Champ Clark speech - n.d.
Transcript
[page 1] We enter upon the New Year, flushed with victory and enthusiastically proud of our achievements in Europe. American soldiers deported themselves over there as all our people except the idiots among us knew they would with splendid courage & admirable fortitude. That’s the invariable fashion in which American soldiers have borne them-selves in all our wars. We find ourselves confronted by [ms illegible: 1 wd] problems, foreign & domestic, of much delicacy, intricasy, difficulty and importance. For the present at least I [MS illegible: 1 wd] the foreign or international problems to President Wilson this [MS illegible: 1 wd] to the Congress of Versailles. Of the domestic problems pressing for solution by long shot the most important is to furnish employment at renumerative wage to our three or four will in soldiers plus the million or two millions of workers who have been laboring in the War Munition factories. For this five millions of our people employment must be found. It would
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[page 2] be a crime against humanity not to do so. People must live & in order to live most of us must work. How are we to furnish employment to this vast numbers of our citizens, male & female? There is only one way – in clearing our commerce with other nations. Where is the most inviting field for our patriotic endeavors in that regard? I say unhesitatingly that it is in Central & South America. Our situation is brief in this: Before the Great War Great Britain was easily our best customer with Germany second. It is proposed in some quarters, unwisely as I think to shut Germany out of the Raw material markets of the world. So far as we are concerned that would be the old & condemned performance of cutting off our nose to spite our face, for it should be remembered that what Germany bought from us was largely raw materials or materials only partly advanced in manufacture. So, if Germany is [ms illegible: 1 wd] excluded, we came out of the War with less foreign trade than when it began
Transcript
[page 3] Which will mean less employment for our laborers – a state of affairs which would be nothing short of a calamity. We now possess a great maritime fleet the first time since the middle of the Civil War; but a merchant ship is valueless except as junk unless we have products to be transported; and we cannot ship out surplus products unless we find customers to buy them. We are the greatest producing nation in the world. Why do I select Central & South America? Because they are larger than North America; because they are friends & closest neighbors; because those naturally rich countries are just beginning to develop – just beginning to awake to their splendid destiny. We have only 13 per cent. of their trade. We should have the Lion’s share & will have it if we act with a reasonable amount of common sense. In fact would have it now if we had acted wisely during the last fifty years. France & England have been busy preparing for it even while the great guns were roaring & shaking the Earth.
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[page 4] There are fifty millions of people in those countries & children now living will see the population increase to one hundred & fifty millions. How can we increase our trade with them? 1. By establishing lines of steamships to their ports - we have the ships & should establish the lines; 2. By preparing our products to suit the tastes of the Latin peoples; 3. By giving them such [ms illegible: 1 wd] facilities as they demand; 4. But above all most important of all – by having Spanish taught in all our Universities & colleges & business schools so that our merchants & travelling men will be able to read, ride, and speak the language of those whose trade we seek. All Central & South American speak Spanish except Brazilians who speak Portuguese which is close kin to Spanish. The Spanish language is the most Mellifluous of all the tongues spoken by the children of men & is the most easily learned. Any
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[page 5] one who understands Latin can acquire a working knowledge of Spanish in a few weeks. Why not do and do at once the things above suggested to increase our foreign trade – which is greatly to be desired to furnish employment to all our citizens? Champ Clark
Details
| Title | Champ Clark speech - n.d. |
| Creator | Clark, Champ |
| Source | Clark, Champ. Speech. n.d. Clark, Champ (1850-1921) and Bennett Champ (1890-1954), Papers, 1853-1973. C0666. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
| Description | In this speech transcript, Champ Clark discussed American employment and trade relations in the aftermath of World War I. Champ Clark, a long-time resident of Bowling Green, Missouri, was a politician in the Democratic Party. He served as a representative of Missouri from 1893 to 1895 and from 1897 to 1921. From 1911 to 1919 he served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. |
| Subject LCSH | Clark, Champ, 1850-1921; World War, 1914-1918--Economic & industrial aspects |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I; Trade |
| Site Accession Number | C0666 |
| Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
| Language | English |