Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-12-06
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
70 the Senate and House q represents,

bounded prosperity. This prosperity Il
not the creature Of law, but undoubtedly
the laws under which we work have beer
Instrumental III creating the conditions
which made it possible and by unwise leg.
islation 1t would be easy enough TO destroy
Il. There viii undoubtedly be periods OF
depression. The wave will recede, but the
tide will advance. Tbis nation is seated
On q continent Ranked by two great
oceans 1t is composed OF men the de-
scendants Of pioneers or, in a sense. pic
neers tiemselves-of men winnowed out
from among the nations Of the old world
by the energy. boldness ana love OF adj
venture found IN their own eager hearts.
Such nation so placed Will surely wrest
Success from fortune.
AS a people we have played a 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 four
years have definitely decided that for WOO
or for veal our place must be great among
the nations We may either fail greatly
or succeed greatly, but we cannot avoid
the endeavor from which either great
failure or great success must come. Even
if we would we cannot play small part.
If we should try, all that would follow
would be that we should play large part
ignobly and shamefully.
But our people, the sons of the men OF
the civil war the sons of the men VINE
had iron In their blood, rejoice IN the
present and face the future high of heart
and reselute of Will. ours is not the
ours is the gospel of hope and Of TIL
umphant endeavor We do n0NSprlnh
from the struggle before us. There are
many problems for us TO face at the out
sci Of the twentieth century--grave prob
lens abroad and still graver at nome-put
we know that we can solve them, ana
solve them we'll provided only that we
bring to the solution the qualities of head
and heart which We're shown Dy the men
who in the days of Washington foundeu
this government and in the days OF Lin
coin preserved IT,
No country has ever occupied higher
plane OF material we'll being than ours al
the present moment. This well being is
due to no sudden accidental causes, but
to the play of the economic forces in this
country for over a century; TO our laws,
above b ali, to to- the high Individual average
of our citizenship. Great fortunes have
been won by those who have taken the
lead in this phenomenal Industrial devel-
opnent. and most of these fortunes have
been won not by doing evil, but as an in
cident to action which has benefited the
community 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
deed when compared to the wealth OF the
people as a whole The plain people are
better off than they have ever been be-
fore. The Insurance companies, which
are practically mutual benefit societies
especially helpful to men OF moderate
means-represent accommodations of capi-
tai which are among the largest in this
country. There are more deposits in the
savings banks, more owners Of farms.
more well paid wageworkers In this coun-
try now than ever before in our history.
OF course when the conditions have ia
vored the growth of SO much that was
good they have also favored somewhat
the growth of what was evil. 1t is emil
nently necessary that we should endeavor
to cut out this evil but let us keep due
II nrOnQrti0ns LET not in fixing
our gaze upon the lesser evil forget the
greater good. The evils are real, and
the outgrowth not OF misery or decadence
but of prosperity, of the progress of our
gigantic, industrial development This IN
dustria 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 If
we did not try to remedy the evils but we
shall succeed only II we proceed patient,
ly. with practical common sense as well
as resolution, separating the good from
the bad and holding on to the former
while endeavoring TO get rid or the latter.
In my message to the present congress
at IT'S first session | discussed at length
the question of the regulation of those
big corporations commonly doing an in
terstate 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 desrability of the steps l then pro-
posed A fundamental requisite of social
efficiency is a high standard OF individual
energy and excellence, but this is in nR-
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 invioiabllfty OF property; but this Is
in nowise inconsistent with the right of
society to regulate the exercise of the
artificial powers which it confers upon the
owners of property under the name of cor
porate franchises in such way as to
prevent the misuse Of these powers Cor
porations, 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
trialism, and the effort TO destroy them
would be futile unless accomplished in
ways that would work the utmost mis-
chief to the entire body polite We can
do nothing of good in che 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 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 welldoer, 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
10 prevent him from doing i'll. Publicity
can do no harm to the honest corporation,
and we need not be overtender about
sparing the dishonest corporation.
In curling and regulating the combina-
tons of capital which are or may become
Injurious to the public we must be care
full not TO stop the great enterprises which
have legitimately reduced the cost of pro-
duction, not to abandon the place which
our country has won in the leadership OF
the international Industrial world not TO
strike Down wealth with the result OF
closing factories and mines. of turning
the wageworker Idle In the streets and
leaving the farmer without a market for
what he grows. Insistence upon the i'm
possible means delay in achieving the pos
sible exactly as on the other hand the
stubborn defense alike of what is good
and what Is bad in the existing system |
the resolute effort 10 obstruct any at
tempt at betterment, betrays blindness TO |
the historic truth that wise evolution is |
the sure safeguard against revolution