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HON. ROBERT L. OWEN DELIVERED TO THE DEMOCRATS OF MICHIGAN AT DETROIT, MICH., FEBRUARY 22, 1923 A T A D IN N E R IN H O N O R O F HON. W. N. FERRIS, SENATOR ELECT AND HON. ROBERT H. CLANCY CONGRESSMAN ELECT P rin te d in t h e CONGRESSIONAL RECORD T u e s d a y , F e b ru a ry 27, 1923 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1923 3 0 8 7 8 — 23G64 r i ADDEESS OF I I ON. ROBERT U N IT E D To the SEN ATO R D e m o c r a ts of M ic h ig a n , a t 22, 1923. ator STATES at a D in n e r in E lect, and L. FRO M OWEN, O K LAH O M A, D e t r o i t , M i c h ., F ebruary H o n o r o f H o n . W . N . F e r r is , - S e n H o n . R obert C l a n c y , C o n g r e ss m a n E lect. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to join with you to-day in paying honor to our splendid Democratic Senator elect, Hon. Woodbridge N. Ferris, to our brilliant new Demo cratic Congressman, Robert H. Clancy, and to the Michigan Democracy. All Democrats love the name o f Washington, Jef ferson, Jackson, and Lincoln, who first promoted the great prin ciples of our party. The Democrats o f America have had a glorious record of accomplishment in advancing the liberty, prosperity, and hap piness of the people. It was the Democrats, under Thomas Jefferson, who de manded and secured the first 10 great amendments to the Con stitution o f the United States, declaring as fundamental prin ciples thereof freedom of speech, freedom o f religion, freedom of the press, the inalienable right of every man to life, to liberty, to the pursuit of happiness, to a trial by jury, to sum mon witnesses in his behalf, to immunity from a second trial for the same offense, and from unreasonable searches and seizures. It was the Democrats who, under Thomas Jefferson, advo cated universal manhood suffrage. It w a s t h e D e m o c r a t s t h a t d e m a n d e d a n d c a r r i e d i n t o e f f e c t t h e p u b l i c e d u c a t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e a n d b u i l t u p the common schools. The advance of liberty, the education, the intelligence of the people has been steadily fostered and promoted by the Demo crats o f America. The Republican Party was also based originally on Jeffersonian Democratic principles. In 18G0 it overthrew the leaders of the Democratic Party who had become the advocates of negro slav ery. In a few years, however, thereafter every selfish interest that wished to use the powers of Government for private ad vantage gradually attached itself to the Republican Party, courted its leaders, became busy in its organization, contrib uted to its elections, promoted its nominations, and steadily obtained an increasing influence in its management. Unhap pily it seems to be the history of all long-dominant parties. When in 1912, after many years, it became obvious that an invisible government of organized commercial and financial 3 5 )8 7 8 — 23G G 4 3 4 selfishness had gained control of the organization of the Repub lican Party and o f the governing powers o f the people of the United States, the spirit o f democracy, that sleeps but never dies, arose in the hearts of the Progressive Republicans, under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, and by this revolt there was given to the Democratic Party its first real opportunity since the Civil W ar to demonstrate that it had, through tribula tion, come back to the true principles of Democracy of Jeffer son, of Jackson, and of Lincoln, and magnificently the Demo cratic Party responded. It was assisted on many occasions by patriotic Progressive Republicans. The Democratic Party in 1913 obtained control of the Presi dency under Woodrow Wilson and both Houses of Congress, and put through a magnificent program of progressive legislation. It lowered the tariff from a monopoly tariff to a true reve nue tariff, affording all the protection honestly needed. It put the necessaries of life on the free list under Demo cratic management; it removed tinjust tariff discriminations, and by lowering the tariff stimulated our imports and our ex ports. (38 Stats. 114, Oct. 3, 1913.) Our foreign commerce increased from four billions in 1913 to ten billions in 1919. Let Democrats always keep in mind that by logical necessity ulti mately imports measure exports and exports measure imports. It established the Tariff Commission (39 Stats. 795), to take the tariff out o f politics and deal with it strictly as a business matter. ruocnEssivE income tax . It placed the taxes on those best able to pay the taxes, and from whom taxes were more justly due. It took the tax from the backs o f the consumers and placed it upon incomes, by the progressive-income tax, so that those who could pay the cost of the Government without distress should do so. (39 U S Stats. 750, Sept. 8, 1910.) It passed a progressive-inheritance tax, so that the wealth of the country should pay for its own protection. (39 Stats. 1091, Mar. 3, 1917.) It passed the excess-profits tax, to compel those profiting by war conditions to meet the larger part o f the cost of war. (39 Stats. 1000, Mar. 3, 1017.) It passed the war-profits tax for the same reason. (40 Stats. 