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Show W.ili- s President's Message Carries ill Recommendations To Reduce i fAe zgA Cost of Living 'Jti WASHINGTON, Ail? S. President J i !, Wilson's address to congress today Embodying recommends Uona designed ly reduce the cost of living follows: 1 I Gentlemen of the congress: , i bave sought this opportunity 'o j, (, I PddreM voti, bec ause it is clearly mv ,,' duty to cull our attention to the vLj! present fosl of living and to ur upon vo'i iih nil the persuasive lorce of which I am capable the legislative measures which would be the mosl et fective in controlling it and bringiu:; n down. The pn ea the people of this j country are paying for everything thut , ' i it is necessary for them Id ise In ;i - order 10 live are not justified by t shortage of supply, either present or prospect and are In many cases artificia m and deliberately created by vicic practices hich ought 1m mediately to bo checked by law They on.;iitute ,i burden upon us which Is I know (hat il is wilfully imposed by those who haxr t lie power and that it : lean by vigorous public ariion te greatly lightened and made to square with actual conditions of sup-plv sup-plv and demand Sonif of (tie moth ods by which these prices are pro-! duced are already illegal, some of them criminal, and those who emploj ihem will be energetically proceeded against but others have not yet been brought under the lam and should b jLl dealt with at once by legislation. Future Higher Prices. c r I need not reil the particulars of this critical matter; tho rices demand ed and paid at the sources of supply at the factory, at the food market, at the shops in the restaurants and hotels, ho-tels, alike in the ciiv and in the vll- 1 i , lage. They are the talk of every domestic circle and of every uronp I--4 of casual acauaiutano. s e. n. H is i matter of familiar knowledge, also, that a process has s-i in which is likely, unless something is done, to push prices and rents and the whole cost of living higher and j et higher, in a vicious cycle to which there is no logical or natural end With the increase in the prices of the noc saries of life come demands for increases in-creases in wages- demands which are justified if there be no other means of enabling men to live I'pon the in crease of wages there follows close an increase in the price of the products whose producers have accorded the increase not a proportionate in crease, fo the manufacturer does no' content himself with that, but an In crease considerrbly greater than the added wage cost and for which th-- added ware cost is oftentimes hardly more than an excuse. I 1 1 Opposes Strikes The laborers who do not got an Increase In-crease in pay when they demand it are likely to strike, and the strike makes matters worse. It checks rop-duction, rop-duction, if it affects the railways it prevents distribution and strips the , markets, so that there is presently nothing to buy, and there Is another excessive addition to, prices resulting from the scarcity These are facts and forces with which we bave become only too familiar, fa-miliar, but we are not justified because be-cause of our familiarity with them, or because of any hasty and shallow conclusion con-clusion that they are "natural" and iiii'oiduie, in siiiuiK IMCUfClj vr and letting them work their fatal results re-sults if there is anything that we can do to check, correct or reverse them f have sought this opportunity to inform in-form the congress what the executive is doing by way of remedy and con- j trol. and to suggest where effective legal le-gal remedies are lacking and ma he-supplied. he-supplied. We must. I think, frankly admit ; that there is no complete immediate ' remedy to be had from legislation and I'll executive action The free processes I- of supply and demand will not oper- I - ate of themselves and no legislative ! ' or executive action can force them 1 into full and natural ODeration until there is peace There is now neither peace nor war. All the world is waiting wait-ing with what unnerving fears and haunting doubts who can adequately say? Walling to know when it comes a peace In which each nation shall make shift for itself as it can, I or a peace buttressed and supported ' bv the will and concert of the nations na-tions that have the purpose and the ; power to do and to enforce what is I right. Politically, economically, 30- j cially, the world is on the operating table, and it has not been possible to I rtti administer any anesthetic. World Is Waiting "It is conscious. It even watches the capital operation upon v, hich it' knows that its hopes ol healthful life denend. It cannot ihink- its