Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-08-14


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 communica ed .
to this country. For the present, 1t
is manifest, we must quicken, not
slacken, our production. We, and we
almost alone, now hold the world steady.
Upon our steadfastness and self-pos-
session depend the affairs of nations
crisis-that crisis for all mankind-I
that America must prove her mettle.
In the presence of "A world confused,
distracted, she must show herself self.
possessed, self-contained, capable of So
Der and effective action. She saved
Europe by her action in arms; she must
now save it by her action in peace In
saving Europe she will save herself.
as she did upon the battlefields of tho
war. The calmness and capacity with
which she deals with and masters tn .
problems of peace will be the final test
and proof of her place among the peo-
pies of the world.
And, if only in our own interest, we
must help the people overseas. Europe IL
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 letting her go 70
ruin without ourselves sharing in the
disaster.
n such circumstances, face to face with
such tests, passion must be discarded.
Passion and a disregard for the rights of
others have no place in the counsels of
Il free people. We need light not heat.
IN these solemn. times of self-examina..
mr.
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
a military junta. It will live under no
other All that is arbitrary and coercive
is in the discard. Those who seek to err.
ploy it only prepare their own destruc.
ton.
We cannot hastily and over night
revolutionize all the processes of our
economic 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 fibre and steady self
control are still there, firm against
violence or any distempered action that
am serenely confident that they will
readily find themselves, no matter what
the circumstances and that they will
address 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.
And I entertain another confident hope.
I have spoken to-day chiefly Of meas
ures of imperative regulation and legal
compulsion, 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
intoerable 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 middle
men. and our merchants to deal fairly
with the people. IT is their oDport unity
to show that they comprehend. that they.
intend to act justly, and that they have
the public interest sincerely at heart.
And | have no doubt that housekeepers
! all over the country and everyone who
buys the things he daily stands in need
of will presently exercise a greater vigi-
lance, a more thoughtful economy a
more discriminating care as to the mar
} ket in which he buys or the merchant
with whom ne trades than he has hither-
|, ! to exercised.
believe, too, that the more extreme
Loo 4 Of
, entity yield to a sober second thong hit
and like the great mass of their asso
ciates, think and act like true Amer
leans. They will see that strikes I'M
dertaken at this critical time are GER
tain to make matters worse, not bett er
, 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 inter-
fere with the distribution of goods by
the railways and the shipping of the
country. We are all involved in the
distressing results of the high cost of
> living and we must unite, not divide, to
correct it, There ere many things
that ought to be corr tcted IN the rela-
lions between the CO pital and labor In
respect of wages AMI conditions of labor
and other things even more far-reach-
ing, and !, for one, am ready to go into
conference about these matters with
any group of my fellow countrym ell
. who know what they are talking abo II
l and are willing to remedy existing con-
dltions by frank counsel rather than
by violent contest No remedy Is pos
sible while men are in a temper. and
there can be no settlement which does
not haN1 as its motive and standa RI
? the general interest. Threats and uu-
~ Incl ota
? single class make settlement impossi-
Bile. / believe, as l hitherto have had
occasion to say to the Congress, that
the industry and life of our people and
of the world will suffer irrepara BILE
damage If employers and worlmen are
TO go on in perpetual contest, as an
j.: tagonists. They must, on one plan ~
VI Have we not steadiness and self pos-
( session and business sense enough 10
work out that result? Undoubtedly
we have, and we shall work it out. n
Z the meantime-now and in the DAYS
= OF readjustment and recuperatiou that
are ahead of us--let us resort more
, and more to frank and intimate coun-
, triumphant nation, by making ourselv es
, a united force in the life of the world.
/, 1t will not then have looked to us for
leadership in vain.
=. SUES FOR $1,000