The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-09-16

have been steadfastly adhered to BY the
administration: and by the act OF
march II, 1900. congress established the
single gold standard as the measure OF
q monetary value. This act received
the support OF every republican In the
mousse. and OF every republican except
n in the senate. OF our opponents,
eleven supported II in the house and
two In the senate: and one hundred
and fifty opposed IL in the house and
twenty-eight in the senate. The re-
cord Of h last seven years proves tina,
u party now in power can be trusted
to take the additional action necessary
10 improve and strengthen our none
tary system. and that our opponents
cannot be 80 trusted The fundament-
al fact is that in a popular government
such as ours no policy Is irrevocably
settled by law unless the people keep
in control OF the government men who
believe in that policy as a matter OF
| d~eep-rooted conviction. Laws can al
ways be revoked: IL Is the spirit and
l the purpose Of those responsible for
their enactment and administration
which must be fixed and Interchangeable.
| 1t is idle to say that the monetary
standard OF a nation Is i~rrevocabiy
fixed SO long as the party which at the
last election cast approximately forty
six per cent Of the total vote. refuses
to put in its platform any statement
| that the question is settled. A deter
mfnatiOn to remain silent annot be ac-
| cepted as equivalent to a r~ecantation.
Until our opponents as a party explic-
lily adopt the views which We hold and
upon which We have acted and are act
| ing, in the matter of a sound currency.
! the only real way to keep the question
from becoming unsettled is to keep the
republican party in power.
AS for what our opponents say in
| reference 10 capital and labor. indiyid-
ual or corporate, here again all We
need by way OF answer is to point to
what We nave actually done, and to
say that if continued in power We shall
continue to carry out the policy We
have been pursuing, and to execute the
laws as resolutely and fearlessly in the
future as we have them in
the past. In my speech of acceptance
1 said:
wv recognize the organization of
capital and the organization of labor
as natural OutcOmeS OF our industrial
system. Each kin Of organization is
to be favored so long as it acts in a
spirit of justice n Of regard for the
| rights of others. Each is to be granted
the full protection of the law, and each
in turn is to be held to a strict obedi-
ence to the aw:fOr no man is above 1t
and no man below it. The humblest
individual is to have his rights safe
guarded as s~crupulously as those of the
strongest Organization. for each is to
receive justice, no more and no less.
The problems with which we AVE to
| deal in our modern industrial n So
cial life are manifold; but the spirit in
which it is necessary to approach their
| solution is simply the spirit of honesty,
| Of courage. and of common sense
Il IT, tiD Of ~ 90 n Qrn In
/ enforcing the antitrust and interstate
| laws, and the action of the
last in enlarging the scope Of
| the interstate law, and in
| creating the department of
| and labor, with a bureuu of corpora
! tons, have for the first time opened
| a chance for the national government
| to deal intelligently and adequately
with the question affecting society,
| whether for good or for evil, because of
| the accumulation of capital in great
| corporations, and because of the new
| relations caused @thereby. These laws
are now being administered with entire
| efficiency; n as, in their working,
| need is shown for amendment or addI-
| ton to them.-whether better to secure
the proper publicity, or better to guar
antee the rights of shippers, or in any
| other d~irection-this need will be met.
1t is now asserted that the common
law, as developed. affords a complete
legal remedy against m~onopolies. But
there is no common law of the United
| States. Its rules can be enforced only
| by the state courts and officers. No
federal court or officer could take any
action whatever under them. 1t was
this fact, coupled with the inability of
the states to control trusts and monop-
olies, which led to the passage of the
federal statutes known as the Sherman
| antitrust act and the interstate COM
merce act; and it is only through the
exercise Of the powers conferred by
these acts. and by the statutes of the
last congress experimenting them, that
| the national overnmen acquires any
| jurisdiction over the subject. To say
| that action against trusts and monop-
| olies should be limited to the applica-
| ton of the common law is equivalent
| to saying that the national government
| should take no action whatever to reg
| ulate them.
I Undoubtedly, the multiplication Of
| trusts and their increase in power has
| been largely due to the failure or Off
| Gals charged with the duty of enforc-
| ing the law to take the necessary pro-
| cedure." Such structure upon the fall
ure of the officials of the national gov
| eminent to do their duty in this matter
| is certainly not wholly undeserved as
\ d as lit liz
| President McKinley's is concerned; but
| it has no application at all to republic
| can administration. It is also undoubt-
| eddy true that what is most needed Is
Officials having both the disposition
| and ne courage to enforce existing
law" This is precisely the need that
has been met by the consistent and
steadily continued, action of the de-
partment of justice under the present
| administration.
So far as the rights of the individual
wage-worker and the individual capt
talst are concerned, both as regards
one another, as regards the public, and
as regards organized capital and labor,
the position Of the administration has
been so clear that there is no excuse
for m~isrepresenting it, and no ground
for opposing II unless misrepresented.
Within the limits defined by the ma
tional constitution the national admin
istration has sought to secure to eacn
msn tho full eDioyment of his right to