Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-03-31

ana financial power and Its man
power,--to meet tho shock OF battle
and to turn the tide In favor OF the
Allies within tho bricfest possible
time and with the minimum Of losses
OF mon. Ours was tho soundert n
nanced. the wisest prosecuted and the
ablest fought war In all history.
While tho Democratic admlnistra-
sponsibilties OF leadership during this
trying ordeal. no politics WINS dis
played. All war Legislation wns by
unanimous consent of both parties,
and the ablest Republican flnanciers,
captains OF industry, and pre- eminent
leaders In every field. were invited
to occupy high places everywhere,
and they rendered whole hearted co.
operation. With few exceptions there
can be no charge or counter-charge
OF politics until near tho end OF the
war.
Scarcely had the last shot been fred
however. when the designing Republi-
can leaders planned to take diAhonor-
able advantage OF the unrest, confu-
son and misunderstan ding growing
out of that great conflict. II became
apparent in the early fan OF 1913. that
small coterie of the ablcat Republi-
can leaders then in control OF their
party were feverishly planning TO OBJ
struct. harass and undermine the
Democratic administration ut every
turn. / have already described the
nature OF their base appeals and their
frnp'Ntn agtl,yflnu nj % ba
pose OF creating every sort OF pande-
monium until the November election
In 1920. Early In 1919 the Democra tic
administration proposed the wiscst
and most comprehensive rsogram OF
reconstruction ever adopted by any
government before or after. Re
publicans defeated or indefinitely de-
ldyed Il. This program embraced.
among other things. credit and other
| facilities TO promote and sustain our
domestic and foreign trade, main
| tanning the international credit. n
nance and exchange situation. eau
| t!ouely dealing with credit expansion
suppressing wild speculation. promot
| ing fun and peaceful employment Of
! labor and capital. the early return 81
] IublAt ht444AAtH ~ IEANtAt hpflAtiNn
| vigorous handling ~ the high cost
OK living problem. the greedy de
| mobilization OF the army, carly re-
moyai OF war restrictions equations
/ etc, disarmament, reduction and re-
! adjustment OF the system ~ war taxes
! - a peace basis. speedy budget and
water power legislation. punishment;
/ 81 criminal profteering these and
ether wise and needful proposals wcr,
contained in the Demoyatic recon.
struction program.
/ Every bank . and business man IL
| America during 1919 was strongly
/ predicting for America an uninter.
rupted period 81 unparalleled pros.
perity. The big problem was to lon,
our moral and economic cooperation
/ in the establishment Of peace con.
d,tione. and to supply Europe our sur
Plus foodstuGs and raw materials ~
order that her people might so I,
I work and commence 10 catch up viii
production II they could thus begi
10 produce. unrest would Se alaye,i
,heir Credl; would be correspondence
IDcreas ed. their purchasing powel
would he sustained, their budget,
could then be balanced. and sound cur
rency systems established. reciprocal
International credit and trade rela
lions could be sustained. and IN.
natural law Of supply and deman,
would continue 10 operat~ Ihereb.
sustaining prices on a gradually de-
Ginning basis extending over a periO,
o. years
Mad and selfish Republican leader
a. this critical stage. however. boaste
that they were 100 per cent Americans
proclaimed the policy OF "CommerCla
isolation" and shouted. What car
We for foreign trade? We are 81 rs
fed with our home or domestic com
/ merce" The natural result was tina
the nations OF Europe. seeing AIneric
shirk and run away even from n
duty and self-in;erest OF internations
economic cooperation. lost heart an
Rope and proceeded 20 arm instead c
disarIn. and armed they have bee
. until this day. Doubt. d!strust an
suspicion then became rife anon
different peoples in Europe. Boundar
, disputes arose. Commerce and a
sorts OF communication between ma
tons were blocked OF Obstructe,
Tariff and other trade barriers weT
, erected. Bankers and business me
, here and in Europe Were afraid :
D venture ahead Credit declined. Will
indebtedness and fat money piled u
p by the tens OF billions Having n
. food or raw materials with which I
&c 10 work, Europe could not conttiu
: 10 buy, with the result that IN III
forepart Of 1920. the purchasin
power Of SOO.0OO.000 people pract
, cally gave way. Our internation'
trade structure largely began TO co
lapse. A vertical fall OF 40 TO so p'
cent in prices quickly followed hei
and in South America and in a
other exporting countries The law
supply and demand had ceased
operate. In the face of these threa
: ened conditions such Republican Leaf
q ers as President Harding, Nice-Pres
I dent Coolidge. Lodge and others WI
= we're stu Boosting OF their 100 ~
= cent A1nericanism and of their be
: minds" preached 70 the America
n people as late as me summer OF 49,
d 10 produce to the maximum. The on
D SLdnQluB INJURY diAN NHPas tAAA'i
n losses to THIS country and TO the wor
s have been due TO the delay and NJ
y certainty OF the past three years. d
y largely TO the political deadlock
" America and the consequent failu
e TO put into operation cooperative i
Il ternational policies. Republicans a
Q now. after three years. invoking 4
S. same measures IN large part. 10 7
n store panic conditions which Dem
II Gratis in the beginning proposed
l. prevent them. This Republican "A
d vice cost the farmers a loss OF ov
%. IS, 600 600 900 in 1921.
Ie Republican Obstruction Tactics.