Transcriber’s Notes: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. * * * * * THE CONSCIENCE OF A CONSERVATIVE _by_ BARRY GOLDWATER _1960_ VICTOR PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1 4th Avenue, Shepherdsville, Kentucky * * * * * Copyright 1960 By VICTOR PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No reproduction in any form of this book, in whole or in part, (except for brief quotation in critical articles or reviews) may be made without written authorization from the publisher. First Printing 10,000 copies March 1960 Second Printing 10,000 copies April 1960 Third Printing 50,000 copies May 1960 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 60-12269 Printed in the United States of America FOREWORD This book is not written with the idea of adding to or improving on the Conservative philosophy. Or of “bringing it up to date.” The ancient and tested truths that guided our Republic through its early days will do equally well for us. The challenge to Conservatives today is quite simply to demonstrate the bearing of a proven philosophy on the problems of our own time. I should explain the considerations that led me to join in this effort. I am a politician, a United States Senator. As such, I have had an opportunity to learn something about the political instincts of the American people, I have crossed the length and breadth of this great land hundreds of times and talked with tens of thousands of people, with Democrats and Republicans, with farmers and laborers and businessmen. I find that America is fundamentally a Conservative nation. The preponderant judgment of the American people, especially of the young people, is that the radical, or Liberal, approach has not worked and is not working. They yearn for a return to Conservative principles. At the same time, I have been in a position to observe first hand how Conservatism is faring in Washington. And it is all too clear that in spite of a Conservative revival among the people the radical ideas that were promoted by the New and Fair Deals under the guise of Liberalism still dominate the councils of our national government. In a country where it is now generally understood and proclaimed that the people’s welfare depends on individual self reliance rather than on state paternalism, Congress annually deliberates over whether the _increase_ in government welfarism should be small or large. In a country where it is now generally understood and proclaimed that the federal government spends too much, Congress annually deliberates over whether to raise the federal budget by a few billion dollars or by many billion.