Fair play., 1902-12-06
HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE
President Roosevelt's Communica-
tion to Congress.
lie Gives the Greatest Attention to
the subjects Of the Trusts and the
1nrin-Many Recon- me nds stIops
Along various Lines.

unusually urlet for an annual pres luentlal
message The trusts and the tarin are the
two subjects to which the greatest Htter-
ton is given. OF the trusts the pf,sidert
says IN part:
a its first SESSION ! discussed az length
the question Of the regulation OF thQse
big corporations commonly doing an In
terstate business, often with some ten
Gency TO monopoly. which are popularly
known as trusts. The experience OF the
past year has emphasized, IN my opin-
Ion. the destrabillty of the steps ! then
proposed A Fundamental I, quisite Of
soGla! eihcieucy is al high $ andart OF
Individual energy and excellence; hut
ti's Is IN no wise inconsistent with pow
er to act In combination for aims which
cannot so well be achieved by the iudi-
Nicuai acting alone. Fundamental base
OF ciNillzauon Is the inviOlablity Of prop
ertE' but this IS in 10 wise inconsistent
with the right Of society to regulate the
eAs relse OF the artificial powers which it
SoLitts upon the owners OF property un-
DER the name Of corporate franchises. IN
such way as TO prevent the misuse
or ihe powers Corporations. and espe-
should be managed under public regula-
non. Experience has shown thatun6er our
supervision cannot be obtained by state
aclon. il must therefore be achieved by
rational action. Our aim Is not TO do
uNay with corporations; on the contrary,
Ihese big aggregatiOns are an iuevita ble
ueNelopmeut of modern industrialism, and
the effort TO destroy them would be futile
WoIk the utmost mischief to the entire
body polite. We can DO nothing Of good
In the way Of regulating ard supcrvIsing
these corporations until we fix clearly I'm
our minds hat We are not attacking the
corporations, but endeavorirg 90 60 away
WIN any evil in them. We are rot hostile
they shall be so handled as to eubvsrve
the public good We draw ,ba line
against misconduct, not against wealth.
tion with his Fellows, Terforms 9's s.nc INC
great Industrial feat nv whlcL 10 v,irs
money lis a welISoer not q vrorrSoe,.
provided only he works in pronar sr5
legitimate lines. We wish to favor sIrh
a man when he docs well we wish 10
supervise and control his actione n,iy IN
prevent him from doing mi Publicity
can do no harm to ne IoTGst cnrn(,raS-
tioU; and we need not he overttrSer
about sparirr the GisEnreet r0rraratInr
- believe maj rrGronCiiis ne i3et i3s'
determinations. which preverf or CriEpie
competition, fraudulent 6vercan alizafirr
and other evils In trIist orpar zafioTs .n5 ,,,
practices which iniuriousTy sffeCt inter-.
state trade car he nrSverts,l ma - % -,
er Of the congress to irepui3te ron,rI crce
with foreign s4r,ors q. - - gr,,C,,,, r, H., 80
eral states through regiiIatjo,S ar1 -.
