Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 12, Number 288, Decatur, Adams County, 8 December 1914 — Page 2

TAKES BUSINESS BY THE HAND (CONTINUE!* FROM PAGE ONE) T 9 have begun such measures and not completed them would indeed mar the record of this great congress very seriously. I hope and confidently believe that they will be completed. And there is another great piece of legislation which awaits and should I receive the sanction of the Senate: 1 mean the bill which gives a larger measure of self-government to the people of the Phillipines. How better, in this time of anxious questioning and perplexed policy, could we show our confidence in the principles of liberty, as the source as well as the expression of life, how better could we demonstrate our own self-possession and 1 steadfastness in the courses of Justice I and disinterestedness than by thus going calmy forward to fulfill our prom- , ises to dependent people, who will ■ now look more anxiously than ever to see whether we have indeed the liber- , ality, the unselfishness, the courage. ( the faith we have boasted and profess- . ed. I can not believe'that the senate ( will let this great measure of con- , structive justice await the action of ( another congress. Its passage would j nobly crown the record of these two ( years of memorable labor. t But 1 think that you will agree with 1 me that this does not complete the 1 toll of our duty. How are we to car- 1 ry our goods to the empty markets of 1 which I have spoken if we have not < the ships’ How are we to build up a i great trade if we have not the certain ; < and constant means of transportation ' t upon which all profitable and useful 1 commerce depends? And how are we > to get the ships if we wait for the I trade to develop without them? To 1 correct the many mistakes by which we have discouraged and all but de- f strayed the merchant marine of this j country, to retrace the steps by which t we have, it seems almost deliberately, r withdrawn our flag from the seas, ex- f cept where, here and there, a ship of r war is bidden carry it or some wan- t dering yacht displays it, would take a t long time and involve many detailed a items of legislation, and the trade j which we ought immediately to handle f would disappear or find other channels t while we debated the items. p The case is not unlike that which a confronted us when our own conti- 1 nent was to be opened up to settle- i

IT -| ! WORTH OF NEW SILKS ** I * r | THIS BIG SILK SALE STARTS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND CLOSES SATURDAY NIGHT | I THIS BIC SILK SALE INCLUDES ALL KINDS OF SILKS, ALL NEW DP TO DATE SILKS | B Brocaded Messalines price $1.25 Sale price per yd. - - -85 c Plain Messalines, black or colored yd. wide pricesl.2s Sale price 85c I | Striped Messalines price $1,25 Sale price per yd. - - -75 c Tub Silks 1 yd. wide price $1.25, Sale price per yd. - - -75 c 5 ffi Plaids Checks and Stripes Silks price $1.25 Sale price per yd. 75c Silk and Wool Poplins 40 in. wide price $1.75 to s2.', Sale price SI.OO I B Plain Messaline, all colors, yd. wide price $1.25 Sale price yd. 65c Silk and Wool Canton Crepes 40 in. wide price s2?.’ Sale price slls g | Plaid and Striped Silks yd. wide, price $1.75 Sale price yd. sl.lO Brocade Silks, 40 in. wide, price $1.75 Sale price peryd - sl'ls S | Chiffon TaffettasSilks, yd. wide, price $1.75, Sale priceyd. sl.lo,Charmeuse 36 and 40 in. wide, price, $1.75, Sale price' yd $1 00 | B i 7 ■—— —_ i—§ | This Big Silk Sale Includes Plain Colors, Plaids, Roman Stripes, Awning Stripes, Pekin Stripes, Brocades, and Many Others Too Numerous to Mention. g ffi We intend to offer you everything in our stock of Silks. The most complete stock of finest class Silk Merchandise ever in iw,,.., • - « tain will be lower than any ever offered before. We have conducted a Silk Sale every year, but this year is the bivwst Silk «oL Ur } at price j we al \ c , er '« tfi you better buying opportunities, better bargains and lower prices than ever before, we’ve never disappointed vou in the • an J ’ and pledge 5 S you more than ever. Just what you have been looking for to make your Christmas Gifts. ' a t hls Ime we sur P nse S I DON’T FORGET THE DATE, WEDNESDAY, THDRSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY I ge E E OUR WINDOW DISP LAY AND MEET US AT TH eT'esq | THE BOSTONITOReS I