1088, Feb. 24, 1919.) THE F A R M E R S. It made a resolute effort to benefit the farmers o f the country and to improve our agricultural output. For instance— It passed the farm loan act, enabling the farmers o f the country to obtain cheap money on long time from the investing public through nontaxable farm-loan bonds. Over $700,000,000 have been loaned to farmers, and under this system ultimately the farmers of the country will get nearly all the money they require at the cheapest rates. (30 Stats. 3G0, July 17, 191G.) The farm loan act had the effect o f compelling land-mortgage banks to lower their interest rates, and thus has been of great value to the farmers. The Democratic Party passed the Smith-Lever agricultural extetision act, under which the vast knowledge acquired by the Agricultural Department in agriculture, horticulture, animal industry, bee culture, farm economics, canning and preserving 39878—23G64 foods, raising poultry, etc., lias been put at tlie service of every farmer and every agricultural county in America by trained men and demonstration farms. (38 Stats. 1086, March 4, 1915.) It should not be forgotten that it was the Democratic Party that established the Agricultural Department. The Democratic Party passed the good roads act and appro priated millions to build, by cooperation with the States, hard surfaced roads connecting the farms with the cities, to the ad vantage of both. (39 Stat. 355, July 11, 1916.) The Democratic Party inaugurated and vigorously expanded the rural route system— delivering mail to the farms. It built up the parcel post system, carrying parcels to and from the farm, and to and from the cities. Do the American people or the farmers want any o f these acts repealed? What has the Democratic Party done? LABOR L A W S . It has shown its deep desire to serve those who labor. It established a Department of Labor; has developed it; has made it useful in steadily improving the conditions of life for those who labor. (37 Stats. 736, March 4, 1913.) It has estab lished employment bureaus to bring the man and the job to gether. It helps to settle disputes between labor and capital. It has developed the Bureau of Mines and the Bureau of Standards. Each bureau of very great value. It passed the child tabor act, to prevent employers from deny ing children their right to be educated, and to have some of the freedom of youth. (39 Stats. 675, September 1, 1916.) It passed the eight-hour law— one of the great accomplish ments desired by organized labor. (39 Stats. 721, September 3, 1916.) It passed laws providing for the minimum wage. It passed the workmen's compensation act. for accidents and death in industry. (40 Stats. 961, September 13, 1918.) It exempted combinations of laborers and of farmers from the inhibitions o f the antitrust act. It passed a great act declaring that “ labor is not a com modity." This act is regarded as a magna charta for labor, and forbids labor, consisting of human ilesh and blood, to be handed about as a chattel. (38 Stats. 731, October 15. 1915.) It passed an act providing for vocational instruction and is engaged now in giving vocational instruction to many o f our young soldiers returning from abroad who have sought this advantage. (39 Stats. 929, February 23, 1917.) It passed the seamen's act to give liberty to those who labor on the high seas, to put an end to the slavery practiced on sailors, to provide better conditions o f life at sea. and safety at sea for the sailors. This legislation has been o f very great value in raising the wages of sailors and making the profession more attractive to young men. It was a necessary step in order to provide self-respecting men who would be needed for the great merchant marine which the Democratic Party desired. (38 Stats. 1164, March 4, 1915.) M ERCHANT M A RIN E. The Democratic Party built up a gigantic merchant marine, with 10,000,000 tons of shipping, big enough and strong enough 30878— 23GG4 to take our commerce and our flag to every port in the world. This alone is a monumental service to the American people. m o n o p o l ie s . - It did many things to abate the evils of monopoly. It passed the Clayton Antitrust Act, providing various means with which to check the practice o f monopoly. (38 Stats. 730, Oct. 15, 1914.) It established the Federal Trade Commission, with authority to suppress unfair practices in commerce. The Federal Trade Commission is destined, by its example, by its policies, and by its work, finally to teach the American people how to control the abuses of monopoly and of profiteering. (38 Stats. 717, Sept. 26, 1914.) The greatest of all monopolies in America was the monopoly of money and credit, known as the Money Trust. * FED ERAL IlESERVE ACT. The Democratic Party passed the Federal reserve act, estab lished 12 credit centers, with 12 great Federal reserve banks under the control of the Government of the United States through the Federal Reserve Board, so that any citizen having sound credit, based on commodities or on actual commercial transactions, could have his note underwritten by his local bank and get money from the Federal reserve bank. This act took from the Money Trust the monopoly of credits (38 Stats. 