Date: Undated, 1919
Location: Boston, MA
Context: Coolidge casts the election as a referendum on his handling of the Boston Police Strike
The issue before the voter this year is not a candidate but a cause. It is before every inhabitant of Massachusetts. This cause is the supremacy of the law. We can have no divided allegiance. Either we favor the duty of the government to enforce the law or we oppose it. This question is above every other consideration. We want liberty, we want prosperity, we want order. We can have none of these unless the law is supreme, unless the will of the whole people as expressed in their laws, as administered by the agents and representatives they choose is to be the final authority. The choice is between this and the rule of force, a state of anarchy and destruction.
This cause is greater than any organization, greater than any party, it is the cause of every patriot, of every one who loves America.
Candidates may be of little consequence. This cause is supreme. It will not be enough to elect a candidate. All who believe in law and order — not as a theory, but in its practical application — must work, must strive, must sacrifice to secure the triumph of that cause on election day by a majority that will be decisive. The people of Massachusetts have no safety, no refuge, except in the support of their government.
Citation: Vermont Historical Society
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The Coolidge Foundation thanks Isaac Oberman, who prepared this document for digital publication.