The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1905-08-18
OUR NATIONS DUTY
Roosevelt Outlines His Conception Of it
at Chautauqua Assembly.
GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF TRUSTS.
II present Statutes Are Ineffective Additional
Legisiatiou, Perhaps More Drastic Than He
Would Like 10 see Passed, May Be Enacted.
He Warns..-No IlI-Advised Interference With
Legitimate Individual Effort

Chautauqua, N. Y. (SpeciaD.-"Let
us give President Roosevelt the Chau-
tauqua salute. at its best" With these
words Bishop John H. Vincent closed
his brief introduction of the President
to the Chautauqua Assembly, and in
stantly 10000 white handkerchiefs fut-
tered in the air over the heads of the
vast audience in the great amphitheatre.
1t was an inspiring and beautiful sight,
and as President Roosevelt stepped for
ward smiling, the audience rose as one
person and cheered enthusiastically.
Some of the striking utterances in
President Roosevelt's address were:
The Monroe doctrine is not a part of
international law. But it is the funda-
mental feature of our entire foreign pol
icy SO far as the Western Hemisphere
is concerned. We have not allowed it
to become fossilized, but have adapted
our construction Of it to meet the grow
ing, changing needs of this hemisphere.
Fossilization, of course, means death,
whether to an individual, government
OF a doctrine.
The effort to prevent all restraint of
competition, whether harmful or bene-
fetal, has been ill-judged; what is need
ed is not so much the effort to prevent
combinations as a vigilant and effective
control of the combinations formed, so
as to secure just and equitable dealing
on their part alike toward the public
generally, toward the smaller competi-
tors and toward the wageworkers in
their employ.
Many corporations show themselves
honorably desirious to obey the law; but,
unfortunately, some corporations. and
very wealthy ones at that, exhaust every
effort which can be suggested by the
highest ability, or secured by the most
lavish expenditure of money, to defeat
the purposes of the laws on the statute
books
1t must be understood that under no
circumstances will the United States use
the Monroe doctrine as cloak for ter
ritorial aggression.
1t has become our conviction that in
some cases. such as that of at least GER
tain of the beef packers recently in
dicted in Chicago, it is impossible to
show leniency.
Legislation may be more drastic than
would prefer. If so, it must be dis
tinctly understood that it will be be-
cause of the stubborn determination of
some of the great combinations in striv-
ing to prevent the enforcement of the
law as it stands by every device, legal
and Illegal
The great corporations are themselves
to blame if by their opposition TO what
is legal and just they foster the popular
feeling which tells for such drastic ac-
ton
The enormous increase in inter State
trade, resulting from the industrial de-
velopment OF the last quarter of CEN
fury, makes it proper that the Federal
Government should, so far as may be
necessary to carry into effect its ma
tional policy, assume degree of adj
ministrative control of these great cor
porations.
The man of great productive capacity
who gets rich through guiding the labor
of hundreds or thousands of other men
does SO, as rule, by enabling their la
Dor to produce more than it would with
out his guidance, and both he and they
share in the benefit, SO that even if the
share be unequal it must never be for
gotten that they, too, are really bene-
fitted by his success.
A vital factor in the success of any
enterprise is the guiding intelligence Of
the man at the top, and there is need,
in the interest of all of us, to encourage
rather than to discourage to activity
of the exceptional men who guide av-
erage men so that tiseir labor may result
in increased production of the kind
which is demanded at the time
Our ideal must be the effort to COM
bine all proper freedom for individual
effort with some guarantee that the eff
fort is not exercised in contravention of
the eternal and immutable principles of
justice.