Milford chronicle., 1919-01-03
PROBLEMS OF A NEW YEAR
(Philadelphia Evening Bulletin)

EVERY NEW YEAR arrives wit
ambitious hopes OF achievement. Bu
few have faced. on their arrival on tn
worlds stage. quite such stupendou
set Of tasks as confronts the young
eter who makes his debut today.
The passing year saw the world wa
won and Germany forced to her knee!
to beg and accept dictated peace. Bu
for 1919 is set the task OF framing ar
international agreement which shall
prevent wars, and of making a peace
which shall be acceptable not only to
a craven and defeated foe, but to vic
torious nations proud in their strength
Of arms, and also to new nations hope
ful and clamorous as any new born
babe The processes will be different,
but the task of making a satisfactory
and sufficient peace will be hardly
less difficult than the task of winning
the war.
The United States is cast for a more
prominent role in the grand politics of
the world than it ever has played be-
fore, by reason of its volunteer SER
vice in the war. Whether or not the
Presidential vision shall be realized in
full, or in any considerable part, it is
inevitable that the position of this ma
tion as a world power" shall be more
clearly defined and more generally
recognized than before, and not only,
OF chiefly, as a power at arms, but
more definitely as power OF finance.
of trade and commerce, TO be inter-
preted in terms of dollar exchange, in
ships and cargoes. To fit for this role,
to familiarize the lines, to dress the
part, and to know the stage, form
task OF no small consequence and re-
quirement.
The sequel of the war often is re-
ferred to as a problem of resumption, |
but the word hardly describes the sit
nation in prospect. Nineteen hundred /
nineteen and thereafter cannot be |
merely what was before the war. We |
turn back 10 the paths OF peace, but |
war has made changes some in the |
paths and some in ourselves, and in |
our circumstances-whi cannot be /
disregarded. Congress is now strug-
Cling with a revenue bill. which must
be completed on a scale of production
two or three times that of any pre-
Vious peace revenue. To be sure, it
covers many unpaid bills of war, but
its dimensions are in part due to the
fact that for a generation to come the
expenses of this nation are to be on
a larger scale, and taxes must continue
to be higher than those to which we
have been accustomed.
The railroad problem is one of the
legacies of the war 1t would be sheer
folly to adopt a policy of mere re-
sumption in dealing with the roads
They cannot be handed back to their {
owners, in condition and circumstance
Is they were before the necessity of {
war forced their adoption by the Gov
eminent. The New Year must work
Dut solution of their problems. e
National prohibition comes also in u
he wake of the war to the extent that a
he statutory enactment of Congress Il
anticipates the application of the Con-
titutional amendment which in all c
will receive its necessary "
atiication this year. Reorganization u
+ industry and the replacement OF p
hree million men withdrawn from e
ivil ranks by the call of war, it duty o.
wing Immediately ahead which may u
OF prove as simple as it looks in its l'
eginnings. And with the re-introduc- q
ION of these millions who have been IL
new environment for year or more, u'
here comes the factor of new points OF 10
iew,- Of new ambitions, possibly a
leasure. more or less, of discomfort, "a
-hich tends to complicate the indus Z
'ial and social problems, already SER oi
ms in the necessary transition from IN
ar wages and conditions to the nor ~
iaii 0f peace The New aUTrii world Is 30
nmune to the Bolshevikism of the
Id. It already has its share, of which
lis city has had its recent warning. ou
I'd the fires of discomfort. which nov H
e only smouldering, must moi be ia
d or famed unnecessarily.
The list Of problems that will wrin-
e the brow Of the New Year pre-
-nelv might be continued at leaEth.
end, if it be to
the prospect be
d critical times n
hat may befall
grown strong
IN the past, en-, ~.
e is justi- tio
get busy, toe