iifv? iywjiH
V
,
The Commoner
yOb. 16, NO. 7
20
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If-
Epoch-Making Achievements of Wilson's Administration
Senator Ollie M. James' Great Speech Before the Democratic National Convention at St Louis, June 15, 1916
Tho speech of Sonator 011io James
of Kentucky, Juno 15, as permanent
oliRlrmnn of tho democratic national
convention at St. Louis, was ono of
tho romarkablo . uttorancoo of the
convention. A brlof review of this
nddrosB wan glvon In Mr. Bryan's St.
Louis lottors In tho Juno Issuo, but
lack of spaco preventing Its repro
duction In full In that issue, Its pub
lication has boon withhold until this
month. Tho democrats of tho coun
try will valuo this address because
It gives volco to tho notable achieve
ments of tho Wilson administration
and will sorvo as a campaign docu
ment whldh should bo circulated
from ono end of tho country to tho
othor.
Sonator James speech, In full, fol
lows: Mr. Chairman, Follow Democrats,
Ladles and Gentlemen: I greet my
democratic brethren of tho republic,
tho roprosontatlves of a proud, vic
torious, and unconquerable democ
racy whoso life, achievements, and
history challenges tho admiration of
tho world. Wo cheerfully raoet face
to faco tho public wo have not be
trayed to point with delight to a
matchless record of promises wo have
kopt.
During throo yoars of Its national
control democracy has enacted Into
Jaw moro progresBlvo remodlal legis
lation than tho nation has over writ
ten upon Its statute books Blnco Kb
birth. In formor national contests
in tho last two decados our party
camo as a prophot. Wo could
only point out wrongs and promise
romodlos; but today wo como with
deods, not words; with performance,
not promise. Our deeds in thojna
tlon havo boon greator than our
words upon tho hustings; our per
iformancos as tho lawmakers greater
than our promise as tho campaigner.
In othor words, tho democratic
imrty has kopt Its word with the
American people Wo havo made
good. Wo have by our conduct of
tho affairs of this nation deserved
the rqpewod confidence of Its poople
by proving worthy of tho confidence
onco bestowod.
The democratic party rejoices that
under this administration for the
first time slnco tho Civil war it was
enabled to amend tho constitution of
the United States in tho Interest of
.good government and tho massos of
the poople. Wo freed tihe senate
from tho control of tho great Inter
ests by making it elective by tho peo
ple at tho polls. Wo wrote into tho
constitution itself an amendment,
susceptible of no dispute, that wealth
should boar Its propor burden of the
taxation necessary to run tho gov
ernment efficiently, economically and
honestly.
Powerful Lobby Ousted
President Wilson drovo invisible
government out of Washington and
uncovered the mightiest lobby that
evur ramified a republic or had its
rendezvous in its capital. Ho drove
the lobbyist out; he turned the
American people in.
The democratic party undertook to
enact a now tariff law in keeping
with tho historic principles of the
-democratic party and justice to all
hf people. The democratic party be
lieves that the right of taxation can
only exist for tho purpose of raising
ufftclent revenue to run tho govern
ment. Taxation never did justly ex
1st and never will in a free govern
ment for tho purpose of enriching
on class at the expense of all the
xmt of the people.
We undertook tho reformation of
hands, unowned, unpledged to any
Interest oxcopt that of tljo public
welfare, and wo aro proud of -our
achiovomont In writing into law tho
present Underwood-Simmons tariff
bill. Not a schedule In It fosters mon
opoly; not a rato in it protects a
trust. Wo made as nearly free of
taxation as possiblo the necessities
of life, and sought to obtain as much
revenue as thoy would boar from the
luxuries of life.
One of tho greatest features of this
law is tho income tax, which raise
from the fortunes of tho rich, the
prosperous, tho well-to-do people of
tho nation $120,000,000 per annum,
and lifts this burden off tho tables
and backs of tho poor To my mind,
no law is moro just than that of an
Income tax. Those that prosper un
der tho government ought to be will
ing to pay taxes to perpetuate It. It
id a tax that forecloses no mortgages,
forces no sales. It Is collected only
whero riches abound and prosperity
smiles.