251, Dec. 23, 1913) and put the power over credit under the control of United States Government officials. This act has enabled the 25,000 banks in the United States to accommodate our national commerce without asking permis sion o f any private monopoly. This act has made financial panics impossible. It has given great stability to the banks and to credits. Under this act in eight years the resources of the banks have increased from twenty-five billions to fiftysix billions. Not a single national bank failed in 1919. This act enabled the United States to finance Europe to organize and conduct and to win the greatest war in history. The Democratic Party developed the postal savings banks for the accommodation o f those timid people who do not deal with the banks but are willing to trust their deposits with the Government, and their deposits are thus made available for the banks. Under these acts the banks of the United States have had the greatest prosperity in their history and at the same time have substantially lowered the rates o f interest to Ameri can business men. It has passed many acts improving the Public Health Service for the conservation o f human life. rO P C L A R + j ^ GO VERN M EN T. It has done many things to promote popular government. It was due to the Democratic Party and the Progressives that the direct election, of United States Senators was put into the Constitution. This amendment has made the Senate of the United States more responsive to the opinions o f the people, and will make it still more responsive than it is now. The Democratic Party democratized the committees of the United States Senate by giving the committees control o f the chairmen and o f conferees. The Democratic Party established modified cloture in the Senate so that a few men could not by unlimited debate per39S78— 236G4 I I manently defeat the will of the Senate itself. (1917, vol. 55, P. 19.) It passed an act forbidding bribery in elections. PEACE T R E A T IE S . It negotiated peace treaties with all the important nations of the world except Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey, who wanted war— and got it. IT CONDUCTED T H E W AR TO V IC T O R Y . It kept this Nation out of rear until it became clear that the liberties of America and of the world were in jeopardy from the aggressive conduct of the Teutonic allies. When war be came necessary for the protection of the honor, the dignity, the liberties of the American people, the Democratic administration organized the Council of National D efense; organized the Na tion for war, down to the very crossroads; passed the declara tion of war and the great war measures; established the War Industries Board, the War Trade Board, and the food and fuel control; financed the entente allies; passed the war marine in surance a ct; set up the War Risk Insurance Bureau; organized over 30,000 four-minute m en; called to the colors 10,000,000 Americans; raised an army of over .'/.OOO.OOO m en; expanded the Nary and merchant marine; provided the munitions of tear; trained and transported the required forces to Europe; pro tected them from disease and vice as far as humanly possible; broke up the German submarine campaign; crumpled the lines of the German troops in France; crushed the morale of the Teu tonic forces and compelled their military leaders to beg for an armistice, in effect an unconditional surrender, thus saving the civilization of the world from the greatest milt ary menace in the history of mankind. (39 Stats. 649; 38 Stats. 711.) P R O G R E SSIV E R E P U B L IC A N S. We should not fail to express our respect for the patriotic Republicans and citizens of other parties who loyally cooperated in winning this Great War and our gratitude to those progres sive Republicans who cooperated with the Democrats in the great legislative program of the six years o f Democratic con trol. The Democratic Party passed the “ selective draft act,” by which rich man and poor man. educated man and ignorant man, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Gentile, black and white, took their position side by side on the battle line or in the service o f the country where each was best fitted to protect the liberties o f their common country. Never was a more demo cratic act passed. No man was permitted by law to buy a sub stitute with money, hut every man's life and service was put upon a basis o f equality in the defense o f his country. (40 Stats. 76, May 18, 1917.) . . What man had the impudence to question the “Americanism of the Democratic Party in all these great accomplishmeiits. What is “ Americanism ” if it be not the great policies which Lic Democratic Party have put into execution when it stamped out sedition at home, whipped the enemies of liberty abr^ ‘ ’ ‘ ,, made America the commercial, financial, and mcia KM\ all the world, so that all great nations do homage to the United States, and small nations, when they bend their heads i *■ > pray God to bless the American people. America has become 30878—-23GG4 8 the beacon light to all mankind, and no narrow partisan can hide this light under a bushel or question the glorious Ameri-* canism of the Democratic Party. Under the War Risk Insurance Bureau was written insurance for our soldiers abroad of $40,000,000,000, and under our war marine insurance act American commerce was protected with out loss to the Government. The Democratic Party passed the War Finance Corporation act for the protection of our business men under the extraordi nary interruption and stress of war. It passed the capital-issues act in order to safeguard all credits o f the country and make them available for war. (40 Stats. 