The Forrest City times., 1902-12-05
HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE
President Roosevelt's Communica.
 tion to Congress.
He elves the Greatest Attention to the subjects of the Trusts and the 1arin-Many Recomme ndations
 Along Various Lines.

Along Nariou. Lines.
 President Roosevelts second annual message to the Fifty-seventh congress is unusually or!et for annual presidential message. The trusts and the tariff are the
 two subjects to which the greatest atten-
 ton Is given or the trusts the prssident says in part:
 Tn my message to the present congress at it's hrst sess.on l discussed at length the question ot the regulation of those
 Dig corporations commonly doing an in- terstate business, often with some ten known as trusts. The experience of the
 past year has emphasized, in my opln- lon. the desirabiiity Of the steps I then proposed fundamental requisite of
 social efficiency is a high standard of
 Individual energy and excellence; but this is in TO wise inconsistent with pow
 CT to act in combination for aims which cannot so well be achieved by the indi-
 Vidual acting alone. A fundamental base or civilization Is the inviolabllity of prop erty' put this is in TO wise inconsistent
 With the right of society to regulate the
 exercise of the artificial powers which it
 confers upon the owners of property un-
 Ger the name of corporate franchises. in such a way as to prevent the misuse
 ot the powers Corporations, and espe- | should be managed under public regula- | ton Experience has shown thatuneer our
 supervision cannot be obtained by state action. It must therefore be achieved by national action. Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, | these big aggregations are an ineyitG ble oeVeFopment of modern in6ustrialism, and | the effort to destroy them would be futile work the utmost mischief to the entire body polite We can do nothing of good
 Tn the way of regulating 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 re dat Inf haf
 they shall be so handled as to subserve
 the public good. We draw the line
 The capitalist who, alone or in conjunc- | tion with his fellows, performs some
 great industrial feat by which he wins
 money is a .well6oer not a wrongdoer. | provided only he works in proper ard
 legitimate lines. We wish to favor such
 man when he does well. We wish to | prevent him from doing i'll. Publicity | can do 10 harm to the honest corpora
 uon; and we need not be overtender
 about sparing, the dishonest corporation. believe that onopolies unjust
 determinations. which prevent or cripple
 competition. fraudulent overcapitalization: | and other evils In trust organizations and practices which injuriously affect inter
 state trade can be prevented under the pow
 CT or the congress to regulate commerce with foreign rduons and among the sew eral states through regulations and re-
 qulrements operating directly. upon such | commerce, the instrumentalities thereof,
 and those engae ed therein.
 | Il earnestly recommend this subject to | the consideration of the congress with a | View to the passa ge of a law easonable in | Its provisions and effective in its opera | tlons. upon which the questions can be
 nnaliy adjudicated that now raise doubts
 to the necessity of constitutional amend | ment. If 1t prove impossible to accomplish | the purposes above set forth by such a la
 then, assuredly, we should not shrink from amenGing the constitution as to secure l beyond peradventure the power sought"
 On the subject of the tariff the president says IL has been advocated that the pre- Haiing duties be reduced as a means of | reaching the evils of the trust problem, but
 of this he says:
 "' Not merely would this be wholly | ineffective, but the diversion of our efforts | Tn such direction would mean the aban- donment of all intelligent attempt to do
 away with these evils. Many of the largest | corporations, many of those which should l certainly be inclucec in any proper scheme
 of regulation, would not be affected in the
 slightest degree by a change in the tariff.
 general prosperity of the country. The only relation of the tardff to big corpora
 tions as q whole Is that the tarin makes
 manufactures profitable. and the tariff
 remedy proposed would be in effect simply | to make manufactures improbable. To | remove the tariff as a punitive measure | directed against trusts would inevitably re-
 suit in ruin to the weaker competitors who
 are struggling, against them. Our aim | should be not by unwise tariff changes to l give foreign products the advantage over
 domestic products. but by proper reguia- | tion 10 give domestic competition a fair chance; and this end cannot be reached by any tariff changes which would affect un- | favorably all domestic competitors good
 and bad alike. The question of regulation | tion of tariff revision"
 On the subject of changing the present 1 schedules in our tsrin system the presi-
 Stability of economic policy must all | ways be the prime economic need of this
 country. This stability should not be ros- 1 silization. The country has acquiesce6 in
 the wiscom of the protective-tariff princi- 1 pie It is exceedingly undesirable that this
 system should be destroyed or that there
 should be violent ard radical, changes
 therein. Our past experience shows that
 great prosperity in this country has always
 come under protective tariff; and that | the country cannot prosper under fitfui ar | m changes al short intervals Moreover | II the tarin laws as whole work well. and
 fl business has prospered under them and
 is prospering, il Is better 10 erCure for d
 time slight inconveniences and inequalities | fir some schedules then to upset business by
 too quick and too radical changes. It Is | most earnestly to be wished that We could | treat the tariff from the standpoint solely
 of our business needs. It Is. perhaps, too | much to hope that partisanship may be en- l tirely excluded from consideration Of the | subject. but a least it can be made second
 ary to the business interests of the country that is. to the interests of our people as 1 whole. Inquesuonably these business in-
 terests will best be served if together with 1 hxity of principle as regards the tariff we l from time to time to make the necessary l reapplication of the principle to the shift 1 ing national needs. We must take scru-
 puious care that the reapplication shall be made in such way that it will not an ount
 to dislocation of our system, the mere | threat of which (not to speak of the per | formance) would produce paralysis in the | business energies of the community. The | first consideration in making these changes l woulc. of course, be to preserve the prin- l ciple which uL5eries our whole tarin sys- tem-that Is, t1e principle of putting Amer l lean business interests al least on full | equality with interests abroad and of al- | ways allowing a sufficient rate of duty 10 more than cover the difference between the | labor cost here and abroad The well-De- | Ing Of the wage-worker. like the well-be- | ing of the tiller of the soil. should be treat
 ed as an essential in shaping our whole economic policy. There must never be any | change which will jeopar6ize the standard 1 Of comfort, the standard of wages of the l American wage-wOrker.
 | "Whereyer the tariff conditions are such