ment and industry, and we needed long milt s of railway, extended means of transportation prepared beforehand, if development was not to lag intolerably and wait interminably. We lavishly subsidized the building of transcontinental railroads. We look back upon that with regret now, because the subsidies led to many scandals of which 1 we are ashamed; but we know that < the railroads had to be built, and if we had it to do over again we should of course build them but in another way.; Therefore I propose another way of 1 providing the means of transportation. ’ which must precede, not tardily follow, the development of our trade with our neighbor>tates of America. 1 It may seem a reversal of the natural ■ order of things, but it is true, that the routes of trade must be actually opened —by many ships and regular sail-1 ings and moderate charges—before j streams of merchandise will flow free-1 ly and profitably through them. Hence the pending shipping bill, dis-. cussed at the last session but as yet | passed by neither house. In my judg-■ men such legislation is imperatively • needed and cannot be wisely postpon-1 ed. The government must open these ’ gates of trade, and open them wide: open them before it is altogether profit nble to open them, or altogether reas enable to ask private capital to open them at a venture. It is not a ques tion of the government monopolizing the field. It should take action tc make it certain that transportation at reasonable rates will be promptly pro vided, even where the carriage is not at first profitable; and tjien, when the carriage has become sufficiently prof itable to attract and engage privati capital, and engage it in abundance the government ought to withdraw. 1 very earnestly hope that the congress will be of this opinion, and that both houses will adope this exceedingly important bill. » The great subject of rural credits still remains to be dealt with, and it is a matter of deep regret that the difficulties of the subject have seemed tc render it impossible to complete a bilfor passage at this session. But it can not be perfected yet, and therefore there are no other constructive meas ures the necessity for which I will at this time call your attention to; but j I would be negligent of a very mani j fest duty were I not to cal! the atten-! tion of the senate to the fact that the ■ proposed convention for safety at sea I awaits its confirmation and that the limit fixed in the convention itself for ; its acceptance is the last day of the i

present month. The conference in which this convention originated was called by the United States; the representatives of the United States played a very influential part indeed in training the provisions of the proposed convention; and those provisions are in themselves for the most part admirable. It would hardly be consistent with the part we have played in the whole matter to let it drop and go by the board us if forgotten and neglected. It was ratified last May by the Ger man government and in August by the 1 parliament of Great Britain. It marks | a moat hopeful and decided advance ( in international civilization. We; 1 should show our earnest good faith in a great matter by adding our own ac1 ceptance of it. . | There is another matter of which J : must make special mention, if I am to - discharge my conscience, lest it should escape your attention. It may seem a very small thing. It affects only a sin-, j gle item of appropriation. But many ; 1 human lives and many great enter-1 prises hang upon it. It is the matter 1 i of making adequate provision for the 1 1 survey and charting of our coasts. It , 1 ’ is immediately pressing and exigent in | connection with the immense coast line of Alaska, a coast line greater 1 than that of the United States themselves, though it is also very impor- 1 tant indeed with regard to the older 1 coasts of the continent. We can not. use our great Alaskan domain, ships 1 will not ply thither, if those coasts and their many hidden dangers are not' 1 thoroughly surveyed and charted. The 1 work is. incomplete pt almost every 1 point. Ships and lives have been lost 1 in threading what were supposed be well known main channels. We have not provided adequate vessels or ' 1 adequate machinery for the survey and ' 1 charting. We \ave useld old vessels ; that were not big enough or strong 11 enough and which were so •early ua. 1 seaworthy that our inspectors would : not have allowed private owners tc , I send them to sea. This is a matter 1 which, as I have said, seems small, but I is in reality very great. Its impor ; tance has only to be looked into to be ’ appreciated. 1 Before I close I may say a few words I upon two topics, much discussed out of ’ j doors, upon which it is highly imporj tant that our judgments should b< 1 ' clear, definite and steadfast. < One of these is economy in govern-1 1 | ment expenditures. The duty of econ- t 1 orny is not debatable. It is manifest 1 i and imperative. In the appropriations < 1 we pass we are spending the money of; i