512, April 5, 1018.) It organized the Red Cross movement down to the cross roads, and in this Great W ar enterprise the Democratic Party gladly availed itself of the patriotism of citizens of all parties. T W O G REAT A M E N D M E N T S ---- W O M A N ’ S SUFFRAG E ; P R O H IB IT IO N . By the combined efforts of the progressive men in both parties two great amendments to the Constitution of profound social and moral significance have been passed—woman’s suf frage and prohibition. Of still greater importance is the fact that these great reforms were due to the progressive men and women in the homes of America. THE ELECTION OF 1918. Before the Great W ar had terminated successfully there came on the election of 1918, in which the party lost many votes because men who were aggrieved by the conduct of the war. by the selective-draft act, by the operation o f the Army and naval forces; many men injured by the priority orders a‘nd the con duct o f the railroads where the administration had to give the right of way for war purposes; many men injured by the Gov ernment commandeering materials and men; many' men hurt by the sudden rise in prices, due to the Government competing for men in the shipbuilding yards and in munition plants; many offended by high taxes and by the extravagance and waste of war visited their displeasure on the Democratic PartiMany men of German blood or of German sympathy who resented the United States going into war. Many men who opposed war as a principle were either turned against the Democratic Party or their devotion to the party was weakened. There was a general disposition to blame somebody, and the Wilson administration was the victim. The Democratic Party, with its leading men intensely occu pied with the winning of the war, was in no position to present the accomplishments o f the Democratic Party to the people o f the country. Moreover, in 1918 the United States had the extraordinary affliction o f Spanish influenza,” which killed in that year 447,000 of our people, and over 3SO.OOO o f them died in the fall o f 1918. Under the advice o f physicians political meetings were forbidden. Was it any wonder the Democrats lost both Houses? More over, the result o f the war was still unknown. It is now gen erally conceded that the President’s famous preelection letter alienated many liberal or progressive Hepublieans and vitalized those who were partisans to strenuous activity in resentment 39378— 23004 of what they construed to be an affront and lack o f apprecia tion of their loyalty in supporting the war activities of the administration. Mr. Chairman, I wish it might be truly said that none of our people during the Great War, either Democrat or Repub lican, had made any mistakes in the management of the war in the Army or Navy, or of the railroads* or of the telegraph or telephones, or o f any of the Government’s affairs [Republican and Democratic citizens were almost equally divided in these activities, but the percentage of errors and wrongs was very small considering the magnitude of our operations in the w a r ]; hut I can truly say that the record o f accomplishments in the six years o f complete executive and legislative control by the Democratic Party is the most magnificent ever made by any party in any country. The Democratic Party found the United States in depression m 1013, threatened with a panic. The New York banks de clared in the summer of 1913 that they did not expect to be able to furnish the money to move the crops in the fall, and the country banks were advised not to expect the customary redis count privileges. The Democratic administration thereupon furnished the money out of the United States Treasury to move the crops and repeated the same operation in 1914, and, after six years o f Democratic management, the country was brought up to a condition of the greatest prosperity in its history. No party in history ever deserved better of the people than the Democratic Party in 1918. T U B TEACE T R E A T Y. Our President, whose leadership and whose sympathies were behind the record o f the last six years, went to Paris and brought back a world peace treaty, establishing peace among all the nations of the world, by which all the nations of the world pledged themselves to respect and preserve the territorial integrity and political independence of other nations; to settle all international disputes by conciliation, arbitration, and peaceful adjustment; to end competitive armament; to coerce any outlaw nation again attempting to deluge the world in blood by a world-wide economic boycott and by such