The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-07-02


derstand the great affairs Of the
country.
If the Democratic party had ac-
complished nothing more than the
passage of the federal reserve act, it
would be entitled to the enduring
gratitude of the nation. This act sup
piled the country with an elastic cur
rency controlled by the American peo-
pie. Panics-the recurring phenom-
ena of disaster which the Republic
can party could neither control nor
explain-are now but memory. I'm
der the Republican system there was
an average of one bank failure every
twenty-one days for period Of near
ly forty years. After the passage of
the federal reserve system there
were, in 1915, four bank failures; in
1916 and 1917, three bank failures; in
1918 one bank failure, and in 1919, no
bank failures at all The federal re-
serve system, passed over the oppo-
sition of the leaders of the Republic
can party, enabled America to with
stand the strain of war without shock
or panic and ultimately made our
country the greatest creditor nation OF
the world.
Speaker Tells of War Achievements
And then the great war came on
ultimately, by the logical steps of ne
cessity, our peace-loving nation was
drawn into the conflict. The neces-
sary war legislation was quickly sup
piled.
A War Finance Corporation was
created. War Risk Insurance was
provided. Ship-building laws re-es-
tablished Americas supremacy upon
the seas. The Office of Alien Prop
erty Custodian was created. A War
Industries Board was established. A
War Trade Board was created. Food
and Fuel regulations were formulated
Vast loans were successfully tioated
Vocational training was provided A
National Council Of Defense was Gre
ated. Industry was successfully mo-
bilized.
Almost over night, the factories of
the nation were made a part of the
war machine, and the miraculous re-
vival of the shipping industry filled
the ocean lanes with our transports.
Our fleet laid the North Sea mine
barrage. We sent fighting craft to
every sea and brought new courage
and inventive genius to the crucial
fight against the U-boat.
In transporting our troops tc
France, never lost a man in a ship
conveyed by the American navy.
One Of the first decisions was be,
! 4 H,,,l,,,t,n,, n,,,n n,,l tha
selective draft. Many patriotic citi-
zens strongly deprecated cOnscription
and dreaded its possibilities. The ad.
ministration, however, placed its in,
flucnce behind the measure, secured
it's passage, and made possible the
winning of the war.
1t proved Democratic system as
surfing equal service, equal danger
and equal opportunity. At one stroke
of the pen, bounty jumping and the
hired substitutes that had disgraced
the management of the civil war were
made impossible. The selection OF
men to go to the front was placed not
merely in the hands Of the civil au
thorities, but actually in the hands Of
the friends and neighbors of the mer
eligible for service. No Fundamental
law was ever administered with such
scrupulous honor. Not one breath o.
scandal touched this legislation; anC
so cheerfully was it accepted that to
day the term draft dodger" is an ep
tibet of reproach in any community.
Partisanship was put aside in the
selection of Gen. Pershing as leader
of our forces and no military comman
der in history was ever given a freel
hand or more unflagging support. The
policy of selecting officers through
training camps avoided the use of po
litical favorites and guaranteed com
petent leadership for the youth of the
land. Ten million men were regis
tered within three months from the
declaration of war and thirty-twt
camp cities, complete in every NUM-
cipal detail, were built in ninety days
In France we had to construct oul
own docks, railroad lines, storage de
pots, hospitals and ordnance bases
We had to cut down the forests fol
our barracks. In June, two months
| after the declaration of war, oul
fighting men were in France; in DC
tober, Americans were on the firing
line; in scarcely more than a year WI
had 100000 men in France, hat
whipped the enemy at Belleau wood
beaten them back at Chateau Thierry
wiped out the st. Mihiel salient ant
delivered the terrific hammer blow a
Sedan that virtually ended the war.
Party Has No Apologies to Make
! Less than two years ago Genera
Haig, with the bluntness of soldier
said: "The British army is fighting
with its back to the wall"; Lloyt
George was crying: at is race be
tween Wilson and Hindenburg," an,
France chung like drowning man t,
the rock of Verdun, turning agonizet
eyes toward America. And Americ'
came. We challenge the critics of tn
administration to point out how, with
in the limits of human possibility, tn,
war could have been won NOR,
promptly or with less loss of American
life.
1t was not by mere chance tina