The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1913-06-26
CALLS IT A new
EMANCIPATION
PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON
ASKS CONGRESS TO ENACT
CURRENCY LAW AT ONCE.
BUSINESS NEEDS
TO BE SET FREE
Duty to Nation Will Be Only Half
Done II Currency Is Not Made
Elastic-Asks lmmedi-
ate Action.

Washington, D. C.-That President
Wilson is dead in earnest in his effort
to secure prompt legislation on the
currency question was made plain
when he, for the second time, ap-
peared before joint session of con-
gress and delivered his address on the
imperative need of reforming the ma
tions currency and banking laws. He
asked immediate action, and while he
did not directly refer to the Glass bill,
he had that measure in mind when he
said: "The committees of the con-
gress to which legislation of this char
acter is referred have devoted careful
and dispassionate study to the means
of accomplishing these objects. They
are ready to suggest action. have
come to you . to urge action,
NOW"
The full text of the address follows:
The Address in Full.
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 | have
a second time this session sought the
privilege of addressing you in person.
l 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
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
srty 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
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 fol
the free opportunities it will bring
with it. It has been reserved for us
to give it to them. Some fell in love
indeed, with the slothful security o1
their dependence upon the govern
ment; some took advantage of the
shelter of the nursery to set up |
mimic mastery of their own within its
walls.
A New Day DaWning.
Now both the tonic and the disci
pline of liberty and maturity are tC
ensue. There will be some readjust
ments of purpose and point of view
There will follow a period of expan
sion and new enterprise, freshly con
ceived. 1t is for us to determine
now whether it shall be rapid an(
facile and of easy accomplishment
This it cannot be unless the resource
full business men who are to deal will
the new circumstances are to have a
hand and ready for use the instru
mentalities and conveniences of fret
enterprise which independent mel
need when acting on their own mi
tiative.
Action Must Be Constructive.
It is not enough to strike thu
shackles from business. The duty o
craftsmanship is not negative merely
1t is constructive also. We must show
that we understand what busines!
needs and that we know how to sup
ply it. No man, however casual ant
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 will
need increasingly as it gains in scopt
and vigor in the years immediatel.
ahead of us, is the proper means b.
which readily to vitalize it's credit
corporate and individual, and it's orig
NATIVE brains. What will it profit u
to be free if we are not to have th'
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
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