New Britain herald., 1922-09-21

than forty years. For years, the re-
 publican party had talked about re-
 vising the financial system. The.
 were unable to revise it because those
 who controlled the republican party
 were financially interested in the
 maintenance of the old system, and feared loss of their power.
 By an adroit propaganda and by
 the process of continued reiteration
 many honest people were misled into believing that these panics were, lr
 some mysterious way, due to the
 threat of democratic dominancy in the government. When the demo
 cratic party took control in 1912, 1, passed the Federal Reserve act over the concerted and bitter opposition ot fall the great republican leaders. That
 act, together with many other meas
 ures. scientific, humanitarian and pro. gressive, marked a period of extra
 ordinary progress in legislative mat ters in this country. Financial panics
 are practically impossible under the
 benef1cent operations of this demo
 cratic law
 Under it, America was converted
 into the greatest creditor nation of | the world and we were able to finance.
 Without shock or strain, the opera
 tions incident to the great war. The
 federal reserve system still stands as
 the great bulwark against financial panic. Even the industrial depression which has spread over this country, beginning shortly after the republican n
 rarty went into power in 1921 and which has continued ever since, has been unable to shake or undermine tthe federal reserve system.
 l The Policy of Isolation
 | This industrial depression was di-
 rectly due to the colossal slump in our export trade. and was the imme- dlate resultant of the republican pol ICY or isolation. American farmers have suffered losses since the repub.i- can party was voted into power in November, 1920, to an amount aggre- gating thirty billions of dollars This vast sum was swept away by the re- publican industrial panic of 1921 and 1922. Several million American work men were thrown out of work and staggering blow was struck at Am erican prosperity. Up to the time that republican victories impaired Ameri- can prestige and lowered the tone of we'll with America. America enjoyed a prestige heretofore unknown among nations of the world, Her ships were upon every sea. Her factories were | filled with industry. Her farms were intensively titled and abundantly pros porous. Her foreign trade exceeded in amount that of any other nation in human annals. Plenty abounded throughout the land.
 To make secure these blessings and to share them with mankind, we had but to finish the work we were in, to dare to be great, to remember that America Is part of the world and not apart from the world, to realize that life is the common adventure of all mankind, and to realize that the intimate contacts of modern civiliza- ton have made it, also, a common destiny Our course for time seemed manifest. It was clear and glorious to lead, to redeem. help and succor. American power and prestige and honor and statesmanship have never in the entire history of our country reached the heights that they did un- der the leadership of Woodrow Will son.
 Then came the congressional cleo tions of 1918. For reasons which it Is not now necessary to detail, the people took the wrong turn at the fork of the roads. Theve was an op- portunity in the presidential election of 1920 to retrace these false steps but the people preferred to continue the course which they had chosen This was their privilege. It is one of the fundamental Is of democracy that the people have the right to make their own mistakes It was a num- erical defeat but it was not an intel lectual overthrow. Since these two elections, conditions have grown steadily worse. Our people abandon ed a fruitful leadership for barren isolation.
 The soundness of the policies of the democratic administration is increas- ingly apparent. The bitter lessons of experience are biting de1per and deeper into the public conscience. It Is for us not the hour of retreat but of rededicaton.
 The present secretary of state in dealing with Mexico and China, in dis | cussng the cable lines at Yap, in con- the Russian situation and the Colombian treaty and in presenting American claims relative to Mesopo tamia, speaks the language and pro- claims the policies of his dem ocratic | predecessor. The Four Power pact, | insofar as it Is meritorious is but a | nalo Hnntinn nf thn Ia rper nurnnees 1