Would tho republican party dare
to suggest the repeal of this part of
tho tariff law? Will they be specific in
tholr objections to this legislation?
What schedule would they repeal?
What rato would thoy increase?
Would they substitute tho Dingley
rato or tho Payne-Aldrich rate? If
thoy were given control again, would
they re-enact the tariff law that the
democratic party repeated, a bill that
was repudiated by tho republican
party itself at the polls?
Tariff Bonrd to Bo Created
Who is It, anyhow that desires
really tho repeal of the present law,
made by honest men for an honest
purpose, that of raising revenue
sufficient to defray the expenses of
tho government and substitute in
its stead tho lobby-made, monopoly
breeding, trust-creating, millionaire
producing Payne-Aldrich bill? Our
republican frlendB told us when we
enacted this bill Into law that it
would close tho factories, fill the
streets with idle men, produce a
panic, create souphouses, and distress
would reign everywhere; hut we
rejoice today to point to an un-ex-amplod,
prosperity in the nation, with
lahor moro generally employed, at
nignor rates, snorter hours and bet
ter conditions than ever before.
Our republican friends tell us that
after the war is over, poor, stricken,
prostrate, torn, bleeding Europe will
take our homo market here from us;
that this young, virile republic, with
100,000,000 freemen, that has cone
out to take the foreign markets of
the world, must tremble in great fear
lest these war-torn countries, with
millions of their men the flower and
strongtn or their manhood buried
in the trenches, with their factories
destroyed, tholr country laid waste,
their charred and blood-soaked land
filled with widows and orphans and
crippled men, and upon them the
heaviest debt of all ages, will come
here to this happy land, uncursed by
war's ravages or Its burden of debt,
and take our home market from ub.
No, gentlemen; I havo no such fear;
America is going to take the markets
of the world; we are going to meet
our competitors In tho other markets
of the earth and take them, and this
great poople here fears no competitor
at home that wo aro willing to meet
away from home.
f-ta " im wu liuikiil nuu ana cost Or,
: transportation in our favor lift wa
certainly have nothing to fear when
wo are meotlng them where the
freight rate and transportation and
many times adverse tariffs' are In
tneir iavor. wut wo shall cut from
falso Issue, for we shall pass a bill
creating a tariff board to 'gather
the facts created by the new 'war
conditions or the conditions that may
exist after peace is declared, and up
on these official acts, obtained by men
not interested in enriching themselves
by taxing others, and -with this gath
ered information be ready to meet
every new condition which may arise.
the" tariff with open minds and clean them the last bopo of having even a
DECLARES FEDERAIj RESERVE
LAW MAKES PANICS IMPOS
SIBLE AND HAS SAVED
COUNTRY IN BIG CRISIS
Would our republican opponents
repeal the present Federal Reserve
law that emancipated tho credit of
a nation; that made tho credft of
tho country to run In life-giving
currents through tho avenues of
business? Under the old system a
few men could creato a panic, as the
whole nation witnessed in 1907,
when all the world was at peace and
enjoying unusual prosperity. A small
group of men upon Manhattan Island
precipitated overnight one of the
greatest panics in the history of the
nation. It toppled, values, wrecked
fortunes, destroyed holdings, turned
out of employment thousands of men,
and locked the door of almost every
bank in the country against the de
positor who called for his own
money. ,
w
The republican party in control
for 40 years of our national life
either did not have the ability or the
courage or the desire to remedy this
brutal system that lodged the money
of a nation in the control of this
heartless group of men. The demo
cratic party took control of this na
tion, and under the leadership of
Woodrow Wolson met this great
problem. We took tho money con
trol out of the hands of this olig
archy; we lodged Its control in the
hands of tho government and created
tho Federal Reserve banks of the
country. We rested the finances of
the great people of this nation upon
what they own, and not upon what
they owe. The output of the factory,
the product of the farm, ,the ore of
the mine, the business achievements
of the people, Was the basis of the
money Issued under this new system,
and not the bonds that were resting
upon tho people.
