The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-03
! uu Tert of Presidents
 Address 10 COnqresS

ing departments of the government certain control over the prices of essen
 tial articles and materials, by which to ! restrain trade with alien enemies, make the most of the available shipping and systematize financial transactions both public and private-in short to put every | material energy of the country in har-
 ness to draw the common load and make ! of us one team in the accomplishment l of a great task
 But the moment we knew the arrni- stice to have been signed we took the
 harness off. Raw materials upon which the government had kept its hand for | fear there should not be enough for the ] industries that supplied the armies have been released and put-into the geenral 1 market again. Great industrial plants 1 whose whole output and machinery had | been taken over for the uses of the gov | ernment have been set free to return to
 the uses to which they were put before
 the war. It has not been possible to re-
 move so readily or so quickly the con- | trol of foodstuffs and of shipping, be- cause the world hasNstill to be fed from | our granaries and the ships are still
 needed to send supplies to our men over
 seas and to bring the men back as fast
 as the disturbed conditions on the other side of the water permit; but even these
 restraints are being relaxed as much as possible and more and more as the | weeks go by.
 HAVE FULL KNOWLEDGE Never before have there been agencies
 in existence in this country which knew I so much of the field of supply; or labor,
 and of industry as the war industries {, board, the war trade board, the labor de- partment, the food administration and the 1 fuel administrators have known since l their labor became thoroughly system ! tized, and they have not been isolated
 agencies-they have been directed by men which represented the permanent depart-' ments of the government, and so have been the centers of unified and co-opera- tive action. It has been the policy of the executive, therefore, since the armistice was assured (which is in effect a com plete submission of the enemy) to put the knowledge of f~these bodies at the dis posal of the business men of the coun- try and to offer their intelligent media ton at every point and in every matter where it was desired. It is surprising how fast the process of return tosa peace footing has moved in the three weeks since the fighting stopped. It promises to outrun any inquiry that may be in- stituted and any aid that may be offered. It will not be easy to direct it any bet ter than it will beSto direct itself. The American business man is of quick in- itiative. The ordinary and normal pro- cesses of private initiative will not, how ever, provide immediate employment for all~of the men of our returning armies. Those who are of trained c8pacity, those who are skilled workmen, those who have acquired familiarity with establised bus mess, those who are ready and willing to go to the farms, all those whose aptitudes are known or will be saught out by em- ployers will find no difficulty, 1t Is safe to say, in finding place and employment. But there will be others who will be at loss where to gain livelihood, unless pains are taken to guide them and put them in the way of work. There will be a large floating residum of labor which should not be left wholly to shift for. It. self. It seems to me important, there- fore, that the development of public works of every sort should be promptly resumed, in order that opportunities should be created for unskilled labor in particular and that plans should be made for such developments of our unused lands and our natural resources as we have hither-o lacked stimulation to un- dertREe-
 3@f4 1.A NATION PLANS
 I particularly direct your attention to the yery Hgr ical plans which the Sec- Essss Af-g Interior has developed in
 his aau0s report and before your com rnittsss f9r the reclamation of arid, swamp enG t-over lands which might
 Y Ina sSafes were willing and able to e9-operaae, re eem some 3o0,000,000 acres Of land Sog aei .ivation. There are said to be l5,0O0,0o0 or 20,000,000 acres of land for cultivation open in the west, at present arid, for whose reclamation water is available If properly conserved. There are about 230,000.0O0 acres from which the forests have been cut which have never yet been cleared for the blow, and whiOh lie waste and desolate. These lie scattered all over the union. There are nearly 80,000, 900 acres of land that lie under swahps or subject to periodical overflow, or too wet for anything but grazing, which 1t Is perfectly feasible to drain ana protect and redeems The Congress can at once direct thousands of the returning soldiers to the reclamation of the arid lands which it has already undertaken 1 if 1t will but enlarge the plans and the l appropriations which it has entrusted to the department of the interior. 1t is possible in dealing with our unused land to effect great rural and agriculturavl development which will afford the best sort of opportunity to men who want to help themselves and the Secretary of the Interior has thought the best possi. ble methods out in way which is wor. thy of your most friendly attention.
 MUST AID BELGIANS
 
 must yet for while, perhaps for long while, be exercised over shipping because of the priority of service to which our l forces overseas are entitled, and which 1 should also be accorded the shipments l which arc to save recently liberated peo- ples from starvation and many devas- l tated regions from permanent ruin. May l not say special word about the needs l of Belgium and northern France? No | sums of money paid by way of indemnity l will serve sof themselves to save them | from hopeless disadvantage for years to | come. Something more must be done than | merely find the money. If they had money | and raw materials in abundance tomor- | the industry of the world tomorrow, the | very important place they had occupied before the flame of war swept across | them. Many of their factories are raxed | to the ground. Much of their machinery | is destroyed or has been taken away | Their people are scattered and many of | their best workmen ard dead. Their mar kets will be taken by others if they arc | not in some special way assisted to re- build their factories and replace their | lost instruments of manufacture. They | should not be left to the vicissitudes of the sharp competition for materials and for industrial facilities which Is now to set in. hope, therefore. that the Con- gress will not be unwilling, if 1t should become necessary, to grant to soue such | agency as the war trade board the right | to establish priorities of export and sup l ply distribution for the benefit of those people whom we have been 90 happy to | assist in saving from the German terror, | and whom we must not now thoughtless- l lv leave to shift for themselves in