Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-08-09
MOndeIL Calls 1t
Confession of
Failure
BIZ Associated Press.

| dication of what action would be
| taken, varying comment on the ao-
dress is for the most part favoraole.
! Although some Senators and Rep
resentatives disagreed with some ol
| the Presidents specific recommen-
| dations, there was an almost unanl-
nous expression that his address
! probably would have a beneficial Ell
| feet on conditions. His references to
! sober second thought on the part
of labor leaders were generally ap-
proved.
Republican Leader Mondell, In
/ the House, however, characterized
! the Presidents address as con
| fession" that the administration mad
| failed to realize the seriousness OF
| the situation and use its powers 10
| found little thoughtful suggestion Ill
! the address.
Peace Times Must Return
President Wilson laid several spe-
| cific proposals before Congress for
| checking the high cost of living,
| but at the same time declared per
manent results could not be expect
ed until peace time basis were fully
restored by ratification of the Peace
Treaty.
High prices, the President told
| Congress, were not Justifled oy
/ shortage of supply, either present O.,
| prospective, but were created in
| many cases "artificially and delib-
erately," by vicious practices" Re-
! tailers, he said, were responsible In
large part for eXtortionate prices.
Strikes, the President warned the
| labor world, would only make mat
| tiers worse, and those who sought to
employ threats or coercion were
only preparing their own destruc-
! ton" Leaders of organized labor,
! the President said, he was sure
| would presently yield to second
: sober thought.
( illegal" and Criminal were the
words the President used in char
acterizing the methods by which
some present-day prices have beeu
| brought about.
Present laws, he said, would be
| energetically employed to the limit
| to force out food boards, and mest
| the situation so far as possible, but
! to supplement the existing statutes
/ he specifically urged enactment Of
! new laws.
The President had no panacea to
suggest. Frankly the stated that
there is no complete immediate
remedy to be had from legislation
and executive action, but what we
can do we should do and do at
once" he added.
He told Congress that the sur
plus stocks of army food and cloth
| ing will be sold at once; that sur
plus stocks in private hands will be
drawn out of storage; that suits will
be instituted by the Department of
| Justice against combinations of pro-
ducers and traders who control sup
that tho nIlhlir
! will be kept fully informed regard
/ ing supplies and prices, wholesale
and retail, through the medium of
! the Government departments.
Congress Should Work
These are the steps which the
Administration is taking to beat
down the constantly rising cost of
! living and curb the upward trend
of prices for the necessities of life.
But Congress, too, should do its part,
the President declared.
A stern admonition of orga nized
labor to abandon it's present method
was by far the most important fea-
ture of the Presidents address
There must be no threats" he said.
Let there be only intelligent coun-
sci. and let the best reasons win,
! not the strongest brute force. All
| that is arbitrary and coercive is in
the discard. Those who seek to en-
| ploy it only prepare their own de-
struction."
For the first time during the en-
: tire reading of the address, the end
of which he was approaching, Mr..
Wilson seemed to strike responsive
! chord. His entire audience, Repub-
licans and Democrats, Senators and
/ Representatives, applauded, and
then cheered, and the galleries
Joined in applause unreproved by
the two presiding officers.
Opposes Labor'S Plan
When he continued that this coun-
try could not and would not over
night revolutionize our economic
1t was made very evident to the
various leaders of organized labor
who sat in the galleries that their
efforts to bluff the naturalization
of the railroads through Congress
and then perhaps of all the other
great basic industries, will fail.
The President obviously irritated
the Republican Senators by making
it clear at the very outset of his
address and carried the idea
throughout that he regarded the de-
lay in the ratification of the peace
treaty and the unwillingness to ac-
cept his covenant for a League of
Nations as one of the underlying
causes for the distress that is over
powering the world. He insisted that
there is now neither peace nor war,
and accordingly there could be no
confidence in industry, no normal
restoration of business and no re-
sumption of the old commercial
relations with Europe until peace
had been established and guaran-
teed.
Should Provide Funds
First, the President said, on the
food situation, Congress should pro-
1 vide the necessary funds to enable
the executive branch to carry its
plans into execution. He recon-
mended as amendment to the food
control Act las the period of time
during which it shall remain in op-
GRAFTON and as to the commodities
to which it shall apply"
It's provisions, the President said
should be made to apply to food
stuffs, fuel, clothing and to many
other necessaries of life. 1t is now
essentially a war measure but the
President expressed his confidence
that under the commerce clause OF
the constitution Congress has full
authority to make 1T permanent
And he particularly suggested that
the profiteering section of the Act
be provided with penalty for its
enforcement.
other recommendations of far
reaching import were put forward
by the President. He suggested that
Congress pass law regulating cold
storage fashioned after the New
! Iarcav Iaw limiting the time tha