Evening star., 1915-02-04

we were now attending for the pur-
pose of gaining a liberal education.
of course I learn a great many
esting thing about it is this: Things
that are not so do not match If you
hear enough of them you see there is
no pattern whatever; 1t Is a crazy quilt.
piece for piece with other parts Of the
truth.
NO man can lie consistently. and he
cannot lie about everything If he talks
to you long. So that 1 would guar
you you would get the truth.
Il had somewhat that experience about
Mexico, and that was about the only
way in which I learned anything that
was SO. for there have been vivid imag-
have depicted things as they wished men
to believe them to be.
'Now. seriously. tho task Of this body
Is to match ali the facts Of business
and consistent pattern Of them. That Is
the reason and think you are to be con-
graduated upon the fact that you cannot
have 'asie asked c0mmen myse, e9afoe Sefoee came
here tonight. what relation you could
bear to the government Of the United
states and what relation the government
could d ,r,t bear to you; There are two aspects
which you will naturally come into most
direct contact.
Agriculture Departments Aid.
''The first is the governments power of
inquiry-systematic and disinterested in
Quiry-and it's power OF scientific assist
ance. You get an illustration Of the lat
ter. for example, in the Department Of
Agriculture. Has 1t occurred to you.
wonder, that we are Just upon the eve OF
time when our Department Of Agricul-
tps tpse da Will e,,S be Sf infinite Importance to
There is a shortage Of food in tho
world now. That shortage will be
moro serious q few months from now
than It is now. 1t is necessary that we
should plant great deal more. 1t is
necessary that our land should yield
more per acre than II does now. 1t Is
necessary that there should not be a
plow or spade idle in this country
If the world is to be fed: and the
the scientific information to be derived
from the state departments of agricul-
ture and from that tap root of all. the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture
The object and use of that depart
ment is to inform men of the latest
developments and disclosures of science
with regard to all the processes by
which soils can be put to their proper
use and their fertility made the great
est possible.
similarly with the bureau of stand
ards It is ready to supply those things
oy which you can set norms, state
bases for all the scientific processes of
business"
Foreign Markets.
There is a specific matter about
which l. for one, want your advice.
Let me say, if I may say it without
olsrespect, that I do not think you are
prepared to give 1t right away. You
will have to make some rather extend
ed inquiries before you are ready to
give II. What / am thinking of is
competition in foreign markets as be-
tween the merchants of different ma
tions.
L speak OF the subject with a certain
gtbast degIee OF hesitation because the thing
advantage of nations now disabled
from playing the full part in that COM
petition. and seeking a sudden selfish
as.dvantage because they are for the
that we ought to eliminate all that
thought from our minds and consider
this matter as II we and the other ma
tions or the world were in the normal
circumstances Of commerce There is
a normal circumstance of commerce in
which we are apparently at a disad-
vantage.
Our antitrust laws apparently
say apparently because 1 see the At
torney General is present and I am
not sure Il am right-the antitrust
laws of the United States apparently
make it illegal for merchants in the
United States to form combinations for
the purpose of streng thening them
selves in taking advantages of the op-
portunites of foreign competition.
That is a very serious matter TO,
this reason: There are some corpora
tions and some firms, for all l know
whose business is great enough and
whose resources are abundant enough
to enable them to establish selling
agencies in foreign countries. to enable
them to extend the long credits which