The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-12-05
PRESIDENT 5 MESSAGE.

mot the creature or law, Oul nANloNbtSNAy
the laws under which We work have been
in.tr1mental in. creating the conditions
which made II possible, and by .unwlse leg
isla tion II would be easy enough, to destroy
81 There will undoubtedly be periods OF
Aggression. The wave will recede, but the.
tide will advance. This nation is seated
on a continent hanked by two great.
oceana 1t Is composed of men the de-
scendants Of pioneers or, in a sense, pio--
neers themselves-of men winnowed out;
from among the nations of the old world
by the energy, boidneSs and love OF ad-'f
venture found in their own eager hearts.
Such nation so placed Will surely wrest-
success from fortune.
As people we have played large part
In the world. and we are bent upon max
ing our future even. larger than the past.
In particular the events or the laSl lout
years have definitely decided that -or Voc
or for veal our place must be great aIno 1iS
the nations. We may either ran Breatiy
or succeed greatly, but we cannon avoit-
the endeavor from Wmcn either So 49, =
failure or great success must come. Even
If we would we cannot play sma1l part par.
IL we should try, all that Woula,1o lIort
would be that we should play iats0 p"A -
4gnobIy and shamefully. of,
Ant our people, the sons OF the men o.
the civil war; the sons or the me- me,
had iron in their blood, reJolSe VOC IT
present and face the fut9 nHrs ms Is not the;
creed of the weakling and the coy os ri,
o,,rs ia the gospel Of hope anu shrinlx
umphant endeayor' fore uS There are
l.o o.,y nrohlems for us to face at tne.o o ue
at Of the twentieth century-sLase Srt
1sms abroad and stili graver at noIe 80
- know that we can solve them, -Anu
SoIve them we'll provided only thar we
hTfnS TO tho solution the quaIitles OF neau
and heart which were shown by tne ISt,
who in the days OF G e, tbs days of Lin
this government ana an Inc uayS "
coin preserved 1t.
No Country has ever occupied a higher
plane of material well being .Snan oTs l.
due to no sudden or accidental causes ~
20 the play OF the economic forces IN .nts
country for eyer snd aont5Suous policies:
Shoye an. to the high individual average
az our citizenship. Great fortunes nave
fSsd IN this phenomenal Industrial devel-
oprnent and most of these fortunes navs
| Been WOE not by doing evil, put IS an IN
Community as a whole. Never before has
material well being been so widely olL-
fused among our people. Great ;Loreuu,e s
sgrresate these fortunes are small In
deed when compared to the wealth or sne
/ people as g whole. The plain people are
S Ssssef T FL insurance companies, which
! are practically mutual benent soclstest-
| especially helpful TO men OF modeLate
means-repTesent accommodations OF CAPT
| "a which are among the largest IN tnis
| country. There are more deposits IN ne
| savings banks. more owners OF iasMss,
| ~ now than ever before In our history.
| OF course when the conditions nave Ia
yored the growth of so mucn tnat Mas
GOOD they have also favored somewnSl
| the growth of what was evil IL Is emil
| nentfy necessary that we should endeayos
to cut out this evil. but let US keep que
cur gaze upon the lesser evil forget tns
greater good. The evils are real and
some OF them are menaeing. but ds they ere
but Of prosperity, of the progress OF our
gigantic Industrial Development. rms m
dnstrial development. must NOT ps ao anch
nrogressiye regulation as will diminish
| thc evils We should fail in Our DUTY II
we did not try to remedy the ess ne 9hs M
! ~, with practical common sense as I'VE. We,
4 e. resolution, separating the good from
The bad and soid m On r 60 81 the iattsr
| In my message to the present CONGRESS
| ne In first session discussed at length
| the question Of the regulation OF tnose
big corporations commonly ;s dong doing t am n
| cy to monopoly, which are popularly
| known as trusts. The experience OF tns
| past year has emphasized, In my opinion.
the desirability Of the steps l then pro,
! posed A fundamental requisite OF socia
efficiency is high standard Of individual
energy and excellence, but this Is In no.
| VIA inconsistent with power to act II
combination for aims which cannot SC
wsil be achieved by the individual actine
| alone A fundamental base or civlllzatlor
| Is the inviolability of property; but this u
| In nowise inconsistent with the right OF
\ society to regulate the exercise OF tnt
artificial powers which 1t confers upon tnt
owners Of property under the name OF cor
porate franchises In such way as u
prevent the misuse Of these powers. Cor
porations. and especially combinations o.
corporations, should be managed undel
public regulation. Experience has shown
that under our system of government thu
necessary supervision cannot be obtained
by state action. 1t must therefore bt
achieved by national action. Our aim l:
not to do away with corporations. On thu
contrary, these big aggregations are al
Inevitable development of modern indus
trialism, and the effort to destroy then
would be futile unless accomplished II
ways that would work the utmost mis-
do nothing of good in the way OF regulat
ing and supervising these corporation
until we fix clearly in our minds that w
arc not attacking the corporations. bu
endeavoring to do away with any evil u
them. We are not hostile to them. w
are merely determined that they shall b
SO handled as to subserve the public good
We draw the line against misconduct, no
against wealth. The capitalist who, alon
or in conjunction with his fellows, per
X
he wins money is a welldoer, not wrong
| doer, provided only he works In prope
and legitimate lines. We wish to favo
such q man when he does well. We wis
10 supervise and control his actions onl
to prevent him from doing Ill. Publicit
can do no harm to the honest corporation
and we need not be overtender abou
] sparing the dishonest corporation.
|. In curbing and regulating the combina
, lions of capital which are or may becom
Z. | Id, 20 M nI1hli0 w must be care
full not to stop the great enterprises whic
have legitimately reduced the cost OF pre-
3 duction. not to abandon the place whic
our country has won in the leadership
) the international Industrial world, not
strike down wealth with the result c
closing factories and mines, of turnin
, the wageworker idle in the streets an
issvng the farmer Wtnoos ANNA marker ts n
r possible means delay in achieving the pos
sible exactly as, on the other hand, tn
and What is bad in the existing system
, the resolute effort to obStruct any a.
, tempt at betterment, betrays blindness
the historic truth that wise evolution
No more important subject can CON
? before the congress than this OF the req
iation or interstate business. This counu
cannct afford to sit supine on the pie
that under our peculiar system OF govern
ment we are helpless In the presence
the new conditions and unable to grapp
: | with them or to cut out whatever or es
| has arisen in connection with them. TT
i power of the congress to regulate int
state commerce Is an absolute and III
q qualified grant and without limitation
q otner than those prescribed by the const
tuition. The congress has constitution
q authority to make all laws necessary q.
| proper for executing this power. and I Q.
!, satfsfied that this power has not been e:
6austed by any legislation now on 81
: statute books. II II evident, therefor
g that via restrictive OF commercial IRE
dom and entafllng restraint upon nation
/ oOrrmerce fell within the regulatfve pos
er Of <he congress and that wise al
. reasonable law would be necessary Al
to fhe end that such evils should be era
@ tcated. :,
- I believe that monopolies, unjust di
70 EXAMINATIONS, which prevent or cripp
n oom0etition, fraudulent overcapitalizattt
md other evils In trust organizations al