The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-08-15
The President s Duty.
(The Boston Traveller. J

newspaper correspondents, in which he |
urged them to remain calm and moi
do anything to cause the excitement
prevailing in Europe to spread to this |
side of the water.
So far as we are concerned, he |
said, there is no cause for alarm. |
There is great Inconvenience in the |
money market and in our exchanges,
and, temporarily, in the handling of our
crops. But America is absolutely pre-
pared to meet the financial situation
and to strengthen everything out with
out any material difficulty.
The only thing that can possibly
prevent it is unreasonable apprehension
and excitement.
:" want to have the pride of feeling
that America, if nobody else, has her
selfpOssession and stands ready with
calmness of thought and steadiness Of
purpose to help the rest of the world.
And we can do it and reap great per-
manent glory out of doing it, provided
we all cooperate to see that nobody
loses his head =
This is sound advice.
But it is absolutely unnecessary.
The people of the United States are
worrying, to be sure; but not about the
financial situation, as Mr.. Wilson fears.
They are worrying because of Mr..
| Wilson and the Congress of the United
States, which does Mr. Wilson S bidding
They want Congress to go home and
stop interfering with their supply of
| bread and butter by hamstringing and
| harassing business.
! And Congress won t.
| They want Mr.. Wilson to take va
cation and give the country a rest from
| his new freedom.
| And Mr.. Wilson won t.
| 1t is very kind of Mr.. Wilson to
preach to the people about the duty of
keeping their heads and standing
ready with calmness of thought and
steadiness of purpose to help the rest
of the world =
| But 1T would be much kinder of him
to translate his sermon into action
1t would be much kinder of him to
help the people to help themselves be-
fore asking them to help the rest of the
world. They are willing enough to help
the rest of the world provided they are
given half a chance at home.
And nobody can do more today to
give them that chance than Mr.. Wilson.
Nobody can do more to stop the PEG
pie from worrying. than Mr.. Wilson.
But he must do it by deeds. Words
won t suffice. The people are tired of
words, tired of fine phrases, tired of
sermons and fatherly advice They
have had all of these from Mr.. Wilson
that they can stand. They want him to
do something, to show by his deeds
that when he says he is not "'running
amuck = he is not doing something that
is Just as bad, whatever name it bears.
Let Mr. Wilson pass the word to Con
@ress to pigeonhole his anti-business
bills and 20 home, and the only cause
of the people 8 worry will have been
removed.
1T is very simple-mueh simpler than
: delivering i sermon, than giving Peck
sniffian advice.
As we pointed ont in these columns
the other day, these aRti-business bills
| would demoralize business under tho
most favorable conditions, but under
I existing conditions, with business al
most paralyzed in many lines all over
the world, they would in all probability
; prove the last straw
The President says he wants, through
! these bills, to close this era of suspic
: ion, of recrimination, by putting into
the law what the moral Judgment of tn,
community has said ought TO be there.
How does he know what the mora
: Judgment of the community say.
; ought to be there?
t These bills have never been passed
t upon by the voters. They are opposed
n by the entire business world. They ar,
: opposed by the President s most abb,
{ newspaper supporters. Nobody has ashet
:. for them nobody wants them, appar
{ entity, except the President and his fol
lowers in Congress.
1 His is the moral judgment of tn
y community
:. A nd he would 'eend this period o
recrimination by having the recrimi
majors put into the law what, the mos
} III Judgment of the community a
!. represented by himself and the recrim
inators, has said ought to be there.
$ Business cannot stand everything.
= There is a limit to its patience an
e its endurance.
G Staggering under the burden and IN
L certainty of drastic tariff changes
2 stunned by the sudden cessation o
II trade and commerce, and unable to Sc
y light through the war clouds that dark
0 en- the civilized world, American bust
', ness is in no condition at this time t
e withstand the revolutionary legislatio
h that Mr.. Wilson threatens to rus
: through in the name of the ''mora
Judgment of the communitv.'
, No; the people are not worryln,
: about the war.
They are worrying about somethin
:, much nearer home.
!, They are worrying because Mr.. Wi
: son has made them worry. And if h
n knows what is good for business, it h
= knows what is good for himself and hi
: party, he viii at once heed the cry o
= the business world and call off his dog
Of war.
: In doing this he might not *reap
I great and permanent glory, but h
e would at least he cO-operating with til
> business men of the nation to see tina
: nobody lost his head. = And to d
a otherwise in this crisis would be littl
{ short of criminal
g
The Home Market.
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