pressure as should be necessary to restore order. After many months o f study and acrimonious debate the treaty o f peace at last had four-fifths of the Senate either in favor of it without amendment or with reservations that, after all, did not seriously change its meaning. Acrimonious partisanship defeated the entry o f the United States into the league, at least temporarily, but the covenant of the League o f Nations ushers in a new democratic era in which all the great nations have agreed that all just government is based on the consent o f the governed. The monarchies and autocracies are crushed. The democra cies o f earth are completely and overwhelmingly triumphant throughout the whole world. It was the Democratic Party that o r g a n i z e d the American people into a fighting force which protected the liberties of man kind and overthrew on (he battle lields and destroyed the mili tary dynasties of Prussia, Russia, Austria, and so forth, the immemorial enemies o f democracy. All of these countiies have done with the rule of the few by divine right, and in them are 30878—23GG4 being organized now peaceful, productive democracies which will add to the stability and prosperity o f mankind. Democracy means the rule o f the people, and the rule of the people means just what Abraham Lincoln said, “ A government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It will.be a government for and of the people if it is a gov ernment truly by the people. To have a government by the people, the people must have a right to really nominate their representatives who shall write and who shall execute the law. This means a democratic mandatory primary. The primary makes necessary the publicity pamphlet, printed at public expense, giving the arguments for and against men and measures and sent to every voter GO days before election. The people must have the right to select their representatives without fraud and corruption, and this means a democratic thorough-going corrupt practices prevention act. They must have the right to a secret ballot so as to prevent intimidation, and this means the Australian or democratic se cret ballot. They should have in a highly organized government adequate minority representation, and this means proportional repre sentation, so that minorities are not submerged, denied a hear ing, or ignored. This means democratic proportional repre sentation. The people in selecting their representatives should not be confused with a ballot scriong and complicated that they can not determine the merits of the candidates presented. For this reason the short ballot is one of the most valuable instruments of modern democracy. The minority should be heard but should not be allowed to throttle and veto the will o f the majority. For this reason cloture in the United States Senate is democratic and should be demanded so that a minority may not veto the majority through the parliamentary abuse of so-called unlimited debate, by which a few men can talk any measures to death which the majority desire. The representatives of the people should have the right as soon as elected to meet and pass the laws and make effective at once the will o f the people. Therefore, a Congress which is discredited should no longer be allowed to meet and pass the laws as at present is done, but the v.eic Congress should be im mediately assembled and the old Congress immediately dis solved in order that the will o f the people may be promptly made effective. In order that the President of the United States may give his heart and soul to the public interest, unmoved by ambition or the selfish advice of his Cabinet and of his tens o f thousands o f cooperating officials, he should be limited to one term, prefer ably six years. In this way a President and the oflicers about him would not conduct their office with a view to their reelec tion but with a view to serving the best interests of the people. In order that the Constitution o f the United States be made more completely an instrument through which the people might rule, it should be made more easily amendable, permitting amendments to be proposed by a majority o f the two Houses or by a two-third vote of either House and made effective by a majority vote of the congressional districts through the 39S7S— 23G61 11 majority vote o f the voters voting in each congressional dis trict. At present, a minority o f the House or of the Senate or a minority of the States may veto the will of a majority of the House, o f the Senate, and of the States, because it takes a twothird vote of the House, a two-third vote of the Senate, and a three-fourth vote o f the States to pass a constitutional amend ment. ,, \ re..i°59e women have been given an equal vote with men. This is fundamental, genuine democracy. It gives a woman a more nearly equal chance to earn her living by equal work with man. It gives her the liberty to which the mothers of men have a fundamental right. It brings into the party service a new vision of what the laws ought to be in order to make the home safe and comfortable. The woman thinks in terms of the safety of the house, of the police protection of the home, of the