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Hinton Daily News
April 26, 1960

Arrangements Completed For Kennedy's Visit Here

Forest McNeer, Hinton attorney and Summers county manager for Senator John F. Kennedy, Democratic candidate for President, said today that all arrangements have been completed for the appearance here Wednesday for the Senator and his attractive wife.

The Kennedy party will arrive in Hinton promptly at 11:45 a.m. and will go to the Court House Park for his speaking appearance. Afterwards he and Mrs. Kennedy will meet as many persons as possible before leaving for Alderson where he is scheduled to make another address on the high school campus there. He will speak at Ronceverte at the high school there at 3 p.m. and at Lewisburg High school at 4 p.m.

At Wayne Monday Senator Kennedy unfolded a 10-point program to create jobs and develope [sic] the economy of West Virginia.

He told the Wayne audience that he wanted to talk about the issue of the campaign - not questions of private religious belief - not where candidates go to church - not whether one denomination or one church is better than another.

"The only issue in this state," he said, "is jobs and I am confident that West Virginians will not be distracted by irrelevant discussions."

Continuing Senator Kennedy said:

It has been said that the state of West Virginia is not "typical" of the rest of America - that it is different. Somehow it is implied that it is inferior. I have traveled across your great state and I know West Virginia is typical of America - it is typical of the strength and courage and determination of its citizens - it is typical in its desire for a better life for all men - it is typical in its belief in the great American traditions of freedom and fair play and a brotherhood of man - of all faiths and races - under God.

And it is also a typical victim of the neglect of the federal government and the indifference the Republican administration has shown for the large numbers of unemployed.

West Virginia is a great and rich state. It has vast deposits of natural resources - of coal and gas. It has a skilled, a strong and willing labor force. It has a strategic location - within 500 miles of 55 per cent of all the people in the nation. Four of the five largest metropolitan centers are also within that radius. And it is a state of unparalleled beauty and recreational attractions - the so-called Switzerland of America - a place to which many thousands more tourists can be attracted. And yet, in the midst of this great richness, unemployment continues to increase, per capita income goes down, population declines as young people seek opportunity and jobs elsewhere, and the farm income drops almost one-third of the national average. These are cold, impersonal figures which tell a human story - a story of hardship, despair and of personal tragedy and they also tell another story - an equally grim story - the story of a government which has the power to help, which has a duty to help, but it has refused to help.

That is why I say this election is of critical importance to both West Virginia and the nation. The next Democratic administration - an administration in the great New Deal tradition of Franklin Roosevelt - will know that a stronger West Virginia is one of the keys to a stronger America. It will know that acceptance of federal responsibility will repay itself a thousandfold in terms of increased production, a more prosperous people, and a stronger America.

The problems of West Virginia are not local, but national - that is why the next President must begin with a fresh deal for West Virginia.


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