Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-11
Roosevelt's Talk.

by Il liz greatest prODleTn, the MOST
far-reaching in its stupendous import
ance. is that problem-or rather that
group of problems-which we have
grown to speak of as the labor question.
The fundamental law Of healthy pol
itical life in this great republic is that
each man shall in deed and not merely
in word. be treated strictly on his worth
as a man; that each shall do full JUS
tice to his fellow. and in return shall ex-
act full Justice from him.
Our prime need as a nation Is that
every American should understand and
work with his fellow citizens, getting
into touch with them so that by actual
contact he may learn that fundamentally
he and they rave the same interests.
needs and aspirations.
I'VE v exactly the same right to
regulate the conditions of life and work
in factories and tenement houses that we
have to regulate fire escapes and the
like in other houses. In certain commu-
nj tiles the existence of a thoroughly eff
ficient department of factory inspection
is just as essential as the establishment
of a fire department.. How far we shall
go in regulating the hours of labor or
the liabilities of employees is a matter
OF expectancy, and eac case must be
determined on its own merits.
I'm my own state during the last half
dozen years we have made a number of
notable strides in labor LEGISLATION, and,
with very few exceptions. the laws have
worked well. This is. Of course, partly
because we have not tried to do too
much and have proceeded cautiously,
/ fao);rr ~ u-ax, aud vhi1a o1uox aH.
vancing, yet taking each step in advance
only when we We're satisfied that the
step already taken was in the right di-
r%ection. To invite reaction by unreg-
ulated zeal is never wise and is some
times fatal.
'SThe one fact which all of us need to
keep steadily before our eyes is the need
that performance should square with
promise if good work is to be done,
whether in the Industrial or in the polit-
fcal world. Nothing does more to
prompt mental dishonesty and moral in
sincerity than the habit either OF prom
Using the impossible or of demanding the
performance Of he impossible, or finally
of failing to keep a promise thai has
been made, and it makes not the slight
est difference whether it IS a 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 a promise
made. and in the next place there is the
wrong of demanding the impossible, ane
therefore forcing or permitting weak OF
INSCRIPTIONS men to make a promise
which they either know or should know
cannot be kept.
INC small part of our troubles in deal
ing with nan of the greatest socia
questions, such az the sO-called labo
question, the trust question, and other
( like them. arises from these two atti
: tudes. We a do a great deal when w
) undertake soberly to do the possible
:. When we undertake the impossible W
too often fail to do anything at all.
1.-The success of the law for the taxa
tion of franchises. recently enacted il
New York state. a measure which ha
resulted in putting upon the assessmen
books nearly 5000, 600, 900 worth of prop
l erty which had heretofore escaped taxa
, ton, is an illustration of how much ca
be accomplished when effort is mad
along sane and sober lines. with car
not to promise the impossible, but t
make performance square with promise
' and with insistance on the fact that hon
0 esty is never one-sided, and that in dea
ing with corporations it is necessar
both to do to them and to exact frOr
them full and complete justice. TIL
success of his effort made in a resolut
but also a temperate and reasonabl
spirit shows what can be done Whe
y such a problem is approached in a SCUM
n healthy n It offers a strik
d ing contrast to the complete break-dow
of the species Of crude and violent anti
trust legislation which has been SO Ofte
l. attempted and which has always faile(
!, because of it's very crudeness and vic
lence, to make any impression upon tn
d real and dangerous evils which have eS
cited just popular resentment.
ION the whole we shall all go up c
go down together. Some may go uD {
go down further than others, but disre
garding special exceptions, the rule
n that all must have to share in cOmmo
l. something of whatever adversely {
whatever prosperity is in store for tn
nation as a whole. If hard times com
is to the nation, whether as the result {
natural causes or because they are jr
vited by our own folly, all of us wi
q suffer. Certain of us will suffer NOR
J. and others less, but all will suffer some
what. If. on the other hand. Providenc
% and our own energy n good sens
in bring prosperity to us, all will share
that prosperity.
% Fon ,oreocol or oorporoto q ooro ~ i1oro