The patriot., 1919-08-15

! clearly WITHIN the CONSTITUTIONAL power OF
the congress to make similar permanent
| provisions and regulations with regard to
| all goods destined for interstate COM
merce and TO exclude them from inter
state shipment IL the requirements of the
law are not complied 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. IL it were also pre-
scribed 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-
| tions; and it 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, it
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
| tions everywhere. 1t is in this supreme
| crisis-this crisis for all mankind-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
IL 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 0i her place among the peoples
of the world.
And, II 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
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 disregard for the
rights of others have no place in the
counsels of a 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 adj
dress themselves to the tasks of 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 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 confidence to
our producers. our middlemep and our
merchants to deal fairly with the peo-
pie. 1t is their opportunity to show
that they comprehend, that they in
tend to act justly, and that they have
the public interest sincerely at heart.
Labor Must Consider.
I believe. too. that the more ex-
treme leaders of organized labor will
presently yield to sober second
thought, and like the great mass OF
their. associates. think and act ike |
true Americans. They will see tnat |
are certain to make matters worse, |
not better--worse for them and for |
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 I
There arc many things that ought |
to be corrected in the relations be-
tween capital and labor, in respect /
of wages. and conditions of labor and I
other things even more far-resching |
and I. for one. am ready to go into |
conference abou. these matter will: |
any group of my fellow countrymen /
who know what they are talking aboHe
and are willing to remedy existing I
conditions by frank counsel rather
than by violent contest
General Interest First.
No remedy is possible while men are
In a temper, and there can be 20 set
Element which does not have as its
motive and standard the general In
terest. -
Must All Work Together.
Threats and undue insistence upon
The interest of single class. make set
nave hitherto had occasion 10 say to-
The congress, that the industry and life
,f our people and OF the world win
suffer irreparable damage III employers
ind workmeR are to go on in perpet-
ial contest, as antagonists. They
must. On one plan or another. be efTec-
lively associated. Have we not stead
ness and self-possessi0n and bnslnes@
tense enough to work out that result?
III the meansime--now and IN the
lays Of readjuEtment and recuperation
hat are ahead OF us-let us resort
more and more TO frank and irtimate
counsel and make ourselves n great |