Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-10-21

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those that are honest and those that aie
| not, but create a third subdivision-that 81
law honesty; Of that kind OF honesty which
| consists in keeping clear Of the pentenuary
| II is hard to reach astute men Of this type
save by making them feel the weight OF an
/ honest public indignation. But this indlg-
nation. II Il Is 20 be effective. must be in
! telligent. IL Is, OF course, TO the great
tSn,. "a OF dishonest men Of Wealth II
/ but for being wealthy, and II they are de-
nounced in terms so overstrained and hys-
| terical as TO invite a reaction In their favor.
| We cannot afford in this country to draw
| the distinction as between rich man ami
poor man; The distinction upon which we
! must insist Is the vital, deep-lying, UNI
| changeable distinction between the honest
man and the dishonest man, between the
/ man who acts decently and fairly by his
| neighbor and with quick sense OF his
! obligations, and the man who acknowledges
| no Internal law save that Of his own will
| and appetite. Above all we should treat
! with peculiarly contsmptuous adherence
the man who in a spirit Of sheer cynicism
| debauches either our business life or our
! political life. There are men who use the
| phrase practical politics" as merely
euphemisn for dirty politics, and it is such
| men who have brought the word poll
| tician' into discredit. There are other men
| who use the noxious PHRASE business is
business, as an excuse and jutihcation for
every kind OF mean and crooked work; ana
| thess men make honest Americans hang
their heads because Of some Of the things
! they do. 1t is the duty OF every honest
! patriot to rebuke in emphatic fashion alike
the politician who does not understand that
| hilt bHAg hluu u pIdCllCdi pOillCS WDlCn
a nation can with safety tolerate is that
| kind which we know as clean politics, and
that we are as severe in our condemnation
! OF the business trickery which succeeds
as Of the business trickery which fails. The
= scoundrel who fails can never by any pos
| sibillty be as dangerous to the community
as the scoundrel who succeeds and OF ali
the men in the country, the worst citizens
those who should excite In our minds the
| most contemptuous adherence are the
| men who have achieved great wealth, or
any other form OF success in any save
clean and straightforward manner.
Cotton still King in spots,
SO much for the general subject OF In
| dustriallsm: Now, just word In reference
| to one of the great staples of this country
which is peculiarly a staple OF the southern
| glad to see diverslfcations of Industry IN
the south, the growth of manufactures al
growing growth of diveFsification Of erops
| in agriculture. Nevertheless IL will always
be true that in certain Of the southern
wealth, the mainstay of prosperity IN the
future as in the past. The cotton crop is
| Of enormous consequence TO the entire
| country. II was the cotton crop of the
south that brought $500, 1000 OF foreign
gold into the United States last year
| turning the balance of trade in our favor
| The soil and climate of the south are such
! that she enjoys practical monopoly in the
! production Of raw cotton. No other cloth
| ing material can be accepted as q substi-
| tute for cotton. / welcome the action of
the planters in forming cotton associa-
| llpiis anu every assistance shall be given
them that can be given them by the ma
| tional government. Moreover we must
| not forget that the work of the manu-
! facturers in the south supplements the
work of the planter 1t is an advantage
| to manufacture the raw material here and
sell to the world the finished goods. Under
proper methods of distribution II may well
ne doubted whether there can be such
thing as overproducton of cotton. Last
| yet the price was sufficiently high TO give
| handsome proht TO the planter. The
consumption of. cotton increases each year,
! and new uses are found for II.
This leads me TO a matter OF our foreign
| relations, which directly concerns the cot
ton planter. At present our market for
/ our goods in China during the past year
was especially injurious to the cotton man
will continue to do, all It can to put a stop
| TO the boycott. But there is one measure
| shall need the assistance 1T the congress-
| Justice to Chinese.
We must insist firmly on our rights and
China must beware of persisting In q courze
of CONDUCT to which we cannot honorably
submit. But we in our turn must recognize
our duties exactly as we insist upon our
rights We cannot go into the interna-
clean hands. We cannot expect China TO do
US justice unless we do China Justice The
chief cause in bringing about the boycott
! of our goods in China was undoubtedly our
attitude toward the Chinese who come to
this country, This attitude OF ours does
4
| boycott. and especially some OF the forms
| which that action has taken. But the fact
remains that in the past we have come
| short OF our duty toward the people OF
China. 1t is our clear duty, in the interest
OF our own wage-workers, 10 forbid all
| Chinese of the coolie class-that is laborers
skilled or unskilled-from coming here The
greatest OF all duties is national self preser-
walton, and the most important step in ma
tional self-preservation is to preserve in
every way the well-being os the wage
worker. am convinced that the well-beng
| Of our wage-workers demands the exclu-
| sion OF the Chinese coolies, and 1t is there
| fore our duty 20 exclude them, just as Ii
would be the duty OF China to exclude
any way a menace to China by entering
| into it's country. The right is reciprocal
a. in our last treaty with China It was
ez city recognized as inhering in both ma
| lions. But We should not only operate the
law with as little harshness as possible,
but we should show every courtesy and
| consideration and every announcement TO
all Chinese who are mot of the laboring
| class to come TO this country. Every Chi
! nese traveller or student, business man or
professional man, should be given the same
right of entry 70, and the same courteous
| to the student or traveller the business
! man or professional man of any other ma
! ton. Our laws and treaties should be so
! framed as to guarantee to all Cinnamon,
| save of the excepted coolie class, the same
right Of entry to this country and the same
! treatment while here as Is guaranteed to
| citizens Of any other nation. BY executive
action l am as rapidly as possible putting
| n STOP 10 tine ABUSES WHICH nave kfoWn w
during many years in~tile administration OF
! this law. l can do a good deal, and will do
! a good deal, even without the action of the
| congress; but | cannot do all that should
| be done unless such action Is taken, and
| that action ] most earnestly hope will be
taken. It is needed in our own interest and
especially in the interest OF the Pacific slope
and OF the South Atlantic and gulf states;
| for II is short-slghted indeed for us to per-
| NIT foreign competitors to drive us from
| the great markets OF China. Moreover,
| the action ask Is demanded by considera-
! tions that are higher than mere interest,
| for / ask It in the name of what is just and
| right. America should take the lead in es-
/ tablishing international relations on the
same basis of honest and upright dealing
which we regard as essential as between
man and man.
Following the address luncheon was