The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-07-01
James B. Dill Tells Graduates
Something About the Evils
of the Industrial and Com
mercial World, and How
They May be Remedied by
Educated. Men.

Holds That True Reform Can
Only be Brought About by
Improvement of Personal
Character-Aggregations OF
Capital Are But the Effect
of a Dangerous Malady.
Oberlin, Ohio, June 29.-No college in
America has turned out a class OF
students under such auspices as did
Oberlin yesterday. The commencement
address,. delivered by Judge James B.
Dill of New York gave an inspiration
to every graduate. He departed from
the time worn commencement grafton
and game the graduates timely post
graduate discourse on the requirements
of the world. He said:
No intelligent man or woman can fail
to realize that the smoke upon the
social, financial and political horizon
indicates fire.
So much talk of "frenzied finance" of
troubles in the business world, Of dis
sensions In our great financial centers.
of corporate oppression, drives us to
the conclusion that something is wrong
in the financial situation.
And something is wrong there.
Reports of political dishonesty, of
corruption, of graft indicate that the
political situation is not all that it
should be; that something is wrong in
our government machinery
And something is wrong there.
What is it that is wrong? s.
Some people have been content to as
sert that the secret of the difficulty
is the tendency towards great aggre-
cations of capital, great corporations,
and that this is the real cause of our
troubles. Is, this the answer? -
True this has been an era of consol-
idation
And it is a fact that while originally
men sought consolidation for the pur-
pose Of added strength, later combina-
tion was sought as method of cover
ing up weaknesses, to conceal fraud, to
hide deficiency, to join the weak with
the strong, and to pass the whole over
to the public asa sound proposition.
1. Aggregations OF scapitalS s and corpors:
ssss EsSiIss VII bsso@s scst
apparent. But these are not the things
which are wrong. They are the symp-
toms; they are not the disease. They
are not the cause. The real evil lies
in men, in character. And do not
mean "other men," The trouble Is
with you and men-it is personal
We are answered on all sides that
we are in the midst of an era of pros
perity.
prosperity" Is a comparative term,
If you mean by that everything is all
right, that the affairs of the country
are proceeding upon a basis on which
they ought to proceed, that there are
no perils in the present situation, no
dangers to be eliminated; in short, if
by prosperity you mean that there Is
no need of reform or reformers, then
must disagree with you. Hailing as I
do from a financial center, say, You
and 1 are not prosperous" We may be
rich In money; our stomachs may be
full, our heads and our hands busy
But that is not prosperity nor all there
is of prosperity. All is not we'll. For
we are losing sight of character
Note the trusts. It is said that some
contributed to our material prosperity;
that is true, and it is good. But it
is also true that some of these combin-
ations are using their forces and their
energies to accomplish their own ends
without due regards to the rights of
individuals or Of the public. This they
do naturally. Power always carries
with it an instructive human desire to
adopt the theory that might is right"
Some of our foremost men are work.
ing on that theory.
The menace in our so-called prosper
ity today is that the men among us
who become powers-fnancial, politi-
cal, social-abuse their power. Condi-
tions In the business and financial
world are not wholesome. Let US look
a little deeper. The trouble is not with
matters In the abstract, it is not with
theories, it is not with forms. The
trouble Is concrete. Phe evils of the
past are our fault The wrong is per-
sonal We are not honest
The cause of today's existing evils is
not that our theories Of finance or pol
itics or corporation law are wrong.
They may be wrong, but they are not
evils which have their origin within
our men and our women. No. the cause
is PERSONAL; and-this I say deliberate
ly-the greatest wrongdoing is by ed
ucated men and women.
OF pretenders, deceivers Of the pub
lie, grafters, the most skilful and dam
gerous are found in the ranks of edu-
Gated men and educated women.
Men-and women-of high social.
financial and political standing, have
established for themselves a code of
conduct at variance with the good old
fashioned somewhat obsolete Ten Com
mandments. There is where the fault
lies; 1t Is ours-yours and mine These
men and these women are made of the
same material of which we are made.
We do in our spheres what they do in
theirs. We are at fault because we
uphold and follow them
A large part of our modern prosper