The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1916-09-19
ANYTHING TO BEAT WILSON

hints of candidate Hughes. the Globe
Democrat shrieks about the coward
ice Of President Wilson and Congress
in passing the Adamson bill. 1t
raves about "compulsion," the sac
rifice of the dignity and honor of
the nation" the burial of the head
of the American eagle in the sand,
etc.
Nothing could be more absurd
than the Globe-Democrat's assump-
tion of compulsion to do this thing,
regardless Of right or wrong, except
its amusing comparison of con-
gressional action to avert railroad
strike with action to avert strike
Of butchers or farmers. This is the
finest sample of logic we have seen
in partisan newspaper.
However, we have not the slight
est doubt il the butchers combined
to deprive the people of the United
States Of meat or the farmers COM
bined to deprive them of grain that
Congress would act vigorously and
effectively to keep the people from
starving. If it didn't act we would
like to hear the Globe-Democrat
shrek. 1t would be an experience
If the President had not acted in this
case; if the strike had taken place
with an embargo on all traffic the
shrieks from the partisan organs and
anti-labor interests that are now
bowling about the cowardice of the
President would have been deafen-
ing. In three days they would have
wanted to mob the President and
Congress for not taking action.
When the embargo was declared
the railroads, whose heads realized
that they could not run their roads
with the strike on; the business men
and business organizations who
bombarded the President with tele-
grams urging him to support the
railroads, flooded the President and
the Congress with kilograms urging
them to avert or postpone the strike.
If the strike had occurred the food
OF kilograms calling for government
tai action would have been Niagara
in a week.
Arbitration had failed. mediation
had failed and the strike had been
ordered before the President went 70
Congress with program of legis-
lation to avert it and settle all rail-
road labor controversies. He went
with the plan he had decided was
best just before the strike was ordered
the plan he had offered both parties
to the controversy as just which had
oten accepted by the men and re-
Jected by the railroads.
After a strike like that with which
the country was threatened has been
averted ii is easy to intimate that II
would not have occurred or would
not have amounted to much: it is
easy when its disastrous conse-
quences have been escaped to criti-
cize the method OF escape; to attack
the men who took vigorous. swift ac-
ton to save the public from the con-
sequences. This is the easiest thing
in the world.
or course, President Wilson did an
objectionable thing from the stand
point of the Old Guard when he fail
ed to humble himself before the rail
road heads and do their bidding
"hen he failed to cal. in the Wall
street magnates and ask them to
save the country at any price. He
ala an objectionable thing when
re ogniZing Congress as the supreme
power in the country, he called up
on it to take action to save the conn
try without the aid of the big inter
ests
In the Roosevelt panic OF 1907
when stocks were crashing down.
bankers were failing and money was
locked up in strong boxes. President
Roosevelt turned over the treasury
to Peirpont Morgan and gave him =
permit to violate the antitrust laws
IN order to save the country. He
defended his surrender of the gov
ernment's power on the ground that
IL was necessary and he boasted of
it as an act of man of courage and
resource. Republican organs de-
Tended his action.
In the anthracite coal strike. after
the country had suffered for five
months and was in the throes of a
coal IA mine praoi1ant