The Monticellonian., 1902-12-04
HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE
President Roosevelt's Communica-
 tion to Congress.
He Gives the Greatest Attention to the Subjects of the Trusts and the 1aTih-Nany Recon nm ndatiOns
 Along Various Lines.

e4'li lS b'NtI4. VI lL6 U uSNS lI.c pr S4G6l4t says iE part.
 In my message to the present congress at its urst sess.on 1 discussed at length the question ot the regulation of those teFslate business, often with some ten Gehcy To monopoly, which are popularIy Known as trus1s, The experience oI the past ytar Ids empnasized. in my opIu- lon the Gesirabltty ot the steps I then piop9se6 tuEoame ntal requisite Of s6elai efficiency is q high standard of lHGlNlduai energy and excellence; but this Is ir TO wise inconsistent with pow CT tn act iE combination for aims which cannot SO well be achieved by the in9i- SlGual acting alone. A fundamental base oi civilization is the lnVi0lability of prop erty; but this Is in TO wise inconsistent With the right of society to regulate the exercise of the artificial powers which 1t coEfers upoE the owners Of property. un- Ger the name of corporate franchises in sQeh q way as to prevent the misuse ot the powers. Corporations and espe- ctaI$ combinations Of corporations, should be managed urGer public regula- ton. Experience has shown thatunder our system Of government the necessary supervision cannot be obtained by state acton. Ii must therefore be achieved by hatlohal action. Our aim Is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregatiors are an inevitable CeNelQpment of modern inGustrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile uAiess accomplishet ir ways that would work the utmost mischief to the entire body polite. We can do nothing of good n the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until We fix clearly in our mines that We are not attacking the corporations, but endeaVoring to do away With any evil in them. We are rot hostile 10 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. he capitalist who alone or in conjunc- ton with his fellows, performs some great industrial feat by which he wins money Is welGoer not wrongGoer. 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 or1y to prevent him from doing ill Publicity can Go no harm to the honest corpora uon; and we need not be overtender about sparing the dishonest corporation.
 believe that monopolies unjust olseriminations, which prevent or cripple competition fraudulent oVerca pit alizati6n and other evils in trust organizations and practices which injuriOuSly affect inter- state trade can be prevented under the DOW CT Of the congress to regulate commerce With foreign dUors ana among the seV- efaI era states through regulations and re q1lfemehts operating directly upon such commerce, the !nstrumentalities thereof and those engae ed therein.
 .'I earnestly recommend thds subject to the consideration of the congress with a View To the passage Of a law reasonable in its provisions and effective in Its opera tons, upon which the questions can be finally adJudicated that now raise doubts to the necessity Of cons stitutional amend ment II il prove impossible to accomplish h the purposes above set forth by such law then, assuredly, We should not shrink from amending the constitution so a $ to secure beyond peracventure the power sought
 On the subject of the tariff the president says 1t has been advocated that the pre- vailing duties be reduced as a means of reaching the evils of the trust problem, but Of this he says:
 ineffective, but the diversion of our efforts ln such a direction would mean the aban- doRment of all intelligent attempt to do away with these evils. Many of the larges { corporations, many of those which should certainly be incluGed in any proper scheme of regulation, would not be affected in the slightest degree by a change in the tariff save as such change interfered with the general prosperity of the country The only relation of the tariff to big corpora tions as a whole s that the tariff makes manufactures profitable and the tariff remedy proposed would be in effect simply 10 make manufactures unpTOtitabe To remove the tariff as punitive meas directed against trusts would inevitably re suit in ruin 10 the weaker competitors who are struggling against them. Our aim should be not by unwise tariff changes 10 give foreign products the advantage over domestic products. but by proper regula- tiun 10 give domestic competition a fair chance; and this end cannot be reached by any tarin changes which would affect un- faVorably all domestic competitors good and bad alike. The question of regulation Of the trusts stands apart from the ques-
 
 On the subject of changing the present schedules in our tariff system the presi- dent says:
 ways be the prime economic need of this country This stability should not be fas- s4lization. The country has aCquiesce6 in the wtscom of the protectiVe-tariff princi- pie. II is exceedingly undesirable that this system should be destroyed or that there should be violent and radical changes therein. Our past experience shows that great prosperity in this country has always come under a protective tariff; and that the country cannot prosper under fitful tar in changes at short intervals. Moreover. f the tariff laws as whole work well. and if business has prospereG under them and Is prospering, fl Is better to endure for a time slight inCOnNerlerCeS and ineQualities in 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. IL Is, perhaps too much to hope that partisanstip may be en- tHely excluded from consideration Of the subject, but at least it can be made second ary to the business interests of the country that is, to the interests of our people as a whole. Unquestorab.y these business in- hNity of principe as regards the tariff We combine d system which will permit Us from time to time 10 make the necessary reapplcauon Of the principle to the shltt- ing national needs. We must take seru- pu4ous care that the reapplieation shall be made in such way that it will Tot mount
 
 threat of which tnot 10 speak of the per turmaHce) would produce paraIS SsiS IT. the business energies of the community. Ire nrst consideration in making theSe changes would, Of course, be to preserve the Brtn- e.p.e which uECeries our whole tariff sys- tem-that is, the principle ot putting Amer ican business interests at least on fuH equality with interests abroad. and of aI- ways allowing a sufficient rate of tHutv To more than cover the difference between the labor cost here and abroad. The welI-Ge- ing of the wage worker, like the well be- irg of the tiler of the soil. should be treat e as an essential in shaping our whole economic policy There must never be any change which will jeopardze the standard of comfort the standard of wages of The American wage-wOrker.
 Wherever the tarin conCitions are such that needed change cannot with ad- vantage he made by the application of the reciprocity iCea. then it can be made outright by a lowering of duties on 4 given product. If possible, such change shou.d be made only after the fulle st should approach the subject from a busl- hess standpoint, having In view both the particular interests affected and the com mercial Weli-being ot the people as a whole The machinery for providing such careful Investigation can readily be sun pleG. The executive department has al ready at it's disposal methods of collect ng iacts ana hgures; and If the con gress desires additional consideration to that which will be given the subject bv Its ONT. committees, then a commission whose duty il should be to recommend action by the congress after a deliberate and scientific examination of the various schedules as they are affected by the changed and changing conditions The unhurriec ard unbiased report of this commission would show what changes should be mace in the various schedules. and how far these changes could go with out also changing the great prosperity which this country is now enjoying or up setting Its fixed economic policy.