sanitation of the home, of the cleanliness of the streets, o f the proper disposition of the refuse from the home, of pure food lor the home, o f pure water for the home. She thinks of the children, of their safety, of their proper schooling, of their proper clothing. She thinks in terms o f the family purse, of the cost o f living, o f what she has to pay for food and clothing and furniture and rent, and all these vital factors have every thing to do with the welfare and the happiness o f mankind. She thinks in terms o f decorous, moral, clean living. She thinks of the conduct of public officers from the standpoint of morality as well as efficiency. Her views will help to make clearer the views of men in framing the difficult structure of government. Women will resent the heartless policy of deflation that caused the terrible depression of 1920-1922*. When the Repub licans organized the new Congress on May 19, 1919, they put on a policy o f deflation. They caused the Federal Reserve Board to demand deflation o f credit by the banks. Obviously the purpose was to make the dollar buy more and commodities and labor buy fewer dollars. It was a policy to benefit the rich creditor class and to hurt the debtor class. The Republicans assumed full responsibility in the McCormick Senate resolution o f May 17, 1920, in their national platform, and in Senator Harding’s speech of acceptance July 22, 1920. This resolution, passed May 17, 1920, was as follows: “ Resolved, That the Federal Reserve Board be directed to advise the Senate what steps it proposed to take or to recom mend to the member banks of the Federal reserve system to meet the existing inflation in currency and credit,” etc. REPUBLICAN FALSE PRETENSES. Immediately after the Republican national platform o f 1920 declared, under the false pretense of lowering the cost of living, as follows: “ We pledge ourselves to an earnest and consistent attack upon the high cost of living by rigorous avoidance o f further inflation in our Governin' borrowing and by courageous and intelligent deflation o f our overexpanded credit and currency.” Mr. Harding, in his si>eeeh o f acceptance of the Republican nomination, July 22, 1920, said: “ Gross expansion of currency and credit have depreciated the dollar. * * * Deflation on the one hand and restoration o f the 100-eent dollar on the other ought to have begun on the 39878—23CC-1 clay after the armistice. * * * We pledge that earnest and consistent attack which the party platform covenants. We will attempt intelligent and courageous deflation and strike at Gov ernment borrowing, which enlarges the evil.” In other words, the Republican Party assumed absolute re sponsibility for deflating credit and currency on the false pre tense of lowering the cost o f living, whereas the purpose was to increase the purchasing power, not of the transitory dollars received for wages and for agricultural and manufactured com modities, but to increase the purchasing power of the dollars permanently invested in bonds, mortgages, and bank stock, while the demand was being made to cut down the number of dollars to be received for agricultural and manufactured com modities and for wages. Yet the monopolies could artificially maintain the high prices for commodities they controlled. From this false policy has arisen the conflicts, in large meas ure, between capital and labor, the railroad and coal strikes, and textile strikes. The deflation demanded by the Republican platform and Republican leaders has not served to really lower the cost of living, but to diminish production and bring on a terrible de pression. D E F LA TIO N CAU SED T A X IC . Under the policy of deflation the bank deposits of the national and State banks were deflated from 1920 by September 21, 1921, over $3,000,000,000. The Federal Reserve Boards contracted their loans over $2,000,000,000, and the contraction of Federal reserve notes and Federal reserve bank notes by September 21, 1921, had dimin ished $1,060,000,000— a total of over $6,000,000,000 o f credit deflation, with a shrinkage of private credits unrecorded in the banks of a still larger amount. With the result that the value of agricultural commodities, of manufactured goods suffered a tremendous deflation, bank rupting hundreds o f thousands of people, farmers, stock grow ers, dealers, manufacturers, and so forth, and causing the ruin of many banks, and bringing on in 1921 and 1922 one of the most painful and injurious industrial depressions from which we have ever suffered. The expansion o f credit to meet the cost o f war was justified and should not be stigmatized as inflation or violently deflated. The people are ruined when sudden and violent deflation is forced on them. The reserve act was framed to stabilize, not destabilize, credit. From 1913 to 1919 the Democrats brought great prosperity. From 1919 to 1922 the Republicans produced a profound indus trial depression. After all, the great modern problem is to pursue a policy which shall engage all of the productive energies of men and women efficiently, and produce abundantly and distribute eco nomically the things which men need, commodities, building