Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1916-09-08

in resources and in policy.
There must be just and settled peace
and we here in America must contribute
the full force of our enthusiasm and of oul
authority as nation to the organization
of that peace upon worldwide foundations
that cannot be easily shaken. No nation
should be forced to take sides in any quar-
rel in which its own honor and integrity
and the fortunes of its own people are not
involved; but no nation can any longer
remain neutral as against any wilful dis
turbance OF the peace of the world. The
effects of war can no LONGER be confined
to the areas of battle. No nation stands
| wholly apart in interest when the life and
interests of all nations are thrown into
confusion and peril. If hopeful and eener-
GUS enterprise is to be renewed, If the
healing and helpful arts of life are indeed
to be revived when peace comes again, a
new atmosphere of justice and friendship
must be generated by means the world has
never tried before. The nations of the
world must unite in joint guarantees that
whatever is done to disturb the whole
worlds life must first be tested in the
court of the whole worlds opinion before
it is attempted.
These are the new foundations the world
must build for itself, and we must play our
part in the reconstruction. generously and
without too much thought of our separate
interests. We must make ourselves ready
to play it intelligently. vigorously and well.
One of the contributions we must make
to the worlds peace is this: We must see
to it that the people in our insular pos
sessions are treated in their own lands as
we would treat them here. and make the
rule of the United States mean the same
thing everywhere--t same justice. the
same consideration for the essential rights
of men.
Besides contributing our ungrudging NOR
al and practical support to the establish
ment of peace throughout the world we
must actively and intellieently prepare
ourselves to do our full service in the trade
and industry which are to sustain and de-
velop the life Of the nations in the days to
come.
We have already been provident in this
great matter and supplied ourselves with
the instrumentalities of prompt adjust
ment. We have created, in the Federal
Trade Commission. means Of inquiry and
of accommodation in the field of COM
merce which ought both to coordinate
the enterprises Of our traders and manu-
facturers and to remove the barriers Of
misunderstanding and of a too technical
Interpretation Of the law. In the new
Tariff Commission we have added another
fundamentally Of observation and adjust
ment which promises to be Immediately
serviceable. The Trade Commission sub
stitutes counsel and accommodation for
the higher process Of legal restraint. and
the Tariff Commission ought to substitute
facts for prejudices and theories. Our ex-
porters have for some time had the ad
vantage Of working In the new light thrown
upon foreign markets and opportunities Of
trade by the intelligent inquiries and ac-
tivities of the Bureau of Foreign and Do
nestle Commerce which the Democratic
Congress so wisely created in 1912. The
Tariff Commission completes the machin-
cry by which we shall be enabled TO open
up our legislative policy to the facts as
they develop.
We can no longer indulge our traditional
prOvincialism. We are to play leading
part in the world drama whether we wish
it or not. We shall lend, not borrow; act
for ourselves, not initiate or follow organ
ize and initiate, not peep about merely to
see WIleTc we may get ILL.,
We have already formulated and agreed
upon policy Of law which will explicitly
remove the ban now supposed to rest upon
cooperation amongst our exporters in seek
ing and securing their proper place in the
markets of the world. The field will be
free, the instrumentalities at hand. Il will
only remain for the masters Of enterprise
amongst us to act in energetic concert, and
for ha & tha TInffaA CfoNno
to insist upon the maintenance through
out the world Of those conditions Of fair
ness and Of even-handed justice in the
commercial dealings Of the nations with
one another upon which. after all. in the
last analysis. the peace and ordered life of
the world must ultimately depend.
At home also we must see to II that the
men who plan and develop and direct our
business enterprises shall enjoy definite
and settled conditions Of law. policy ac-
cOmmOdated to the freest progress. We
have set the just and necessary limits.
We have put all kinds Of unfair cOmpeti-
ton under the ban and penalty Of the law
We have barred monopoly. These fatal
and ugly things being excluded. we must
now quicken action and facilitate enter
prise by every just means within our choice.
There will be peace in the business world,
and, with peace. revived confidence and
life.
We ought both to husband and to de-
vel0p our natural resources. our mines. our
forests. our water power wish we could
have made more progress than we have
made in this vital matter and call once
more. with the deepest earnestness and
solicitude, upon the advocates Of a careful
and prOvident conservation. on the one
hand, and the advocates Of free and in
viting field for private capital. on the other.
TO get together in a spirit OF genuine ac
commodation and agreement and set this
great policy forward at once.
We must hearten and quicken the spirit
and efficiency OF labor throughout our whole
industrial system by everywhere and in all
occupations doing justice to the lab0rer,
not only by paying living wage but also
by making all the conditions that surround
labor what they ought 10 be. And we must
do more than justice. We must safeguard
life and promote health and safety in every
occupation in which they are threatened
or imperiled. That Is more than justice. and
better because 1t Is humanity and economy.
We must coordinate the railway sys-
tens Of the country for national use. and
must facilitate and promote their develop
ment with a view to that coordination and
TO their better adaptation as whole to the
life and trade and defense Of the nation.
The life and industry Of the country can
be free and unhampered only II these ar
teries are open, efficient and complete.
Thus shall we stand ready TO meet the
future as circumstance and International
policy effect their unfolding. whether the
changes come slowly or fast and without