The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914, 1913-06-24
WILSON, ADDRESS
ON THE CURRENCY
Appeals to Congress to Take
Prompt Action.
SAYS DUTY IS IMPERATIVE
Limitations of Present System to Be
Removed for an Expansive and
Constructive Currency
Law.

Washington, d. c. For the sec
ond time since assuming the presiden-
tial Office, the nations chief executive,
Mr.. Woodrow Wilson, appeared in per-
son today in the halls of congress and
before the joint session of the house
and senate delivered his address on
currency legislation. In an informal
way, and briefly, but earnestly, the
president pointed out the imperative
duty of at once providing an elastic
| currency for the nation, and thus
emancipating business from the limi-
tations of the present law. He said:
Full Text of Address.
Mr.. Speaker, Mr.. President, Gentle
men of the Congress: 1t is under the
compulsion of what seems to me a
clear and imperative duty that 1 have
a second time this session sought the
privilege Of addressing you in person.
know, of course, that the heated
! season Of the year is upon US, that
! work in these chambers and in the
| committee rooms is likely to become
| a burden as the season lengthens, and
/ that every consideration of personal
| convenience and personal comfort,
| perhaps, in the cases of some of US,
considerations of personal health
even, dictate an early conclusion of
the deliberations of the session.
An Imperative Duty.
But there are occasions of public
duty when these things which touch
| us privately seem very small; when
| the work to be done is so pressing
and so fraught with big consequences
that we know that we are not at lib
erty to weigh against it any point of
! personal sacrifice. We are now in the
presence of such an occasion. 1t is
absolutely imperative that we should
| give the business men of this country
a banking and currency system by
| means of which they can make use of
the freedom of enterprise and OF in
dividual initiative which we are about
| to bestow upon them.
Emancipation Day for Business
We are about to set them free; we
must not leave them without the tools
| of action when they are free. We are
about to set them free by removing
| the trammels of the protective tariff.
Ever since the Civil war they have
waited for this emancipation and for
the free opportunities it will bring
with it. 1t has been reserved for US
| to give it to them. Some fell in love,
indeed, with the slothful security of
their dependence upon the govern
ment; some took advantage of the
| shelter of the nursery to set up a
mimic mastery of their own within it's
walls.
A New Day Dawning.
Now both the tonic and the disci-
| pine of liberty and maturity are to
| ensue, There will be some readjust-
ments of purpose and point of view.
! There viii follow period Of expan-
sion and new enterprise, freshly con
cefved, 1t is for us to determine
now whether it shall be rapid and
| faci1e and OF easy accomplishment
| This it cannot be unless the resource
full business men who are to deal with
the new circumstances are to have al
hand and ready for use the instru
mentalitfes and conyeniences of free
enterprise which independent men
/ need when acting on their own mi
tiative.
Action Must Be Constructive.
1t is not enough to strike the
shackles from business. The duty o.
craftsmanship is not negative merely
1t is constructive also. We must show
that we understand what business
needs and that we know how to sup
ply it. No man, however casual anC
superficial his observation of the con
ditions now prevailing in the country
can fail to see that one of. the chic
things business needs now, and vii
need increasingly as it gains in scop'
and vigor in the years immediatel.
ahead of us, is the proper means b.
which readily to vitalize its credit
corporate and individual, and it's orig
NATIVE brains What will it profit u
to be free if we are not to have tn
best and most accessible instrumen
talities of commerce and enterprise
What will it profit us to be quit o
one kind of monopoly if we are to re
main in the grip of another and NOR
effective kind?
. Must Aid and Protect Business.
How are we to gain and keep tn
confidence of the business commit
i nifty unless we know how both to ali
: and to protect it? What shall we sa
If we make fresh enterprise necessar
: and also make it very difficult by lea,
ing all else except the tariff just a
we found it? The tyrannies of bus
>o.~~J~~-c.~~.~-~-ee-e~e-
Cleveland Wins Fare FIGHT.
Cleveland, o. Traction arbitrs
tors gave the city complet
: victory in the dispute with the Coz
. con Thursday, when they announce
3 their official findings in a synopsi
8 preliminary to making public the flu
: text of their decision.
9 The award goes against the confer
: tions of the city in only one partic,
8 lar-that of charging off Immediate
9 100000 for scrapping Of old powe