hnsin.rss out or make plans or give intelligent and provident direction to its affairs while in such a case Where there is nc peace of mind there can be no energy- in endeavor There can be no confidence in industry , no calculable basis for credit, no confident buying or systematic selling, no certain prospect of employment, no normal restoration ot business, no hopeful attempt at reconstruction re-construction of the proper reassembling reassemb-ling of the dislocated elements of enterprise en-terprise until peace has been established estab-lished so far as may be guaranteed. "Our national life has no doubt been less radically disturbed and dismembered dismem-bered than the national life of other peoples whom the war more directly affected, with all its terrible r.w aging and destructive force, but it has been, nevertheless, profoundly affected and disarranged, and our industries our credits, our productive capacity, our economic processes, are inextricably interwoven with those of other nations and peoples most intimately of all with the nations and peoples upon whom the chief burden and confusion of the war fell and who are now most I HrnnftoTf li rvr n t i o rr.rr, t i , , t- . tion of the world Making Records "We are Just now shipping more goods out of our ports to foreign markets mar-kets than we ever shipped before not foodstuffs merely, but stuffs and materials of every sort; but this is no index of what our foreign sales will continue to be or of the effect the volume vol-ume of our exports will ha on sup-H sup-H plies and prices. It is impossible yel to predict how far or how long foreign purchasers will be able to find the I money or the credit to pay for or sustain sus-tain such purchases on such a scale, how p-oon or to what extent forcifrn KH I nanufacuirers can resume their for mer production foreign farmers get their accustomed crops from llieir own fields; furejgn mines resume their former ouiput, foreign mere-hunt." set up again their old machinery of tiade with the ends of the earth. AH these things must remain uncertain until peace ifl established and the nations of the world have concerted the methods meth-ods bj which normal life and Industry are to be restored. All that we shall do, in the meantime, to restrain profiteering pro-fiteering and put the life of our peo pie upon a tolerable footing, will be makeshift and provisional. There can be no settled conditions here or elsewhere else-where until the treaty of peace is out of the way and the work of liquidating the war has become the chief concern of our government and of the other governments of the world Until then business will inevitably remain specu lathe and sway now this way and , i - .n i n ijmi, yiiii iira ni.x- im iii.i gains, as it may ehance, and the consumer con-sumer musl take care of both the gains and the losses. There can be no peace prices so long as our whole financial and economic system is on a war basis. ba-sis. Peace Necessary Europe will not. cannot recoupe her capital or put her restless distracted peoples to work until she knows i X ictlj v, here she stands in respect of peace; and what we will do is for her the Chief question upon which her quietude of mind and confidence of purpose depend. While there is any possibility that the peace lerms may be changed or may bo held long in abeyance or may not be enforced I" cause of divisions of opinion anions the powers associated against Germany, it Is idle to look for permanent relief. "But what we can do we should do anu snouiei ao at once, na mere is a great deal that we can do. provisional though it be. Wheat shipments and credits to facilitate the purchase of our wheal can and will be limited and controlled in such a way as not to raise, but rather to lower the price of flour here Ihe government lias the power, within certain limits, to regU late that We cannot deny wheat t foreign peoples who art in dire need of it and we do not wish to do bo; but fortunately, though the wheal crop is not what we hoped It would be, it is abundant ir handled with provident car. The price of wheat is lower In the United States than in Europe and can, with proper management, be k pi so. Sell Stocks of Army By way of immediate relief, surplus slocks of both food and clothing in the hands of the government will be sold, and, of course, sold at prices at which there is no profit. And. by way of a more permanent correction of price, surplus stocks in private hands will be drawn out of storage and put upon ihe market Fortunately, under the food control act. the hoarding of foodstuffs can be checked and prevented: pre-vented: and they will be. with the greatest energy foodstuffs can be drawn out