The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-09-07
OPTIMISM KEYNOTE
 OF HAYS TALK

OiSNSidlO, Sept- O."OpLlu1lSIn, a
 prediction that prosperity is coming
 and an appeal to American business
 to carry on' constituted the chief | note of an address delivered to-day by Postmaster General Will H. Hays
 to the National Association of Life | Underwriters here.
 MT. Hays also undertook to give an
 account of the stewardship of the ad-
 ministration of President Harding | and told what he was trying to ac- 1 complish in his own department. Af- 1 ter having done so he declared: All together. we look to the future | with great hope. The fact is, of
 course. that there is ahead the great
 est era of expansion and prosperity | the world has ever seen. Every one
 knows this, and the only question dis | cussed is when it will start. There 1 is a lot of business that is really sick, still staggering with the shell shock of. war and the debauch of ex- | travagance, but there is a good deal
 more that is merely malingering. l l have full appreciation of the difficult | ties, but I have no use for commer- l cial slackers. We are not in a pe- riod of hard times coming. We are | in period of soft times going. Pros | perity is coming-its time to go out
 and meet it cry continually for | the common sense of courage and
 confidence, and I declare again, and
 shall continue to insist that we have | less Thou shalt not and more of
 Come on, let's go.'
 Following along this line, MT. Hays | declared that his many trips about Ithe country of late had convinced
 him that the manhood and woman | hood of America is sound" He found | everywhere the same evidence of hope. "It is a great country he de- | clared; and it is all ahead of us.'' He called upon all wel1-wishers of | the government to listen to the call | to "carry on Americans!" He urged l I4l ind he HiCr0r7- tent and meet it squarely, to find exact justice and demand it for all
 men and to look each one to his own | industry, thrift and moral responsi- bility.
 | Reviewing the work of the admin | istration in its first six months, MT. Hays said that the keynote of Pres l ident Hardings purpose ana poncy
 was to bring about return to nor rpalcy.' He said that the higher laws | that work for the worlds good had brought to the White House 'exact- 1 ly the personality that was needed to | lead the country away from the tur- | bulent passions of the war back to | the normal human nature of peace. | He declared that President Hard i ing's "ctlring and restorative person. | ality had the largest part in bringing
 America to that equability, which is | his own"
 The making of peace with Germany | was described by MT. Hayes as the 1 biggest concrete achievement Of the present administration and one that 1 flowed directly from the President personality. He said that when Pres ident Harding took control at Wash | ington he found condition or do- mestic politics which expressed It. and factionalism." It was a pro | lonsed contest, he said, sometimes siege, sometimes battle and occasion ally armistice between the "hlle | House and Senate.
 MT. Hays declared that the differ ence between this spirit in the man agement of foreign affairs and the | atmosphere in which the present treaty was received by the senate | and country was due to the Presl- dents personality and "that consti- | tutes a long and fundamental sPlr- ,itua1 step in the return to nornaicS nas I in the conduct of our pubic aHalrs. The result of this peace treaty
 would he he said, that i've will be | able to lift and throw away mass | of vexatious and burdensonle restIlC- | ttons imposed by a state Of war Wnlcn | oppress and irritate business ana re l Fsrict us in the exercise of our const1-
 tutional liberties"
 | The speaker said that the Presi- | dents invitation of several nations tc
 attend the conference for the hm1ta-
 ton of ornaments would bring about
 a meeting which, in his opinion, DOS
 sesses more potenfiality for good fo1
 mankind than any slngte event 5aa m Tiie it
 would be the most important meeting | of mems minds in all history.
 Referring to the "drive of the ad- l ninistration for efficiency and econ l omy in government" Mir. Hays told of what had been achieved in the War | Risk Insurance Bureau. There, he
 said, the 100000 claims and cases
 which were waiting to be disposed of on the fourth of March had been | cleaned up and claims were now dis | posed of with a promptness approxi- l mating that of insurance companies | This. he said, was one Of the things 1 President Harding had been aDle tC | accomplish.
 MT. Hays outlined some of the stepE
 which the people should be taking tt accomplish the appalling task" o1 making the government efficient. | would seem natural, he said, to ex pect the creation of Department oi Public Works and Department oi Public Welfare, the latter of whicf
 would have charge of relief work fol
 veterans of the war with Germany
 He suggested the stripping of the
 Treasury Department of all except 1t:
 necessary and proper fiscal functions
 He would transfer to non-militar7
 work from the War Department anc
 the Navy Department to the regular
 civilian departments of the govern ment. He would transfer to the De
 partment of Commerce all agencies having to do with the promotion O
 commerce and protection of naviga
 tion and would establish a centralized
 purchasing agency to do the buyng O
 all branches of the executive estab lishment. He would expect a full
 functioning of the budget system ant
 all together a reorganization whicl will bring a material reduction of tn
 overhead expenses of the fedora
 establishment and Improvement il the quality of service rendered tn
 public" There would then be nor : business in government as well
 less government in business
 Speaking of what must be done il
 the direction of administrative effici
 ency in his own department, MT. Hay
 said that the postal service was th
 biggest distinct business in the world
 with 800, 900 employees and 100, 0,0O0,0 ,00
 customers. It was the largest ex
 press company in the world, handlin
 over 20O0,OOO, 900 packages last yea
 and it had the largest savings banl
 in the world in number of depositors