The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1928-08-23


President it needs. 1t is not that the
President is the director general of
the nation or any other kind of abso-
lutte ruler. But someone has to be
spokesman of the progressive need Of
the country.
Hoover Knows Language of Progress
Hoover knows the language of mod
ern progress better than any man.
AS an engineer, he has already plan
ned the water and hydroelectric de-
velOpment of the country; and as a
public officer with a knowledge of
cause and effect, he knows the great
present and future influence of these
developments.
From time to time foreign nations
have been foolish enough to imagine
that by some system of control they
could raise the prices to us of raw
materials that we had to have. Some
Of the controls we're official and
others were semi-official. The British
control of rubber was undertaken
from the best of motives, but the
temptation to boost the price was too
strong and so rubber went above a
dollar pound.
Hoover did not ask for legislation
or make any protest-any foreign ma
ton has the right to charge us what
it pleases. 1t is up to us to defend
ourselves. He called a meeting of
the rubber men. They learned just
how much rubber was already in the
country and what could be done to-
ward retaining rubber. That broke
the artificial price and saved the
users of automobiles at least half a
billion dollars. incidentally, it caused
some OF US to make a start toward
getting our own sources of rubber.
A man less versed in the ways of the
world and of business would have
made great many speeches and
probably had the country talking war
and accomplished nothing but the
generation of a great deal of hard
feeling.
Can Do Big Things
This man Hoover not only has
ideals but he can do things. He
knows what to do and where to find
the right men.
Among what are said to be issues
are prohibition and what is called
farm relief. We cannot elect a Presi-
dent who says in advance that he
will take the oath of Office with a
mental reservation not to support the
Constitution.
Some farmers are we'll off and
others are not. But l cannot regard
the farm as distinct from industry
or as in oppositin to industry. The
one depends on the other. If the far
mers do not earn money, then a great
industrial market vanishes. If the
workers do not earn, then the great
market for farm products drops. I'm
doubtedly the freight on farm prod
ucts is too high, just as is the freight
on all products, but this will be cured
only by providing more and better
methods of transport in the general
plan Of the development of the coun-
try. The farm is small business in q
world of big business and only
through the development of the coun-
try can it become big business. The
man who earns money on the farm
is doing so by applying the methods
which have made industry. That the
vast majority of farmers are not fail.
ures is shown by the buying power Of
the farm states.
The pensioning of various indus
tries has been tried time and again
everywhere in the world. 1t has
never worked and can never work.
And no more can it work with farm
ing. In addition, this is a world Of
lowering prices. Progress is in the
direction of learning how to pay
wages and earn money with low
prices. That has created big bust
ness. 1t will create big farming. We
are now in the transition period and
that is always period of temporary
hardship.
Country's Development Just Begun
In short, we are not using what
we have. There is a tendency to
think of the country as already de-
veloped when actually the develop
ment has scarcely begun. We have
already gone further than any other
nation. We have done this by taking
advantage of science in a large social
way for the benefit of all. The whole
country is in fux. If an industry or
an industrial unit tries-even for a
little while-to stand still, it never
catches up again.
New methods in farming are com.
ing in as quickly as are the new meth
DDS in industry. New methods are
adopted in both industry and agricul-
ture only because they make fuller
| use of materials and men than did the
old methods.
We have reached our present point
without plan, but to go much further
we ed the opening of the country
on so broad basis that the Govern.
ment itself must aid. The old sys-
tenn is going out of business; there is
no cure but the wisdom to welcome
| the new era, which will not alone
solve our present problems but abol-
| ish them utterly.
Herbert Hoover has the grasp not
only of this country but of the world,
and hence of this country's relations