of storage stor-age and Bold by legal action, which the department of justice will institute wherever necessarv . but so lone a-the a-the situation is systematically dealt with it is not likely that Ihe courts will often have lo he resort pH in t.wi, of the accumulating of stocks has no doubt been due to Ihe sort of .speculation .specula-tion which always results from uncertainty un-certainty Great surpluses were at cumulated because it was impossible to foresee what the market would disclose, dis-close, and dealers were determined to be M-ady for whatever might happen, as well as eager to reap the full advantage ad-vantage of rising prices They will now see the disadvantage, as well as the danger, of holding off from the new process of distribution. Prices Advancing. Some very' interesting and significant signifi-cant facts with regard to stocks on hand and the rises of prices in the fa e of abundance have been disclosed b the inquiries of the department of agriculture the department of labor) and the federal trade commission.! They seem to justify the statement j that in the case of many necessary commodities effective means have! been found to prevent the normal op 1 eration of the law of supply and demand. de-mand. Disregarding the surplus stocks' in tho hands of the government, there was a greater supply of foodstuffs in this country on June 1 of this year than at the same date last year. In the combined total of a number of the most important foods in dry and J cold storage, the excess is quite i9 per cent And yet prices have risen. The sapply of fresh eggs on hand in June. i iur ems year, lor example, was greater j by nearly 10 per cent than the supply I on hand at the same time last year, and yet the wholesale price was 10 cents a dozen, as against 30 cents a ear ago. The stock of frozen fowls had increased more than 298 per cent, land yet the price had risen also from 34 i cents per pound to I'.T'j een's The supplv of creamery butter had increased in-creased 12! per eent and the price lrom 41 to rZ cents per pound The supply of .salt bee f had b i n augmented augment-ed 3 per cent and the price had gone up from 534 a barrel to $36 a barrl Canned corn had increased in stock nearly 92 per cent and had remained substantially the same in price In a few foodstuffs the prices had declined, but in nothing like the proportion in which the supply had increased For example, the stock of canned tomrftoe-had tomrftoe-had increased 102 per cent and yet the j price had declined' only 25 cents per dozen cans. In some cases there had been the usual result of an increase of price following a decreaso of supplv, but in almost every' Instance the in , crease of price had been disproportion ale to the increase in stock. me uuornev general has been mak-1 'ing a careful study of the situation as la whole and of the laws that can be! applied to better it, and is convinced that, under the stimulation and temp tation of exceptional circumstane es, 1 combinations of producers and combm lations of traders have been formed' I for the control of supplies and of prices which are clearly in restraint; of trade, and against these prosecu j ( lions will be promptly instituted and actively pushed, which will, dn all like-1 lihood, have a prompt corrective effect. ef-fect. There is reason to believe that; the prices of leather, of coal, of lumber jand of textiles have been materially I affected by forms of concert and co-i operation among the producers and. marketers of these and other universally univer-sally necessary commodities which it I will be possible to redress. No watt i j ful or energetic effort will be spared to accomplish this necessary result. I, trust that there will not be many cast in which prosecution will be nec?S- sary. Public action will no doubt cat! many who have perhaps unwittingly adopted Illegal nut hods to abandon Ihem promptly and of their own inn- tion. Publicity Will Aid. it 1 publicity an accomplish a grea deal. The purchaser can often take-care take-care of himself if he knows the fa I and influences he is dealing with, and purchasers are not disinclined to lo I I anything, either singly or collective! that may be necessary' tor their self-protection, self-protection, The department of com-j iT.ierce. the department of agriculture, I l lha rlnnorlmnnl nf laVnii . .1 lit. I.. 1 1 , i in- u'.pai um.ui J I lauui Uliu I ijt- I' M eral trade commission can do a gTi it deal toward supplying the public, sj I tematically and at short Intervals with information regarding the actual regard to supplies which are in exil ne e, but not available because of hoarding, and with regard to the me'li- I ods of price-fixing which