The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-12-11
fNp1y MARKETS TURN 70 AMERICA
trepe win Need Our Help, Says President in Message to Con.
oress--ships Our Greatest #Need-NGw Tasks and Du.
ties Imposed on United States by the War.
, pec s-The necessity

,aa;s,ation to prodvide for trans
....tion If our commerce by sea was
p'.aaslv urged by President Wilson In
4. ~,essage to congress today Ihe
u noin.ed out that the markets
.he create part Of the world are
santy and that ours is the duty to sup
- Inc needs not only Of the coun-
.Iss Of Europ., but also of tie coun
~, which hitherto have looked 10
Europe for their supplies, The mes
,ase in part follows:
The session upon which you are now
.rtering will be the closing session OF
no sixty.third congress, a congress, |
,,nture to say, which will long be re.
nembered for the great body OF
,houghtful and constructive WORK
which it has done, in loyal response
\ the thought and needs OF the coun'
try.
While we have worked at our tasks
II oeace the circumstances OF the
xbole age have been altered by war
What we have done for our own land
and our W people we did with the
hest that was in us, whether of char
after or of intelligence, with sober
enthusiasm and a confidence in the
principles upon which we were acting
which sustained US at every step OF
the difficult undertaking; but 1t is
dome. 1t has passed from our hands
We face new tasks. have been facing
them these six months, must face them
In the months to come-face them
without partisan feeling, like men
Who have forgotten everything but a
common duty and the fact that we are
representatives OF a great people
whose thought is not OF us but OF what
America owes to herself and to all
mankind In such circumstances as
these upon which we look amazed and
anxious.
Europe VIII Need Our Help.
War has interrupted the means of
trade not only but also the processes
Of production. In Europe 1t is destroy
INK men and resources wholesale and
upon a scale unprecedented and ap-
paIing. There is reason to fear that
the time Is near, If 1t be not already
at hand, when several Of the coun'
tries Of Europe will find It difficult to
Do for their people what they have
hitherto been always easily able to do,
many essential and fundamental
things, At any rate they will need our
help and our manifold services as they
have never needed them before; and
We should be ready, more ct and
ready than we have ever been.
II Is of equal consequence that the
nations whom Europe has usually sup
piled with innumerable articles OF
manufacture and commerce a now
get only a small part Of what they
formerly imported and eagerly look
to us to supply their all but empty
markets. Here are markets which we
must supply, and we must find the
means of action.
W. Need Ships.
Il is a very practical matter, a mat
tor Of ways and means We have the
resources, but are we fully ready tc
use them? And If we can made ready
what we have, have we the means a.
hand to distribute it? We are not fully
ready; neither have we the means o.
distribution. We are willing, but We
are not fully able. We have the wisf
to serve and to serve greatly, gener
ously; but we are not prepared as w
should be. We are not ready to mo
bilize our resources at once. We ar
not prepared to use them immediatel.
and at their best, without delay ant
without waste.
To speak plainly we have grossl,
erred in the way In which we nav
stunted and hindered the development
Of our merchant marine. And no"
when we need ships, we have not go
them.
have come to ask you to remed
and correct these mistakes and omis
slons, The time and the cjrcun
stances are extraordinary, and S
must our efforts be also.
Use and Conservation.
Fortunately, two great measures
hnely conceived, the one to unlocl
With proper safeguards, the resource
o. the national domain, the other I
encourage the use Of the navigabl
waters outside that domain for tn
generation Of power, have alread
passed the house Of representative
and are ready for immediate conside
alton and action by the senate VIII
tne deepest earnestness ! urge the
prompt passage.
And there is another great piece
legislation which awaits and shou
receive the sanction OF the senate:
mean the bill which gives q larg
measure Of self-government to the pc
pie Of the Philippines | cannot belle
mat the senate will let this gre
measure Of constructive Justice avs
the action OF another congress
passage would nobly crown the reco