Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-06-08
SENATOR LODGEyKEXNOzES SPEECH
OPENING REPUBLICAN, CONVENTION

rif1ce Of efficiency to political pur-
poses. never so recklessly INDUCED
in before, and in certain cases by ar
incompetency go marvellous that II
cannot be due to nature but must be
the result Of art. Yet despite all
Of work has been done which in days
of peace would have been considered
remarka BILE, but now passes almost
unnoticed because great events have
so crowded on each others heels in
the years of world war that the COM
lative accomplishment are well mgr
lost. Let me give a few examples OF
what has been accomplished.
The estimates have been reduced
over billion dollars. The oil-leas-
ing and water power bills, two meas
lance, which have been hating ana
stumbling for many years in the in
capable hands of democratic admins
tration. have passed both houses, but the
President has vetoed the water-power
bill. We have passed the vocational re-
Mobilization act for the benefit OF the
wounded soldiers and several acts for the
disposition Of war material. very neces.
sary to our finances. We have amended
and improved the federal reserve and
the farmers loan acts. We have
cared for the soldiers of the civil war,
straitened in their old age through
the rise in prices. by an increase In
their pensions. The civil service re-
tirement law. a long-deferred act of
justice to faithful servants of the
government, has been passed and a
wage bill for all persons In
government has been passed. We have
been obliged to restore the Army and
a q a q H.
cult as 1t was necessary. We have met
this by two most important measures. the
Army and Navy pay bill and the law for
the reorganization of the Army on a
peace basis. Two of the most i'm
portant acts of any period, the ship
ping act for the upbuilding of the
American marine and the settlement
of the affairs of the Shipping Board
and the law establishing the budget,
great measure of economy and sound
financial administration, are con-
spicuous as our latest achievements.
The budget bill was vetoed by the
President at the last moment on the
ground that it interfered with his power
of appointment and removals.
"Repub1icans Have Done Nothing"
The list Of beneficial laws. passed
under adverse circumstances, might
be largely extended did not time for
bid. But these are enough to show
the far-reaching results of the labors
of this Congress. whose, time is but
little more than half spent. Some of
the master minds of the democratic
party are now chirruping away like
incessant little birds that "the repub-
licans have done nothing" I should
be glad, emitting the two years of
war when both parties worked to-
gether. to put the recorded accom-
plishment of the five years of COM
plete democratic control beside that
of our eighteen months hampered by
an inimical administration. Let me
assure you that we do not fear the
We have made q remarkable begin
ming. but we are fully conscious that
1t is only a beginning. Much has
been done, much more remains to do
and we pledge ourselves to exert all
our energies to deal with what is
still undone. The wreck and confu-
sion of a great war, in business.
finance and all economic conditions
cannot be cleared away and fully re-
adjusted in year and a. half. nor.
indeed. in twice that time. Recon
must be steady and ener-
getfc, but it also demands care II 1t
Is to be Of lasting value The rise
Of prices. the high cost of living,
which reach daily into every home,
is the most pressing, as 1t is the 1nost
nAAC0l d1iu llO6S SSSSIltl6i,
which confronts us. Some Of the
sources of this trouble can be reached
by legislation. although not all, but
that can be effected by
law should be done at once. Profiteer-
Ing. the charging of extortionate and
prices, which lis stupid as
we'll as unlawful, are subject now to
should be enfofced; others, IL neces-
sary. added. and the offenders. both
great and small, should be pursued
and punished, not in the headlines Of
newspapers after the manner of the
present Attorney General. but quietly,
courts Of the United States. Some
thing more in this direction can be
by the proper regula-
ton of cold storage, and q bill for
that purpose has passed both houses
and is now in conference.
Another deep-seated cause Of the
rise Of prices, more effective in its
is the abnormal increase
per capita of the circulating medium.
This has doubled since the war be-
gan, and II in the space Of few
years the amount of the circulating
medium Is doubled it has a most pro-
found effect In stimulating and ad-
prices. During the war
credits have been enormously in
fated and there have been large ad-
ditions to the currency through the
federal reserve banks. Here it is
possible to check the advance of
prices by law. We can provide for
the control Of credits in such man
ner as to give preference to the most
essential products We are also
able to reduce the amount of the cir
iating medium in the form Of federal
reserve bank notes, the authority
having been given during the war
to increase the issue Of these notes
from two billions to four billions. 1t
should be one of the first acts of
point and it would have a marked eff
feet In reducing prices by steadying
them and bringing them down to q
lower and more normal level
Remedy Lies i'm Production.
The most potent remedy of all
against advances in the high cost
of living. however. lies in production.
which cannot be reached directly by
statutes. II production begins to fail
and fall off, the cost of everything
will be advanced by the simple force
OF scarcity which inevitably drives
prices upward. The most essential
and increase production and particu-
larly should every effort be made to
advance the productivity Of the farms.
Just how much the government can
do in this direction is uncertain, but
1t can aid and support and if any
thing can be done 1t must not be omit
ted or overlooked. At the same time
1t must not be forgotten that
there is a vast difference between
the powers of the national govern
ment in time Of war and those which
it possesses in time of peace. The
normal limitations of times Of peace
restrict very much the powers of the
general government and in helping to in
crease the productivity of the farms,
which must be done through govern
ment action, the republican party
promises to use every power in this
direction whether within the state or
federal Jurisdiction