are being used by dealers In certain foodstufla and other necessaries. There can be, little doubt thai retailers are in pari sometimes in large ;.rt responsible for exorbitant prices; and it is quite 1 practicable for the government, through the agencies I have men-, . tioned, to supply the public with full1 information as to the prices at which i retailers buy and as to the costs of! transportation they pay, in order that il may be known just what margin of profit they are demanding. Opinion and concerted action on the part of dire h:inprc u n nrnhnhK- Ko maw ' Indispensable Service. That is, these agencies may perform this Indispensable servico providing the congress will supplv them with the necessary funds to prosecute their in-' quiries and keep their price lists up to jdate. Hitherto the appropriations com-1 I mi t tees of the houses have not always, j I fear, seen the full value of these Inquiries, In-quiries, and the departments and corn 1 missions have been very much strait ened for means to render this -sen i. . That adequate funds be provided by appropriations for this purpose, and provided as promptly as possible is one of ihe means of greatly amelior-' ating the present distressing conditions condi-tions of livelihood that I have come I to urge, m this .attempt to concert with I you the best way to serve the country I in this emergency It is one of the absolutely ab-solutely necessary means, underlying; many others, and can be supplied al once. There are many other ways Exi t ing law is inadequate. There are man perfectly legitimate methods bv wh i i i ihe government can exercise restrain nil guidance. j Let me urge, in the first place, that I the present food control act should b extended both as to the period of time during which it shall remain in operation opera-tion and as to the commodities to I which it shan apply. Its provisions against hoarding should be mad. to apply not only to food, but ; !.sn to fei ,1 sniffs, to fuel, to clothing and fo manv oiher commodities which are indispui .ir-uessanes oi life. As if .stands ' now it is limited in op, ration to ti e period of the war and becomes inop-r atlve upon the formal proclamation of peace. With Legal Powers But I should judge that it was rlear-l rlear-l within the constitutional power of the congress to make similar perma -nenl provisions and regulations uiih regard to all goods destined for interstate inter-state commerce, and to exclude them i-froni interstate shipment if the re nuirements 0f the law are nol complied com-plied with. Some such regulation In imperatively necessars The abuses hat have grown up in the manipula-i oon, , rePriCe; b' 'he ""folding of, foodstuffs and other necessaries of life cannot otherwise be effectively pre- : VZU , Thf'r'" Can bp no doubt ol fther the necessity or the legitime, i 01 such measures. May l not call at--nnon to the fact, also that, although he present act prohibits profiteering the prohibition is aceorupani.d b 00 penalty is clearly in -he "public in m . ',atua p(JDaHy Bhoud be pro-vlded pro-vlded which will be persuasive I mlVhe Sa.m" end 1 -mestly recom ! mend. ,n the second place, that the JnZS P-lSS 8 law bating cohl storage as it is regulated, for example, by the laws of the state of New Jersey. Jer-sey. Which limit the time during which goods may be kept In storage pre h L,! " of -j 'uuu "nc permitted per- I od. and require that goods released I ' dTte oSft0," Sha" in a" 68868 S v V,helr r!ce,pt' 11 W0ld mater- I ally add to the serviceability of the 1 law, for the purpose we now' have In B v ew, If it were also prescribed th.u f al goods released from storage for B Interstate shipment should have plan,- S y marked upon each package ihe sell ng or market price at which they went I Into storage By this means the pur-i pur-i Chaser would always be able to learn What profits stood between him and the producer or the wholesale dealer it would serve a.s a useful example to the other communities of this country, coun-try, as well as greatly relieve local .lis. Tess if the congress were , regulate au such matters very tuilv for the District Dis-trict Of Columbia, where its legislative authority )s without limit. Proposes Cost Marks I would also recommend that it be I required that all goods destined fur ln. j tcrbtate commerce should in everv ea B Where their form or package make- B Possible be plainly marked with the I Price at which they left the hands of I the producer. Such a requirement1! ou. i oear a close analogy to certain provisions of the pure food act bv . tailed information be given on the r. DeJS of packages of food and drugs And t does not seem to me that we sures nr ?k oulv to detailed