The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-12-08

ESSltI vi
Views on Immigration Given in Full.
Our Relations Toward Porto Rico
aud the Philippines Discussed-The
Chinese Question i'm its Relations to
our COmmerce-Needs OF the a
anna Canal.
To the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives:
The people of this country continue
to enjoy great prosperity. U~ndoubted-
" there will be ebb and flow in such
prosperity and this b and flow will
be felt more or less by all members of
the community, by the deserving and
the undeservinp Against the wrath of
the Lord the " don of man can rot
avail; in times OF flood or drought hu-
man ingenuity can but partially repair
the disaster. A general failure of crops
would hurt all of us. Again. if the fol-
~ of man mars the general Well-being,
then those who are innocent of the
folly will have to pay part of the pen
ally (" ny Il'S viz III NlIL
of the folly. A panic brought on by
the speculative folly of part of the
business community would hurt the
whole business community. But such
StOppage of welfare though it might
be severe would not be lasting. In the
long run the one vital factor in the
permanent prosperity of he country
is the high individual character of the
90 no Ar,n~;opr, y,uIyn JIC - xynVo rro
American citizen, no matter whether
his work be mental or manual Wheth-
-er he he farme" or Wage-WOrker. bust
ness man or professional nan
in our industrial and social system
the interests of all men are SO closely
intertwined that in the immense ma
jOrity Of cases q straight dealing man
who by his efficiency. by his ingenuity
and industry, benefits himself must
also benefit others. Normally the man
OF great productive capacity who be-
comes rich by guiding the labor of
rnInV ether men does so by enabling
the n Ia produce more than they could
produce without his guidance: and
both he and they share in the benefit
which comes also to the public at
large. The superficial fact that the
sharing may be UNEQUAL must never
bind Us to the underlying fact that
there is this sharing. and that the ben
eft comes in some degree to each man
concerned. Normally the Wage-WOrk-
cr. the man of small means. and the
average as well as the av-
.erage producer. are all alike helped
by making conditions such that he
man Of exceptional business ability re-
.ceiyes an exceptional reward for his
ability. Something can be done by
Legislation to help the general prosper
ity; but no such help of a permanent
r. ln1nE,inI h ~ afe.. Al, nn iva IN
the less able and less save
as the results OF a policy which shall
inure TO advantage of all industrious
and efficient people who act 1ecently:
and this is only anOthe way of saving
that any behefi which comes to the less
able and less fortunate must IF neces-
sitv come even more to the more able
ana more fortunate. #, therefore. the
less fortunate man is now by envy
of his more fortunate brother 20 strike
at the conditions under which they
have both. theugh u~neQualiy. prosper
ed. the result Will assuredty be that
While damage NAV come 10 the one
struck at, it will visit with an even
heavier Gao the one who strikes the
blow. Taken rs a whole We must all
go I'D or go down together.
Corporations.
Yet. while not merely admitting. but
insisting upon this. it is also true that
where there is no governmental re-
trairt or supervision ON of the ex-
ceptionai men use their energies not
in ways that are for the common good,
but in WAYS which tell against this
common good. The fortunes anassed
thrOu"h corporate organization are
now so large, and vest such power in
those that WELD them. as to make it
a matter of necessity to give to the
sovereign-that is. to the Government.
which represents the people as a whole
some effective power of supervision
over their corporate use. In order to
insure a healthy social and Industrial
life, every big corporation should be
held responsible by, and be accounta-
able, to. some sovereign strong enough
to control its conduct. I am in no
sense hostile to corporations. This is
an age of combination. and n effort
TO prevent all combination will be not
on'y useless. but in the end vicious,
ID aus of the contempt for law which
tie failure to enforce a inevitably
produces. We should. moreover, recog-
nize in cordial Il ample fashion h
immense good effected by corporate
agencies in a country such as ours. ard