Mr. Willkie repeated his fear that Mr. Roosevelt may involve us in war.
At Schenectady, Mr. Willkie charged that the nation is "woefully unprepared (for war) because we have in charge of the government talkers instead of doers.
He pledged himself to be “absolutely relentless” toward defense contractors delaying the defense program by “jockeying” for larger profits.
The Republican presidential nominee told a Schenectady crowd estimated by Police Sergeant John J. Fitzsimmons at 6,500 that the Democratic National Committee dealt with the “lowest corrupt political machines while the third term candidate delivers lofty speeches about international affairs and America’s leadership in the world.” He did not mention President Roosevelt by name.
Father Tired to Enlist At 60
“I hate war,” Mr. Willkie said, replying to criticism of his parents’ nationality.
I hate war from the bottom of my soles to the top of my head. And my hatred is not a synthetic one.
When war came in 1917, my father, who had lived his life as a belligerent supporter of civil liberties and who has such a hatred of any form of military autocracy, went to Washington although he was 60 years of age and tried to enlist in the armed forces.
When he was refused, he devoted his time to making addresses in support of the war effort. My mother gave all her time to Red Cross work.
‘Taking Men to Slaughter’
My eldest sister was a professor and, at the request of Vice President Marshall, she went to work for the government translating documents.
He said that one brother had served in the Army, another in the Navy, another as a government chemist and cited his own Army record.
Mr. Willkie said he “prayed with all my soul” that the United States would go to war, adding that if war must come that it be delayed until the nation is adequately prepared.
To send a nation into war when it is not adequately prepared is worse than a betrayal. It is just taking men to slaughter.
Mr. Willkie pledged himself to “crack down” on defense contractors “jockeying” for larger profits in a statement issued as he left Albany. He asserted that the U.S. was not getting high speed production of essential defense materials and said that if elected he would insist upon rapid decisions on the types of airplanes and tanks to obtain quick, mass production of them.
He spent Sunday in his private train on a railroad siding at Feura Bush, near Albany and last night conferred with Joseph N. Pew Jr., wealthy oil man and Republican leader of Pennsylvania.
As President, I will be absolutely relentless regarding those firms which are said to be jockeying around for bids and thereby delaying the progress of the defense program in order to make a slightly larger profit.
‘Make Plants Toe Line’
One reason why we believe in private initiative is because it is faster and more efficient. As President, I will see to it that in this great national effort which embraces every element in our country and which is actually conscripting our young men, that prospective contractors for the government are compelled to toe the line.
I suggest that the delay in reaching an agreement upon the type of plane or tank which is to be manufactured should be eliminated. Only a little more than a week ago, we read in the newspapers that at last agreement had been reached on models of certain types of equipment which were to be put into large-scale production.
Shocked at Delay
It was shocking to realize that there had been this long delay. We want those planes today. We want planes that embody the lessons of the recent past. But above all, we want to get planes in large numbers at once. As President, I would compel a prompt decision and not permit the perfectionists to postpone.
We must have high-speed production without, of course, sacrificing any of the standards regarding wages and hours which we have built up.
I know from experience how to get production because that is what I have been hired to do for many years. I also know from experience that workers who are well fed, well paid, and well educated can always beat the slave labor of the dictatorships.
He said the nation must “assume that we are not getting production” because:
…if we were really meeting the schedule and if we were really producing guns, tanks and planes. the publicity organization in Washington would not be bashful in telling us about it.
Plans 56 Speeches
Mr. Willkie conferred yesterday with James E. McDonald, Democrat and Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, who is supporting him. He had no comment on either conference. His meeting with Mr. Pew was the second in two weeks.
Before leaving Feura Bush, Mr. Willkie made public his itinerary for the next 13 days which calls for 56 speeches in nine states which have 201 of the 266 electoral votes necessary for election. These are New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
Kentucky is the only state in which he has not campaigned previously. The itinerary includes two trips to New York City, one for The New York Herald Tribune Forum October 23 and another three days later for the Fordham-St. Mary’s football game which he will attend as the guest of the Fordham president.
Lists Speaking Schedule
The principal speeches schedules follow:
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Tonight – Syracuse, N.Y. baseball park, 9 p.m.
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Tuesday – Buffalo, N.Y. downtown speech plus an NBC broadcast from 10:30 to 11 p.m. under auspices of the Associated Willkie Clubs.
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Wednesday – Cincinnati, Ohio, 8:30 to 9 p.m., broadcast on NBC Blue network.
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Thursday – St. Louis, Missouri, 9:30 to 10 p.m. (CT), broadcast on CBS.
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Friday – Springfield, Illinois.
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Saturday – Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Monday, October 21 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 9 to 9:30 p.m. (CT), broadcast by NBC Blue network.
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Tuesday, October 22 – Chicago, Illinois, 8:15 p.m. (CT)
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Wednesday, October 23 – New York Herald Tribune Forum broadcast.
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Thursday, October 24 – Akron, Ohio.
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Friday, October 25 – Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
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Saturday, October 26 – New York City
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Monday, October 28 – Louisville, Kentucky.
The last week of the campaign was purposely left open. He will campaign then in states where his presence will be best calculated to result in victory.