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  • "A Declaration of Conscience" Delivered in The United States Senate, June 1, 1950

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    Margaret Chase Smith delivered a speech criticizing the "fear and frustration" and lack of leadership in the U.S. government that could lead to "national suicide." She spoke out against the character assassinations and "hate" that had come to define debates in the Senate. Smith called for senators to do "soul searching" and remember their duty to uphold the Constitution, including the right to free speech and trial by jury. She condemned the "Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear" that were threatening to divide the country and undermine the two-party political system.

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    Margaret Chase Smith delivered a speech criticizing the "fear and frustration" and lack of leadership in the U.S. government that could lead to "national suicide." She spoke out against the character assassinations and "hate" that had come to define debates in the Senate. Smith called for senators to do "soul searching" and remember their duty to uphold the Constitution, including the right to free speech and trial by jury. She condemned the "Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear" that were threatening to divide the country and undermine the two-party political system.

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    31 views2 pages

    "A Declaration of Conscience" Delivered in The United States Senate, June 1, 1950

    Uploaded by

    handysapiens sapiens
    Margaret Chase Smith delivered a speech criticizing the "fear and frustration" and lack of leadership in the U.S. government that could lead to "national suicide." She spoke out against the character assassinations and "hate" that had come to define debates in the Senate. Smith called for senators to do "soul searching" and remember their duty to uphold the Constitution, including the right to free speech and trial by jury. She condemned the "Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear" that were threatening to divide the country and undermine the two-party political system.

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    "A Declaration of Conscience" Delivered in the United

    States Senate, June 1, 1950


    Margaret Chase Smith
    Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear
    and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a
    condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership either in the legislative branch or the executive branch of our
    government…

    Mr. President, I speak as a Republican. I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States senator. I speak as an American.

    The United States Senate has long enjoyed worldwide respect as the greatest deliberative body in the world. But
    recently that deliberative character has too often been debased to the level of a forum of hate and character assassination
    sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity.

    It is ironical that we senators can in debate in the Senate, directly or indirectly, by any form of words, impute to any
    American who is not a senator any conduct or motive unworthy or un­becoming an American—and without that non-
    senator American having any legal redress against us—yet if we say the same thing in the Senate about our colleagues
    we can be stopped on the grounds of being out of order…

    I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our
    consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which
    we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges. I think that it is high time that we remembered that we
    have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution,
    as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation. Whether it
    be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical distinction when the
    life of a person has been ruined.

    Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those
    who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism: the right to criticize, the right to
    hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest, the right of independent thought. The exercise of these rights should not cost
    one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation
    or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs. Who of us does not? Otherwise
    none of us could call our souls our own. Otherwise thought control would have set in.

    The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as
    "Communists" or "Fascists" by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. It has been so
    abused by some that it is not exercised by others.

    The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed. But there
    have been enough proved cases, such as the Amerasia case, the Hiss case, the Coplon case, the Gold case, to cause
    nationwide distrust and strong suspicion that there may be something to the unproved, sensational accusations.

    As a Republican, I say to my colleagues on this side of the aisle that the Republican party faces a challenge today that is
    not unlike the challenge which it faced back in Lincoln's day. The Republican party so successfully met that challenge
    that it emerged from the Civil War as the champion of a united nation—in addition to being a party which unrelentingly
    fought loose spending and loose programs.

    Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and the suspicions that are bred in the United
    States Senate to spread like cancerous tentacles of "know nothing, suspect everything" attitudes. Today we have a
    Democratic administration which has developed a mania for loose spending and loose programs. History is repeating
    itself-and the Republican party again has the opportunity to emerge as the champion of unity and prudence.

    The record of the present Democratic administration has provided us with sufficient campaign issues without the
    necessity of resorting to political smears. America is rapidly losing its position as leader of the world simply because the
    Democratic administration has pitifully failed to provide effective leadership… The nation sorely needs a Republican
    victory. But I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear,
    Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear. I doubt if the Republican party could do so, simply because I do not believe the
    American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely, we
    Republicans are not that desperate for victory. I do not want to see the Republican party win that way. While it might be
    a fleeting victory for the Republican party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would
    ultimately be suicide for the Republican party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from
    the dictatorship of a one-party system.

    As members of the minority party, we do not have the primary authority to formulate the policy of our government. But
    we do have the responsibility of rendering constructive criticism, of clarifying issues, of allaying fears by acting as
    responsible citizens. As a woman, I wonder how the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters feel about the way in which
    members of their families have been politically mangled in Senate debate—and I use the word "debate" advisedly. As a
    United States senator, I am not proud of the way in which the Senate has been made a publicity platform for
    irresponsible sensational­ism. I am not proud of the reckless abandon in which unproved charges have been hurled
    from this side of the aisle. I am not proud of the obviously staged, undignified countercharges which have been
    attempted in retaliation from the other side of the aisle…

    As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist
    design of "confuse, divide, and conquer." As an American, I do not want a Democratic administration "whitewash" or
    "coverup" any more than I want a Republican smear or witch hunt. As an American, I condemn a Republican Fascist
    just as much as I condemn a Democrat Communist. I condemn a Democrat Fascist just as much as I condemn a
    Republican Communist. They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see
    our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.
    Taken from: Robert Torricelli, ed., In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), pg.176

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