By BENJAMIN DeCASSERES
IN 1932 THE American electorate was under the impression that it had elected Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States, running on the Democratic platform.
THE MAN WHOM IT REALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT WAS NORMAN THOMAS, RUNNING ON THE SOCIALIST PLATFORM.
No sooner had Mr. Roosevelt been inaugurated than the Democratic platform, which the people had indorsed by a plurality of 7,000,000 votes, was thrown overboard and the platform of the Socialist party, which polled only 884,781 votes out of a total of 39,000,000 votes, WAS ADOPTED ALMOST IN TOTO.
Therefore, we are ruled today by a party that was OVERWHELMINGLY DEFEATED AT THE POLLS BY BOTH MAJOR PARTIES.
We elected a Democratic ticket, but we live under a SOCIALISTIC form of government.
Let us looks at the facts:
The only two important planks in the Democratic platform, adopted at Chicago in June, 1932, that have been lived up to are the prohibition and national defense planks.
The platform began with this “solemn covenant” with the people:
“The Democratic party solemnly promises by appropriate action to put into effect the principles, policies and reforms herein indicated.”
They were: A drastic reduction of governmental expenditures; the abolition of useless commissions and offices; consolidation of departments and bureaus; eliminating extravagance; a federal budget annually balanced; unemployment and old-age insurance under STATE LAWS.
All these “solemn promises” have been broken by increased governmental expenses, the creation of new commissions and bureaus; increased extravagance; a further division, instead of “consolidation,” of departments and bureaus; an unbalanced federal budget; a mounting debt, and federal unemployment and old-age insurance instead of insurance under state laws EXCLUSIVELY.
The rest of the platform consists of vague generalities piled on the still vaguer basic generality of “to recover economic liberty.”
Now turn to the platform of the national Socialist party, adopted in May, 1932, at Milwaukee.
Here are the leading planks in that platform which the Roosevelt administration has tried by every means in its power, TO FOIST ON A COUNTRY THAT VOTED FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM:
The entrance of the United States into the world court (failed).
Recognition of the Soviet government (succeeded).
Six-hour day and a five-day week (succeeded, partly).
Increased inheritance tax (about to be launched).
Moratorium on farm foreclosures (succeeded until knocked out by the ALL-AMERICAN supreme court).
Socialization of the power, banking and other industries (already begun on a large scale under the NRA—until smashed by the same ALL-AMERICAN supreme court, Socialistic power and banking planks now under consideration).
Cancellation of war debts (tacitly successful, as nothing is being done in the matter).
That is the platform adopted by a party, whose avowed aim is the DESTRUCTION of individualistic – Democratic – capitalistic America and the SUBSTITUTION of a tyranny of economic and political mob-masters originating in the brains of reactionary minded European peoples.
And that is the platform—with still more revolutionary and crackpot details—that the Roosevelt administration has adopted, instead of the one it was ORDERED TO PUT INTO EFFECT BY THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES!
If Norman Thomas was elected president in 1932, why isn’t he serving?
WHY HAS HE A PROXY?
Original publication
Benjamin DeCasseres, “Who Is President?,” Syracuse Journal, June 22, 1935, editorial page (number unresolved).