The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-03
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Action is Urged Looking to
National Regulation of
the Trusts.
CONGRESS HAS The POWER
IF NOT THE CONSTITUTION
SHOULD BE AMENDED.

Radical Action ID, precated and Caution
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of the Tariff Not
Favored-ReeiProeity Treaties and
Expert Commission suggested-Rs-
moVaI of Tariff ON Anthracite Coal
Recommended-Capit and Labor
The Rich and the Poor.
Washington, Dec. 2-President Roose-
yelt's second annual message to con-
gress was read to that body at noon to-
day.
After beginning his message by des-
canting upon the prosperity and pros
poets of this country the President
thus deals with
= THE TRUST QUESTION.
In my Message to the present Con-
gress at its first session l discussed at
length the question of the regulation of
those big corporations commonly doing
an interstate business, often with some
tendency to monopoly, which are pop
ularly known as trusts. The ex-
perience of the past year has empha-
sized, in my opinion the desirability of
the steps 1 then proposed. A funda-
mental requisite of social efficiency is
high standard of individual energy
and excellence; but this is in no wise
inconsistent with power to act in COM
bination for aims which can not SO well
be achieved by the individual acting
alone. A fundamental base of civiliza-
ton is the inviolability of property;
but this is in no wise inconsistent with
the right of society to regulate the ex-
ercise of the artificial powers which it
confers upon the owners of property,
under the name of corporate fran
chises, in such a way as to prevent the
misuse of these powers. Corporations,
and especially combinations of cor
porations, should be managed under
public regulation. Experience has
shown that under our system of gov
eminent the necessary supervision can
not 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 de-
velopment of modern industrialism,
and the effort to destroy them would
be futile unless accomplished in ways
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 sub
serve the public good. We draw the
line against misconduct, not against
wealth. The capitalist who, alone or in
conjunction with his fellows, performs
some great industrial feat by which
he wins money is a welldoer, not a
wrongdoer, 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
ILL., Publicity can do no harm to the
honest corporation; and we need not be
overtender about sparing the dishon-
est CORPORATION.
In curbing and regulating the COM
binations and capital which are or
may become injurious to the public we
must be careful not to stop the great
enterprises which have legitimately re-
duced the cost of production, not to
abandon the place which our country
has won in the leadership of the inter-
national industrial world, not to strike
down wealth with the result of closing
factories and mines, of turning the
wage-worker idle in the streets and
leaving the farmer without a market
for what he grows. Insistence upon
the impossible means delay in achiev-
ing the possible, exactly as, on the
other hand, the stubborn defense alike
of what is good and what is bad in