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the shipbuilding people, of whom my family was one, were all for free trade, whereas the factory people - the people who owned factories - were all for a high protective tariff. There was constant debate always going on. They always voted Republican, I guess, or a great many of them did, but free trade was a respectable idea because either that or a subsidy for shipping was necessary. That was essential. You had to have one or the other.

That was all I knew about the Democratic party's theoretical position. I knew it in the New York sense. I was interested at Albany in these various political movements, but I never became adherent to any of the parties that were operating at that time. I because considerably attached to Al Smith as a human being and as a politician, but that certainly was not my reason for choosing the Democratic party, because he wasn't so awfully important at that time. When I say that I became considerably attached to Smith, I mean as attached as you can be to a man whom you never saw except in his office. I because attached to him as opposed to other people whom I saw around. He didn't make false promises. He told me the truth. If I went to him about a particular bill or a particular amendment, he would say, “Yes, I guess we can get that through.” He listened to you and said, “Yes, I'll try to put that through. I think I can do that.”