LAD #31 Wilson's Fourteen Points

Wilson’s Fourteen Points calls for peace and an international policy of openness. “The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world.” He also calls for a sense of national unity when he says that “all the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest”.
1. calls for public diplomacy
2. freedom of navigation of the seas – in both times of war and peace
3. equality of trade conditions
4. reduction of national armaments
5. impartial adjustment of all colonial claims – allowing the populations to have a voice in colonial decisions
6. “evacuation of all Russian territory” and assistance for the Russian government
7. sovereignty for Belgium
8. a correction of the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine and sovereignty for all French territories
9. “readjustment of the frontiers of Italy”
10. free opportunity to autonomous development for the peoples of Austria-Hungary
11. evacuation of Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro
12. Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees and sovereignty for the Turkish portion of the ottoman empire
13. erection of a sovereign polish state guaranteed by international covenant
14. “ a general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike”
Wilson asks for peace and mutual understand with Germany and international unity.

LAD #30

On March 3rd, 1919, Schenk was declared guilty with the “mailing of printed circulars in pursuance of a conspiracy to obstruct the recruiting and enlistment service”, “an unlawful use of the mails for the transmission”, and for an “offence against the United States...to use the mails for the transmission of matter declared to be non-mailable”. Despite the protection of freedom of speech by the first amendment, Schenck’s distribution of printed documents posed a serious threat and danger so therefore Congress had the right to halt his activities. According to the testimony, Schenck was general secretary for the socialist party and he was in charge of the socialist headquarters from where the documents were sent. “The document in question upon its first printed side recited the first section of the Thirteenth Amendment, said that the idea embodied in it was violated by the Conscription Act and that a conscript is little better than a convict.” Schenck’s messages were: “"Do not submit to intimidation” and to “Assert your rights”. His impassioned document was to prevent the draft. “It denied the power to send our citizens away to foreign shores to shoot up the people of other lands, and added that words could not express the condemnation such cold-blooded ruthlessness deserves”. During times of peace, Schenck’s document may have been completely within the realm of the rights of a citizen, but his words were a threat to the smooth operation of the military as it was a time of war. It is similar to yelling fire in a crowded movie theatre when there is no fire: “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force.” Schenck simply commited a crime that was an obstruction of the recruiting services.

LAD #29 Keating-Wilson Child Labor Act

The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 "limited the working hours of children and forbade the interstate sale of goods produced by child labor." The 1900 census showed that two million children were working all across America, all ranging from small child to teen. This census caused a movement that fought for the end of child labor. Lewis Hines and other muckrakers took pictures of children laboring in factories where they were forced to fix dangerous machinery and do back-breaking work in coal mines for long hours. Many influential men joined the fight against child labor, including Carl Marx and Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote many books, including Oliver Twist, that portrayed young orphans working in factories and living in poorhouses in London. Albert Leveridge first proposed the bill in 1906 and "used the government's ability to regulate interstate commerce to regulate child labor. The act banned the sale of products from any factory, shop, or cannery that employed children under the age of 14, from any mine that employed children under the age of 16, and from any facility that had children under the age of 16 work at night or for more than 8 hours during the day." This law was eventually passed by Congress and signed by Woodrow Wilson, however, was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Hammer vs. Dagenhart Case. This was because "it overstepped the purpose of the government's power to regulate production and commerce." Another law, the Child Labor Tax Law of 1919 was proposed, but soon ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Not until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was there a successful law enforcing child labor regulations, which is still upheld today.

LAD #28 Wilson's First Inaugural Address

Wilson begins his inaugural address by praising the political system and the industrial success of the country. "But the evil has come with the good, and much fine gold has been corroded. But the evil has come with the good, and much fine gold has been corroded." He says that Americans are wasteful. The physical and spiritual cost cost of human life and natural energy has not been reviewed. "With the great Government went many deep secret things which we too long delayed to look into and scrutinize with the candid, fearless eye. The great government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish proposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people." Essentially, the government is not doing its proper duty of protecting the citizens of the United States. In turn, Wilson says that "our duty is to cleanse, to reconsider, to restore, (and) to correct the evil without impairing the good, to purify and humanize every process of our common life without weakening or sentimentalizing it." He reminds his audience that the original intention of the American democracy was policy " (that) was meant to serve the humblest as well as the most powerful, with an eye single to the standards of justice and fair play." He directly addressed an unjust tariff, a corrupted banking and currency system, a restricting industrial system, an inefficient agricultural body, and misuse of the natural environment. The security of society is the most important service that the government can offer. Finally, he concludes his speech with a call for patriotism.

LAD #27 Clayton Anti-Trust Act

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act was put into effect so the government could regain control of big business. It was passed during the adminsitration of Woodrow Wilson after being introduced by a Senator from Alabama. This set up a regulation for the business world. Originally business could only be regulated under the Sherman anti-trust act, which also hurt labor unions. So this new act, passed alongside the Federal Trade Commission Act, gave authority to the government to regulate previously lawless big businesses. Plus this law could not hurt such unions as the Knights of Labor and the National Labor Union. Major League baseball was also exempt from this law since it reflected national heritage. With this new law in place unions could be formed and boycotts, picketing, and strikes were all legal signs of protest free from government control