Mr. Chairman, Fellow Americans!

FRANK SULLIVAN

■ THE CHAIRMAN : . . . And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honor to present to you our orator of the day, the Honorable Pelham C. Vodle, Representative in Congress from this district. Mr. Vodle. (Applause)

MR. VODLE: Mr. Chairman, Fellow Americans. I count it indeed an honor to be with you here today to help you celebrate the 157th anniversary of the birth of our glorious nation. That celebration, my friends, should take on a particular solemnity this year, for we are met in a time when troubles beset our land. Our country is in the throes of a serious depression, and the world outside is convulsed with internecine strife and hatreds. And as I watched the children just now presenting their admirable little pageant—and by the way, may I congratulate the children heartily, and their efficient teachers, on the excellence of the pageant?—-as I watched their pageant my thoughts somehow strayed backward in time, and I thought of the great Washington, the Father of Our Country, and there came to me that immortal advice of his . . . that immortal advice . . . that immortal. . . .

THE CHAIRMAN (whispering) : To avoid entangling alliances.

MR. VODLE: Thank you. To avoid entangling alliances. My friends, today more than at any time in the history of our glorious nation it is essential that we heed that wise and farseeing admonition. Let the nations of Europe, with their nationalistic feuds and hatreds, fight their own battles. 1 say to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that the United States must not again become embroiled in Europe's quarrels.

A HECKLER: Why not?

MR. VODLE: My friend, your point is perhaps well taken. Why not, as you say? After all, when George Washington uttered that famous warning, the world was a vastly different world from the world of today. And the time has come now when the United States can no longer play the ostrich, in selfish isolation. The world is now one great community, linked by telegraph, radio and fast steamer, and, my friends, 1 think 1 may speak for the Father of Our Country when 1 say that if he were with us today he would say that America must not refuse to play her part in working out the common destiny. . .

A HECKLER: HOW about cancelling those debts?

MR. VODLE: A heckler asks me about cancelling those debts. My friends, the huge sums of money due us from the nations of Europe constitute an honest debt. That debt must in honour be paid. There must be no cancellation.

ANOTHER HECKLER: Why shouldn't there be cancellation?

MR. VODLE: Ladies and gentlemen, the question is a fair one. Why shouldn't there be cancellation? The nations of Europe are today impoverished, sore stricken. There is an old saving that you can't get blood out of a stone. In my humble opinion, the sooner the United States wipes the war debts from the slate, the quicker the world will move toward recovery from the depression.

A VOICE: What about the veterans?

MR. VODLE: My friend, I am glad you asked me about the veterans, because it is indeed fitting ... it is indeed fitting ... it is indeed. . . .

(The Audience rises, to help Mr. Vodle.)

THE AUDIENCE (en masse) : ... it is indeed fitting that on this anniversary of our nation's independence we should pause and give thought to those brave men who throughout these 157 years have fought and bled that our glorious republic might live.

Mu. VODLE: My friends, I thank you front the bottom of my heart, for helping me out.

THE AUDIENCE: You're quite welcome, we're sure.

(The Audience resumes its seats.)

MR. VODLE: Our boys were willing to make the supreme sacrifice for our homes and fire-sides in 1918. yet now, when they ask for a paltry two or three billions a year, we turn upon them the cold shoulder of ingratitude. Ladies and Gentlemen. I say to you that the veterans should have the bonus.

A HECKLER: Why?

MR. VODLE: It is a fair question. Why, indeed? My friends, 1 yield to no man in my admiration for the boys who left home and fireside in 1918 to make the world safe for democracy, hut I want to tell you—and I will speak frankly although I may offend some here—I want to tell you ... I want to tell you...

THE AUDIENCE (rising): He wants to tell us that the demands of the veterans' lobby on the national treasury constitute a shocking scandal and will, if they continue unchecked, plunge the country into a chaos of bankruptcy.

MR. VODLE: Oh, thank you again, my friends.

THE AUDIENCE (seating itself) : It's no trouble at all, we assure you.

MR. VODLE: . . . and so, from the snowcapped peaks of the Rockies to the pine-clad forests of Maine. . . .

A HECKLER: What about repeal?

MR. VODLE: I was coming to that. And so, from the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies to the pine-clad forests of Maine, the question of repeal is one that must be given serious thought by every patriotic citizen of our country. The Eighteenth Amendment was placed in the Constitution through the efforts of God-fearing men and women. Today there is danger that the work of these patriotic men and women may be undone and I say to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, I say to you ... I say

THE AUDIENCE (rising) : He says to us that it is the duty of every patriotic, law-abiding citizen of the United States to rally to the cause of Prohibition and to leave no stone unturned nor effort unmade to see that this great humanitarian measure is kept in the Constitution.

A HECKLER: Nuts.

MR. VODLE: My friends, a heckler says "Nuts." Well. I am not sure that I am not inclined to say "Nuts" with him. Americans, wearied with fourteen years of bigotry and fanaticism, have rebelled; have finally, to use a homely phrase, "kicked over the traces", and I say to you, my friends, I say to you. . . .

THE AUDIENCE (rising) : You say to us, don't you, that Prohibition is doomed; that beer is already here and that right-thinking, law-abiding citizens have every reason to hope that the day is not far distant when, as St. Paul said, we can all have a little wine for our stomach's sake. And so, you say to us, let us all put our shoulders to the wheel and work for repeal. Let us leave no stone unturned nor effort unmade to see that that intolerable and fanatical piece of legislation, the Eighteenth Amendment, is removed from the Constitution.

MR. VODLE: My friends, it's mighty white of you to help me out like this.

THE AUDIENCE: Oh. the pleasure is all ours, Mr. Vodle.

MR. VODLE: And so, from the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies to the pine-clad forests of Maine, we now come to the question of inflation.

THE AUDIENCE: Yes?

MR. VODLE: And then to the question of sound money.

THE AUDIENCE (eagerly) : Yes?

MB. VODLE: And after that, to farm relief.

THE AUDIENCE: Farm relief. Think O' that, Graham.

MR. VODLE: And then to the tariff.

THE AUDIENCE: My, my! The tariff.

MR. VODLE: And from the tariff, as the time is growing short, to the conclusion of my address.

THE AUDIENCE: We'll do the conclusion for you, Mr. Vodle, if you like.

MIL VODLE: Would I like? Say, you people come right up here on the stage and get busy. I'll sit down there.

(The Audience comes up on the stage and Mr. Vodle takes a seat in the audience.)

THE AUDIENCE: Well. Mr. Vodle, the hour is growing apace and we have already taken up too much of your time, we fear. . .

MR. VODLE: NO, no, no.

THE AUDIENCE: And so, in conclusion, we say to you, Congressman Vodle, that America will not. must not, fail. This glorious land of ours will emerge triumphant from this ordeal, as she has emerged triumphant from far greater ordeals. Let us now build a new, a finer America, an America of peace and prosperity, of malice toward none and justice for all; an America which shall be a glorious heritage to hand on to these children here with us today, and to their children, and their children's children. We thank you.

(Mr. Vodle applauds vigorously.)

THE CHAIRMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure Congressman Vodle and I have enjoyed your address greatly. And now I will ask Dr. Truro to invoke a blessing, following which Mr. Vodle will rise in a body and sing the national anthem..