Omaha daily bee., 1919-02-19
Gamble Tells of Scope of
REIMBURSEMENT Congress

has been one OF the greatest tests OF
the strength of our country that the
world has ever known. The sud
den transition from a nation en-
gagged in the greatest war of all his
tory, to a peaceful nation, presents
even more and greater problems
than did the former. This being
true, the things that we do during
the coming three days will have all
influence that will be exerted years
after those of US who participate
have passed from the scene of &C
ton.
With the sudden termination OF
the war, many uncompleted con-
tracts still exist. Material for the
completion of these has been pur-
chased. Production has been sped
up to meet these needs and now we
must decide, and rightly decide,
what is the proper adjustment of
these matters from the standpoint
of the government, from the stand
point of the owners of the plants
and from the standpoint of labor,
which made it possible to comply
with the demands.
The Wheat Price.
THE farmer, who produced the
wheat, who today is producing
wheat. responded to the call. How
shall the future question of price be
determined? Shall we continue to
arbitrarily fix prices, or shall we.
with the least loss and the least
friction, attempt to restore the law
of supply and demand? Who has
better right to say more on these
matters than the men most vitally
affected? / am glad to see they arc
well represented here and that their
counsel in this congress will be
most valuable.
IF the law of supply and demand
is to be superseded by another plan.
how shall the matter be handled, so
that men who put their lives, their
capital and their credit into the
business of taking the farmers food
stuffs and delivering them to the
mills and to the factories be treated,
for we must remember that in the
readjustment, the least disturbances
will result if all matters are taken
into consideration and a patriotic
view of the whole question is con-
sidered.
Live Stock Question.
Directly related to the question
of food stuffs is the question of live
stock. The price of hogs bears a
certain relation to the price of corn.
The same is true of the cattle. What
is to be the relation between the
producer and the manufacturer for
the months to come? What better
way of answering this question can
be found than for the people most
vitality interested both from the
standpoint of the producer and the
manufacturer to get together and
discuss the best methods of hand
ling this all important question?
Employment Question.
Il am one who believes that we
stand at the threshold of a new era
with respect to employer and en-
ploye. We are all human beings.
The einploye of today is the emf
ployer of tomorrow The problems
are identical and the reason that
there has been a widening gulf be-
tween these men has been due very
largely to the fact that they have
not fully understood each other.
ALREADY there is a marked dis
position to become better acquaint-
ed. The business men of the United
States are squarely on record
on this matter and their attitude
was voiced at the Atlantic City
meeting by more than one of the
foremost employers of labor in the
country. This meeting will not
have accomplished its purpose un-
less there shall come from it a bet
ter understanding and a better
working basis not only for the en-
ploye but also for the employer.
Highway Question.
THE war demonstrated very
clearly great weakness. This weak
ness is our lack of we'll built and
well developed highways. i ne future
prosperity of the farmer, the labor
ing man, the manufacturer and in
fact every one, depends to a large
extent upon what we do nationally
with our highways during the next
few years. A splendid start has been
made, but we need more cohesion.
better developed and more fully
understood plan of road building
and more thorough cooperation on
the part of all OF our people, In
this, as in the foregoing matters, we
have an opportunity to contribute
very largely to this end
"One more thing that must not be
overlooked. Vast sums of money
are needed to property finance the
work of the readjustment period.
Our financial institutions must be
taken into account. / may say that
our financial institutions are ready
to assist the people in all legitimate
enterprise both old and new,
There is just one thing that must