River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-12-04
His Annual Communication Upon Questions
of Importance to the Nation.
VIEWS ON THE TRUSTS AND TARIFF
A Lowering of Import Duties Would Not Remedy the
Evils of Observation-Disclosures a Tariff Com
nssion-Much That Is Good Labor
Unions and Corporations Many
Needs of the Nation

To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives: We still continue In period Of
unbOunGed prosperity. This prosperity is
not the creature Of law, but undoubtedly
the laws under which We work have been
instrumental in ting the conditions
which mace it possible, and by unwise leg
iSlatiOn 1T would be easy enough to destroy
it. There will undoubtedly be periods OF
depression. The wave Will recede; but the
tGe will advance. This nation IS seated on
a continent hdnked by TWO great oceans.
1t Is composed of men the descendants or
pioneers, or in sense, pioneers them
selves; Of men WinnoWed out from among
the nations Of the ole world by the energy,
holiness, and love of adventure found in
their own eager hearts. Such nation, so
placed, will surely wrest success from for
tune.
As a people we have played a large part
in the wOrlG, and we are bent upon making
our future even larger than the past. In
have definitely decided that, for woe or
for veal, our place must be great among
the nations. We may either fail greatly
or succeed greatly; but we cannot AVOID
the enGeavor from which either great fail
ure or great success must come. Even If
we would we cannot play Play small fd Part
would be that we should play large part
ignObly and shamefully.
Causes Of Prosperity.
No country has ever occupied a 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 century; to
our laws, our sustained and continuous
policies; above ALL to the high individ-
ual average Of our citizenship. Great
fortunes have been won by those who
have taken the lead in this phenomenal
industrial development and most of these
fortunes have been won not by doing
evil, but as an incident to action which
has benefited the community as a whole.
Never before has material Well-being
been so widely diffused among our peo-
pie Great fortunes have been accum-
uIated and yet in the aggregate these
pared to the wealth Of the people as
whole. The plain people are better off
than they have ever been before. The
insurance companies, which are prac-
ticaly mutual benefit societies-especial-
ly helpful to men of moderate means
represent aCcumulatiOnS of capital which
are among the largest in this country.
There are more deposits in the savings
banks, more owners of farms more we'll
paid wage workers in this country now
than ever before in our history. Of course,
when the conditions have favored the
growth of so much that was good, they
have also favored somewhat the growth
of what was evil 1t is eminently neces-
sary that we should endeaVOr to cut out
proportion; let us not in fixing our gaze
upon the lesser evil forget the greater
good. The evils are real and some of
them menacing. but they are the
outgroWth, not of misery or decadence,
but of prosperty-Of the progress of our
gigantic industrial development This
Industrial development must not be
checked, but side by side with it should
go such progressive regulation as 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 patiently, with practical common
sense as well as resolution, separating
the good from the bad and holding on to
the former while endeavoring to get rid
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