The Pulaskian., 1919-08-15

operative upon the formal proclamation of peace. But should judge that it was 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 if the requirements of the law are not complied with
 Some such regulation is imperauvely necessary.
 lt would materially add to the serv- iceability of the law, for the purpose we now have in view, if 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- ttons, and it was upon the former condi- tons, 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 eommuni- cated to this country. For the present, it is manifest, we must quicken, not slacken, our own production.
 II a Mtic+ Hold HarIrI
 We, and we almost alone. now hold the world steady. Upon our steadfastness and self-possession depend the affairs of na- tons everywhere. It is in this supreme crlsls-this crisis for all manxind-that American must prove her mettle.
 In the presence of a 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 1t by her action in peace
 In saving Europe she will save herself, as she did upon the battleheds 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 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 @
 EVpryone who is in real fn1Icb xritl, a silent masses of our great people knows that the old strong fiber and steady self control are still there, firm against vio- lenee or any distempered action that would throw their affairs into confusion.
 I am serenely confident that they will readily find themselves, no matter what the circumstances, and that they will ad- 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 I enter another confident hope. have spoken today chiefly of measures of imperative regulation and legal com l 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 intolerabie 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 middlemen and our merchants to deal fairly with the peo pie. It 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 a sober second thought. and like the great mass of | their associates, think and act like true Americans. They will see that | strikes undertaken at this critical time 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 l with the distribution of goods by the railways and the shipping of the l country.
 | There are many things that ought to be corrected in the relations be- tween capital and labor, in respect of wages and conditions of labor and l other things even more far-reaching and I, for one, am ready to go into conference about these matter with any group of my fellow countrymen who know what they are talking about and are willing to remedy existing 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 no set clement which does not have as it's motive and standard the general in terest.
 Must All Work Together. Threats and undue insistence upon the interest of single class. make set clement impossible I believe, as have hitherto had occasion to say to l the congress, that the industry and life of our people and of the world will