the great people whose servants we are,—not our own. We are trustees and responsible stewards in the spend Ing. The only thing debatable and upon which we should be careful to make our thought and purpose clear is the kind of economy demanded of us. I assert with the greatest confidence that the people of the United States are not jealous of the amount their government costs if they are sure that they get what they need and desire for 1 the outlay, that the money is being ; spent for Objects of which they apI prove, and that it is being applied with i good business sense and management. Governments grow, piecemeal, both in their tasks and in the means by which those tasks are to be performed, and very few governments are organnized, I venture to say, as wise and business men would organize them if they had a clean sheet of paper to write upon. Certainly the government of the United States is not. I think it is generally agreed that there should be a systematic reorganization and reassembling of its parts so as to secure greater efficiency and effect considerable st ings in expense. 1 But the amount of money saved in that way would, I believe, though no doubt considerable in itself, running, it may be, into the millions, be relatively small, —small, 1 mean, in proportion to the total necessary outlays of the government. It would be thoroughly worth effecting, as every saving would, great or small. Our duty is not altered by the scale of the saving. But my point is that the people of the United States do not wish to curtail the activities of this government; they wish, rather, to enlarge them; and v ith every enlargement, with the mere growth, indeed, of the country itself, there must come, of course, the inevitable increase of expense. The sort of economy we ought to practice may be effected, and ought to be effected, by a careful study and assessment of the tasks to be performed; and the money spent ought to be made to yield the best possible returns in efficiency and achievement. And. like good stewards, we should so account for every dollar of our appropriations as to make it perfectly evident what it was spent for and in what way it was spent. It is not expenditure but extravagance that we should fear being criticized for; not paying for the legitimate enterprises and undertakings of a great government whose people command what it should do, but adding what will benefit only a few- or pouring money out for what need not have

« been undertaken at all or might have < been postponed or better and more eco- ■ nominally conceived and carried out. 1 The nation is not niggardly; it Is very > generous. It will chide us only if we i forget for whom we pay money out and . whose money it is- we pay. These are > large and general standards, but they i are not very difficult of application to r particular cases. t The other topic I shall take leave to mention goes deeper into the princi- : pies of our national life and policy. It • ' is the subject of national defense. 1 I It cannot be discussed without first . answering some very searching ques--1 tions. It is said in some quarters that r I wo are not prepared for war. What ’s meant by being prepared? It is meant . that we are not ready upon brief noI t’ce to put a nation in the field, a n.i- . tion of men trained to arms? Os course ; w? are not ready to do that; and we > shall never be in time of peace so ■, 1 long as we rtain our present political II principles and institutions. And what . 1 Is it that it is suggested we should be . prepared to do? To defend our--11 selves against attack? We have ; adways found means to do ■ , that, and shall find them when-) ( ever it is necessary without calling 1 or.r people away from their necessary . tasks to render compulsory military ■ . service in times of peace. Allow me to speak with great plain ness and directness upon this great, : matter and to avow my convictions ; with deep earnestness. I have tried to I know what America is. what her people think, what they are, what they most cherish and hold dear. I hope that some of their I finer passions are in my • own heart, —some of the great concep- . tions and desires which gave birth to this government and which have made the voice of this people a voice of ■ peace and hope and liberty among the ! peoples of the world, and that, speak ing my own thoughts, I shall, at least in part, speak theirs also, however ’ ■ ■ faintly and Inadequately, upon this vital matter. We are at peace with all the world. No one who speaks counsel based on fact or drawn from a just and candid interpretation of realities can say that 1 there is reason to fear that from any ■ quarter our independence or integrity 'of our territory is threatened. Dread ; of the power of any other nation we are incapable of. We are not jealous i of rivalry in the fields of commerce or of any other peaceful achievement. We mean to live our own lives as we will; , j but we also mean to let live. We are.:

