The Scranton chronicle. (Scranton, Miss.) 1897-19??, 1902-12-06
HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE
President Roosevelt's communica-
tion TO Congress.
He Gives the Greatest Attention te
the subjects of the Trusts and the
Tsrin-Many Heaomme ndations
Along Various Lines.


unusually brief for an annual pfessdonaSl
message The trusts and the tarin are the
| two subjects to which the greatest atten.
slen is gwen or the trusts the pftslaeh.
In my message to the present congress
az It's first session l discussed at length
the question OF the regulation OF those
big corporations commonly doing an In
tefstate business, often with some ten
SSenSy TO monopoly which are popnlary
| past year has emphasized IN my opin-
Ion, the deslrabliity Of the steps | then
pfolp93seae A fundamental requisite, Of
individual energy aud excellence. but
| this Is IN no wise inconsistent With pow
er to act In combination Ter aims which
Garnet 50 well be achieved by the lndi-
Nidual acting alone. A fundamental base
OF clviazaiion Is the inviolahllity OF prop
erty; but this Is In no wise Inconsistent
exercise OF the artificial powers which Il
conf7rs upon the owners OF property nn-
Der the name Of corporate franchises. in
seoh Way as 70 prevent the misuse
| of the powers. Corporations, and eSpe-
c,ally combinations Of corporations.
ton. Experience has shown thatunser our
system OF government. the necessary
supervision cannot be obtained by state
national action. Our aim is not TO do
| away with corporations: on the contrary.
ihese big aggregations are an Inevitable
| the enort to destroy them would he futile
unless accomplished In ways that would
| work the utmost mischief 10 The entire
body polite We can do nothing OF good
IN the way Of regulating ard supervising
these corporations until we fix clearly In
our mines that We are not attacking the
corporations, but endeavoring TO do away
with any evil In them. We are not hostile
TO them, we are merely determined that
they shall be so handled as to subserve
/ against misconduct, not against wealth
dhe ,,he capitalist who, alone or in conjunc-
| ton with his fellows. performs some
great Industrial feat by which he wins
money Is a weldoer, not wrongdoer,
| provided only he works In proper and
a man when he does we'll We wish TO
supervise and control his actions oriy 10
prevent him from doing III. Publicity
| uon. and we need not be overtender
about sparing the dishonest corporation.
believe that monopofies. unjust
dlscrlminations, which prevent or cripple
competition. fraudulent ercapitalizaton,
| and other evils In trust organizations and
practices which inturoasy AFFECT inter
| state trace can be prevented under the pow
er OF the congress TO regulate commerce
with foreign uduons ana among the sew
eral states through regulations and re-
| qnirements Operating directly upon such
| commerce. the instrumentalities thereof,
and those engaee ed therein.
| Il earnestly recommend this subject to
the consideration OF The congress with
view to the passage Of "A law reasonable In
It's provisions and effective In It's opera
/
finally adjuuicated that now raise doubts
as to the necessity OF constitutional amend
ment. II II prove impossible TO accomplish
the purposes above set forth by such law.
then, assuredly. we should not shrink from
Amending the constitution so as TO secure
beyond pera6yenture the power sought.
On the subject OF the tarin tho president
says Il has been advocated that the pre-
| Yailing duties be reduced as a means of
reaching the evils Of the trust problem. but
.. Not merely would this be wholly
Ineffective, but the diversion Of our efforts
/ away w.:h these evils Many cf the largest
! corporations, many Of those which should
Of regulation, would moi be affected in the
slightest degree by change In the tarff.
save as such change interfered with the
only relation OF the tariff TO big corpora
tions as whole is that the tariff makes
manufactures profitable, and the tarin
remedy proposed would be In effect simply
TO make manufactures Improbable. TO
remove the tariff as punitive measure
suit In ruin TO the weaker competitors who
are struggling against them. our aim
should be not by unBise tarin changes to
give foreign products the advantage over
Domestic products. but by proper regula-
tion 10 give domestic competition fair
chance; and this end cannot be reached by
any tarlff changes which would affect un-
favorably all domestic competitors. good
and bad alike The question Of regulation
Of the trusts stands apart from the ques-
On the subject Of changing the present
schedules in our tarin system the presi-
dent says:
stability OF economic policy must al
ways be the prime economic need Of this
country. This stability should not be fos-
silization The country has acuuiesced IN
the wisdom of the proteetlye-tariff prinei-
pie. II is exceedingly undesirable that this
system should be destroyed or that there
should be violent and radical changes
therein. Our past experience shows thai
great prosperity In this country has always
come under a protective tariff: and that
IN changes at short intervals Moreover,
u the tariff laws as a whole work well, and
u business has, prospered under them and
is prospering. Il is better 10 endure for a
time slight inconveniences and inequalities
IN some schedules then to upset business by
too quick and too radical changes. II II
treat the farin from the standpoint Folely
OF our business needs. II "a, perhaps, too
tirely excfuded from consideration Of the
subject, but at least II can be made second
AIRY TO the business interests Of the country
that Is. to the interests Of our people as
whole. Unquez ronaby these business In
terests will best be served II together with
fxity Of principle as reBarcs the tarin we
from time TO time to make the necessary
Teapplcatlon Of the principle 10 the shift
pulous care that the reapplication shall be
made In such way that II Will not amount
TO cislooatioh Of our system, the mere
threat Of which mot 70 speak OF the per-
formance) would produce paralysis IL the
business energies Of the community. The
first consideration in making these changes
would, Of course, be to preserve the prin-
csple which underAes our whole tariff sys-
tems-tbat Is. the principle Of putting Amer
lean business interests at least on a full
equality with in4erests abroad. ard OF al
ways allowing Sufilclent rate Of duty TO
more than cover the difference between the
labor cost here and abroad. The well-De-
ing Of the wage-worker, like the weil-be-
ing Of the uller Of the soil, should be treat
economic policy. There must never be any
change which will jeoparcfze the standard
OF comfort. the standard Of wages Of the
American wage-yorker
Wherever the tariff conditions are such
that a needed change cannot with ac-
vantage be made By the application cf
the reciprocity idea, THIN i can be made
outright By 2. lowering, Of duties .cn a
Should be made Only after the illiEss faiisst
consideration by practical experts, who
should approach the subject from bust
mes. standpoint. having IN view both the
Inercisl well-bsing Of the people az
whole. The machinery for providing such
careful investigation can readily be sup
e essy 4 ns q. exssn,,ss sisds 6spahrtEsnt hag al
ing facts and figures: and II the con-
gress desires additional consideration TO
Thai which will be given the subject By
~ 9ws Ins., eemmi,sess then Z eomnnissie1
whose duty. 1t Should Be- 10 rscommsnd
action oy. the congress after q deliberate
src scisntihc examination Of the various
eSsnsed ana s cssrsinr sessc eoseisIsrp" " fhs hs
snhurriec and nnbiased report Of this
commission would show what changes
should be mafe in the yafio,s - --..iss
and how far these changes could go with