The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-10-27
uation of the United States"
Americas Great Opportunity.


"The United States has had an in
du~r.ial and manufacturing revival in
the last two years such as it never ex-
perienced before. And when men i'm
agine that this is due to the trade
created by the war, they are merely
imagining it, because they have not
read the facts. If you take the figures
of our commerce, domestic and for
eign included, you will find that the
foreign commerce, even upon the most
modest reckoning of our domestic
commerce, does not equal four per
cent of the total and the exports in
munitions, and not merely In NUM-
tions, but in everything that goes to
supply armies-draft animals, auto
mobile trucks, food directly intended
for that purpose, shoes, clothes, every
thing that is needed by the commits
sary of an army-that all of these
things put together do not constitute
one per cent of the total of our cGE.~@
merce. Now, is four per cent Great
ing the ninety-six per cent? Is II
reasonable to suppose that it is?
And, in the meantime what have
we done? 1t was estimated at the be-
ginning of the war that about four
thousand millions Of dollars worth or
American securities were held on the
other side of the water. In these two
years we have bought back. again, 1t
ately determined, two thousand mil
lions. We have been actually able to
take back into our own hands half OF
what we have borrowed from Europe.
And we have accumulated in that
short time $2,636,000 of gold which is
one third Of the gold supply OF the
world.
IF the war goes on another year;
we shall probably have half the goid
SIMPLY of the world"
"And. in the meantime, we have got
a sort. Of world spirit that we never
had before. One of the difficulties with
America has been that she has been
too provincial She has thought too
exclusively OF herself and of her own
development, sometimes to her great
advantage but nevertheless too ex-
clusively IL she Is to realize her place
In the world. And the fact that all
the rest of the world In q different case
has made us realize the meaning OF
our national life and the oppoEtuni-
ties Of our national life more vlvidly
than we ever realized them before.
And SO we are the creditors of the
world, in some sense the bankers Of
the world as we never were before.
Our whole activity has been quicken
ed to the highest point. We are awake.
we are ready. Ready for what?
Suppose, however, that all Of
in the night time, manufacturing goods
that we know they have not time to
manufacture. at any rate in the day
time, and was ready, as these men
with silly imaginations say that they
are, to dump goods-for dump Is the
word they like to uSe-to dump their
goods on us. We have means of de-
fense, and we have means of aggres-
sion. Our means OF defense are that
we have taken pains to have all the
instrumentalities to find out exactly
what is going on and to be ready to
act Immediately we And that 1t is
necessary to defend ourselves. And in
law passed in the last session Of the
congress, we have an adequate and
Of foreign goods on this market at
prices cheaper than they are sold at
home. 1t is illegal and the gentlemen
who try 1t can be fined $1,000 apiece
and given a year in. Jail to think about
it. We are not helpless, we are not
blind; and we have created instru
mentalities by which we can serve
the world. The chief instrumentality
is the federal reserve banking system.
what / want, therefore to preach
from this time on, In my office or out
of Office, because even out of Office
can retain my powers Of locution-
what / intend to preach from this
time on Is tlidC tAlIlcTlCd must snow
that as a member of the family OF
nations she has the same attitude to.
wards the other nations that sne
wishes her people to have towards
each other. that America is going to
take this position, that she will lend
her moral influence, not only, but her
physical force, If other nations will
| join her. to see to it that no nation
and no group of nations tries to take
advantage of another nation or group