The Pittsburgh Press (October 28, 1944)
Bricker accuses New Deal of abusing small business
GOP candidate says administration’s restrictions threaten free enterprise
Joplin, Missouri (UP) –
New Deal “abuse” of small business was attacked today by Ohio Governor John W. Bricker as a threat to free enterprise which, he said, was the bulwark of the American system of government.
In a speech prepared for delivery here today, the GOP vice-presidential nominee charged that New Deal “injury” to small business began before the war. The present condition of small business and the Roosevelt administration’s attitude toward it, he said, indicate “the failure of the New Deal to comprehend even the nature of the problem.”
Free enterprise threatened
Declaring that the American people were determined to preserve free enterprise, Mr. Bricker said:
Unless we can create an atmosphere of opportunity in which the small business man may start out, grow and prosper, our system of free enterprise, will wither and die.
The Republican Party this year, he asserted, offers small business a “constructive program” based on the belief that if that field of industry is protected against discrimination and is given equality of opportunity, it will become “the most important factor in providing employment.”
Demands tax changes
He said:
It must be aided by changes in taxation – by eliminating excessive and repressive regulation and government competition – by the enforcement of laws against monopoly and unfair competition – and by providing simpler and cheaper methods of obtaining venture capital necessary for growth and expansion.
The New Deal, Mr. Bricker charged, “stunted” small business by “arbitrary and restrictive” policies. Even before the war, he said, private investment was discouraged.
Last night, Mr. Bricker told a nationwide radio audience tuned in on a Republican rally at Kansas City that President Roosevelt’s record on national defense and foreign policy was one of “vacillation, confusion, secrecy and bungling.”
He said the country’s “desperate” needs now was for a President who would “courageously speak out for America’s convictions… with the same sturdy voice that Churchill speaks for Britain and Stalin speaks for Russia.”
Governor Bricker said:
Mr. Roosevelt gave lip service to peace did nothing to preserve it here or elsewhere. His foreign policy was an utter failure. He did not keep us out of war. Moreover, he knew, or should have known, that America would be drawn in. Yet he refused to take us into his confidence. He minimized the danger and lulled us into a sense of security until after the fall of France.