Felix M. Warburg, noted financier and philanthropist, last night urged the re-election of President Hoover in an address at the Brooklyn Jewish Center. Mr. Warburg’s speech was broadcast over station WOR.
“The issue before the country in this election is the gravest we have faced in all my recollection,” Mr. Warburg said. “On the one hand we have an amiable candidate who freely promises to each group and section of the country precisely what it desires, irrespective of how these groups and these promises apparently conflict. On the other hand, we have a man already in the high office of President. If you have a piece of paper and a pencil near you, just put down the sixteen achievements of the latter, which you will find upon further consideration are of far reaching influence and to the credit of President Hoover.
“1. He has led the nation successfully through the most severe and prolonged depression in our history. 2. He is the man whose appointments to the judiciary and other Federal offices are characterized by such names as Hughes and Cardozo, the latter, incidentally, a Democrat. 3. He is the man who against a storm of opposition, vetoed the Bonus Bill and who, 4. Single-handedly has blocked every other raid upon the taxpayers of the country by special groups. 5. He is the man who saved the economic structure of the world with the justly famous moratorium. 6. He is the man who prevented the wholesale failure of the banks. 7. He is the man who prevented the wholesale failure of insurance companies of the country, which would have engulfed the lifetime savings of millions of his fellow-citizens. 8. He is the man who maintained the gold standard of the American dollar. 9. He preserved sound money against the clamor for fiat money in the last Congress. 10. He inspired the Disarmament Conference. 11. He called the White House Conference on Child Welfare. 12. He called the White House Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership. 13. He called the White House Conference on Social Welfare programs and he is the first President who has ever done so. 14 He is the man who, for more than two years of the depression, maintained wage-scales and 15. He prevented strikes and labor troubles, which have been bloody manifestations in all past depressions. 16. He is the man who has repeatedly urged economics upon a pork-barrel Congress.
“He works harder and for longer hours than any man in the country, and is the best equipped by training and experience for his great task. Finally, he is the most liberal and open hearted of men to the opinions, beliefs and creeds of other men. Can we afford in this crisis to turn him out of office for a new and untried hand?
“Some people, who have no idea what the day of the President consists of, expect things which are absurd, time devouring and not possible for any conscientious executive to fulfil. As far as I know, we have never had a President who worked as hard and labored as President Hoover.
“It would be absurd to say that the election of the Democratic candidate would mean calamity. It would not. But much as I esteem the charming personality of Governor Roosevelt, I think I am a practical business man and the next years are too important and the conditions still too dangerous to take a chance on educating a new President and a new Cabinet and to experiment as they have promised us with the violent tariff reductions.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
