June 16, 1970
Page 19944
IF HUMPHREY HAD NOT BEEN DEFEATED
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, there have been many post mortems on the 1968 presidential election.
None, however, have been more pointed or more succinct than an editorial written by one of the most able and thoughtful editors in New England, Ed DeCourcy, and published recently in the Argus Champion of Newport, N.H.
I ask unanimous consent that Ed DeCourcy's "The Spectator" column be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the editorial was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
[From the Argus Champion, Newport, N.H., May 21, 1970]
THE SPECTATOR: IF HUMPHREY HAD NOT BEEN DEFEATED
(By Edward DeCourcy)
Eighteen months have passed since our last Presidential election, and many of us have forgotten how close it was, and how it seemed on that election night, for a while at least, that Hubert Humphrey might even be our President.
If we can stretch our memories to recall that 1968 campaign, maybe we can realize how lucky we are that Humphrey was not elected.
Remember inflation? Why, if Humphrey had not been defeated, inflation would be worse today than it was in 1968, and everybody remembers how bad that was. Prices would be higher right across the board. Interest rates on mortgages would have skyrocketed to nine or 10 percent.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, the bottom would have dropped out of the stock market, and stock prices now would be at their lowest point in seven years.
If Humphrey had not been defeated, we'd have many more people out of work and unemployment would be getting worse, and all the time his Cabinet officers and advisers would be telling us this was only temporary and things would be rosy by the end of the year.
We really are fortunate that Humphrey wasn't elected.
If he hadn't been defeated, the unrest on the college campuses would be getting worse. Students would be rioting, and sometimes even burning buildings, and officials would have to be calling out the National Guard.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, some students might even be getting shot.
It's a good thing Humphrey wasn't elected. Remember all the talk about peace, but everybody knew all the time that he was a war monger and was married to the Johnson Vietnam policy. If he hadn't been defeated, we'd still have thousands of men fighting in Vietnam and the casualties would be as bad as ever.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, we'd be bombing North Vietnam again, and we'd be invading Cambodia, only we wouldn't call it invasion.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, crime would be increasing, and the efficiency of the postal service decreasing.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, there would be no respect for law and order, Post Office employees and teachers would be going on illegal strikes. Even airport traffic controllers would be striking.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, racial tension would be tearing us apart, and the whole cause of integration would be slowed down.
Why, if Humphrey hadn't been defeated, even the American Indians would be on the rampage, taking over places like Alcatraz and threatening even up in Old Town. We would be stockpiling nerve gas, or threatening to ship it on railroad tracks right through cities.
If Hubert Humphrey hadn't been defeated, almost every river in the country would be polluted and the city dwellers, wherever they are, would be choking for a breath of fresh air.
If Humphrey hadn't been defeated, Newport would be having its federal aid to education cut, and the Small Watershed project on the Sugar River would be delayed and the Soil Conservation engineering staff would be cut back.
Its really a good thing Humphrey was defeated. Otherwise we'd all be shouting at each other, and nobody would be listening, and our voices wouldn't be lowered, and young people wouldn't be talking to government, and government wouldn't be talking to young people.
So you never can be sure on election night, just how lucky we are.