materials, clothing, food, transportation, literature, art. and articles of luxury, for all these things men need and desire. We have built up in America through gigantic corporations very great productive companies in steel, metals, building ma terials, textiles, transportation, and so forth. Some of these 3 9 S 7 8 — 23664 13 *» 4* great enterprises pursue the policy o f limiting production in order to obtain a high percentage rate of profit ?n turnover and some use unfair practices by which they break down opposition and destroy tho independent producer and distributor/ It would be better even for predatory monopolies and of course for honest big business, as well as for the producers and " 2 i ° end.the «*>nses o f uncontrolled private monopoly We should require all interstate corporations dealing in the necessaries of life to take out a Federal license under conditions that wm assure their obedience to the antitrust law and the legulations oi the Federal Trade Commission affectine fair practices in commerce. 15 iau Tiie Federal Trade Commission should be expanded, its powers enlarged, and men put and kept on it who are known to be at “ I W \° Pnfair Practices. It should be intrusted with / ; / <J cnmiria1 prosecution of those who violate the anti1 It should have its own attorneys for this purpose t a i n f n , m1St act should be put under the administration of rne i ederal Trade Commission and taken out of the Department edicient 6 S° US *° concGntrate this service and make it more The stock and commodity exchanges should be put under Government control, and an adequate act governing the issuance of securities should be passed to prevent frauds on the public by worthless securities. Tbe tax laws should he revised and simplified to prevent evasion of taxes and to place the taxes equitably. s f a b n l t v ^ I ^ erVf , act sl)ould be so administered as to give fa 'h i i S l i 0 Prevent either inflation or deflation as have the power™ ^ eserve Board and the Federal reserve banks !l(l l<n.m loan act should be strengthened, simplified, its adn / / / ; rat.ion greatly expanded along liberal lines. ) ( i g u and passenger rates, telegraph and telephone rates . ion a no based on the actual capital invested, and a thorough aiuation made under a new administration with a change of I oi sonnet to assure a new and correct valuation o f these prop erties. It is o f supreme importance that the personnel of boards ha\ mg great power in the administration o f the law should be composed of men known to be free from undue corporate influence. There should bo worked out a thoroughgoing bill providing for national and State systems of cooperative marketing and warehousing. Special facilities should be afforded for chartering cooperative buying and selling societies to eliminate waste and develop profit-sharing in industry, giving such societies the right to manufacture as well as to buy and sell. The late tariff act should be amended so that no tariff tax should exceed the actual difference in the cost o f production at home and abroad. Tbe Tariff Commission should administer the tariff under the principles laid down by Congress, including reciprocity with all nations as a means of marketing our surplus products, stimulating our home production, and enabling other nations to build up credits in America by the shipment of their coin30878— 23664 k I modities to our shores with which to buy our commodities, and with which to pay us the vast indebtedness growing out of the late war. The output of modern machinery is so enormous that all the world can be supplied with clothing, with shelter, with food, with entertainment, and with luxury if the energies of men are applied during reasonable hours and the profits of labor efficiently and fairly distributed. The processes of justice o f the courts should he made swift and economical. This involves a thorough overhauling of our judicial system with this end in view. The education of the people should be vigorously pressed in every possible way by stimulating the public schools, col leges, universities, the press, the pulpit, the forum, the moving pictures, and so forth. The people will do the rest. We should no longer regard America as isolated, separate, and apart from the world. We should no longer permit our selves to be misled by the stupid talk of entangling alliances, but America should actively cooperate icilh the other great free nations o f the earth in making effective the principles of the League of Nations. We should express our approval of its principles. We should, with such reservations as Congress may impose, adhere to this league. America should lead in a de termined effort to abolish international ignorance and hate, because America has become at last the financial and the com mercial leader and should now become the moral and the spiritual leader of mankind. The Democracy of America has now a great opportunity to make still more glorious the great Democratic principles of justice and liberty in America and throughout the world. The God o f Democracy is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 39878—236G4
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