The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-07
The Presidents Speech.

such that thrift, energy, industry, and
forethought enable the farmer, the tiller
Of the soil, on the one hand, and the
wage worker, on the other, to keep them
selves, their wives, and their children in
reasonable comfort then the state is we'll
off, and we can be assured that the other
classes In the community will likewise
prosper. On the other hand, II there is,
IN the long run, a lack Of prosperity
among the two classes named, then all
other prosperity Is sure to be more SEEM
ing than real
1t has been our profound good fortune
as nation that hitherto, disregarding ex-
ceptional periods of depression and the
normal and inevitable fluctuations, there
has been, on the whole, from the begin
ming Of our government to the present
day, progressive betterment alike in the
condition of the tiller Of the soil and In
the condition of the man who, by his
manual skill and labor, supports himself
and his family, and endeavors to bring
up his children SO that they may be at
least as we'll off as, and If possible better
off than he himself has been.
Higher Standard Of Living.
There are, of course. exceptions, but
as a whole the standard Of living among
the farmers Of our country has risen from
genera ton to generation, and the wealth
represented on the farms has steadily in
creased. while the wages of labor have
likewise risen, both as regards the actual
money paid and as regards the purchasing
power which that money represents.
Side by side with this increase in the
prosperity of the wage-worker and the
tiller Of the soil has gone on great in
crease in the prosperity among the bust
ness men and among certain classes Of
professional men; and the prosperity of
these men has been partly the cause and
1 ne rt1X foa0 nf 1n orff
Of farmer and wage-worker. It cannot be
too often repeated that in this coun-
try, In the long run, we all Of us tend
to go az or go down together If the
average OF Well-heing is high it means
that. the aterage wageworker, the aver
tale all alike we'll off. II the average
Frtnks5 tire Is not one of these classes
! N 81 gTggsiil not feel the shrinkage. OF
course shass are always some men who
are not affected by good times, Just as
there are soms. men who are not affected
by bad times. But speaking broadly, it
is true that If prosneritg comes all of us
tend to share moro OF less therein, and
that If adversely CONES each OF us, to a
greater or less extent. feels the tension.
Unfortunately, In tits world the inno-
cent frequently find themselves obliged to
pay some of the penalty FOR the mtsdeeds
Of the guilty; and so IL hard times come,
whether they be due I'd our own fault or
to our misfortune, whether they be due to
some burst of speculative frenzy that has
caused a portion of the business world to
lose it's nead-a loss which no legislation
can possibly supply-or whether they be
due to any lack of wisdom " portion OF
the world of labor-in each case the
trouble once started is felt more or less
In every walk of life.
Our Community Of Interest. =.
ItIis all-essential to the cpntinance Of
our healthy national life that we should
recognize this community Of interest
among our people, I; The welfare of each. of
welfare Of all of us, and therefore in pub
lie life that man Is the best representa-
tive Of each of us who seeks to do good
to each by doing good to all; in other
words, whose endeavor 1t Is, not to repre-
sent any special class and promote merely
that class selfish interest, but to repre-
sent all true and honest men Of all sec
tons and all classes and to work for their
interests by working for our common
country. -. ..
We can keep our government on sane
and healthy basis, we can make and keep
our social system what it should be, only
on condition of judging each man, not as
member Of. class but on his worth as q
man. It is an infamous thing In our
American life. and fundamentally treach-
erous to our institutions, to apply to any
man any test save that of his personal
worth, rto draw between two sets Of
men any distinction save the distinction
Of conduct, the distinction that marks off
those who do we'll and wisely from those
who do i'll and foolfshIy. There are good
citizens and bad citizens in every class
as in every locality, and the attitude of
decent people toward great public and So
cial questions should be determined, not
by the accidental questions of employ
ment or locality, but by those deep-set
principles which represent the innermost
souls Of men.
The failure In public and In private life
thus to treat each man on his own merits,
the recognition Of this government as be-
ing either for the poor as such or for the
rich as such, would prove fatal to our re-
| public. as such failure and such recognf-
| ton have always proved fatal in the past
| to other republics. A healthy republican
government must rest upon individuals,
not upon classes or sections. AS soon as
tt becomes government by class or by a
section 1T departs from the old American
| ideal.
Freedom Good Only for Wise.
It is, Of course, the merest trusm to say
that free institutions are Of avail only to
| people who possess the high and peculiar
characteristics needed to take ADVANTAGE
OF such institutions. The century that
has just closed has witnessed many and
| lamentable instances in which people have
seized a government free in form, or ha We
had 1t bestowed upon them, and yet have
| permitted under the forms of liberty to
become some species of despotism or an
archy, because they did not have in them
| the power to make this seeming liberty
one Of deed instead of one merely of word
Under such circumstances the seeming
| liberty may be. supplanted by a tyranny
or 6espotism tn the first place, or it may
| reach the road of despotism by the path
/ Of license and anarchy. It matters but
7 little which road Is taken. In either case
/ the same goal is reached. People show
| themselves Just as unfit for libert,
whether they submit to anarchy or to tyr.
| amy; and class government, whether II
be the government Of plutocracy or the
| government Of mob, IS equally incompat.
| tble with the principles established in the
days of Washington and perpetuated II
the days of Lincoln.
/ Many qualities are needed by a people
which would preserve the power Of self.
government In fact as we'll as In name
Among these qualities are forethougf1t
/ shrewdness, self-restrafnt, the courage
which refuses to abandon ones owr
rights, and the disfnterested and kindly
good sense which enables one to do JUS
| tice to the rights of others. Lack q
strength and lack of courage unfit men fol
/ self government on the one hand: and OF
| the other, brutal arrogance, envy, II
short. any manifestation Of the spirit q
selfish disregard. whether Of ones owr
duties or of the rights of others, arr
equally fatal