The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-26
CONTINUED from Page one)

AEOhA d6C OuEJ
dresses. We're found in the official copy
of his speech.
Regret that politics might interfere with
the dicussion of problems facing Amerf-
can business was expressed by the Presi-
dent at the outset. He declared he had
| "a supreme contempt for partisan action -
although believing in party action" He
urged that his audience divest itself Of
the consciousness that we are in the
midst of a political campaign"
MENTIONS LATIN-AMERICA
Once the President. speaking of the ma
lions of Latin-America, said his chief
concern" had been to see that nothing
was done that did not show friendship
and good faith on our part" This state
ment was greeted by the most prolonged
applause of the speech.
Cooperation between the government
and business men, between different bust
ness men and between business men and
their employees was urged as the only
way In which the United States can meet
/ the competition of the world
MY dream" he declared, lis that she
will take her place in the great field In a
new spirit which the world has never
seen before; not the spirit of those who
would exclude Others but In the spirit
of those who would excel others
After saying that until the new bank
l1B anu SHlpplHS ldWS were passed the
hands of American business men were
tied. the President discussed his ideals
for the new tariff commission.
1--WE have admitted" he said, chat on
the one side and on the other side we
were talking theories and managing poll
cies without a sufficient knowledge of
the facts upon which we were acting"
He added that he hoped he could find
men for the commission who will see
the 20 q nd M MO ttov- u,tn
opinion those facts contradicted.
PRESIDENTS SPEECH
The President said:
at is matter of sincere gratifica-
tion to me that 1 can come and ad-
dress an association of this sort, and
yet ] feel that there is a certain draw
back. to the present occasion. That
drawback consists of the fact that it
occurs in. the midst of a politics cam
paign, and nothing so seriously inter-
rupts or interferes with the serious
and sincere consideration of public
questions as a politics campaign.
II want to say to you at the outset
that l believe in party action, but that
I have supreme contempt for par
tisan action; that 1 believe that it is
necessary for men to concert measures
together in organized cooperation by
party, but that whenever party feel
ing touches any one of the passions
that work against the general interest,
it is altogether to be condemned. And,
therefore, I feel that on occasions like
this we should divest ourselves of the
consciousness that we are in the midst
of a politics campaign, because asso-
Citations like this are not gathered to-
gether to take part in partisan dis
cussion but to consider those perma-
nent interests of the nation which
- .tAI. Il
alter their aspects because parties are
contesting for power, and that we
ought as much as possible on all oc-
casions to think of ourselves as first
of all men devoted to the welfare OF
the country and as compared with that
devoted to nothing else whatever.
tWhat / have come to say to you
today, therefore, i would wish to say
in an atmosphere from which all the
vapors of passion have been cleared
away, for 1 want to speak to you about
the business situation of the world so
far as America is concerned.
BUSINESS OF THE WORLD
81 have come to discuss the gen.
eral relation of the United States to
the business of the world in the dec
AIDES INN ediately ahead of us. We have
swung out. my fellow citizens into
rev business era in America. / sup
pose that there is no man connected
with your association who does not
remember the time when the whole
emphasis of American business discus,
sion was laid upon the domestic mar
lSet. need not remind you how re-
Gently it has happened that our at
tention has been extended to the mar
kets of the world; much less recently,
need not say, in the matters with
which you are concerned than in the
other export interests of the country.
But it happened that American produc-
ton, not only in the agricultural field
and in mining and in all the natural
products of the earth, but also in
manufacture, has increased in recent
years to such a volume that American
business burst it's jacket. 1t could not
any longer be taken care OF within
the field of the domestic markets, and
when that began to disclose itself as
the situation, we also became aware
that American business men had not
studied foreign markets, that they did
not know the commerce of the world.
and that they did not nave the ships
in which to take their proportionate
part in the carrying trade of the
w@rld, that our merchant marine had
sunk to negligible amount and that
it had sunk to its lowest at the very
time when the tide of our exports
began to grow in most formidable vol
urne.
ARCHAIC BANKING LAW
Zone of the most interesting things Of
our history is that banking laws of the
United States--I mean the federal bank
Ing laws-did not put the national banks
in a position to do foreign exchange I'M
der favorable conditions, and it was ac-
tually true that private banks and some
times branch banks drawn out of the
other couptries. notably out of Canada,
were established at our chief ports to do
what American bankers ought to have
done 1t was as if America was not
only unaccustomed to touching all the
nerves of the worlds business, but was
dsinclined to touch them and had not
/ prepared the instrumentalites by which
| it might take part in the great commerce
| of the round globe. Only in the very
| recent years have we been even study
! ing the problem Of providing ourselves
with the instrumentalities. Not until the
| recent examination of Congress known
| as the federal reserve, were the banks
of the country given proper equipment
! through which they could assist COM
] merce not only in our own country, but
| in any part of the world where they
| chose to set up branch institutions. Brit
| ish banks had been serving British mer-
| chants all over the world. German banks
1 -