The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-12-04
PRESIDENTS NES@I|j[.

we still continue in a period Of nm
bounded prosperity. This prosperity is
~ uol me creature Of law. but undoubtedly
the laws under which we work have been
instrumental IN creating the conditions
Wh1ch made it possible and by rrWise leg
lslatlon 1t would be easy enough to DESTROY
IL. There will undoubtedly be periods of
oppression The wave will recede, but the
tioe Will advance. This nation is seated
on continent flanked by two great
oceans. It is composed of men the de-
scendants of pioneers or, in a sense pio-
neerS themSelVes-of men wirnoved ont
from among the nations of the old world
by the energy, boldness and love Of adj
venture found in their own eager hearts
Such a nation SO placed will surely wrest
success from fortune
AS people we have PLAYED a large mart
IN the world, and we are bent upon MAX
ing our future even larger than the past
IN particular the events of the last four
years S,e fC nave definitely decided that for woe
LII ior veal our place must be great among
the nations. We may either fail greatly
or succeed greatly, but we cannot avoid
the endeavor from which either great
Iallure or great success must come. Even
IL we would we cannot play small part.
II we should try, all that would follow
would be that we should play large part
lsnoDly and Shamefully.
But our people, the sons of the men of
the civil war, the sons of the men who
had iron In their blood, rejoice in the
and resolute of will Ours is not the
creed Of the weakling and the coward;
ours is the gospel of hope and of tri-
gmphaht we do not SHRINK
many problems for us to face at the out
set of the twentieth century-grave prob
lens abroad and still graver at home-but
we know that we can solve them, and
solve them well, provided only that we
bring to the solution the qualities of head
and heart which were shown by the men
r1,l,o w. 80 ~, I@l
this government and in the days. Of Lin
coin preserved it.
No country has ever occupied higher
plane of material well being than ours at
due to no sudden or accidental causes, but
to the play Of the economic forces in this
o' iGT eyer nd to our lays
above all, to the high individual average
of our citizenship Great fortunes have
lead in this phenomenal Industrial devel-
opment. and most Of these fortunes have
been won not by doing evil, but as an in
material wen being been SO widely DIFF
fuSed b among our people Great fortunes
aggregare these fortunes are small in
Pear hoe The plain people are
fore. The Insurance companies, which
are practically mutual. benefit, societies
neans-,represent accumulations Of capt
Country There are more Deposits st in the the
more well paid wageworkers in this coun-
try now than ever before in our history.
OF course when the conditions have IA
good they have - also favore s SOMEWHAT sae hat
the growth of what was evil. 1t is emf
nen lily necessary that we should endeayor
sense of proportion; let us not in fixing
our gaze upon the lesser evil forget the
greater. good. The evils are real. and
some OF them are menacfng, but they are
the outgrowth not of misery or decadence,
bnt Of prosperity, Of the progress Of our
dustrial development must not be checked
progressive rsgulation as S viii dimi Rdsh
1 Ws H not W S hqea a in ys duty hut If
shall succeed only if we proceed patient
ly. with practical common sense as well
the bad and hoiding on t to the Eeod fo rr
while endeavorirg to get rid of the latter.
, IN my message to the present congress
at it's first session l discussed at length
big corporations commonly doing an in
terstate business, often with some tenden-
cy to monopoly. which are popularity
known as trusts. The experience of the
the desirability of the steps l then pro-
posed. A fundamental requisite of social
efficiency is high standard of Individual
energy and excellence, but this is in no.
wise inconsistent with power to act in
combination for aims which cannot SO
well be achieved by the individual acting
alone. fundamental base of civilization
is the inviolability of property; but this is
in nOWiSe inconsistent with the right Of
society to regulate the exercise of the
artificial powers which it confers' upon the
owners Of property under the name of cor
porate franchises in such a way as to
<l,<,v x>P
porat and especially combinations of
corporations. should be managed under
public regulation Experience has shown
that under our system Of government the
necessary supervision cannot be obtained
by state action 1t must therefore be
achieved by national action. Our aim is
not to do away with corporations. On the
contrary, these big aggregations are an
inevitable development of modern indus
trlaliSln. and the effort to destroy them
would he futile unless accomplished in
ways that would work the utmost mis-
chief to the entire body polite. We can
do nothing of good in the way of regulat
ing and supervising these corporations
until fix clearly in minds that ",
are rot 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 the public good.
We draw the line against misconduct, not
against wealth The capitalist who. alone
or in conjunction with mis- fellows. per-
forms some great Industrial feat by which
he wins money is a welldoer. not wrong
doer. provided only he works in proper
and legitimate lines. We wish TO favor
sucn 4 man when he does we'll We wish
to supervise and control his actions only
to prevent him from doing ill. Publicity
can do no harm to the honest corporation,
and We need not be overtender about
sparing the dishonest corporation.
In curbins and regulating the combina-
lions of capital which are or may become
Injurious to the public we must be care
full not to stop the great enterprises which
have legitimately reduced the cost of pro-
duction, not to abandon the place which
our country has won in the leadership of
the international industrial world, not to
strike down wealth with the result of
closing factories and mines. of turning
the .wageworker idle in the streets and
leaving the farmer without market for
what he grows. Insistence upon the i'm
possible means delay in achieving the pos
Slb!e exactly as, on the other hand, the
stubborn defense alike of what is good
and what is bad in the existing system,
the resolute effort to obstruct any at
tempt at betterment, betrays blindness to
the historic truth that wise evolution is
the sure safeguard against revolution.
No more important subject can come