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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1917)
BEDFORD MATL TRTT5TTNTI, MEDFORD, PRECOX. TIlUnSDAY, JULY 12, 1017 PAGE TTTRFF. BUSINESSASKED BY PRESIDENT Profits and Patriotism Not Relat ed at Any Time Says Executive in Appeal Scores Ship Owners Whose Freight Rates Are Shame fully Excessive Want Just Prices WASHINGTON, July 12. Presi dent Wilson appealed to the country's business Interests last night to put aside every selfish consideration and to give their aid to the nation as free- i as those who go out to offer their lives on the battle, field In a statement addressed to the coal operators and' manufacturers ho gave assurances that just prices will be paid by the government and the public during the war, but warned that no attempt to extort unusual pro fits would be tolerated. Profits and Patriotism "Your patriotism," said the presi dent's appeal, "1b of the samo self denying staff as the patriotism of the men dead and maimed on the fields of Franco, or It is no patriotism at all. Let us never speak, then, of profits and patriotism in the same sentence, "I shall expect every man who is not a slacker to be at my side throughout this great enterprise. In it no man can win honor who thinks of himself. The president declared there must be one price for the government and for tho public. Ho expressed confi dence that business generally would be found loyal to the last degree, and that the problem of war-tlme prices jblch, he declared, will "mean vic tory or defeat," will be solved rightly through patriotic co-operation. Ship Owners Condemned In'iinmcasured terms, however, Mr. Wilson condemned tho ship owners of tho country for maintaining a schedule of ocean freight rates which has placed "almost Insuperable ob stacles" in the path of the govern ment. "Tho fact Is," he asserted, "that " thoso who have fixed war freight rates havo taken the most effective means In their power to defeat the armies engaged against Germany." Coal production and other Indus- trios for whose products the govern ment has negotiated price agreements are not taken up in detail by the pres ident, his appeal dealing only with tho general principles involved in the determination of war prices. It fol lows in full: President's Appeal "To My Fellow Countrymen: "The government Is about to at- tempt to determine the prices at which It will ask you henceforth to furnish various supplies which are necessary for the prosecution of the war, and various materials which will be needed In tho industries by which the war muBt be sustained. We shall, of course, try to dotormlne them just ly and to the host advantago of the nation as a whole; but justice Is eas ier to speak of than to arrive at, and there aro some considerations which I1 hope we shall lteop steadily in mind while this problem of justice is being worked out. Therefore, I takS the liberty of stating .very candidly my own view of the situation and of the principles which should guide both tho government and the mine owncrB and manufacturers in this difficult matter. "A Just price must, of course, be paid for everything tho government buys. By a Just price, I mean a price which will sustain the Industries con cerncd In a high state of efficiency, provide a living for those who con Wauct them, enable them to pay good wages, and make possible the expan sions of their enterprises, which will from time to time become necessary as tho undertakings of this great war develop. They are necessary for tho maintenance and development of industry; and the maintenance and development of Industry are noccs- Bary for tho great task we have In hand. Knrts, N Sentiment "But 1 trust that we shall not sur round tho matter with a mist of sent! ment. Karta aro our masters now, Wo ought not to havo tho acceptance of such pricos on the ground of patrl- otlsm. Patriotism has nothing to d with profits In a case like this. Pa irlotism and profits ought never 1 the present circumstances to be men tloned together. It Is perfectly prop er to discuss profits as a matter of business, with a view to malntalnln the Integrity of capital and the effic iency of labor in these tragical months, when the liberty of free men nvnrvwhnro and of Industry Itself remblea In the balance; but It would be absurd to discuss them as a motive for helping to serve and save our country. "Patriotism leaves profit out of TO 1 NATION the question. In these days of our supreme trial, when we are sending hundreds of thousands of our young men across tho seas to serve a great cause, no true man who stays behind to work tor them and sustain tliom by his labor will ask himself what he Is personally going to make out of that labor. No .true patriot will permit himself to take toil of their heroism in money or seek to grow rich by the shedding of their blood. Ho will give as freely and with as unstinted self-sacrifice as they. When they are giving their lives will he not at least give his money? "I hear it insisted that more than a just price, more than a price that will sustain our industries, must be paid; that it is necessary to pay very liberal and unusual profits ill order to stimulate production; that nothing but