mea-,of mea-,of hls kind, if it is indeed our purpose to assume national control of! he processes of distribution I take and o.f T?d thal ,baf is our PH?OSe and our duty Nothing less will suffice. suf-fice. V e need not hesitate to handle a Ve should go beyond the measures I have suggested. JVe should formulate (Continued on Pace President's Message IB (Continued From Page 10.) ja law requiring a federal license of all corporations engaged in interstate eomrneree and embodying in the license, li-cense, or in the conditions under which it is to be Issued, :pecific re gulations I designed to secure i .inp. i ith selling! and prevent unconscionable profits in'( the methods of marketing. Such a law unuld afford a welcome opportunity to i effect other much needed reforms In! the business of interstate shipment; and in the methods of corporations' which are engaged in it, but for the moment I confine my recommendations' to the object Immediately in hand, I which is to lower the cost of living. To Step Speculation May I not add that there is a bill! now pending before the congress,' Which, if passed, would do much to stop speculation and to prevent the fraudulent methods of promotion by which our people are annually fleeced of many millions of hard earned mon-ey? mon-ey? I refer to the measure proposed by the capital issues committee for the control of security issues. It Is a measure formulated by men who know the actual conditions of business and Its adoption would serve a great and beneficent purpose. We nre dealing, gentlemen of the congress, I need hardly say, with very critical and eery difficult matters. We should go forward with confidence along the road we see, but we should also seek to comprehend the whole of the scene amidst which we act. There i- no ground lor some of the fearful forecasts ' bear uttered about me, but the condition of the world is unquestionably unques-tionably very grave and we should face it comprehendingly. The situation situa-tion of our own country' is exceptionally exceptional-ly fortunate. We of all peoples can afford to keep our heads and to determine de-termine upon moderate und sensible-courses sensible-courses of action which will ensure u? against the passions and distempers distem-pers which are working such deep un-"happiness un-"happiness for some of the distressed nations on the other side of the sea. But we may be involved in their distresses dis-tresses unless we help, and help with energy and intelligence. Says World Must Pay The world must pay for the appalling appal-ling destruction wrought by the great war and we are part of the world. We must pay our share For five years now the industry of all Europe has been slack and disordered. The normal nor-mal crops have not been produced: the normal quantity of manufactured goods has not been turned out Not until there are the usual crops and the usual production of manufactred goods on the other side of the Atlantic can Kurope return to the former conditions, con-ditions, and it was upon the former conditions, not the present, that our economic relations villi Kurope were built up We must face the fact that unless we help Europe to get back to ber normal life and production a chaos v, ill ensue there which will Inevitably be communicated to this country. For the present, it is manifest, we must quicken, not slacken, our own production. produc-tion. We, and we almost alone, now hold the world steady. I'pon our i swain iMiii'sn ami scu'Iwmsnivu uc -ipend the affairs of nations everywhere It is in this supreme crisis this crisis of all mankind that America must prove Ipt mettle in the presence of a world confused distracted, she must show herself self-possessed, self-contained, capable of sober and effective a tion, She saved Europe by her action in arms; she must now save it I by her action on the peace. In saving Europe she will save herself, as she did upon the battlefields of the war. I The calmness and capacity with which she deals with and masters the prob lems of peace will be the final test and proof of her place among the peoples peo-ples of the world. Must Help Europe. And. If only in our own Interest, we must help the people overseas Europe is our biggest customer We must keep her going or thousands of our shops and scores of our mines mus' close. There is no such thing as letting let-ting her go to ruin without our.