The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-09-07
Chief Executive Orator of the Day at Fair of New
York State Agricultural Society, at Syracuse.

and healthy man. who believes in de-
cency and has a wholesome mind. He
therefore feels an equal scorn alike for
the man OF wealth guilty OF the mean
and base spirit of arrogance toward
those who are less we'll off, and for the
man of small means who in his turn
either feels, or seeks to excite in others
the feeling OF mean and base envy for
those who are better off, The two feel
ings, envy and arrogance. are but OPP
posite sides of the same shield. but
different developments OF the same
spirit. Fundamentally, the INSCRIPTIONS
rich man who seeks to exploit and
Cypress those who are less well off is IL
spirit not opposed to. but identical with.
the INSCRIPTIONS poor man who desires
10 plumber and Cypress those who are
better off.
THE courtier and the demagogue are
but developments of the same type IN
der different conditions, each manifest
ing the same servile spirit, the same
desire to rise by pandering to base pas
sions; though one panders to power in
the shape OF a single man, and the other
to power in the shape OF a multitude
So likewise the man who wishes to rise
by wronging others must by right be
contrasted. not with the man who like
wise wishes to do wrong. though to a
different set of people. but with the man
who wishes 10 do justice to all people
and to wrong none.
True Line of Cleavage.
The line of cleavage between good
and bad citizenship lies, not between
the man of wealth who acts squarely
by his fellows and the man who seeks
each days wage by that days work
wronging no one and doing his duty by
his Ee:ghbor; nor yet does this line of
cleavage divide the INSCRIPTIONS
wealthy man who exploits others in his
own interest, from the demagogue, or
from the sullen and envious being who
wishes to attack all men of property,
whether they do well or i'll. On the con-
trary, the line of cleavage between good
citizenship and bad citizenship sepa-
rates the rich man who does well from
the rich man who does i'll. the poor man
of good conduct from the poor man of
bad conduct. This line of cleavage lies
at right angles to any such arbitrary
line OF division as that separating one
class from another, one locality from
another. or men with a certain degree
of property from those OF less degree
of property.
1.-The good citizen is the man who.
whatever his wealth or his poverty,
! ctr frr11 to do l, G,,t1
self. to his family. to his neighbor, to
the state; who is incapable Of the base
ness which manifests itself Ither in
arrogance or in envy, but who. while
demanding justice for himself. is no
less scrupulous to do justice TO others.
It is because the average American citi-
zen. rich or poor, is of just this type
that We have cause for our profound
faith in the future of the republic.
A Government of Liberty.
ours is a government of liberty by.
through. and under the law. Lawlessness
and connivance at lawbreaking-
whether the lawbreaking take the form
OF a crime of greed and cunning or
of a crime of violence-are destruc-
tive not only of order. but OF the true
liberties which can only come through
order. II alive TO their true interests
rich and poor alike will set their faces
like flint against the spirit which seeks
personal advantage by overriding the
laws, without regard TO whether this
spirit shows itself in the form of bodily
violence by one set OF men or in the
form of vulpine cunning by another
set of men.
Let the watchwords OF all our peo-
pie be the old familiar watchwords of
honesty. decency. air-dealing and COM
mon sense. The qualities denoted by
these words are essential 10 all OF US. as
We deal with the complex industrial
problems Of today. the problems affect
ing not merely the accumulation but
even more the wise distribution of
wealth We ask no mans permission
when we require him to obey the law;
neither the permission of the poor man
nor yet of the rich man. Least of all
can the man OF great wealth afford TO
break the law, even for his own fnan-
cial advantage; for the law is his prop
and support. and it is both foolish and
IN giving hearty support TO those who
show that there is In very fact one
law. and one law only, alike for the rich
and the poor. for the great and the
small.
Labor and Capital
Men sincerely interested in the due
protection of property, and men sincere
ly interested in seeing that the just
rights of labor are guaranteed. should
alike remember not only that in the long
run neither the capitalist nor the wage
worker can be helped I'm healthy fashion
save by helping the other; but also
that to require either side to obey the
law and do Its full duty toward the COM
munity is emphatically to that sides
real interest There is no worse enemy
OF the Wage-worker than the man who
condones mob violence in any shape or
who breaches class hatred; and surely
the slightset acquaintance with our in
dustrial history should teach even the
most short sighted that the times of
most suffering for our people as a whole. |
the times when business is stagnant. |
and capital suffers from shrinkage and |