The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-09-10
PRESIDENTS SPEECH TO.
|. MINNESOTA STATESMEN

esteem 1t an unusual pleasure to
stand in this place today and TO ad"
dress the members Of this great body
because the errand upon which ] 1T
Washington is SO Immediately mat
her %. he life OF our ration as we'll
~ the life OF the world. And yet /
am conscious, standing in this prcs-
enee that, perhaps the most appro-
private things ] could say are those
which affect us Immediately.
! know that YOU have been called
together in special session for special
objects ON of these objects you
have achieved and Irejoice with you
Id the adoption Of the suffrage amend
ment. Another object I understand
is the consideration OF the high cost
Of living, and the high cost of living
is one uf those things which is so com =
plicated. ramit7ed in SO many direc-
ions that it seems to me We cannot
do any thing in particular about 1t
| without knowing how the particular
object affects the whole. II is dan
gerous to play with a complicated
piece of machinery. piece Ivy piece,
unless you know how the pieces are
related to each other, and the cost of
| living a present IS world condition.
II Is due to the fact that the man
power Of the world has been sacrificed
on the agony of the battlefield and
that ali the process OF industry have
either been slnckened or distorted.
Production Of foodstuffs. the pro-
| duetion Of clothing. the production OF
| the necessaries of life, have either
| been slackened or turned into chan
| nels that are of little use for gem
cral civil population. The world is
not going to settle down, my fellow
| citizens, unless II knows what part the
United States is going to have in tn
peace. | immagine it will b. several
F!nerations before foreign govern
ments can finally adjust themselves
to carrying the Overwhelming debts
which have accumulat ted in This war
These United States have acumU-
lated n great debt too, but not in pro-
portion to those that other countries
have accumulated, when you reckon
our wealth as compared with theirs
And we are the only nation in the
world that Is likely. in tho immediate
future. 10 have a sufficient amount Of
free capital to pull the industry Of
the world up and finally on Its feet.
Until the industry Of the world Is
put on its feet you cannot finally han
de the question of living >cy7st. because
the cost OF living in the last analysis
depends ON the things vie ara. altraus
talking about and don't know how 70
manage--the law of supply and de-
mand 1t depends upon manufacture
and distribution, it depends upon all
the normal processes OF the Industrial
and commercial world; Il depends
upon international credit; u depends
upon transportation facilities annd
shipping
Our railroads, Mt this moment, are
not adequate 10 move the commerce
of the country, and here aud there
they run through a little neck For
example, with the Pennsylvania sys-
tenn at Pittsburgh. where everything
ts corgested, you are squeezing a great
commerce through little opening
The problem grows the more you
mink of Il, so that what we think and
put our minds 10 is an international
problem: 1rst of all. to restore the
commerce Of the world and to get
the manufacturing of the world going
again. And we have got to do that
largely,
Then we. sitting in legislatures like
this aud In the congress of the United
Stafet. have to see to it. If you will
permit a vulgar expression that no.
boy monkeys with the process.