Alluding to the European war, he said: "When the war closes, we will be confronted with one of the greatest commercial wars the world has ever seen. Today there are hundreds of thousands of men in Germany and England manufacturing goods and when this war closes those goods must be sold. Where are they going to sell them? Not to a nation that is war-debt-ridden, but to a nation like ours; a nation that can pay for them. Whatever they do, they will, under no consideration sell those goods under our standards. If we are to protect American industries and American labor, we must prepare now to try in a position to enforce a protective tariff.
"We are a poor and inferior, second to Japan in the matter of an army and equipment; we are fourth in naval power, an easy prey for a war-debt-ridden country, and whatever program of preparedness this country may adopt, I hope that every citizen will give it his most hearty and earnest, patriotic American support, should, at least, have the second navy in the world in order to protect our great coast line."
He explained at some length the policy which he would expect to pursue in regard to the handling of the trust funds arising from the sale of the state land, and how under the system advocated by him, he believed it would be possible with a relatively short time, to bring about the total extinction of all taxes for school purposes, and in the course of time, state taxes for all purposes whatsoever. 