Delaware gazette and state journal., 1902-12-04

Il thrlous MINOR oubjeGtB Dfkcusseu.
Washington. Dec. 9. The second an.
nual message of President Roosevelt
was read in each house of Congress
this afternoon. The full text of the
document is as follows;
To tho Senate and House OF Representa-
tives:
We still continue in period OF un-
bounded 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 1t possible. and BY unwlae leg
islation il would be easy enough TO destroy
It. There viii undoubtedly be periods Of
depression, The wave will recede, but the
tide w!ll advance. This nation is seated
on continent flanked by two great
oceans. It is composed of men the de-
scendants Of pioneers or, in a sense, pio-
nsers the:nselYes-of men winnowed out
from among the nations of the old world
by the energy. boldness and love of ad-
venture found In their own eager hearts,
Such a nation so placed will surely wrest
success from fortune.
AS u 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 Of the last I1ur
OF ior veal our place must he great among
the nations, We may either IaII greatly
OF succeed greatly, but We cannot avoid
the endeavor from which elmer great
failure or great success must come. Even
II We would We cannot pay small part.
II we should try. all lnat wouId fOIow
would be tlat we should play u large part
iEnoDly and shamefully.
+. But our people, the sons. OF the men of
the civil war, the Sons of the men who
had iron in their blood rejoice IN the
present and face the future hlgh OF heart
and resolute OF will. Ours IS not the
creed of the wealSl1ng and the coward;
ours, is the gospel OF hope and Of tri-
from the struggle before us. There are
many problems for US to face at the oht-
gee Of the twentieth centnry-graye prob.
we know that we can solve them, and
solve them well, provided only that We
bring to the solution the qualities of head
and heart which were shown by the men
who in the days of Washington founded
this government and in the days Of Lin
coin preserved 1t,
No country has ever occupied 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 Tor over a century: TO our laws
our sustained and continuous policies;
above all 10 the high individual average
of our citizenship. Great fortunes have
been won by those who have taken the
lead in this phenomenal Industrial devel-
opmeht, ana most OF thcse fortunes have
been won not by doing evil. but as an in
cident TO action which has benefited the
community as whole. Never before has
material well being been so widely diff
fused among our people Great fortunes
have been accumulated, and yet in the
aggregate these fortunes are small In
people as whole. The plain people are
better of than they have ever been be-
fore. The insurance eompanies. which
especially helpful to men of moderate
means-represent accunulations of capi-
tal which are among the largest in this
savings banks more owners OF farms
more well paid wageworkers in this coun-
try now than ever before IN our history.
or course when the conditions have fa-
vored the growth of SO much that was
good they have also favored somewhat
the growth of what was evil. II is emf
TO cut out this evil. but let us keep due
sense OF proportion; let US not in aXing
greater. good. The evils are real anu
some OF them are menacing, but they are
the outgrowth not of misery or decadence.
gigantic industrial development. This In
dustrial development must not be checked.
but side By side. with 1t should go such
progressive regulation as will diminish
the evils. We should fail in our duty il
we diu not try to remedy the evils, but we
Sna,l 81 Us sSeGeed only u we proceed patient,
as resolution. separating the good from
the bad and holding on to the former
while endeavoring TO get rid Of the latter.
In my message to the present congress
at its first session l discussed at length
the question OF the regulation of those
big corporations commonly doing an in
terstatc business, often with some tenden-
cy to monopoly, which are popularity
known as trusts The experience OF the
past year has emphasized, in my opinion.
the dcsirability of the steps 1 then pro-
posed. A fundamental requisite Of social
Hfr1CIllNV n af n nj
energy and excellence, hut this is In no
wise inconsistent with power to act in
combination for aims which cannot so
well be achieved by the individual acting
alone. A fundamental base OF civilization
is the inYiolability OF property: but this is
in nowise inconsistent with the right of
society TO regulate the exercise OF the
artihctal powers which IL confers upon tho
owners of property under the name of cor
porate franchises in such u way as to
prevent the misuse of these powers. Cor
porntions and especially combinations OF
corporations, should be managed under
public regulation. Experience has shown
that under our system of government the
necessary supervision cannot 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 development of modern indus
trialtsn, and the effort to destroy them
would be futile unless accomplished in
ways that would work the utmost mis-
chief 10 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
ende2voring 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 subserve the public good
We draw the line against misconduct. not
against wealth, The capitalist who. alone
or In conjunction with his fellows, per-
forms some great industrial feat By which
he wins money IS a wclldoer, not wrong
doer. provided only he works in proper
and legitimate lines We wish to favor
such a man when he does well. We wish
TO supervise and control his actions only
TO prevent him from doing i'll, Publicity
can do no harm to the honest corporation,
and we need not be overtsnder about
sp0ring the dishonest corporation.
In curbing and regulating the combina-
tions OF capital which are or may become
Injurious TO the public we must be care
ful not TO stop the great enterprises which
have legtttmatcly reduced the cost of pro-
duetion, not to abandon the place which