THE PRESIDENCY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 22, 6 November 1940, Page 6

THE PRESIDENCY

V CLOSE CONTEST IN AMERICA.

INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE.

THE FINAL BROADCASTS. United Press Association— Copyright) NEW YORK. November 5. More than 50,000',000 voters to-day will decide what may be the closest election since 1916, after one of the most turbulent campaigns in history, in which international and domestic issues have been so intertwined that the result will be awaited as anxiously at No. 10 Downing Street and the Wilhelmstrasse as in Sioux City, lowa. The bitterness of the campaign has assured a huge vote and has . caused fears of violence, particularly in New York, because of the mixed population. Mr Roosevelt’s last broadcast "is estimated to accord him a slight advantage in the popular vote, in spite of a generally hostile press, but all' poll surveys show a growing and recent trend for Mr Willkie. Experts, however, agree that Mr Willkie must carry the big four States, namely, New York, Pennsylvania, Illriois, and Ohio, in order to win. Democratic headquarters predicted that Mr Roosevelt would win 400 electoral votes', while the Republicans claimed 324, which is 58; above the necessary majority. . , . , Mr Roosevelt, broadcasting a knal word before the'election, compared the fortunate lot of Americans—peace and freedom—with life overseas—bombs and destruction. He thanked God that America was living in peace, and he expected that, the United States would continue to live in peace. “The dictators have forgotten or per-haps-they never knew that the basis on which democratic government is founded' is 'that the,opinion of all the people freely formed and freely expressed without fear or coercion is wiser than the opinion of any one man or any small group. We have more faith in the collective opinion of all Americans than in the individual opinion of any one American, ’ he said. Mr Roosevelt expressed confidence that the workers on each side in the campaigh would continue to co-operate after the election in the service of democracy. ' He concluded by reading an old prayer asking the guidance of God for the nation. Addressing a local rally at Poughkeepsie, Mr Roosevelt said: “New forms of government based on the theory of might rather than of right have waged wars against innocent peoples, but I believe the German and Italian peoples with their proud heritage of freedom will return with the remainder of the world to self-govern-ment based on free elections. The Republican candidate (Mr Wendell Willkie), in his final broadcast, attacked the third-term principle and he said: “My every act as -President will be to keep the United States out of foreign wars and keep her at peace. I promise not to send your husbands, sons and brothers to death on European or Asiatic battlefields.” The Secretary of State (Mr Cordell Hull), in a broadcast, urged the reelection of Mr Roosevelt. He hoped that after the election the losers would accept the verdict without rancour. Mr Hull described the election as a historic occasion, representing “the emphatic reassertion of democratic progress in the world, in which powerful and sinister forces are arranged against the ideal of popular government.”