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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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different parts of the world, and a recognition that greater freedom in trade would have much to do with raising the standard of living, not only in our country, but the world over, and that it was one of the elements in the keeping of the peace. The keeping of the peace was important in those days because we'd just been through the First World War. The Republicans, as I recall it, had always evaded any discussion of stimulation of trade as an element in keeping the peace. The Democrats had something to offer in this field. That was offered everywhere.

Those primarily are the two things that I remember about the Democratic party before Al Smith. It emphasized free trade. On account of the Harding administration we were also for honesty in a big way. We were for states rights. We were for economy in government, though I don't suppose anybody really knew what that meant. Coolidge knew what that meant. When he pinched a penny, he pinched it. We didn't think of the federal government in terms of big expenditures. That's quite clear.

After this speech in Boston, when Felix Frankfurter made that comment, I began to think very seriously about the new ideas we were sowing. I had really made the only speech I know. I had made the same speech in Boston





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