Reading Eagle (October 1, 1940)
WILLKIE HITS F.D.R. POWER
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Calls on People Not To Substitute Catcalls For Thinking
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Aboard Willkie Train En Route Through Michigan, Oct. 1 (AP) –
Wendell L. Willkie charged the Roosevelt administration today with trying to solve its problems by one of two methods –
Appropriating more money or grabbing more power.
As a result, the Republican presidential nominee said at Pontiac, Michigan, the administration has more power than any of its predecessors.
Boos were mingled with applause the court house, where Willkie spoke from a specially erected platform.
Egg Splashed on Wife
While he was driving back to the railroad station, an egg was thrown into his car. It broke against the back of the front seat, and splashed over Mrs. Willkie.
Willkie scowled, his car stopped for a moment, and one of his bodyguards pointed to the direction from which the egg was thrown. A minute later, another egg hit a truck carrying photographers ahead of Willkie’s car.
The nominee told his audience:
Whenever there has been a continuous concentration of power in the federal government, the right of laboring men to organize rapidly has disappeared.
Anyone who seeks to answer arguments against administration activities with “catcalls,” Willkie said, and who is able to lead others to follow him, “is going down the road to slavery that now exists in Germany.”
If democracy is to be preserved, the nominee said, people should not “substitute catcalls for thinking.”
He renewed his argument that the New Deal:
…has made it pleasant and easy for the rich by providing numerous tax exempt bonds in which they can invest.
Urging his hearers to think about the election, Willkie added, “Don’t let them lead you like cattle to the shambles.” He urged them not to be “misled by men like Ed Flynn who buys up votes.” Edward J. Flynn is the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Exchanges Banter
Willkie, exchanging banter with a crowd of high school pupils at Royal Oak, Mich., this morning, solemnly warned them.
Be sure to work hard in school. If you don’t, you may come to a bad end like I did – running for President.
The Republican presidential nominee was not quite dressed when his train stopped at 8:15 a.m. ahead of schedule. When he appeared on the rear platform, he told his audience that he hadn’t had breakfast.
There was a call from the crowd and Willkie laughed.
You say I’m not getting any thinner? I ought to be able to appear here without getting insults. Besides, I don’t notice that you’re falling away.
Someone asked for Mrs. Willkie.
Mrs. Willkie isn’t up yet. I’m afraid to tell her to get up. I haven’t much authority around here.