guircmerts op.r9fircy TIreCtf, IrG,N ~
commerce. the irstrumertaIiiies' tbsrsof
81 earreStIy r-Conner5 ,bss subte,+ 20
the consideration OF the congress- win n
view To- the passage Of Ia W ress6rsbii IN
its provisions aud effective In lie opera-
tiorS. upon which tbe ,i,egtind,s id t'S Lo
finally az i,dira+.a ~ fuCnr' , -, oe
al to the recesslfy Of rnrsfitIItfCr.i a,3T, >,
ncuf II ~ ,rr,-c ia, ,osgf,,Io -, ,,,,,,,, IA -
the purposes above sci form by such a Iaw
amen&rg the coHStutaI Tpr H0' o az spE d edTe si@
beyond pera6vtnture he power soYeht ''''
On the subject ~ The tariff ~ . rrteiGar,
SAYS IL has been aGvOcsis5 tbat ~ -
v0iltrg duties he reSvceS ,s nse,.s s,.s ~
reaching the evils Of tbe ~ | nrobie,n b't m
Of this Re es,-' '' Va Wv ''-7' ~ oO'e'''' 'u'
- Not merely would this be wholly
ineffective, but the diversion Of our efforts
in such a direction wo,lid near he ibgrs
Gurmert of gil irtai,i%oTt ottc,ont -,
away with these evils NAM Of tIe Largest
corporatIors many ~ tLnts u'Lf.L t LIZ
coriairi, r." 81 nus MnSn SiC utd
OF regulation. would not he n sffectsd a., ,bc
slightest degree by a rfauge in ~ t.,ifS
save as such chang irtSTfsr'i',, y.i, -, ~,
general prosperity Of the country TIe
only relation Of he tsfiff 70 he Sorpdra-
tions as a whole is that the taTirf mal,Ss
rnartlfaciIrcs nrnftshis Ia H. NJ ~
remedy proposed wotIi6 he in enert sfr,t,iy
to make uaruTa rtuT,s nnpro6t1bi ~
remoyr the tariff as M itj,te 40, ,,,
directed arairst tr1rete "a. az, = a., -
gIIt I'm rUf,, fo ~, 80 l, W I ~ ~, DlS r.
are Struggling arainst hem Onr Wnu ~,
give foreign pr0ducts the aJ,t,t i,I7 i,,, 80 -, ~
S,,rasti, ~. ~. L,,. = t'e uNdI.tdEe over
Hon ia Give SGmes,ic ny pii,P,r reg va
CbSrSS. go ,It' - ,UiilP IIlloH ia'r
sI2'es, q eng iHls END caLnot be REACHED by
IL "a r y r. Mttl'H Nuu.G aIIt'i uI-
s's i,4 ~ cSLtC CoHpttltors, good
Nf he frrf-
On IN '.I' ~ ,t
schGdlifs in our 1aritf 49, ny T I'Sel,'
a., .a, ''' '"' '"'4'L s99'eH lne pIesl-
- gbiiit,. 81 ,,,,,t, ,.,,... ~
W. po o. Srohoihte polcy must al
county, This nj, stability should no; be ros-
~ 90 .i ne tDuIIIy mas dCqG!gsceG IN
rIis I " soIn IN OF 5Ht pfoteeuye-t taTiu prlncl-
nv ~ y tNCt, G.EEly undesirable that this
sIonId h ,'utH uT "eS, 1oNtds or that mere
Should pc violent aHd radical changes
L ~ ~. CNI paNl experience SHOWS that
SIsal prosperity IN thlS country has always
come unccr a protective tariff; ard that
we country cannot prosper under fitful tar
II changes at short intervals. Moreover
II ne tarlH avs as a whole work well, ana
II business has. prospered under them ana
Is Pt"SpHilnG, II ~ better 10 endure for q
IN some schedules then 70 upset business by
too quick and too radical changes II is
mos! earnestly 70 be wished tha we could
OF our business needs. 1t is, perhaps, '''5S 10y
much TO hope that partisaEship may be en-
ure!y excluded from consideration OF the
ary to the business interests Of the country
mat is; to the interests Of our people a. a
who.. un}oues a9nah.y these business in
tertsts Will best be served II together ~lth
hAliy of principle as rcgarce the tsrir We
combine system which will permit us
from time TO time to make the nee sssry
tLE national rctd.. We must take sCru-
putgguS care that the reapplicatior shall be
70 dsioca,ioE Of our system. he ''iTVrs mers
threat of which mot TO speak Of the per
tormarcel would produce paralysis 90 the
huslIess crerE IS OF the community TIE
hrst cor s.uerauou lG making these changes
would, OF course, be To preserve the prn-
Cp.e Maieh uLter..es our whole tariff syS-
ttm-thai Is the principle Of putting Amer
lean business interests at least ON a fun
EnltulN win interests abroad, and of all
Ways 1tu"!IE SUhclent rate OF Guty to
In'hnaG man nan SoEer lhe diIerepce be tween he