Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-12-05
ROOSEVELT'S SECOND
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
LIT Would be Easy TO Destroy Pros
perity by Unwise LegislatiOn."-
Publicity TO Regulate the Trusts.

perity by Unwise LegislatiOn."-
Publicity TO Regulate the Trusts.
The President sounds the keynote
of his argument on the subjects Of
trusts and tariffs in his Introductory
paragraph, in which he says it would
be easy to destroy prosperity by I'M
wise legislation affecting laws which
are instrumental in creating this
condition. An idea of the trend of
the message can be gained from the
following quotations:
Pr0spertty.-"Great fortunes have
been accumulated, and yet, in the
aggregate, these fortunes are small,
indeed, when compared to the wealth
of the people as whole. The plain
people are better off than they have
ever been before"
IruSts.-"Corporations, and espec
tally combinations of corporations.
should be managed under public
regulation. Our aim is not to do
away with corporation; on the con-
trary, these big aggregations are an
inevitable development of modern
industrialism. Publicity
can do no harm to the honest cor
poration; and we need not be over
tender about sparing the dishonest
corporation. X The power
of Congress to regulateinterstate COM
MERGE is an absolute and unqualified
grant, and without limitations other
than those prescribed by the Consti-
tuition. If it prove i'm
possible to accomplish the purposes
above set forth by law, then, assured
ly, we should not shrink from amend
ing the Constitution so as to secure
beyond peradventure the power
sought"
Tariff Revision Remedy.-"One
proposition advocated has been the
reduction of the tariff.
Not merely would this be wholly
Ineffective, but the diversion of our
efforts in such direction would mean
the abandonment of all intelligent
attempt to do away with these evils.
Many of the largest cor
porations - many of those which
should certainly be included in any
proper scheme of regulation-would
not be affected in the slightest degree
by change in the tariff save as such
change interfered with the general
prosperity of the country. To remove
the tariff as punitive measure di.
rected against trusts would inevita-
bly, result In ruin to the weaker COM
petitors who are struggling against
Them"
Reciprocity.-"One way in which
the readjustment sought can be
reached is by reciprocity treaties. 1t
it prove impossible to ratify the
pending treaties, then the same end
Ito secure reciprocity-should be
met by direct legislation. 81
When needed changes cannot with
advantage be made by the application
of the reciprocity idea, then it can
be made outright by lowering of
duties on given product. VI
A commission of business experts can
be appointed, whose duty it should
be to recommend action by the Con-
gress. In my judgment,
the tariff on anthracite coal should
be removed"
Ffnance.-'"To prevent a recur-
renee of financial stringencies which
injuriously affect legitimate business
1t is necessary that there should be
an element ef elasticity in our none
tary system. 1t is suggested that all
future legislation should be with the
view of making all kinds of money
interchangeable and at the will of
the holder convertible into the estab-
lished gold standard"
Reciprocity With Cuba. 1--WE
should always fearlessly insist upon
our rights in the face of the strong,
and We should, with ungrudging
hand, do our generous duty by the
weak"
The LSthmidn Ca,ul.-"No indie
pendent nation in America need ha, e
the slightest fear Of aggression from
the United States"
The Philippines.-"To hurry mat
tiers, to 60 faster than we are now
going, would entail calamity on the
people of the islands,"
The ArmY.-"Both our officers
and enlisted men are such that we
can take hearty pride in them. No
better material can be found. =. y
l urgently call attention to the
need of passing bill providing for a
general staff"
THE NaOy.-"I earnestly urge that
the increase asked for by the Secre-
larry of the Navy in the appropriation
tor improving the Workmanship be
granted. y X A good navy is
,ot provocative of war. 1t is the
unrest puaran fee nf naano .,