Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-12-28

| relief which alone would save the
business of the country from disaster.
Your secretary courteously ac-
knowledged receipt of this letter, but
the only means We have of knowing
that it came before you is through a
| notice which appeared in the public
press at that time attrbuting to you
statement that it was your belief that
the letter addressed to you did not set
forth the real conditions of the indus
tries of the Schuylllll Valley. You
were further reported to have stated
that in every direction unmistakable
evidence of better and even prosperous
times were at hand. If you believed
this to be so then, of course, the re-
lief for which we prayed was already
in sight and no attention to our APP
peal was necessary.
I'VE now address to you this second
letter for the one specie purpose of
informing you that the good times SO
happily predicted at Washington have
not arrived. On the contrary, the
forecasts made to you in our first
letter have materialized to the extent
of being an unusual public calamity.
We are aware that the language of
this letter Is strong and direct. For
this we have no apology. We mean
that 1t shall be so. Situations like the
one before us demand heroic treat
ment and heroic treatment cannot be
applied through the weakness of cir
cumlocution. We say to you again,
that we write you in this way be-
cause the tariff law of the Democratic
party now in power has brought this
country face to face with business ca
lamity.
We are not without the facts ~
prove what we say. Here is one fact
We take it from Philadelphia news
paper of December IL:
From the pulpits of every church
in Philadelphia will go forth the ap-
peal of the poor to the rich, the
call of humanity to humanity. Thou
sands of men in this city cannot OBJ
tain employment. Their wives sit
hopelessly in cold, dismal little rooms
! and their children face starvation
Here is another fact. We take 1t
from another newspaper of the same
date:
4" The virtually unanimous passage by
Councils philadelphia of the bill APP
propriating $4,000 for the relief of the
city's unemployed will meet with hearty
| approval of the general public. Extra
ordinary conditions call for extraordi-
nary relief. and it has been very thor
oughiy demonstrated that the P pes e1
| NARILY GREAT, too great for the
PERMANENT CHARITABLE ORGANI-
CATIONS TO HANDLE EFFEETIVE-
| = n1f he
stood as supplementing and not replac-
ing private endeavor.
Should it still be said that the
facts submitted above prove only that
the depression lies in the Schuylk!il
Valley and that we present an isolated
and local circumstance, we lay down
as our answer this fact: The Nation
al Association of Wool Manufacturers,
Boston, Massachusetts, has issued a
table showing that in that great indus
! try, on December L. 1914, more than
| one third of all this vast machinery
was idle; and that table shows that
the depression is greater now than II
was September l, last; and that taole
shows that the depression in that in :
! dustry was greater on September !
than it was June 1, last. That table
shows that this depression through
out the country is deepening anu
| spreading with each succeeding month
until now we are fact to face with
| that condition which, in our former
letter, we told you was nothing less
than frightening.
Should it be still maintained that
+ we have set forth the condition or ous
one industry, our answer is That tne
! state of any one large and staple IN
| dustry in this country always reflects
| a general condition. That single great
| industry only suffers insofar as other
| industries which feed upon 1t suHer'
/ also. But in the light of wrecks all
| about US in the iron and steel mills
we submit that we need not argue TINS
phase of our case beyond the point OF
calling attention to outstanding facts
| They are so plain and convincing thas
a wayfaring man, even though he be
partisan opponent, may see.
1.-The purpose Of this second letter
| thus addressed to you Is the same as
| the purpose Of our first letter Tne
| purpose of that letter was an appeal
to you to heed the call to washington
of the business world to give us re-
lief. We have been asked what we
expected to accomplish in the writing
of that first letter? Our answer, MADE
now in the light of experience and free
from partisanship and the passion OF
an approaching election, is clear anu
| unmistakable.
THE purpose of the relief we'asked
| in that letter was to avoid that which
we therein stated would come to pass
viz: that women should sit helpless In
cold dismal little rooms and tne'r
| children face starvation.
I'VE stand upon this appeal and feei
| that in the presence of nation WIN
humanitarian instinct we stand upon
| solid ground.
Let all who will sheer at the sus-
gestion that the business men OF TINS
country do feel for the woe and SUI
fering of their employees Nevertne-
| less, the broad, clear fact STANDS Out
that In our former letter the BUSINESS
| Mems Association of Montgomery
| county based their appeal on human
itarian grounds. We called Tor neip
/ =