- lr sharing in the disaster. In such circunntances, face to face with such tests, passion must be dis-carded. dis-carded. Passion and a disregard for the rights of others have no place in tho counsels of a free people. We need light, not heat, in these solemn times of self-examination and saving action There must be no threats. Let there be only intelligent counsel and let the best reasons win. not the strongetit brute force The world nas Just destroyed the arbitrary force of ., mill tan Junta. It will live under do other All that is arbitrary and coer ; Cive Is in the discard. Those who i seek to employ it only prepare their 1 own destruction We can not hastily and overnigh' i revolutionize all the processes of our I economic life We shall not attempt to do so. These are days of deep I cltement and of extravagant speech, but with us these are things of thel surface. Everyone who is in real touch with the silent masses of ourl gTeat people knows that the old, Strong fiber and steady self-control are still i therr, linn against violence or any lis-, tempered action that would throw, their affairs into confusion. I aui surely confident that they will readil; find themselves, no matter what ih-, circumstances, and that they will address ad-dress themselves to the tasks of peace with the same devotion and the earre) stalwart preference for what is right that they displayed to the admiration Of the whole world in the midst of war Brought Into the Open. And I enter another confident hope. I have spoken today chiefly of meas-ores meas-ores of imperative regulation and legsl compulsion, of prosecutions and the Bharp correction of selfish processes; and these, no doubt, are becessan Bui there are other forces that v e may count on besides those resident in the department of justice. We have just fully awakened to what has been go-; go-; ing on and to the influences, many of ;them very selfish and sinister, that have been produeing high prices md imposing an intolerable burden on the i mass of our people To have brought it all into the open will accomplish the greater part of the result we seek. I .ppeal with entire confidence to our producers, our middlemen and our merchants to deal fairly with the people peo-ple It is their opportunity to show that they comprehend, that they intend in-tend to act justly, and that they have the public interest sincerely at heart. 'And I have no doubt that houseke-p ers all over the country' and everyone who buys the things he daily stands in need Of, will presently exercise a greater vigilance, a more thoughtful economy, a more discriminating care as to the market in whicb he buys or the merchant with whom he trades than he has hitherto exercised. Like True Americans. I believe, too, that the more extreme leaders of organized labor will presently pres-ently yield to a sober second thought, ;md, like the great mass of their associates, as-sociates, think and acl Ilka true Americans. Amer-icans. They vviu see that strikes undertaken un-dertaken at this critical time are certain cer-tain to make matters worse, not better bet-ter worse for them and for everybody else. The worst thing, the most fal u thing that can be done now is to stop or interrupt production or to interfere with the distribution of goods by the railways and the shipping of the country. coun-try. Wre are all involved in the di-tressing di-tressing results of the high cost of living, and we must unite, not divide, to correct it There are many things that ought to be corrected In the relations rela-tions between capital and labor, in respect re-spect of wages and conditions of labor and other things even more far-reaching, and I. for one, am ready to go into conference about these matters any group of my fellow countrymen who know what they are talking about and are willing to remedy existing conditions con-ditions by frank counsel rather than by violent contest. No remedy is p-sible p-sible while men are in a temper, and there can be no settlement which does not have as its motive and standard tho general interest. Threats and undue insistence upon the interest of a single class mnl tlement impossible. I believe, as V !' iave hitherto had occasion to say to ongress. that the industry' Jnd life of I I :ur people and of the world will suffer I irreparable damage if employers and workmen are to go on in a perpetual contest as antagonists. They must, on one plane or another, be effectively effective-ly associated. Have we not steadine.-and steadine.-and ;elf-po-s. -sion and businesssen.se t H enough to work out that result? Un doubtedly we hae, and we shall work it out. In the meantime now and in I I the days of readjustment and recuperation recuper-ation that are ahead of us let us resort re-sort more and more to frank and lnti-tnaie lnti-tnaie counsel und make ourselves -i t I great and triumphant nation, bv mak- Ifl ing ourselves a united force in the life of the world. It will not then have 1 1 looked to us for leadership in vain J |