The Pittsburgh Press (September 14, 1944)
‘An incredible accomplishment’ –
Dewey: Roosevelt stretched depression out for 11 years
GOP candidate tells voters choice rests between regimentation and free society
Sheridan, Wyoming (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey said today that despite $58 billion to spend, President Roosevelt “made a depression last for 11 years, which is an incredible accomplishment for any one man.”
Speaking from the rear platform of his special train, Mr. Dewey said that the issue of the presidential campaign involves a choice between the New Deal road to regimentation and a totalitarian society, or a free society with full opportunity of jobs for all.
He told the crowd that he was happy to be in Sheridan and “delighted to see no one here spoiled by the New Deal.”
‘New Dealer’ speaks up
He said:
As I told the people of Valentine, Nebraska, you all look so healthy I’m sure there isn’t a New Dealer in the crowd.
“Oh, yes, there is,” a shout went up from the fringe of the crowd.
Mr. Dewey continued when the laughter died down:
I am confident that with a new administration which believes in the future of America and the American way of life, we can go up the road to prosperity.
Mr. Dewey was greeted by a cowboy band and a crowd estimated at 3,000 persons. Sheridan has a total population of about 13,000.
Plans major speeches
The presidential nominee, who will deliver seven major campaign speeches and sound out local sentiment on various campaign issues on his cross-country tour, scheduled conferences with leaders of veterans, livestock, agriculture, sugar beet and GOP organizations during a seven-hour stop at Sheridan today and will move on to Billings, Montana, tonight for a similar round of conferences tomorrow.
Mr. Dewey is using the private conference method to sound out local groups on their complaints against the Roosevelt administration and their recommendations for changes if he wins election to the White House in November.
Cattlemen fear surplus
At the conclusion of his conferences at Valentine yesterday, Mr. Dewey told a press conference the men he met were greatly disturbed over the apparent failure of the Roosevelt administration to prepare for dealing with the range cattle surplus which they foresee when the war ends.
He blamed government regulations for the fact that there is beef rationing despite the fact that there are 10 million more head of cattle on the ranges today than would be considered a normal supply.
Mr. Dewey also suggested at his press conference that “now that Gen. MacArthur no longer is a political threat” to President Roosevelt, “his talents be given greater scope and recognition.”