The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1928-09-20
immigration

create horde of job hunters around
every employment office and industrial
gate in the United States. The pres
sure of this flood would break our
wages toward the levels of Europe.
No one places a higher worth upon
the foreign-born citizen than l do. He
brings many elements of great value
in our cultural development We well
come his help in building our new
civilization. The immigration laws
should be amended to remedy the
hardships to families. 1 have urged
before that this be DONE In my Ac-
ceptance Speech l stated my opposi-
ton to any increase in, immigration.
The restriction upon immigration is
boon not only to those of my hear
ers who were born on American soil
but to those who have come from the
old countries, for every one would suf-
fer equally by the lowering of our
wages and standards of living.
We are exporting more goods abroad
than ever in our history. We are
gradually lowering the cost of living
by greater efficiency.
There is no measure on our statute
books today that represents a more
fundamental, sound and important
step in true progress than does this
new charter Of American labor. It
is the necessary and natural COM
panion piece of protective tariff In
the one instance we protect the
American workers from the goods of
foreign factories, made under their
lower standards of living. In the
other case, we prevent the excess Ia
Dor flooding through our doors to re-
duce the American wage.
Foreign Trade
We set out upon a definitely organ
lied campaign to build up the export
of the products Of American labor and
of the American farm. We reorganized
the Department of Commerce for the
promotion of American trade abroad
on a greater scale than had ever been
achieved or ever attempted by any
government anywhere in the world
We modified our manufacturers and
exporters; cooperated with them in
laying out and executing strategic
plans to expand our foreign trade in
all directions. That this great part
played by the government is no hy-
pothetical assertion is amply evil
denced by the fact that the daily ap-
plications for assistance by exporters
to the Department have steadily in
creased from 500 daily in 1922 to an
average of 10000 day in 1928. In the
last year before the war our total
exports were little under $500, OOO,-
900. In 1922 the first year of the Re
publican Administration they were 49,
750,000,000. During the year 1927 our
exports were S4,75O,OOO,OOO.
Now 1 want to clearly show what
this means. 1t was not due to world
recovery. If we make survey of the
worlds trade today, we shall find
that the export trade of all countries
is only 10 per cent above pre-war,
while ours is So per cent
More than two million families in
the United States earn their living
today producing goods for export, and
another million families earn their
living in the manufacture of raw ma
terials which we import in exchange
for our exports. This increase in ex.
ports has brought a living to five hun
dred thousand families. This means
more than statistics. 1t means higher
standards of living-more jobs make
more wages.
One of the large opportunities for
the further improvement of labor lies
in the further improvement of agri-
culture. Some of it's most important
branches have Jagged behind industry
in it's advance since the war.
National Efficiency
American labor has been the first
labor body in the world that has had
the intelligence and courage to realize
and express the fact that increased
wages and salaries must in the long
run be based upon a sharing of labor
in the savings made through indus
trial and commercial efficiency. Wages
in that industry will rise, prices de-
crease, consumption increase at home
and in our foreign markets, the de-
mand for labor is enlarged and our
standards of living improve.
Eight years ago caused nation
wide investigation to be undertaken
Of the whole subject. I felt that 1t
was in the interest Of our country to
know what opportunities we had to
improve our methods. It developed
that there were great opportunities
for increased efficiency in our whole
industrial machine. We have the
highest ingenuity and efficiency, in
the operation Of our individual indus
tries, Of any nation. Yet there we're
great wastes which were not the fault
Of individuals, employers or en-
ployees. These wastes were due to
seasonal unemployment and to un-
employment during depressions; to
speculation and over-production dur
ing booms; to labor turnover and la
Dor conflicts; to intermittent failure
Of transportation, of supplies, of fuel,
Of power and credit to synchronize
with demand; to lack Of simplification
and standardization in many of our
commonly used commodities; to loss
es in our processes and materials and
scores Of other directions. They all
combined to represent a huge deduc-
ton from the goods and services and
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