The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-08-08
5OV WILSON IN MASTERLY ADDRESS ACCEPTS DEMOCRATIC
PRESIDENCY NOMINATION AND SOUNDS CAMPAIGN KEYNOTE

merely to right wrongs and set the house
in order.
I do not know any greater question
than that of conservation. We have been
a spendthrift nation and musI now hus-
band what we have left We must do
more than that We must develop, as
well as preserve, our water covers and
must add great waterways to the trans
portation facilities Of the Nation, to sup
plement the railways within our borders
as well as upon the lsthmus. We must
revive our merchant marine too. and I'll
the seas again with our own fleets. We
must add to our present post-oflce ser
vice a parcels post as complete as that
of any other nation. We RsNSt look to
the health Of our people upon every
hand, as well as hearten them with JUS
tice and opportunity. This is the con-
structive work of government. This is
the policy that has a vision and a hope
and that looks to serve mankind.
MUST DEVELOP RESOURCES.
There are many sides to these great
matters. Conservation is easy to general
ize about. but hard to particUlarize about
wisely, Reservation is not the whole OF
conservation. The development of great
states must not be stayed indefinitely to
await policy by which our forests and
water powers can prudently be made use
of. Use and development must go hand
in hand. The policy we adopt must be
progressive, not negative, merely, as II
we did not know what TO do.
With regard TO the development of
greater and more numerous waterways
and the building Up Of merchant ma
rine, we must follow great constructive
lines and not fall back upon the cheap
device of boUnties and subsidies. In the
case Of the Mississippi river, that great
central artery of our trade, it is plain
that the federal government must build
land maintain the leveeS and keep the
great waters in harness for the general
use. 1t is plain, too, that vast sums Of
money must be spent to develop new
n vs.
served and transportation most readily
cheapened by them. Such expenditures
are no largess on the part of the govern
ment; they are national investments.
The question of a merchant marine
turns back to the tariff again, to which
all roads seem to lead, auC TO our regis
try laws, which. If coupled with the
tariff. might almost be supposed TO nave
been intended to take the American flag
off the seas. Bounties are not neces-
sary, If you will but undo some of the
things that have been done. Without a
great merchant marine we cannot take
our rightful place in the commerce Of
the world. Merchants who must depend
upon the carriers Of rival mercantile ma
tons TO carry their goods to market are
at a disadvantage in International trade
too manifest to need to be pointed out;
and our merchants will not long suffer
themselves-ought not to suffer them
selves-to be placed at such disad-
vantage. Our industries have expanded
to such a point that they will burst their
jackets, If they cannot find free outlet
to the markets of the world; and they
cannot find such an outlet unless they be
given ships of their own to carry their
goods-ships that will go the routes they
want them to go-and prefer the interests
of America in their sailing orders and
their equipment. Our domestic markets
no longer suffice. We need foreign
markets. That is another force that Is
going to break the tariff down. The
tariff was once a bulwark; now II Is
dam. For trade is reciprocal; we cannot
sell unless we also buy
NEED MERCHANT MARINE.
The very fact that we have at last
taken the Panama Canal seriously in
hand and are vigorously pushing II towards
completion is eloquent of our re-awakened
interest in international trade. We are
not building the canal and pouring out
million upon million of money upon its
construction merely to establish a water
connection between the two coasts Of the
continent, important and desirable as
that may be, particularly from the point
of view Of naval defense. II is meant to
be a great international highway. It
would be a little ridiculous If we should
build II and then have no ships to send
through ii. There have been years when
not a single ton Of freight passed through
the great Suez Canal IN an American
bottom, so empty are the seas OF our
ships and seamen. We must mean to
put an end to that kind Of thing or we
would not be cutting a new canal at our
very doors merely for the use OF our
men-of-war. We shall not manage the re-