Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-08


inquiries, and the departments and
commissions have been very much
straitened for means to render this
service.
Adequate Funds Needed
That adequate funds be provided
by appropriation for this purpose,
and provided AS promptly as pos
sibe. is one of the means of greatly
amoliorating the present distressing
conditions of livelihood that | have
come to urge in this attempt to con
cert with you the best ways to serve
the country in this emergency. It is
one of the absolutely necessary
means, underlying many others, and
can be supplied at once.
4 part Of the Presidents message at
this pOiut has not Bct been rccCired.
It would serve aS n useful example
to the other communities of the coun-
try as we'll as greatly relieve local
distress if the Congress were to reg
ulatc all such matters very fully for
the District of Columbia. where its
legislative authority is without limit.
| would also recommend that IL be
required that all goods destined for
interstate commerce should in every
case where their form or package
makes il possible he plainly marked
with the price at which they left the
hands of the producer. Such a re
ouircment would bear a close analogy
to certain provisions of tho pure
food act. by which il is required that
certain detailed information be given
on tho labels of packages Of food and
drugs
And il does not seem to me- that
we eau Confinc ourselves to detailed
measures of this kind if it is indeed
our purpose to assume national con
trOl Of the processes of distribution.
| | take il for granted that that is our
purpose and our duty. Nothing less
will SutflrP.
We need not hesitate to handle
national question in n national way.
We should go beyond the measures
| ! have suggested. We should for
mulate a law requiring a federal H.
cense of all corporations engaged in
. IlttI NllDONlA llR
| in the license. or in the conditions
| under which it is to be issued, spe-
cfic regulations designed to secure
competitive selling and prevent un-
cOnsconablc profits in the method of
marketing.
Such law would afford a welcome
opportunity to effect other much need
cd reforms in the business Of inter
state shipment and in the methods of
corporations which are engaged in it;
but for the moment | confnc my
recommendation to the object imme-
datcly in hand. which is to lower
the cost Of living.
May not add that there is bill
now pending before the Congress
which. if passed. would do much to
stop speculation and to prevent the
fraudulent methods of promotion by
which our people are annually fieeccd
Of many millions of hard earned
money.
Would Control Security Issues
| refer to the measure proposed by
the capital issues committee for the
control of security issues. 1t is Il
measure formulated by men who
know the actual conditions of bust
ness, and its adoption would serve a
great and bcneticcnt purpose.
We are dealing, gentlemen of the
Congress, | need hardly say, with
very critical and very difficult mat
tprs. We should go forward with
confidence along tho road we see. but
we should also seek to comprehend
the whole of the scene amidst which
we act. There is no ground for some
Of the fearful forecasts l hear uttered
about me, but the condition Of the
world is unQuestionnbly very grave
and we should face it comprehcndug
The situation of our own country
is exceptionally fortunate. We of al
peoples can afford to keep our heads
and to determine upon moderate anC
sensible courses of action which vii
insure us against the passions and
dstempcrs which are working such
deep unhappiness for some of the dis
tressed nations on the other side of the
sea.
ibuN We W Ill Dt luNOlNtu III lHtll
distresses unless we help, and help
with energy and Intelligence.
The world must pay for the appall :
ing destruction wrought by the great
war, and we are part of the world.
We must pay our share. For five
years now the industry 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.
Aid Europe or Face Chaos Here
Not until there are the usual crop!
and the usual production of manufac
tured goods on the other side of thu
Atlantic can Europe return to th
former conditions; and it was upOI
the former conditions, not the pres
ent, that our economic relations witt
Europe were built up. We must fac
the fact that unless we help Eu
rope to get back to her normal lif
and production, chaos will ensu
there which will inevitably be com
municeted to this country.
For the present, it is manifest, W
must quicken, not slacken, our owl
production. We, and we almos
alone, now hold the world steady
Upon our steadfastness and self pos
session depend the affairs of nation
everywhere. 1t is in this suprem
crisis-this crisis for all mankind
that America must prove her mettI,
In the presence of world confused
oil oh Shnur hn,un1