pecuniary rewards will do re wards paid in money, not in the mere liberation of the world. ' What Po Yon Mean? ' "I take it for granted that those who argue thus do not stop to think what that means. Do they mean that you must he paid, must be bribed, to make your contribution, a contribu tion that costs you neither a drop of blood, nor a tear," when the whole world Is in travail and men every where depend upon and call to you to bring them out of bondage and make the world a fit place to live in again amidst peace and justice? Do they mean that you will exact a price, drive a bargain with the men who are enduring the agony of this war on the battlefield, in the trenches, amidst the lurking dangers of the sea or with the bereaved women and pitiful chil dren, before you will come forward to your duty and give some part of your life, in easy peaceful fashion, for the things we are fighting for, the things we have pledged our fortunes, our lives, our sacred honor to vindicate and defend, liberty and justice and fair dealing and tho peace of nations? Added Hardens Must Come ' Of course you will not. It is in conceivable. Your patriotism Is of the same self-denying stuff as the patriotism of the men dead or maimed on the fields of France, or else It Is not patriotism at all. Let us never speak, then, of profits and of patriot ism in tho same sentence, but face facts and meet them. Let us do sound business, but not in the midst of mist. Many, a grievous burden of taxation will be laid on this nation, in this generation and in the next, to pay for this war; lot us see to it that for overy dollar that is taken from the people's pockets, it shall be possi ble to obtain a dollar's worth of the sound stuffs they need. Ship Owners Scored Let us turn for a moment to tho ship owners of tho United States and tKo other ocean carriers whose exam ple they have followed, and ask them what Insuperable obstacles they have been putting in the way of the suc cessful prosecution of this war by the ocean freight rates they have been exacting. They are doing everything that high freight charges can do to make the war a failure, to make it impossible. 'I do not say that they realize this or intend It. The thing has happened naturally enough, because tho com mercial processes which we are con tent to see operate In ordinary times have without sufficient thought been continued into a period where they have no proper place. Merely Stating Pact 'I am not questioning motives. I am merely stating a fact and stating It In drdor that attention may he fixed upon it. 'Tho fact Is that those who have fixed war freight rates have taken the most effective means in thoir powe to defeat the armies engaged against Germany. When they realize this we may, I take It for granted, count upon them to reconsider the whole matter. It Is high time. Their extra hazard) are covered by war risk insurance.' .Must Understand One Another "I know and you know, what re sponse to this great challenge of duty and of opportunity the nation will ex pect of you; and I know what re sponse yon will make. Those who do not respond, who do not rcspon In the spirit of those who havo gone to give their lives for 'us on bloody fields far away, may safely be left to be dealt with by opinion and the law for the law must, of course, com mand those things. I am dealing with tho matter thus publicly and frankly not because I havo any doubt or fear as to the result, but only in order that In all our thinking and In all ou dealings with one another we ma move In a peifectly clear air of mut ual victory. Whole People Mobilized "And there Is somothlng moro that we must add to our thinking. Th public Is now as much a part of the government as the army and nav themselves; the whole people are now mobilized and In service for tho ac complishment of the nation's task in this war; It Is In such circumstances impossible Justly to distinguish be tween Industrial purchases made by the government and Industrial pu chases made by the managers of In dustrlos, and It Is Just as much ou duty to sustain the Industries of Ih country with all the Industries that contribute to its life, ai It li to sus tain our forces in tho field and on the sea. We must mako prices to the public the samo as tho prices to the government. Prices mean tho same thing everywhero now. They moan the efficiency or tho Inefficiency of the nation, whethor It Is the govern ment that pays them or not. Wluit l'liros Mean "They mean victory or defeat. They mean that America will win her place once for all among I no most irec nations of the world, or that she will sink to defeat and become a second rate power, alike In thought and In action. This is a day of her reckon ing and every man amongst us must personally face that reckoning along with her. "The case noods no arguing. I as sume that I am only expressing your own thoughts what must bo in the mind of every true man when he faces the tragedy and the solemn glory of the present war, for tho emancipation of mankind. Summoned to (front Duly 'I summon you to a great duty, a great privilege, a shining dltultv and distinction. I shall expect every man who is not a slacker to be at my side throughout this great entorpilse. In It no man can win honor who thinks of himself' .... . MRI 1 HREATENED E FAIRBANKS, Alaska, July 12. A threatened strike by United Stntos railway employes at construction headquarters, Nenana, which prom ised to become serious, is believed to have .been averted. Commissioner Thomas Riggs turned the tide In fa vor of the government, when he spoke meeting last night, at which all save possibly 100 of the railroad em ployes who have recently formed a labor organization wore present. Charles Lester, Robert Smith and several other strike leaders have been arrested, charged with seditious ut terances. . The Original Turkih Blend OF All London Perches on Skyline to Watch the Murder. 