What would have been the result
if the old republican system had
been In effect when the world's war
broke upon us? The stock exchanges
in every city In tho wnrid warA
closed. Europe poured its vast hold
ings in plethargic streams upon our
shores. The cry that went up from
all the nations of the Old World was,
"We want gold." Who thinks that
tho republican system of finance un
der the guidance of these patriotic
guardians would have been able to
withstand this mighty cataclysm In
the peace and credit of the world?
But what was the result? Not a
bank closed its doors; not a laborer
was thrown out of employment; not
a business was forced into bank
ruptcy; but here stood strong, serv
ing the masses of mankind, this great
loglRlative achievement of the dem
ocratic party.
Panics No "Longer Possible
Panics no longer are possible. The
truth of it is, they have only come,
during the history of this nation
when the republican party either
was in control of its affairs or the
a mai iw uaQ enacted wero unre
pealed upon our statute books
The panic of 1873 la familiar to
the older of our citizens. The re
publican nnrHr -ama t ... i . '
I Panic of W3 came whneThe laws
written by the republican party wero
unrepealed upon the statute books
and the platea for the iaauanVJ I
bonds had been prepared by th out
going Harrison administration Ad
so we are quite familiar with tS?
panic of 1907; but as thn ,Bf
achievement of' Woodrow Wllst
my mind, next to keeping 100 obo
000 people at peace with the worhf
the historian will record the Fetal
Reserve law that created a domocracy
and established a currency m
controlled hy the government that 5
quickly responsive to ' the husiness
needs of the country. iness
Would our republican friends sug
gest a repeal of this law? I Imagine
not, though we enacted it over their
Intense and bitter opposition. They
stood upon the floor of the senate
and, with all the eloquence and logic
at their command, declared in sol
emn tones that if we did enact it in
to law that In 30 days the mightiest
panic that ever broko upon a nation
would be with us. They said it was
but a recrudescence of greenbackism
and the old free-silver craze. They
declared that the national banks,
8,000 strong, would not go into it.
We discarded this advice. Wo
weathered these evil forebodings,
and in the interest of mankind wo
wrote the law. No republican con
vention from that day to this, no re
publican orator upon the hustings
with any degree of responsibility has
suggested, a word of criticism or ut
tered a line of condemnation of this
law.
Demands Loyalty to. Flag
We are all Americana no matter
whence we come. We love our
country because it makes us free.
The beauty of the .oceans that wash
our shores, our fertile plains, our
lofty mountains, our winding riv
ers, our unequaled landscapes, can
only bo enjoyed in their real and
matchless beauty through the eyes
of a freeman. More beautiful than
the beauty and splendor of the land
is tho glory of the government.
The humblest may become the
greatest, the weakest may become
tho strongest, the poorest may be
come the richest; here no taint of
blood, no law of royalty. This free
dom is as much the right of the one
who comes here as the one who is
born here. We are glad of it and
happy to offer this opportunity and
this happiness to all.
Wo only ask in return loyalty,
valor and love; loyalty to the flag,
valor in its defense, and love of our
free institutions. We do not care
what songs of the old home land you
may sing or what memories of the
country from which you came you
may cherish. All we ask is that the
song you shall hold dearest to your
heart is the Star-Spangled Banner.
And the memories you shall cherish
most and best are those of America
that makes you free.
There are some who seek to de
stroy this nation whose freedom and
blessings they enjoy. They call
themsfilvoa nnnin1ia(a T4 T rinrJ TT1V
way, I would not allow a single man
" uaauuiauon oi men to near aion
upori the streets and highways of th's
notlnn r. H ii ll.-L .lll.no
""""u s or eincuem mat eiui-i
questioned the integrity or authority
of the Stars and Stripes of the republic.
democratic tarty stands for
navy bo strong no hos
TILE SHEW CAN FAUj IN
AN AMERICAN CITY
In 1906 I attended the great peace
conference held in London and saw
there assembled 26 nations of ,the
.
