The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1902-12-05
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Shorter Than Usual Message At
Length Upon Vital Questions Principal Topic
Given in Full,


Length Upon Vital Questions Principal Topic
Given in Full.
President Roosevelt sent the following
message to congress. Tuesday noon. In
addition to what is here given, he pre-.
sented recommendations upon the cur
rency question. irrigation, Hawaiian ca
BILE and the Philippines. He also declared
the ships now in use and those building
are sufficient for all naval purposes, and
recommended changes in the land laws,
and to create better laws for Alaska, and
stricter immigration laws:
To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives:
We still continue In a period of un-
bou lded prosperity. This prosperity is
not the creature of law, but undoubtedly
the laws under which we work have been
instrumental in creating the conditions
which made it possible. and by upwise
legislation it would be easy to destroy it,
There will undoubtedly be periods of de-
preston. The wave will recede, but
the tide will advance This nation is
seated on continent hanked by two
great oceans. 1t is composed of men,
the descendants of pioneers, or in a sense
pioneers themselves; of men winnowed
out from among the nations of the old
world by the energy, boldness and love
OF adventure found in their eager hearts.
Such naticn. SO surely placed. will
surely wrest success from fortune.
THE TRUSTS
No country has ever occupied higher
plane of material we'll being than ours at
the present moment. This we'll 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 continued poll
cies; above all to the high individual as-
erage 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 benefited the
community as whole. Never before has
material we'll being been so widely diff:
fused among our people. Great fortunes
have been accumulated, and yet in the
aggregate these fortunes are small wher
compared to the wealth of the people as 9
whole. The plain people are better of
than they have ever been before. The
insurance companies, which are practic
ally mutual benefit especially
helpful to men Of moderate means-rep
resent accumulations of capital which ar,
the largest in the ctuutry. There arr
more deposits in the savings banks, more
owners of farms, more well paid wag,
workers in this country now than eve
before in its history. Of course, when
conditions have favored 90 much tha
was good, they have also favored some
what that was evil. 1t is eminently nee
essarv that we shonld cut out this evil
but let us keep due sense of proportion
let us not in fixing our gaze upon the les
ser evil forget the greater good, The evil
are real and some Of them menacing, bu
they are the outgrowth, not Of misery o,
decadence, but Of prosperity-of the pro
gress of our giant industrial development
This industrial development must not b.
checked, but side by side with it should
20 such progressive regulation as will di
minish the evils. We should fail in oul
duty If we did not try to remedy the evil
but we shall succeed only if we proceed
patiently with practical ommon sense a
we'll as resolution. separating the GOOD
from the bad and holding on to the forne
while endeavoring to get rid Of the latter
In my message to the present. congres
at IT'S 6rst session discussed at length
the question Of the regulation of thos
big corporations commonly doing busi
ness, often with some tendency to mo
nopoly, which are popularity known .
trusts. The experience Of the past yea
has emphasized, in my opinion, the de
STABILITY Of the steps ] then proposed
"A fundamental requisite of social efici
ency is high standard Of individual en-
erky and excellence. bnt this is in nowis
inconsistent with power to act in comb
nation for aims which cannot be 90 vel
achieved by the individual acting alone
A fundamental base Of civilization 10 III
inviolability of property. but this is in n
Ewise inconsistent with the right of x
ciety to regulate the exercise of th
artificial power which it confers upo
the owners of property. under the nam
Of corporate franchises. in such way I
to prevent the misuse Of these power
Corporations and especially combination
Of corporations. should be managed Al
der public regulation. Experience hi
shown that under our system Of COVER,
ment the necessary supervision cannot I
Obtained by state action. Our aim u n.
to do away with corporations; on the Col