. Z “ ""X“ : none covet the possessions none, desire the overthrow of none. Our friendship can be accepted an accepted without reservation, beca It offered In a spirit and for a r ‘ which no one need ever question suspect. Therein lies our great "s We are the champions of peace of concord. And we should Ih> ver jealous of this dlstinct.on which We have sought to earn. Just no should be particularly jealous of It, because it is our dearest present hoo that this character and reputation may presently, in God’s provident 3. bring us an opportunity such as has seldom been vouchsafed any nation, O««.' ■■■ peace in the world and reconciliation and a healing settlement of many a matter that has cooled and linterrupb ed the friendship of nations. This is the time above all others when we should wish and resolve to keep our strength by self-possession, our mfluence by preserving our ancient principles of action. From the first we have had a dear land settled policy with regard to millI tary establishments. We never have had and while we retain our presen. principles and ideals we never shall have, a large standing army. If ask I ed, Are you ready to defend your 'selves? we reply, Most assuredly, tc | the utmost: and yet we shall not turn America into a military camp. M e will not ask our young men to spend the best years of their lives making soldiers of themselves. There is ar. other sort of energy in us. It will know how to declare itself and make itself effective should occasion arise. And especially when half the world is on fire we shall be careful to mfcke j our moral insurance against the spread of the conflagration very definite and certain and adequate indeed. Let us remind ourselves, therefore, j of the only thing we can do or will do. We must depend in every time of nai tional peril, in the future as in the past, not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a citizenry trained and accustomed to 1 arms. It will be right enough, right I American policy, based upon our ac- ' customed principles and practices, to provide a system by which every citizen who will volunteer for the train ing may be made familiar with the use of modern arms, the rudiments of drill and maneuver, and the mainteii 1 ance and sanitation of camps. We ■ should encourage such training and

make it a means of discipline wh,., our young men will learn to valu ( . 1, is right that we should provide It no only, but that we should make it ° l attractive aa possible, and so indue" our young men to undergo it at su.h times as they can command a i ltt| ' freedom and can seek the physi.- 4 'i development they need, f or health's sake, if for nothing more. E " ery means by which such things ( U1 be stimulated is legitimate, and sinh a method smacks of truo American ideas. It is right, too, that the nation* al guard of the states should be d ev „|. oped and strengthened by every means which is not consistent with our obligations to our own peopi e jr with the established policy of our gov ernment. And this, also, not becau ße the time or occasion specially caHs for such measures, but because | t should be our constant policy to make these provisions for cur national peace and safety. More than this carries with it a reversa! of the whole history and character of our polity. More than this proposed at this time, permit nie say, would mean merely that we had lost our self-possession, that we had been th-.own off our balance by a wa with yrhich we had nothing to do, whose causes cannot touch us, whose very existence affords us opportunf. ties of friendship and disinterested service which should make us ashamed of any thought of hostility O r fearful preparation for trouble. This is assuredly the opportunity for which a people and a government like ours were raised up, the opportunity not only to speak but actually to embody and exemplify the counsels of peac e an amity and the lasting concord which is based on justice and fa-'r and generous dealing. A powerful navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has alwa-.-j been of defense that we have thought, never of aggression or of conquest. But who shall tell us now what sort of navy to build? We shall take leave to be. strong upon the seas, in the future as in the past; and there will b e no thought of offense or of provocation in that. Our ships are our natural bulwarks. When will the experts tell us just w’hat kind we should construct—and when will they be right for ten years together, if the relative efficiency of craft of different kinds and uses continue to change as we have seen it change Under our very eyes in these last few months? (Continues oa Page Fourl