The Pittsburgh Press (October 8, 1944)
Bricker hits ‘bypassing’ of Congress
Mustn’t be pawn, candidate says
Duluth, Minnesota (UP) – (Oct. 7)
President Roosevelt’s “bypassing” of Congress was condemned tonight by Governor John W. Bricker who said that a Republican victory in next month’s national election would assure the legislative of being a “corollary branch of the government.”
The Republican vice-presidential candidate said in a speech here that American representative government was free only so long as Congress was “untrammeled virile, and objective.” His party, he said, abhorred the “bypassing of Congress by devious methods” by President Roosevelt. American liberty dies, he added, when Congress becomes the “tool or the pawn” of the President.
‘One-man government’
Mr. Bricker accused President Roosevelt of “dominating” Congress ever since he took office in 1933 by declaring the existence of “crises,” “emergencies,” “dangers” or “serious situations” and by “coercion.”
Mr. Bricker said:
The basic issue of the campaign is whether one man shall personally govern and permanently regiment 130 million Americans or whether they shall continue to govern themselves through time-tested institutions of self-government.
Concludes his trip
By electing Mr. Dewey President, he asserted “the people will assure that Congress shall be allowed to function as a corollary branch of American government.”
Mr. Bricker’s speech here concluded his campaign in the Great Lakes region. He left in his special train tonight for a run through North Dakota and across Montana and Utah to Washington where he will begin stumping the whole Pacific Coast. His present tour will cover 9,250 miles in 29 days of hard campaigning for election of Mr. Dewey as President and himself as Vice President.