There had been so much traffic for three and one-half years in the
"dark alleys of inspired propaganda" in which "ideals and men [were]
assassinated with poisonous whisperings" that President Hoover was
unable to check and overcome it during a brief two-months' campaign
period.

In addition he had to meet politically damaging statements such
as the following Governor Roosevelt made in a speech delivered Octo-
ber 25, 1932:

The crash came in October, 1929. The President had at his disposal
all the instrumentalities of government. From that day until De-
cember 31, 1931, he did absolutely nothing to remedy the situation.
Not only did he do nothing, but he took the position that Congress
could do nothing.

How could a President answer such a charge? The dignity of his
office prevents his use of the short ugly word the people readily under-
stand. A recital of all that he had done to help carry the people, the
government and the world through social, economic and political ca-
tastrophe would have sounded like an alibi.

In a speech he delivered on September 29, Governor Roosevelt
charged that:

We are spending altogether too much money for government
services that are neither practical nor necessary. And then in addi-
tion we are attempting too many functions. We need to simplify
what the Federal government is giving to the people.

I accuse the present administration of being the greatest spending
administration in peacetime in all our history. It is an administration
that has piled bureau on bureau, commission on commission. . . .

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