LAD #31 Wilson's Fourteen Points

Summary of Wilson's Fourteen Points, as delivered in Congress on January 8, 1918:

Wilson first discusses how the Central Powers are willing to "discuss the objects of the war and the possible basis of a general peace." However, he states that while Russia presents a definite statement and program of principles for which to make peace, the other powers seemed more concerned with merely retaining all of the territory that they had conquered. The Russian representatives broke off negotiations.

According to Wilson, the peace of the world relies upon the ability of the powers to negotiate peace out in the open, and not behind closed doors. Furthermore, he asserts that the poor and desperate Russians, under attack of Germany, desire to know the war aims of the Central Powers. He hopes that in some way America and the Central Powers could help the Russians to attain liberty and peace.

Wilson expresses again the importance of the "processes of peace" being created in the open with no secret understandings. He says, "The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is the day of secret covenants..."

He then claims that, in ending the war, "we" (is he referring to America, or to the Central Powers?) only demand that "the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it may be made safe for every peace-loving nation which...be assured of justice and fair dealings by other peoples of the world as against force and self-aggression."

He then presents his Fourteen Points, which include, "Open covenants of peace" (Point 1), "Freedom of the seas" (2), "The removal of economic barriers among consenting nations" (3), "The reduction of national armaments" (4), and "Adjustment of colonial claims" (5), general adjustments of national boundaries (6-13) (with the theory of Self-determination being discussed in relation to the people of Austria-Hungary in 10), and finally Wilson's concept of a League of Nations "for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity" for all nations formed under the 14th article.

Wilson also makes it clear that he does not want to punish Germany, but instead to grant it "a place of equality among the peoples of the world".

He concludes be recognizing the principle of justice that is common in all of his Fourteen Points, and the fact that there is no longer doubt in the concrete terms of his war aims. In conclusion, he asserts that the people of the United States stand behind these principles.

LAD #30 Schenck vs. U.S.

Summary of the case Schenck vs. U.S., March 1919:

In the case, American socialist Charles Schenck had been distributing thousands of fliers encouraging young men to evade the draft for the Great War, claiming that the draft was violating the Thirteenth Amendment because it enforced "involuntary servitude" and that the war was motivated by "capitalist greed". Schenck was charged with violating a newly erected Espionage Act in that he was trying to incite insubordination in the military and naval forces. 

Schenck then appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the Espionage Act violated his First Amendment rights. However, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a pioneering opinion that stated that an individual's Freedom of Speech was not guaranteed when the speech would cause "clear and present danger", as Schenck's did by creating military insubordination during wartime. The Supreme Court voted unanimously against Schenck. this ruling has since been overturned.

LAD #29 The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

Summary of the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916:

Passed in 1916, the Act was a result of Senator Albert Beveridge's 1906 proposal, which was to use the government's role to regulate interstate commerce to fight against child labor. The Act, sponsored by Edward Keating and Robert Latham Owen, banned the sale of products from any factory that employed children younger than 14, or from any mine that employed children under 16, or from any factory that made children under 16 work more than eight hours. The law was passed and effected until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1918 case Hammer vs. Dagenhart, because the law overstepped the government's power to regulate interstate trade.

LAD #28 Woodrow Wilson's First Inaugural Address

Summary of Woodrow Wilson's First Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1913:

Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate, won the Presidency in 1912 when the Republican vote was split between the incumbent Taft and the Third-party candidate Roosevelt. 

In his Inaugural Address, Wilson addresses the gradual change in the government to favor the Democratic Party. He explains this by claiming that the nation needs the Party to interpret and change the nation's plans and point of view. He then lists the good and great aspects of the nation, from the genius of its individuals to the structure of its government. He cites that bad has come along with the good, noting especially the human cost and suffering brought about by America's enormous economic expansion. He claims that now the government's and the nation's job is to cleanse and correct the evils brought about by the heedlessness of the country's industrialization. He details the issues that need to be resolved, ranging from the need to alter the foreign tariff, the banking system, the industrial system, and the agricultural system. He stresses the importance of renewing and conserving the natural resources that are being exploited by industry. He also discusses how the government needs to protect its citizens' lives with sanitary laws, pure food laws, and labor laws. He stresses that the economic system will be fixed, and that "Justice, and only justice, shall always be our motto." He ends the speech, "Today is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication."

LAD #27 The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Summary of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, 1914:

The act outlaws price or service discrimination in commerce that tends to lessen competition or create a monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission is permitted to issue an order to terminate the discrimination. Also, any person who is found to be granting discriminating rebates in order to eliminate competition can be charged up to $5,000 in fines or could be imprisoned for up to a year. Furthermore, a worker injured by a violation of the terms in the Act is permitted to sue his company, with three-fold the price of the damages plus the cost for the suit and a reasonable attorney. The United States is also allowed to sue a violating company in similar circumstances.

It also establishes that the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce, and thus that nothing in the Act should be used against the existence of labor and agricultural unions.