The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-12-04
PRESIDENT MESSAGE,
To the Senate and House of Representa-

We still continue In q period of un-
bounded prosperity This prosperity Is
mot the creature of law, but undoubtedly
the laws under which we work have been
instrumental In creating the conditions
which made 1t possible. and by unwise Leg
dslation it would be easy enough to destroy
1t. There will undoubtedly be periods Of
depression. The wave will recede. but the
tide will advance. This nation Is seated
on continent flanked by two great
oceans. 1t is composed of men the de-
ScendantS OF pioneers or, In q sense pio-
neers themselves-of men winnowed out
from among the nations Of the old world
by the energy. holiness and love Of adj
venture found In their own eager hearts
Such nation SO placed will surely wrest
success from fortune.
As people we have played large part
an 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 have definitely decided that for woe
fhe nations We may either fail greatly
or succeed greatly. but we cannot avoid
the endeavor from which either great
FAILURE or great success must come Even
II we would we cannot play small part
If we should try, all that would follow
would be that We should play a large part
Agnobly 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-
umphant endeayor. we 40 nTt snrln NIX
from the struggle before us. There are
many problems for us to face at the out
set Of the twentieth century-graVe PROP
lens abroad and still graver at home-put
we know that We can solve them, ana
solve them well. provided only that we
bring to the solution the qualities OF head
and heart which were shown by the men
yhn IN, ha do of va
this government and in the days OF Lin
coln preserved 1t.
No country has ever occupied higher
plane of material well being than ours at
the present moment. This well being is
due to no sudden or accidental causes. but
to the play of the economic forces In this
country for over a century; to our laws,
our sustained and continuous policies;
above all, to the high individual average
been won by those who have taken the
lead in this phenomenal Industrial devel-
opment, and most of these fortunes have
cident to action which has benefited the
community as a whole. Never before has
material well being been SO widely diff
have been accumulated, and yet in the
aggregate these fortunes are small in
deed when compared to the wealth Of the
better off than they have ever been be-
fore. The Insurance companies. which
are practically mutual benefit societies
especially helpful to men of moderate
means-represent accumulations of capt.
tai which are among the largest In this
country. There are more deposits in the
savings banks. more owners Of farms,
more well paid wageworkers in this coun-
try now than ever before; In our. history.
OF course when the conditions have ia
vored the growth Of so much that was
good they have also favored somewhat
the growth OF what was evil. 1t Is emf
nently necessary that we should endeavOr
TO cut out this evil, but let us keep a due
sense Of proportion; let US not. in fixing
The eys are
some of them are menacing, but they are
the outgrowth not Of misery or decadence
gigantic industrial development. This in
dustrial development must not be checked,
but side by side with it should go such
progressive regulation will diminish
the evils We should fail in our duty If
we did not try to remedy the evils, but we
shall succeed only If we proceed patient,
as resolution. separating the good from
the bad and holding on to the former
In my message to the present congress
at its first session / discussed at length
the question Of the regulation Of those
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
past year has emphasized. in my opinion.
the desirabiiity 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. A 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
prevent the misuse of these powers Cor
corpora tons. 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
trialism, and the effort to destroy them
would be 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 we fix clearly in our minds 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 the public good.
We draw the line against misconduct. not
against wealth. The capitalist who. alone
or in conjunction with his fellows. per-
forms some great Industrial feat by which
he wins money is welldoer. not wrong
doer. provided only he works in proper
and legitimate lines We wish to favor
such man when he does we'll We wish
TO supervise and control his actions only
to prevent him from doing i'll. Publicity
can do no harm to the honest corporation
and we need not be overte&eer about
Gparing the dishonest corporation.
In curbing and regulating the combina-
tions 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 u market for
what he grows. Insistence upon the i'm
possible means delay in achieving the pos
sible 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
before the congress than this Of the regu-
1atfon Of interstate business. This country
cannot afford to sit supine on the plea
that under our macmillan gySteYn Of pOvory-