The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-04

yet we may remain absolutely sure of one
thing that now. as ever in the past. and
as IL ever will be in the future, there can
be no substitute for the elemental virtues,
for the elemental qualities TO which we
allude when We speak OF d man as not
only good man but as empks tically
man. We can build up the standard of
individual citizenship and individual we'll
being we can raise the national standard
and make IL what it can and shall be
made, only by each of us steadfastly
keeping in mind that there can be no sub
stitute for the world-old humdrum, COM
courage. thrift. industry. common sense
and genuine sympathy with and fellow feel
ing for others. The Nation is the aggre-
gate of the individuals composing IL, and
each individual American ever raises the
Nation higher when he so conducts HIM
self as TO wrong no man, as TO suffer no
wrong from others. and as TO show both
his sturdy capacity for self-help and his
readiness TO extend a helping hand TO the
neishbor sinking under burden too heavy
for him to bear.
1.-The one fact which all of us need to
keep steadily before our eyes is the need
that performances should square with
promise If good work is TO be done,
whether in the industrial or in the political
world. Nothing does more to prompt men,
tai dishonesty and moral insincerity than
the habit either of promising the impos-
sible, or of demanding the performance of
the IMPOSSIBLE; or, finally. of failing 10 keen
makes not the slightest difference whether
it Is promise made on the stump or off the
stump. Remember that there are two
sides TO the wrong thus committed. There
is first the wrong of failing TO keep prom
Use made and in the next place there is the
wrong of demanding the impossible, and
therefore forcing or permitting weak or
INSCRIPTIONS men TO make promise which
they either know, or should know, cannot
be kept.
TAXATION OF FRANCHISES.
''No small part of our troubles. in dealing
with many of the gravest social questions
such as the so-called labor question. the
trust question, and others like them, arises
from these two attitudes. We can do a
great deal when we undertake soberly to
do the possible When we undertake tho
| impossible we too often fail to do anything
| at all The success of the law for the
| taxation of franchises recently enacted in
New York State, a measure which has re-
| suited in putting upon the assessment
| books nearly 500, 900 worth of property
| which had heretofore escaped taxation,
| is an illustration of how much can be ac-
| complished when effort is made along sane
! and sober lines, with care not to promise
| the impossible, but to make performance
| square with promise and with insistence on
| the fact that honesty is never one-sided
and that in dealing with corporations II Is
necessary both to do to them and to exact
| from them full and complete justice. The
| success of this effort made in resolute
/ but also temperate and reasonable spirit
| shows what can be done when such prob
/ lem is approached in a sound and healthy
manner. 1t offers striking contrast to
| the complete breakdown of the species OF
| crude and violent antitrust legislation
| which has been so often attempted and
which has always failed. because of its
very crudeness and violence, to make any
! impression upon the real and dangerous
4 which have cIlp CT
| resentment
81 thank you for listening to me. ]
have come here to-day not to preach to
| you, but partly to tell you how these
| matters look and seem to me, and partly
| to set forth clear facts which seem to me
| 10 show the essential community that there
| is among all of us who strive in good faith
| TO do our duty as American citizens. Nc
man can do his duty who does not work
| and the work may take many different
shapes. mental and physical. but of this
| you can rest assured, that this work car
| be done well for the Nation only when
| each of us approaches his separate task
| not only with the determination to do it,
| but with the knowledge that his fellow
/ when he, in his turn. does his task. has
| fundamentally the same rights and the
| same duties. and that while each must
work for himself, yet that each must also
work for the common welfare of ALL
ION the whole we shall all go up OF
| go down together. Some may go up OF
| go down farther than others, but disre-
/
| we must all have to share in common
| something of whatever adversely or what
| ever prosperity is in store for the Ma
| ton as whole. In the long run each
| section of the community will rise or fall
| as the community rises falls If hard
| times come to the Nation, whether as the
/ result of natural causes or because they
| are invited by our own folly, all of us will
| suffer. Certain of us will suffer more
| and others less but all will suffer some
what If. on the other hand, Providence
| and our own energy and good sense bring
| prosperity to US, all VIII share in that
prosperity. We will not all share alike
| but something each one of us will get
| Let us strive to make the conditions OF
| life such that nearly possible each
/ man shall receive the share to which he
] is honestly entitled. and no more; and lei
us remember at the same time that our
/ efforts must be to build up, rather than
| to strike down. and thatswe can best help
| ourselves. not at the expense of others. but
| by heartily working with them for the
| common good of each and ALL