Evening journal., 1916-04-19


Flercer Competition.
when the European war ends. we
shall be practically tn, supply mar
ket of the world but soon we shall
face fiercer competition than ever be-
fore, and only in rational business pre-
paredness lies our hope Of commercial
conquest
"The desperation. which 'as char
acterized the warfare of European
countries will transfer itself to the
frenzy of an industrialism seeking to
regan the wealth they have destroy
ed. In a short time their fields will
be more productive than ever before,
their factories will be going at full
blast. and tfeir ships will be carrying.
not by choice American products, but
their own. Even now opponents in
the war are prOphesying their future
friendliness i'm trade while those who
have been allies In the manufacture
of death will cooperate tremendous
ly In the creation of commercial life.
So. few years after peace Is estab-
lished without American bottoms TO
, transport American products, Ameri-
can merchandise will find scant ac-
commOdation for travel. Contemplate
the discouraging picture of the docks
a-d warehouses IT our seapOrts crowd
ed even now with trainloads Of our
products already scld and consigned
to foreign markets, but unable to find
means of transportation.
THE boast of our productive ability
to supply the world nd at the same
/ time to refuse to our output the proper
means of transT ortatlon is similar 10
tn reasoning Of the ancient but mis-
guided sage who joyfully announced
/ his tremendous discovery that large
rivers always run past big cities.
"Of equal importance TO stability
and commercial expansion is intensi-
/ fed agriculture. The work OF the De
, partment of Agriculture-both practi-
/ cal and theoretical-is OF vital con-
Germ to all OF us. Let the Federal
Treasury supply it with the means OF
a constant, high-pressure drive that
will score huge new agrarian tri-
umphs to the glory and enrichment OF
all. Agriculture is one OF the most
II not the most important industries
OF the United States. Unless il ex-
pands to It's fullest possible power
we as a nation cannot expand to Oul
fullest possible power. The farm. the
source of our food supply, is the foun
tain head OF all our commercial SUI
periority.
Good roads are the initial paths il
transporting farm products, an6
therefore essential. We can producl
corn more cheaply than any other ma
tion on earth. But, II we do not pro
vide every facility for hauling It from
the fields to the railroad and do no
provide the necessary bottoms L
transport it to other nations, wha
profits the treasure-stores in ou
, fields?
. Good roads are a necessity. AL
. men know this. But they have beei
. remarkably slow in this country il
carrying to physical fulfllment thei
convictions. A transportation system
in order to be good must be good fror
its starting point to its ultimate goa
, Rational preparedness dislikes III
, impossible country road just as IL di,
likes congestion OF freight traffic O
the railroads.
"Ihe business genius Of our peop
has not met the wartime demand f
new industries so far, superbly. The
have struggled into existence industn
. which American enterprise had new
undertaken. mainly because European
had always supplied these speci
products. The next administratiC
must take care of these industrial il
fants.
Real Protective Tariff.
81 want TO make clear my convictiC
that rational preparedness demands
return to a real protective tariff. II
protective tariff era of Our country W,
characterized by business and materi
growth unprecedented in all the histol
of the world. II must stand as Il
unassailable proof that protecti'
{ tariff is necessary TO some industries
the United States. To deny this, is
sensible as 10 say that the Chinese en-
tom Of bandaging children's feet
keep them small makes the feet gro
I. large. You cannot pay the America
workman the highest rate of wage
the world in competition with che,
: labor unless he is protected from Il
fruits Of cheap labor.
"There never was a time when q
e vital interests Of the American wor
ingman were 80 tightly wrapped up
y a protective tariff as now. Peace in +
rope will bring American labor in
= sharp conflict with a mass of Emopei
labor forced by conditions to low
= starvation wage than ever before. On
S by rigid adherence 10 protection can &
standard Of living of the Americi
It workingman be maintained
e Protection. to be real protectio
n must be in the hands of men who b
It lieve in protection--men who beliel
II i'm protection for projections sake.
= There must be nothing half-heaI
Il ed. nothing apologetic about Il.
:. Democratic Follles.
n "The interest OF the American wOr
\ ing man and Of American busine
"A cannot be safely entrusted 10 an
party which changes It's mind