The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-20
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lnreatens American industries. our country has emerged from the war less disturbed and less weakened than any of the European countries which arc, our competitors in manufacture. Their industrial establishments have beon subjected to greater strain than ours, their labor force to a moro se- r1ous disorganization. and this Is clearly not the time to seek an orr galnfzed advantage. The work of mere reconstruction will, I am afraid. tax the capacity and the resources of their people for years to come. So Tar from there being any danger or need or accentuated foreign competi- ton, it is ltk aly that the conditions of tho next few years will greatly fla cihtate the marketing Of American manufacturers abroad. Least of all should we depart from the policy adopted in the tfinf act of 1913 of per 1nitting. the free entry into the United states of raw materials needed to supplement and enrich OUT own abun- ] dant supplies.
 Nevertheless, there arc parts of our tariff system which need prompt | attention. The experiences of the | war have made ft plain that in some cases too great reliance on foreign supply is dan EeroN4, and that in de- term1n4nz c~rtain parts of our tarif policy domestic considera uons must be borne in mind which are political as tweil-as- economic. Among the in .>dustries to which special considera- tion should be given Is that of the manufacture of dye stuffs and related chemicals. Our complete depend ence upon German supplies before the war made the introduction of this trade a cause Of exceptional economic adventure. German chemical in- dustry with which we will be brought into comp etition was and may well be again a thoroughly knit monopoly capable of exercising q petition of peculiarly insfdious and dangerous kind. The United States should, more over, have the means of properly pro- tecting itself whenever our trade is discrininatee against by foreign na
 tions. in order that we may beassU--od | of that equality of treatment which we hope to accord and to pUoInote the world over. Our tariff laws as they now stand provide no weapon of re- taliation in case other governments should enact legislation unequal in it's bearing on our products as com pared with the products of other countries. Though we are as far as possible from desiring to enter upon any course of retaliation, we must frankly face the fact that hostile leg islaioL by other nations is not be- | yOnd the range of possibility and that 1. ft may be outssrown by us. The atten- l ton oi Congress has been called to tHis l ras. Ger on past occasions and the past measures which are now recommend ed by the tariff commission are sub l stautially the same that have been suggested by previous administrations ] recommend that this phase of the tariff question receive the early at tention of the Congress
 Will you not permit mo, turning from these matters to speak once more and very earnestly of the pro posed amendment to the constitution which would extend the suffrage to women and which passed the House of Representatives at the last session of the Congress? It seems to me that every consideration of justice and of public advantage calls for the immediate adoption of that amead- ment and it's submission forthwith to the legislators of the several states. Throughout all the world this long dci iyed extension of the suffrage Is looked for; in the United States longer, I believe, than anywhere else. the necessity for it and the immense advantage of it to the national life
 has been urged and debated, by worn Cn and men who saw the need for it and urged the policy of it when it re- 4uired steadfast courage to be so much beforehand with the common conviction and I, for one, covet for our country the distinction of being among the first to act in a great re- fern.
 The telegraph and telephone lines will, of course. be returned to their owners so soon as the transfer can be effected without administrative confu- sion, 50 soon that is, as the change can be made with least possible in- convenience to the public and to the owners themselves. The railroads will he handed over to their owners at the end of the calendar year; if were in : dr1mediate contact with the admins ! rrative questions which must govern the transfer of the telegraph and tele- l phone lines, I could name the exact : date for their return also. Until l am in direct contact with the practical management involved, it is clearly de- ( sirable that legislation sho be con- sidered that may tend to make of these dispensible instrumentalities of our modern life a uniform and co-or- ' dinated- system which will afford those who use them as complete and certain means of communication with all . parts of the country as has so long been afforded by the postal system of the government and at rates as uni form and intelligible.
 Expert advice is, of course, avail able in this matter, and the public in- terest is manifest. Neither the tele- graph nor the telephone service of the country can be said to be in any sense O national system. There are many confusions and inconsistencies of rates The scientific means by which communication by such in strlmentalities could be rendered more thorough and satisfactory has not been made full use of. An exec utive study of the whole question of electrical communication and of means by which the central authority can use and. improve it. it is important, by the appropriate committees of the Congress would certainly result in- directly. even if not directly, in 9 great public benefit.
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