11Y K. W. I'AYNK. (Iomlim Correspondent of the Daily Mail Tribune.) LONDON, July VI. The Clornmns may iry to wipe out London from the air, this summer, by nn endless series of furious aeroplane attacks, say many observers here. Utterly foolish, as the attempt would be, these observers claim air raids on London me slill in their infancy both as to extent nml feroc ity. They nssert the kaiser might cpiite logically attempt to keep hun dreds of planes in operation ugiiiusl the world metropolis, actually expect ing to accomplish thereby sonio mili tary purpose. . ' . . ., It is hold the Germans, in nn ef fort to oVercouie British air sup'.ein ncy m I'rnnce, will persist, in uoinu- ing Knglish women and ehiMren, thus hoping some of the British air lighters may be forced to protect the home towns and give up service at the front. Commentators suggest America can piny here a role of unparalleled utility by hastening to bring to her allies a still greater preponderance of ncrinl power. 'In fact, it is suggested that the Germans, in forcing the fight in the skies, are actually ensuring their own more speedy downfall, Ihm an allied air navy so powerful us to dominate completely the wholo future course of the war. Meanwhile Londoners continue to take the kaiser's doses of aeroplane fright fulness with curiosity and in creased determination to fight until to From the Golden Gate to the Statue of Liberty Fatima Fatima is the original of all Turkish blend cigarettes; and, besides thatf, it is tho biggest ccUin.:; ISn cignrcito KILLING BABIES; HOW LONDON ACTS DURING A GERMAN ZEPPELIN RAID y- 1 Al' iltl I rightfulness is crushed in Germany. Here is a typical experience of nn air raid : Over the click of typewriters in tho office we nolo a succession of dull thuds, like the distant banging of doors. Then it sounds as tho somebody was dropping heavy boxes in a room down tho hall. Suddenly G t w a ' &' Children, victims of n Gorman all' raid, recovering from their wounds In n London hospital. r- , a crash and shiver near at hand makes everybody slop work. "Guess it's a raid," says the ste nographer, unmoved. Out in the corridors and stairways are two leisurely moving currents of people. Some aro going downstairs to Ihe cellars; most are climbing up to roofs. AH are joking and laugh ing; llierc is no sign of undue excite ment; men aro continuing to talk business as they gol On tho roof the view is extraordi nary. London's whole skyline is alive with hmiiuuily. Office boys uro perched up on tho chimneys. Girls are clustered on all flat spaces, gaz ing up into Iho dazzling sky. From the spirit of tho sightseers you'd think sonio thrilling aerial circus was being staged. i ' All the time there echoes ihe crash per m TURKISH CIGARETTES Cameron & Cameron Co. RICHMOND. VA. tltdtTTRriYIRi tonOCO.SUlCtMrt! this country knows anything about. Fatimas please so many men, they'll please your taste, too. jtf"- of bombs mid the sound of antiair craft guns. Now and again for a fiy seconds aeroplanes, glistening like silver in the sun, aro visible maneu vering in the clouds. They disappear. The bomb roar ceases. The guns uro silent. The show is over. ' The sightseers on tho roofs go k to work. Thev know that women and babies have been killed. They feel a burning hate for the men re sponsible. Hut, as innocent specta tors themselves, they cannot help hoping that if there 'is another raid they'll havo a belter view of the aerial performance. It is so tre mendously thrilling and novel. The horrr.r of the babies with arms and legs blown off, school children crushed under falling timbers thesa things they don't know of until the next day, unless they were right near the spot where the bombs fell. l!ut becauso of these things their resolve grows more grim thun ever that Viere. can be no pence with the llohenzol lerns. HIO JAN1ER0, July 12. Tho Hiitish government hns proposed to Brazil thru tho ministry at London a plan under which exportation of Brazilian coffee to Kngland may bo resumed on two conditions : First, that the coffee bo transported in German ships confiscated by Brazil; second ibat their ships also carry certain other food products. The Brazilian foreign minister Hns instructed the minister at London to reply that Brazil, altho willing to ship other food products cannot agree that the coffee shall bo car ried exclusively in the confiscated German diips. OGDEN, UTAH, GHOsIiT ' AS FEDERAL RESERVE CITY WASHINGTON, July 12. Tho federal reserve board today desig nated Ogden, I'nli, as a. reserve city. J?
