Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-07-09

trades-union. Mr.. Roosevelt in REIN
stating him reaffirmed the two prin-
cipals which he had before so clearly
stated at Chattanooga and at Butte:
In the employment and dismissal
of men in the government service /
can no more recognize the fact that
man does or does not belong to a
union as being for or against him
than can recognize the fact that he
is Protestant or a Catholic. dew or
40 Gentle. as being for OF against
him.
The denomination of Mr.. Roosevelt
commits the republican party, and his
reelection will go far toward COM
hitting the nation. to the principle
that workingmen not only have right
to organize, but do well to organize;
but that such organizations must be
absolutely free. Into them no unwill-
ing laborer may be compelled to en-
ter.
The Trust Problem. 1t was char
acteristic of Mr.. Roosevelt to take the
occasion of his visit In August, 1909.
to Providence, Rhode Island, which ID
said to be the richest city per carlta
In the United States, to declare his
conviction that great corporations
should be brought under government
control. He said:
The great corporations which we
have grown to speak of rather loosely
as trusts are the creatures of the
state, and the state not only has the
right to control them but it is in duty
bound to control them wherever the
need of such control is shown. 1t is
idle to say that there is no need Of
such supervision. There Is, and a
NtNy, IA T.
In any one of the admitted evils APP
pertaining to them. I believe that
the nation must assume this power of
control by legislation; IL necessary by
constitutional amendment The i'm
mediate necessity In dealing with
trusts Is to place them under the real,
not the nominal, control of some sov-
ereign to which, as Its creatures, the
trusts shall show allegiance, and in
whose courts the sovereigns orders
may be enforced"
That the nation is sovereign, that
corporations are the creature Of this
sovereign, that therefore the nation
mas a right to exercise such regula-
tlon over these corporations as Is ne
cessary for the public welfare, this Is
the first and most fundamental postu-
late of Mr.. Roosevelt's philosophy on
the trust problem. The second is that
this power should be exercised with
extreme caution. Thus, he declared
two days later In Boston:
IF the nation had the power. mind
you, l should advocate as strenuously
as l know how that the power should
be exercised with extreme caution and
self-restraint"
His third principle is that the first
step In this regulation is publicity.
In the interest OF the public, the
government should have the right to
inspect and examine the workings of
the great corporations engaged in in
ter-state business. Publicity Is the
only sure remedy which we can now
invoke. What further remedies are
needed in the way Of governmental
regulation, or taxation, can only be
| determined after publicity has been
obtained, by process of law, and in the
course of administration. The first re-
quisite is knowledge. full and com
plete-knowledge which may be made
| public to the world"
I! His fourth principle is that for this
purpose department Of the govern
ment should be created, through which
such publicity could be secured ant
such regulation as might be required
exercised--a recommendation incor-
porated in the first presidential mes
sage and since acted upon by con-
| gress:
\ .
| There should be created cabinet
officer, to be known as secretary of
commerce and industries. as provid-
ed In the bill introduced at the. last
session of the congress. 1t should be
his province to deal with commerce in
the broadcast sense; including among
many other things whatever concerns
labor and all matters affecting the
great business corporations and our
merchant marine"
These are the principles which have
aroused against Mr.. Roosevelt the hos
tility of a certain class Of moneyed in
| terests. A vote for Mr.. Roosevelt is
vote for the supervision and regula-
| tlon of the great corporations by the
government.
The Tariff Problem. Mr.. Roosevelt's
interest is primarily in moral issues
only secondarily in those which are
said comparatively little on the tariff
question-enough, however, to make IT
clear that he favors, first, the protec-
! tive system; secondly. such flexibility
IN that system as will make 1t possible
to adjust it from time to time by
changing economic conditions; and
thirdly supplementary to that system
carefully considered and well-organ-
lied policy of reciprocity. The first
two positions We're thus announced b,
him In his speech at Minneapolis
Minnesota, in 1903:
THE business of the world, that Is
the entire American world, cannot af.
ford, If it has any regard for it's owr
welfare. even to consider the advisa.
bility of abandoning the present sys.
tenn. Yet, on the other hand, where
the industrial conditions are so fire.
quently changed, as with us must o.
necessity be the case, it is a matter
Of prime Importance that we should BIZ
able from time to time to adapt oul
economic policy to the changed condi.
tons. Our aim should be to preserve
! the policy of a protective tariff, IL
which the nation as a whole has ac.
guessed, and yet, wherever and when.
ever necessary, to change the duties IL
particular paragraphs or schedules a.
matters of legislative detail, IL such
change is demanded by the interests
of the nation as whole"
| The third principle he stated In his
1902: 1880
"One way in which the reimbursement
sought can be reached Is by reciproc.
ity treaties. 1t is greatly to be desired
that such treaties may be adopted
| |, 1o1