The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1917-09-29

| ~ S1NS viz ACoioChs SNCly
gun or other article of military equip
ment he has asked
To give the President the greatest
air fleet ever conceived in the brain OF
man.
To give the President authority IL
commander every shipyard and every
ship being built; to practically com
tnandeer the railroads, the coal mines,
and the factories of the United
States
To give the President every dollar
of money he has asked. The aggre-
gate of the moneys will speedily reach
the staggering aggregate Of $17,0O0,,
100000.
AS a member of the Judiciary and
Military Committees Reed assisted m
perfecting that drastic code of laws
known as the Espionage Bills which
confer upon the President and his as
sociates almost unlimited power.
In what then does his offending con-
sist. 1t may be very briefly summed
up:
First. He believed that the armed
forces could be best raised by the
volunteer plan which had been in
vogue in our country from it's creation
and which has been a part of the ira
dition Of the English-speaking people
for five hundred years. He argued
strenuously in favor of that plan of
raising an army, believing it to be the
best plan. In this view many men,
bers of Congress concurred, including
Speaker Clark. 1t was in accord with
the views of the President as express
ed in speech at Milwaukee as late
as January 81, 1916. But when the
of Congress adopted the
draft, Reed in every way sought to
discourage all opposition to the draft
and to promote loyal sentiment IN
its favor.
Second. The administration strenu-
ously demanded a law putting the
press of the country under a censor
ship. Reed declined to vote to do any
thing to impair the liberty of the
press. That measure was defeated.
Are there any really thoughtful men
n the country today who do not be-
ieve it fortunate that the liberty of
he press has been preserved unim-
paired?
The chief cause of all the present
excitement appears to be that Reed
opposed the creation of a food dicta-
or. His opposition rested principally
N the ground that the appointment of |
|! food dictator would result to the m
Justice and injury to the farmer.
1t is a we'll understood and easily |
fact that when the food |
Ill Twas introduced it was the inten-
ion to force the price of the farmers
PRODUCTS back substantially to the
rices which prevailed before the war.
his might have been all right if all |
Their prices, not only in this country
ut all over the world, could have been
reduced, but Reed knew that
the prices of the farmers products
'ere reduced and everything he pur-
hased was allowed to remain at the
resent high prices, the farmer would
e ruined. 1t was for this reason Reed
ought against allowing Mr.. Hoover to
x the price of the farmers wheat.
Everybody familiar with the facts
nows that it was Reeds fight which
breed into the bill a minimum price
81 for the farmers wheat and that
hen this was done it was in the teeth
the opposition of Mr.. Hoover and
IL forces back Of him. Everyone fam
lar with the situation knows that it
as because of Reeds fight on Hoover
nat the fixing of the price Of wheat
as taken out Of his hands and put
ITO the hands of a commission ap-
ointed by the President, that COM
Mission proceeding to fix the price at
2.20 for the farmers wheat. The
armers of Missouri can thank Reed
oday for the fact that they are not
ompelled to sacrifice their wheat in
market absolutely controlled by Mr..
Ioover at from SIPS to $1.50 per
ushel.
When the farmers Of Missouri know
hese facts as they exist they will
answer the criticisms
rought against Senator Reed.