The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-09
Wilson Would Stamp Cost on Cold Storage Food.

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 At
latte can Europe return to the
former conditions, and Il was upon
the former conditions. not the
present, that our economic rela-
lions with Europe were built up.
We must face the fact that UNI
less we help Europe to get back to
her normal life and production a
chaos will ensue there which will
inevitably be communicated to this
country. For the present, II Is
manifest, we must quicken, not
slacken. our own production. We.
and we almost alone, now hold the
world steady. Upon our steadfast-
: ness and self-possession depend
the affairs of nations everywhere.
Crisis for All Mankind.
II Is In this supreme crisis
this crisis for all mankind-that
America must prove her mettle.
In the presence of a world con-
fused. distracted, she must show
herself self-possessed, self-con-
tanned, 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 battle
fields 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 II only in our own interest
we must help the people overseas.
Europe is our biggest customer.
We must keep her going or thou.
sands 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 discarded. Passion and a dis
regard 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.
There must be no threats. Let
there be only intelligent counsel,
and let the best reasons win, not
the strongest brute force. The
world has just destroyed the arbi-
trary force of military junta. 1t
will live under no other. All that
is arbitrary and coercive is in the
discard. Those who seek to en-
ploy it only prepare their own de-
struction.
We cannot hastily and over night
revolutionize all the processes of
our economic life. We shall not
attempt to do SO. These are days
of deep excitement and of extrav-
agant speech; but with us these
are things of the surface. Every
one who is in real touch with the
silent masses of our great people
knows that the old strong fibre
and steady self-control are still
there, firm against violence or any
distempered action that would
throw their affairs into confusion.
am serenely confident that
they will readily find themselves,
no matter what the circum-
stances, and that they will address
themselves to the tasks of peace
with the same devotion and the
same staiwart preference for
what is right that they displayed
to the admiration of the whole
world in the midst of war.
Appeals to Fairness.
And I entertain another conf
dent hope. have spoken to-day
chiefly OF measures Of impera-
tive regulation and legal compul-
sion. OF prosecutions and the
sharp correction of selfish proc
esses; and these no doubt are
necessary. But there are other
forces that we may count on be-
sides those resident in the De-
partnent 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 bur-
den on the mass OF our people.
To have brought 1t all into the
open will accomplish the greater
part of the result we seek.
l appeal with entire confidence
to our producers, our middlemen
and our merchants to deal fairly
with the people. It is their oppor-
tunity to show that they compre-
bend, that they intend to act Just
ly, and that they have the public
interest sincerely at heart. And I
have no doubt that housekeepers
all over the country and every
one who buys the things he daily
stands in need OF will presently
exercise a greater vigilance, a
more thoughtful economy, a more
discriminating care as to the mar
ket In which he buys or the mer-
chant with whom he trades than
he has hitherto exercised.
/ believe too that the more ex-
IRENE leaders of organized labor
viii presently yield to a sober Sec
ond thought and. like the great
mass of their associates, think
and act like true Americans.
They will see that strikes under
taken at this critical time are
certain to make matters worse,
not better-worse for them and
for everybody else.
Mustn't Check Production.
The worst thing. the most fatal
thing that can be done now is TO