Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1920-08-26
Wisconsin Senator Addresses Aud
ience at the Courthouse In
Baraboo
DENOUNCES TREATY BROUGHT
HOME BY PRESIDENT WILSON
Declares He Would Rather Re-
sign Seat in Congress Than Vote
for Pact

United States Senator /. L. Len
! root of Wisconsin, one of the men whe
was prominently mentioned for the,
Republican presidential nomination at
the Chicago convention, and leader
| in the senate addressed a gathering OF
citizens on Saturday night at the
courthouse ON the issues which are
now foremost in the political arena.
Senator Lenroot possesses fine per-
sonality, presents his arguments in
| a logical manner, and marshals his
facts with emphatic force. Applause
greeted him from time to time, evin-
cling the warmth with which his ad-
dress was received.
The senator said this was a criti-
cal time and that it was the duty of
all citizens to study the issues and ii
there ever was time when the voter
should go to the election it was now.
There are forces in the United States
which are trying to tear down all
this country is today. They are try
| ing to disorganize labor for selfish
ends and had they the power would
disrupt this government. In discussing
the questions of the day he said i'm
lpart:
I am going to try and analyse the
causes of the present unrest, and dis
cuss what can be done to remedy it.
/ would put first OF all the high cost
of living, but if we are entirely frank
with each other think we will agree
that nearly everybody in the United
States is asking all he can get today
for anything he has to sell, whether
it be labor or commodities, and at the
same time is demanding that prices
be lowered on everything he has to
buy. Now this is impossible for what
one man buys some one else produces.
All that laws can do to remedy this is
to curb the profiteer. Congress has
passed laws that if enforced would put
profiteers in the penitentiaries, but
I have not observed that the popula-
ton of our penitentiaries has been in
creasing any. Congress can pass laws
We might write laws upon every SUB
ject as perfect as wisdom can make
them but unless there be enforcement
of those laws they are not worth the
paper upon which they are written.
If our Attorney General would pros
ecute few of our profiteering coal
mine owners our sugar barons, and
others who render no service to the
public in connection with the things
in which they deal, it would do more to
stop profiteering than all the speeches
that Attorney General Palmer caR
make through the balance of his term.
The department of Justice boasted
the other day that they had secured
over one hundred convictions for
profiteering. 1t is true they have
prosecuted a little retailer here ana
there and secured convictions but
they have caught not one of the big
fellows and it is apparent there has
been no determined effort to catch
them.
High Cost Of Government
Another cause Of the high cost OF
living is the high cost of government.
Do you realize that the taxes paid to
the Federal government average more
than two hundred and fifty dollars for
each family in the United States. IL
that could be cut in two it would be
great help. But you may say | did
not pay any two hundred and fifty
dollars in federal taxes this year. Well
maybe you did and maybe you did
not. Whatever. you may have paid to
lthe internal revenue collector is only
a part of your taxes. Why is it that
you are paying from fifty to sixty
dollars for a suit of clothes today
that you could have bought before the
war for from eighteen to twenty-five?
Let us see: Start with the American
Woolen company that makes the cloth
that goes into your suit OF clothes.
They first determine the actual cost
at the factory, material, wages and
overhead. That is of course greater
than before the war. Then they add
another item They estimate the
taxes they will have TO pay the United
States and how much OF them the yard
of cloth should bear. They add that
item Then they add their profit.
Then the price is fixed to the broker
made up Of these three items, cost,
taxes and profit. and that is the price
the broker pays. Then because the