Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-12-05

show broad sympathy for his neighbor
 and genuine desire to look at any ques.
 tion arising between them from the
 standpoint of that neighbor no less than from his own, and to this end it is essential that capitalist and wagework- CT should consult freely one with the other; should each strive to bring clos
 CT the day when both shall realize that they are properly partners and nod enemies. To approach the questiond
 which inevitably arise between them solely from the standpoint which treats each side in the mass as the enemy of the other side in the mass is botli wicked and foolish. In the past the most direful among the influences which have brought about the downfall ofE republics. has ever been the growth of the class spirit, the growth of the spirit which tends to make a man subordi-z nate the welfare of the public as ( whole to the welfare of the particulat class to which he belongs, the substitul tion of loyalty to class for loyalty ~to the nation. This inevitably brings about tendency to treat each mad not on his merits as an individual. bud on his position as belonging to a cer{ tain class in the community.
 If such spirit grows up in this rel public it will ultimately prove fatal td us, as in the past it has proved fatal tc every community in which 1t has be- come dominant. Unless we continue td keep quick and lively sense of thd great fundamental truth that our con cern is with the individual worth ofJ the individual man this government cannot permanently hold the place which it has achieved among the nal tions. The vital lines of cleavage among our people do not correspond and, indeed, run at right angles to the lines of cleavage which divide occupa,2 tion from occupation, which divided wageworkers from capitalists, farmers from bankers, men of small means from men of large means, men who live in the towns from men who live in the country, for the vital line of cleavage is the line which divides the honest man who tries to do we'll by his neigh Dor from the dishonest man who does i'll by his neighbor. In other words, the standard we should establish is the standard of conduct, not the standard of occupation, of means or of social position, It is the mans moral quality, his attitude, toward the great questions which concern all humanity, his cleanli- ness of life, his power to do his duty toward himself and toward others, which really counts, and if we substi- ute for the standard of personal judg- ment, which treats each man according to his merits, another standard in &C., cordance with which all men of one class are favored and all men of anoth- CT class discriminated against, we shall do irreparable damage to the body polite. l believe that our people are too sane, too self respecting, too fit for self government, ever to adopt such an attitude. This government is not and never shall be government by plu- tocracy. This government Is not and never shall be government by mob. It shall continue to be in the future what it has been in the past, govern
 ment based on the theory that each man, rich or poor, is to be treated sim ply and solely on his worth as a man, that all his personal and property rights
 are to be safeguarded and that he is
 neither to wrong others nor to suffer
 wrong from others.
 The noblest of all forms of govern
 ment is self government, but it is also the most difficult. We who possess this priceless boon and who desire to hand it on to our children and our chlldren's children should ever bear in mind the thought so finely expressed by Burke: "Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appe- tites, in proportion as they are disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and ap- petite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there be within the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of incorporate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their letters"
 Ta'5lA Insurance.
 The great insurance companies afford striking examples of corporations whose business has extended so far beyond the jurisdiction of the states which created them as to preclude strict enforcement of supervision and regulation by the parent states. In my last annual message I recommended that the congress carefully consider whether the power of the bureau of cannot constitutionaIly be extended to cover interstate transae- tions fin insurance" Recent events have emphasized the importance of an early and exhaustive consideration of this question. to see whether 1t is not possible to furnish better safeguards than the several states have been able to furnish against corruption of the fragrant kind which has been exposed. It has been only too clearly shown that certain of the men at the head of these large corporations take but small note of the ethical distinction between honesty and dishonesty. They draw the line only this side of what may be called law honesty. the kind of honesty necessary in order to avoid falling into the clutches of the law. Of course the only complete remedy for this eondi- ffon fnusf he found iu au aroused nf1h-