Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-12-03
GIVES HIS VIEWS ON PART U. S.
SHOULD PLAY IN AFTER-WAR PROBLEMS

lie works OF every sort should be
promptly resumed. in order that oppor-
tunities should be created for unskiiled
labor in particular and that plans
should be made for such development
of our unused lands and our natural
stimulation to undertake.
particularly cal attention to the
very practical plans which the secreta-
ry of the interior has deveioped in his
annual report cnd befor, your commit.
tees for the reclamation of arid, swamp
and cut-oyer lands, which might, il the
states were willing and able to co-oper-
ate. redeem some three hundred million
acres Of land for cultivation. There are
said to be fifteen or twenty million acres
OF land in the west at present arid. for
whose reclamation water is available. il
properly conserved. There are about
two hundred and thirty million acres
from which the forests have been ont
but which have never yet been cleared
Tor the pillow and which lie waste and
desolate. These lie scattered all over
the union. And there are nearly eighty
million. acres OF land That lie under
swampe or subject to periodical over
now or too wet for anything but graz
ing, which it is perfectly feasible to
drain and protect and redeem. The
congress can at once direct thousands
or the returning soldiers to the rsc,,.
nation of the arid lands, which IT has
already undertaken, if it will but en-
large the plans and the appropriations
which 1t has entrusted to the denar,-
ment of the interior. 1t is noss;blo !,
dealing with our unused land to effaot
great rural and agricultural develop-
"eht which will afford the best sort AZ
opportunity to men who want to helm
themselves, and the secretary OF The
interior has thought the possible meth
oos out IN a way which is WORTHY ~
your most friendly attention.
Temporary Control Shippina M..4
Continue
nave spoken of the control which
must yet for while. perhaps for a ,ons
"niie' De exercised over shipping no
cause or the priority Of service to which
our forces overseas are entitled ana
winch should also be accorded tho sh;,,
,," which are to save the recently
ioerated peoples from starvation and
many devastated regions from perma.
nent ruin.
weeds OF Belgium and North.r,
May not say special word about
the needs of Belgium and norther,,
rance: No sums of money paid nv
way or indemnity will serve of them.
serves TO save them from honeless
disadvantage. for years to come
oohethlng more must be done than
lmereiy find the money. II thew had
money and raw materials in abund-
ahce tomorrow, they could not re.
sumo their place in the industry NJ
the world tomorrow-the very ira
portant place they held before the
name OF war swept across them.
Many of their factories are RACED 10
the ground. Much of their machinery
- destroyed or has been taken away.
ineir people are scattered and many
OF their best workmen are dead. Their
markets will be taken by others II
tney are not in some special wav as
sisted to rebuild their factories and
replace their lost Instruments of
inanufacture. They should not be
ieft to the vicissitudes of the sharp
competition for materials and for in
dustrial facilities which is now to
set in. I hope. therefore, that the
congress will not be unwilling. If it
should become necessary to grant to
some such agency as the War Trade
Board the right. to establish priori-
Ties OF export and supply for the ben
ef1t of these people whom We have
been so happy TO assist in saving
from the German terror and whom
we must not now thoughtlessly leave
to Shift for themselves in a pitiless
competitive market.
Make Tax Burden Liaht as Possible
For the steadying and facilitation
OF our own domestic business read
justments enothing is more import
ant than the Immediate determine
ton or the taxes that are to be lev
led for 1918. 1919 and 1920. As much
OF the burden Of taxation must be
lifted from business as sound meth
DDS Of financing of the government
will permit and these who conduct
the great essential industries of the
countries must be told as exactly as
possible what obligations to the gov
eminent they will be expected to
meet in the years Immediately ahead
Of them. 1t will pe Of serious conse-
quence to the country to delay re-
moving all uncertainties in this mat
ter n single day longer than the right
processes of debate justify. 1t is idle
talk of successful and confident bus
mess reconstruction before these I'M
certainties are removed. If the war
had continued it would have been
lion dollars by taxation in the year
1919, but the war has ended and I
agree with the secretary of the
treasury that it will be safe to re-
duce the amount to six billions. An
Immediate rapid decline in the ex-
penses of the government is not to
be looked for
Contracts made for war supplies will.
indeed, be rapidly cancelled and liuui-
dated, but their immediate liquidation
will make heavy drains on the treasury
for the months just ahead of US. The
maintenance of our forces on the other
side of the sea is still necessary. A
considerable proportion Of those forces
must remain in Europe during the pe.
Rod Of occupation and those which are
brought home will be transported and
demobilized at heavy expense for
months to come. The interest on our
war debt must of course be paid and