The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1919-08-22

| the period OIL inc WAT hHu DeCOInCb HI
| operative upon the formal proclamation
| of peace But | should Judge that II was
| clearly within the constitutional power of
| the congress to make similar permanent
| provisions and equations with regard to
| all goods destined for interstate COM
merce and to exclude them from inter-
| state shipment If the requirements of the
| law are not compiled with.
Some such regulation is imperatively
| necessary
| 1t would materially add to the serv
| iceability Of the law, for the purpose we
| now have in view, II 1t were also pre-
| scrbed that all goods released from stor-
| age for interstate shipment should have
| plainly marked upon each package the
| selling or market price at which they
| went into storage. BY this means the
| purchaser would always be able to learn
| what profits stood between him and the
producer or the wholesale dealer
| The world must pay for the appalling
destruction wrought by the great war,
| and we are part of the world. We must
| pay our share. For five years now the in
dustry of all Europe has been slack and
| disordered The normal crops have not
been produced; the normal quantity OF
manufactured goods has not been turned
| out.
| Not until there are the usual crops
| and the usual production of manufactured
| goods on the other side of the Atlantic
| can Europe return to the former condi-
| tons; and 1t was upon the former condi-
| tions not the present, that our economic
| relations with Europe were built up.
We must face the fact that unless we
| help Europe to get back to her normal
life and production a chaos will ensue
there which will inevitably be communi-
Gated to this country. For the present, 1t
| is manifest, we must quicken, not slacken,
| our own production.
U. S. Must Hold World Steady.
We, and we almost alone, now hold the
world steady. Upon our steadfastness and
| self possession depend the affairs of ma
| tons everywhere. 1t is in this supreme
| crisis-this crisis for all nlankind-that
| American must prove her mettle.
| In the presence of world confused, dis
| tracted, she must show herself self-pos-
| sessed, self-contained, capable of sober
| and effective action. She saved Europe
| by her action in arms; she must now save
| it by her action in peace.
| In saving Europe she will save herself,
as she did upon the battlefields of the
| war. The calmness and capacity with
which she deals with and masters the
problems of peace will be the final test
| and proof of her place among the peoples
| of the world.
| And, if only in our own interest, we
| must help the people overseas. Europe Is
| our biggest customer. We must keep her
| going or thousands of our shops and
| scores of our mines must close. There Is
| no such thing as letting her go to ruin
without ourselves sharing In the disaster
In such circumstances, face to face
| with such tests, passion must be discard
| ed: Passion and a disregard for the
| rights Of others have no place in the
| counsels Of free people. We need light
| not heat, in these solemn times of self
| examination and saving action.
Everyone who Is in real touch with the
silent masses of our great people knows
| that the old strong fiber and steady Self
| control are still there, firm against vio-
| lence or any distempered action that
| would throw their affairs into confusion.
/ am serenely confident that they will
readily find themselves, no matter what
| the circumstances, and that they will ad-
| dress themselves to the tasks or peace
| with the same devotion and the same
| stalwart preference for what is right that
| they displayed to the admiration of the
whole world in the midst of war
Sinister Influences at Work.
And l enter another confident hope.
| have spoken today chiefly OF measures
| Of imperative regulation and legal COM
| pulsion, of prosecutions and the sharp
| correction of selfish processes; and these
| no doubt are necessary.
But there are other forces that we may
| count on besides those resident in the
department Of justice. We have just
fully awakened to what has been going
on and to the influences, many of them
very selfish and sinister that have been
producing high prices and imposing an
intolerable burden on the mass of our
people.
To have brought it all into the open
will accomplish the greater part of the
result we seek
I appeal with entire commence TO
our producers, our middlemen and our
merchants to deal fairly with the peo-
ple. 1t is their opportunity to show
that they comprehend, that they In
tend to act justly and that they nave
the public inter est sincerely al hearI.
Labor Must Consider.
helieve. too. that the more ex-
treme leaders of organized labor will
presently yield to a sober second
thought and like the great mass Of
their associates, think and act IKE
true Americans. They will see that
strikes undertaken at this critical time
are certain to make matters worse
everybody else.
The worst thing, the most fatal
thing-that can be done now is to stop
or interrupt production, or to interfere
with the distribution of goods by the
railways and the shipping OF the
country.
There are many things that ough
to be corrected in the relations pc
tween capital and labor, in respect
of wages and conditions of labor and
other things even more far-reaching'
and 1, for one, am ready to go into
conference about these matter with
any group of my fellow countrymen
who know what fhey are talking about
and are willing to remedy existing
conditions by frank counsel rather
than by violent contest.
General Interest First.