Charlevoix county herald., 1916-10-20


assistance or aid to the strikers, shall suf
fer the death penalty-that is, shall be
tried by drumhead court-martial and i'm
mediately shot This decree was issued on
August LIST last. Yet Mr. Gompers asks
the support of the laboring men of the
United States for Mr., Wilson on the
ground that he is the sponsor of the mill
tary tyrant who issued this decree. II is
now announced in the press that Mr. Com.
pers is negotiating with Mr. Carranza in
order to get him to withdraw the decree.
If so, it will only be until after election.
But let all American citizens think deeply !
before they retain in power an Admins
tration which tolerates such an information
al alliance as that between Messrs. Wilson,
Gompers and Carranza, and such manage
ment of its foreign affairs as Mr.. Com
pers is carrying on with the countenance.
and in the interest, of Mr. Wilson.
The welfare of the laboring man and
the welfare of the farmer taken together
represent the foundation of the national
welfare. | have always conscientiously en-.
deavored to do everything in my power for
the wageworker who worked with his
hands and for the farmer. | viii do every
thing that in me lies for their permanent
good, except anything that is wrong, and
that ] will do for no man | speak out OF
my deepest convictions and as conscien-
tiously as il is in my power to speak when
] say to you that ] believe that Mr.. Will
sons action in connection with the Adam
son bill is desply prejudicial to the real
and permanent interests of the laboring
man. | say to you with deepest con-
viction that if you yourself will look back
you will find that on the average, the wage
worker has prospered more when this
country has been under a protective tariff
than when the protective tariff has been
so low as not to give protection to our
immense and varied industries; and above
all, to the men working in those indus
tries. AS you know, | have always stood
for the tariff only to the degree in which
the benefit was reasonably shared between
the men in the front Office and the men
who receive the pay envelopes. | stand
for that division now. But there must be
something to divide, or nobody will get
anything.
| ask you to look back only two short
years. Mr.. Wilson was insugurated as
President three years ago last spring. He
and his party Immediately passed a low
tariff law. Under it Government receipts
fell off so alarmingly that there was great
deficit which had to be met by a special
tax. This was later called a gar tax; but
it was not due to the war at all; the de-
crease in receipts was prior to the war,
it was deficiency tax pure and simple.
As some one pointed out at the time,
Canada had war with no tax; whereas
we had tax with no war. 1t was purely
a deficiency tax.
During the first eighteen months of this
Administration the national business went
10 pieces, the sidings on the railroads we're
damned with empty cars, and the number
OF employees in every great industry grew
to appalling dimensions. | speak here of
what | personally know; for less than two
years ago | had to take an active part in
New York in measures to relieve the un-
employed. i then saw municipal lodging
houses crowded to overfiowing with people
DESTROYS of working, who could not get any
work, and who did not have enough money
to pay for the poorest lodging or the cheap
est meals. The unemployed were num-
bered not by the thousands, but the scores
OF thousands; and ] was in active CORE
spondence with men and women in other
cities, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia,
where the conditions were just as bad az
in New York. Every kind of provision
had to be made, by private charities and
by the public authorities, in order to
care for the multitude of people who wish
ed to work but who were in dire want be-
cause there was no work. The misery was
widespread. For instance, the Board OF
Health of New York, had to pass a spe-
cial resolution allowing the eating of horse
meat Il think the exact phraseology gave
permission to fatten old horses for slaught-
er and food, because every effort had to
be made to give to those out of work the
cheapest food that would sustain life Re-
member that those times were normal.
There was then no war. We were at
peace We were simply experiencing the
normal results of legislative action under
Mr. Wilson and the Democratic admins
tration.
The suffering was widespread through.
out this country. Suddenly the war came.
At one stroke this country was granted
a measure of protection greater than any
il had ever received under any tariff in
its history. Moreover, the demand for
munitions of war was stimulated to such
an enormous degree as to completely re-
verse trade conditions. For example, com.
pairing the fiscal years ending June 80,
1914, and June 80, 1916, that is the year
before the war and the year that has just
elapsed, the losses in ordinary exports dur
ing the last year, compared to the former,
were over two hundred million dollars;
whereas there was gain in exports of war
material of nearly two billion dollars. II
it were not for these artificial conditions,
the suffering from unemployment in this
country at this time would in all proba-
bility be as great as it was in 1914, and
we would have seen two Or three years
of an industrial crisis at least as bad as
any we have ever known in our history.
The present stimulus is artificial. It will
cease with the war conditions coming to
an end. II will then be difficult to avoid
some suffering anyhow. If Mr.. Wilson is
kept in Office, this suffering will doubtless
be prolonged and acute.
In short, you miners of Pennsylvania,
appeal to you, and | appeal to all wage
workers of the United States, both in the
name Of sound American citizenship, and
also in the name of your real and perma-
nent self-interest. No American citizen
can afford to put the stamp of his APP
proval on any law supposed to be passed
for the benefit of anybody without inves-