Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-12-02

duetcd TO happy eonsummation, but.
from no quarter hsva seen any gen
eral scheme Of Reconstruction :
emerge which 1 thought it likely we
could force out spirited business men
and self-rchant laborers to accept with
due pliancy and obedience
While the war lasted We set up many
agencies by which to direct the indus
tries of the country in the services it
was necessary for them 10 render, by
which to make sure of an abundant
supply of the materials needed, by
which to cheek undertakings that could
for the time be Dispensed with and
stimulate those that were most serv-
iceable in the war, by which to gain
for the purchasing departments of the
government a certain control over the
prices of essential articles and mater
ials, by which to restrain trade with
alien enemies, make the llost of the
available shipping and systematic fl
nancial transactions, both public and
private, so that there would be no un-
necessary conflict or confusion = by
which, in short, to put every material
energy of the country III harness to
draw the common load and make us
one team in the accomplishment of a
great task. But the moment we knew
the armistiee to have bsen signed, we
took the harness off. Raw materials
upon which the government had kept
its hand on for fear there should not be
enough for the industries thar supplied
the armies, have becn released and put
into the general market again. Great
industrial plants whose whole output
and machinery has been taken over
for the uses of the government have
been set free to return TO the uses to
which they were put before the war.
1t has not been possible to remove so
readily or so quickly, Ntho control of
foodstuffs and of shipping, because
the world has still to be fed from our
granaries and the ships ARE still need
ed to send supplies to our men over
seas and to bring the men back as fast
as the disturbed conditions on the 9th
er side of the water permit; but even
the restraints are being relaxed as
much as possible and more and more
as the weeks 60 by.
Never Before Such Agencies
Never before have there been agen-
cies in existence in this country which
knew so much of the field of supplies,
Of labor, and of industry as the war
industries board, the war trade board,
the labor department, the yfood.adminis-
tration and the fuel administration
have known since their labors BECAME
thoroughly systcmatizea; and they
have not been isolated agencies; they
have been directed by men which rep
resented the permanent departments Of
the government and so have been the
centers of unified and cooperative ac-
ton. 1t has been the policy of the ex-
ecutivc, therefore, since the armistice
was assured (Which is in effect a COM
plete submission of the enemy to-. put
the knowledge of those bodies at the
disposal of the business laen Of the
country and TO Offer their intelligent
mediation at every point end. in every
matter where it was desiFed, 1t is sur
prising how fast the profess Of return
to peace footing has fmoyed in the
three weeks since the fighting stopped
1t promises to outrun any inquiry that
may be instituted and any aid that may
be offered. 1t will not be easy to direct
it any better than it will direct itself
The American business man is of quick
initiative.
Get Work for All
The ordinary and normal processes of
private initiative will not, however,
provide immediate employment for all
Of the men Of our returning armies,
Those who are of trained capacity,
t those who are skilled workmen, those
who have acquired familiarity with es-
tablished businesses, those who are
ready and willing to go to the farms,
all those whose aptitutes arc known or
will be sought out by employers will
find no difficulty, it is safe to say, in
finding place and employment. But
There will be others who viii be at a
loss where to gain Livelihood unless
pains are taken to guide them and put
them in the way of work. There will
be large, floating residue of labor
which should not be left wholly to shift
for itself. 1t seems to me important,
therefore, that the development Of pub
Ilic works of every sort should be
promptly resumed, in order that oppor-
tunities should be created for unskill'
ed labor in particular, and that plans
should be made for such dey elopments
| of our unused lands and our natural re-
sources as we have hitherto lacked
stimulation to undertake.
Land Should be Reclaimed
/ particularly direct your attention
to the very practical plans which the
secretary Of the interior has developed
in his annual report and before your
committee for the reclamation of arid
swamp and cut over lands which might
if the states were willing to- cooper.
ate redeem some 300,000,000 acres OF
land for cultivation. There ore said to
be fifteen or twenty million acres OF
land in the west, at present arid, for
whose reclamation water Il available
| if properly conserved. There are about
two hundred and thirty million acres
from which the forests Lave been cut
but which has never yet been cleared
for the plow and which lie waste und
desolate. These he scattered all over
the union. And there are nearly eighty
million acres of land that lie under
swamps or subject to periodical over
flow or too wet for anything but graz
ing, which it is perfectly feasible to
drain and protect and redeem. The con-