Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-22
Speech Strikes Keynote Arguments Republican Stm

W. DPOOC'"
continuity of service on the other.
The Importance of the railway re-
Mobilization is so obvious that ref
erence seems uncalled for. We are
SO confident that much of the pres
| ent-day insufficiency and inefficiency
of transportation are due to the
whitening hand of government OPP
| Grafton that we emphasize anew our
! opposition to government ownership
We want to expedite the PREPARATION
! and make sure the mistake is not
| repeated.
| Pleads for Railroads.
. 1t is little use to recite the story
| OF development. exploitation, govern
| ment experiment and it's neglect
| government operation and it's failures
| The 1nadeQuacy of trackage and ter
| minal facilities. the insufficiency OF
! equipment and the inefficiency of OPP
eration-all bear the blighting stamp
| of governmental incapacity during
| federal operation. The work of re-
Mobilization under the restoration OF
| private ownership deserves our best
! encouragement Billions are needed In
new equipment, not alone to meet the
| growing demand for service, but to
! restore the extraordinary deprecia-
| ton due to the strained service OF
war With restricted earnings and
railway activities have come to the
| realm of conservative and construc-
| tive service, and the government
which impaired must play its part in
restoration. Manifestly the returns
must be so gagged that necessary
| capital may be enlisted, and we must
foster as well as restrain.
We have no more pressing problem.
| A state of inadequate transportat ton
| facilities, mainly chargeable to the
| failure of governmental experiment.
| is losing millions to agriculture. it is
hindering industry, it is menacing the
American people with a fuel short
age little less than peril. 1t en-
/ phasizes the present-day problem and
suggests that spirit of encourage
ment and assistance when commlts
all America to relieve such an emer-
gency.
The one compensation amid attend,
ing anxieties is our new and needed
realization of the vital part trans
portation plays in the complexltles
of modern life. We are not 70 tnink
of rails alone, but highways from
farm to market. from railway to
farm. arteries of life-blood to present.
day life, the Quickened ways TO COM
munication and exchange. the answer
of our people to the motor age. we
believe in generous federai co.op
ton in construction, linked with as,
surances of maintenance that VIII
nut an end to criminal waste OF pup
tic funds on the one hand and give
a guaranty of upkept highways Oh
the other.
bly, linked with adequacy OF 1aclIl.ies,
and we favor American emlnence On
the seas, the practical DEVELOPMENT OF
inland waterways, the upbulidlng
and coordination Of all to make Inent
equal to and ready for every car VI
commerce. like that recommlttai 70
thoughts of America first when
pledges the Panama canal, an Amerl-
can creation, to the free use u
American shipping. 1t will add 10 the
American reawakening-
Must Restore the Dollar.
One cannot speak of industry and
commerce and the transportation on
which they are dependent without an
earnest thought of the abnormal cost
of living and the problems IN us
wake. It is easy to inveigh, but that
avails nothing. And it is far too seri-
Gus to dismiss with flaming Dut Iutile
promise.
the democratic party made it an is
sue, and when clothed with power
that party came near to its accom-
plishment by destroying the peoples
capacity to buy. But that was cure
to understand the real causes, after
which the patient must help to erect
his own cure.
Gross expansion of currency and
credit have deprecated the dollar
just as expansion and imitation have
We inflated in haste, we must debate
in elaboration. We debased the dol
lar in reckless finance, we must re-
store in honesty. Defation on the
one hand and restoration Of the 100
cent dollar on the other ought to
have begun on the day after the ar
mistice, but plans were lacking or
courage failed. The unpreparedNess
for peace was little less costly than
unpreparedness for war.
We can promise no one remedy
which will cure an i'll of such wide
proportions, but we do pledge that
earnest and consistent attack which
the party platform covenants. we
will attempt intelligent and cour-
ageous deflation, and strike at gov
eminent borrowing which eniarges
the evil, and we will attack high cost
of government with every energy and
facility which attend republican ca
pacity. We promise that relief winch
will attend the hating of waste and
extravaganza, and the renewal OF
alone because it will relieve tax bur-
dens, but because it will be an ex-
ample to stimulate thrift and economy
in private life.
Prevention OF Unreasonable Profits.
I have already alluded to the ne
cessity for the fullness of production.
and we need the fpllness of service
which attends the exchange of prod
ucts. Let us speak the irrefutable
truth. high wages and reduced cost
of living are in utter contradiction
unless we have the height of eff
cheney for wages received.
In all sincerity we promise the pre-
yention of unreasonable profits, we
challenge profiteering with all the
moral force and the legal powers of
government and people, but it is
fair, aye, it is timely. to give reminder
that law is not the sole corrective OF
our economic ills.
Let us call to all the people for
thrift and economy. for denial and
sacrifice if need be, for a nationwide
drive against extravaganza and lux
ury, to a recommittal to simplicity of
living, to that prudent and normal
plan of life which is the health of
the republic. There hasn't been a re-
covery from the waste and abnor-
, kind was first written except through
work and saving, through industry
and denial. while needless spending
and needless extravaganza have
marked every decay in the history of
nations. Give the assurance of that
rugged simplicity of American life
which marked the first century of