The Connecticut labor news., 1921-07-08
BRIEF REVIEW AND MEMORIAL OF
ADMINISTRATION OF WOODROW WILSON
SHOWS REMARKABLE ADVANCEMENT
Now That Tumult of
Changing GOV ern-
ment Is Over, Calm
Look Back Brings
Forth Many Notable
Actions.
By MORRISON SHAFROTH.

by MoNNIooN of1Af KO II.
The close Of one of the great adj
ministrations in American history and
one Of the great epochs in world his
tory must not pass by unnoticed
The tumult and the shouting dies;
THE captains and the kings DEPART
but the world will long remember the
four bloody years of sacrifice, and
America will not forget the glorious
part played by her children and her
leader, in the preservation of democ-
raCy.
For the first time in history an
American stood predominant in the
councils of the world. For the first
time European statesmen felt from
Americans the pressure of Western
ideals, and for the first time a world
council found in its midst a cham
plon who battled not for might, but
for right.
That man was a Democrat in the
broad and in the narrow sense of the
word. From the day in March, 1913
when he became the chief magistrate
Of the nation, America flew at her
masthead the flag Of justice and ideal
ism-an idealism that fought and
fought and fought for the attainment
vi It's AhuS' Nv" w OlI IIotS IlC SdI leu
on the spirit of triumph; it is a day
of dedication Here muster, not the
forces of party, but the forces OF
humanity. Mems hearts wait upon
us; mems lives hang in the balance;
mems hopes call upon us to say what
we will do. Who shall live up to the
great trust?
An oppressive tariff law that bore
heavily on the poor and lightly on the
rich, that impeded world trade and
fostered monopoly, was wiped from
the statute hoods. A chaotic, unscien-
tiflc panic breeding, currency system,
was replaced by the Federal Reserve
systematic greatest of the three
great currency reforms of American
history. Washington and Hamilton
laid the foundation for a national cur
rency. Lincoln and Chase Tin the Ma
tional Bank) gave uniformity to the
currency, and Wilson and McAdoo
took its control out of the hands OF
the few and gave it the power to re-
spond to the needs of business and OF
government.
Farm land banks were established
to do away with usurious practices
against the farmers. There was en-
acted an income tax law placing the
backs of the people. Legislation to
ease the hard lot of those who must
struggle for the necessaries of life
marched on to victory. Child labor
laws, eight hour laws, workingmen'
benefit laws, gave proof that the ideal
ism of Woodrow Wilson was not
mere theory.
But if our president was great in
domestic affairs, he was greater in in
ternational affairs II his love of hui
mainly shone forth in legislation, II
lighted the whole world in it's inter
probation of American ideals
On the second day Of April, 1917
when he called upon the American
congress to declare war on the i'm
perial German government, he plant
ed the seed of American idealism in
European soil.
The world must be made safe for
democracy. Its peace must be planted
upon the tested foundations of politi-
cal liberty. We must have no selfish
ends to serve. We desire no conquest,
no dominion. We seek no indemni-
ties for ourselves, no material com
pensation for the sacrifices we shall
champions of the rights of mankind
rights have been made as secure as
the faith and freedom of nations can
make them"
Since the Emancipation Proclama-
ton, no declaration of principle, NO
speech, no language, has ever had
such an effect on the field Of battle
and upon the hearts and conscience
of men.
While his enemies at home sought
partisan advantage, the thoughts and
ideas of Woodrow Wilson fought side
by side with our soldiers in France
and with more certainty than bayonet
or cannon broke the morale of the
German army And while his ideals
burned brightly, he applied himself to
and mastered the greatest practical
task that any president has ever
faced. A nation of one hundred mil
lion was turned overnight from the
pursuits Of peace, into the turmoil OF
war Camps were built, officers
trained, munitions factories erected
ships were constructed, an army OF
four and one-half million raised,
trained and equipped-two million sol
diers shipped across a submarinein-
France without the loss of a single
man; a half million men recruited for
a navy that sprang up as though by
magic; thirty billion dollars raised to
finance the war for ourselves and our
allies; these are but some of the
achievements of this theorist.
And then when our troops had
stopped the Germans at Chateau
Thierry, had smashed the salient at
ST. Mihiel, and broken their line in
the Argonne, the president fought a
lone fight at Paris for the preserva-
ton of American ideals, and laid the
foundation for world peace for all
time.
These are the achievements of
Woodrow Wilson. Neither the saw
age scurrility of George Harvey nor
the narrow partisanship of a Cabot
Lodge can dim their luster. They will
go down forever through the avenues
of time as the most glorious achieve
ment Of the age.