The Benson signal., 1919-08-16


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-
| t1ons; and 1t was upon the former condi-
| t1ons, 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
sef-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
1t by her action in peace.
In saving Europe she will save herself,
as she did upon the battlefelds of the
| war. The calmness and capacity with
winch 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 a 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.
Must Be No Threats.
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
| arbitrary force of military junta. 1t
| will live under no other. All that Is ar
bitrary and coercive is in the discard.
| Those who seek to employ it only prepare
| their own destruction.
| We cannot hastily and overnight revo-
lutionize all the processes of our eco
nomic life. We shall not attempt to do
so. These are days of deep excitement
and Of extravagant speech, but with us
these are things of the surface.
| 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.
l 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 1 enter another confident hope. I
| 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.
appeal with entire confidence to
our producers, our middlemen 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.
! And I have no doubt that house
keepers all over the country, and ev-
eryone who buys the things he daily
stands in need of will presently exer-
else greater vigilance, more
thoughtful economy, more discrimi-
| mating care as to the market in which
he buys or the merchant with whom
he traded than he has hitherto exer-
! cised.
Labor Must Consider.
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
with the distribution of goods by the
railways and the shipping of the
country.
We are all involved in the dis
tressing results of the high cost Of
| living and we must unite, not divide,
to correct it.
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
| 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