Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-02-12
WILSON SAYS U. 5. MAY BE UNABLE
 TO AVOID WAR
President Tells National Chamber of Commerce of
 Situation.

Washington, Feb. 11.-Delegates to the annual convention of the Cham Der of Go rmerce of he United states lsft for their hcmes today, carrying with tn m 2 message from President Wilson. the outstanding feature of which was his determination to keep the United States out of the European conflict, al hough he declared that the United States merely held that trouble at arms length.
 The me ssage was given by the president in speaking If neutrality at the annual banquet of tne chamber concluding feature of a ;hree-day convention The preside mt also spoke Of the need of a real scientific tar:f board ard merchant ilarine.
 '. $. Not Ipodging Trouble.
 "It is cruel thing" said the IF s!dent. "to hav2 it supposed, as it is n many quarters, that we have kep; cut of this war simply because we wanted to keep out of trcuble anG simply because we wanted to profit by the troubl, of others. Yet mis- for the tine being arc net t. be reckoned as against the co-:- sciousness that we must ourselves have. that we have pursued the right and only serviceable course. am not afraid of the slow verdict of his tory with regard to the neutrality of the United States. and l believe we a.e justified in exercising every de- gree of patience in making 1t clear what our position is and h3w sincere ly we arc determined not to allow this quarrel to become ours.
 "I have only this to say, though: We hold this trouble at arms length and keep, or attempt to keep, Cur own judgments cool but the rest of the time. without our cooperation ana without our ability to stop it. the flame may extend t. us. And, there fore. l am glad that the United States has been put in position to mobi lize it's financial resources and to get into the position which it must at last get into, whether it wants to Or not.
 "Ii only we can keep ihs great na ton at peace. there is an infinit- pr spect of happy prosperity before the United States"
 Federal Reserve Law.
 .Ths president spoke of the federal reserve law. saying
 When you reflec, what might have happened if our banking system had, at the outset of this war, been the olumsy and antiquatsd thing that it was three years ago, you will realize that not only might we not have es- cap d disaster but that disaster might have been. so prolonged that 1t would have besn impossible for the United St1ttes t. occupy the position sine now occupies"
 The president told of the necessity of scientific tariff board. and said he thought the nation would get it. \ 'I want to say" he continued .'that before the whole face of affairs was changed in the economies Of the world by the war, was not in favor of tariff board because the purpose of it then was apparently to keep alive an unprofitable controversy. am not intetasted in the doctrines of Er2tection: l am not interested in the doctrine of free trade. I have been a college professor and knew why am not-bscause there is nothing in either doctrine. The only thing that is interesting is the fact of commerce and industry. and the only thing that it is right to deduce from the facts is something that has ncthing properly 10 dc with party politics at all."
 The president expressed the confi- dent hope that legislation creating a merchant marine would be passed by congress as soon as possible.