The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-12-27
PRESIDENT ROOSEVE(W
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

Washington, D. C.-UnusuaI interest
was manifested in the reading of Pres
ident Roosevelt's annual message in
> both the Senate and the House. The
salient features of the document are as
follows:
To the Senate and House of Represen'
tatiVeS: \
The people of this country continue
to enjoy great prosperity. Undoubted-
Gy there will be ebb and flow in such
prosperity, and this ebb and flow will
be felt more or less by all members OF
the community, both by the deserving
and the undeserving. Against the
wrath Of the Lord the wisdom Of man
eau not avail; in times of flood or
drought human ingenuity can but par
TALLY repair the disaster. A general
failure of crops would hurt US. Again,
if the folly of man mars the general
well being, then those who are lnno-
cent Of the folly will have to pay part
of the penalty incurred by those who
are guilty of the folly. A panic
brought on by the speculative folly of
part.O the business community would
hurt the whole business community.
But such stoppage of welfare, though
it might be severe, would not be last
ing. In the long run the n vital fac
tor in the permanent prosperity of the
country is the high individual charac-
! ter Of the average American worker,
+ha varo 90 A m orinan nitiVpn M mar
ter whether his work be mental or
manual, whether he be farmer or wage
worker, business man or professional
man. !
In our industrial and social system
the interests of all men are so closely
iutertwined that in the immense mas
iority Of cases a strengthening man
who by his efficiency, by his ingenuity
and industry, benefits himself must
also benefit aothers. Normally the
;wage-worker, the man of small means.
and the average consumer, as well as
the average producer, are all alike
helped by making conditions such that
the man Of exceptional business ability
receives an exceptional reward for his
ability. Something can be done by leg
islation to help the general prosper
ity; but no such help of a perman-
emily beneficial character can be given
to the less able and less fortunate,
save as the results of a policy which
shall inure to the advantage Of all in
dustriohs and efficient people who act
decently; and this is only another way
Of saying that any benefit which comes
to the less, able and less fortunate
must Of necessity come even more to
the more able and more fortunate. If.
therefore, the less fortunate man is
moved by envy Of his more fortunate
brother to strike at the conditions IN
der which they have both, though I'M
equally, prospered, the result will
assuredly be that while damage may
come to the one struck at it will visit
with an even heavier load the u who
strikes the blow. Taken as q whole
we must all go up Or 90 down together.
The President then turns to the con-
sideration Of corporations in their re-
cations to the people and the Govern
ment:
Yet, while not merely admitting, but
insisting upon this, it is also true that
where there is no governmental re-
straint or. supervision some Of the eX-
ceptional men use their energies not
in ways that are for the common
good, but in ways which tell against
this common good. The fortunes
amassed through corporate organiza-
ton 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 wholesome effective
power of supervision over their corpo-
rate use. In order to insure 4 healthy
social and industrial life. every
big corporation should be held respon-
sible by, and be accountable to, some
sovereign strong enough to control its
conduct. I am in no ms hostile to
corporations. This is an age of COM
bination, and any effort to prevent all
combination will be not only useless,
but in the end vicious, because of the
contempt for law which the failure to
enforce law inevitably produces. The
corporation has. come to stay, just as
the trade union has come to stay. Each
, can do and has done great good. Each
' should be favored so long as it does
good. But each should be sharply
checked where it acts against law and
justice.
The subject of railway rate regula-
ton is treated at great. length. The
following extracts give the Presidents
views and recommendations:
The makers Of our National Consti-
tuition provided especially that the reg
ulation of interstate commerce should
come within the sphere of the General
Government. The arguments in favor
of their taking this stand were even
then overwhelming. But they are far
stronger today, in view of the enor-
nous development of great business
agencies, usually corporate in form.
Experience has shown c%onclusively
that it is useless to try to get any
adequate regulation and supervision
of these great corporations by State
action. Such regulation and supervis-
ion can only be effectively exercised
by d sovereign whose jurisdiction is
coextensive with the field of work Of
the corporations-that is, by the Ma
tional Government.
I am we'll aware of the difficulties
Of the legislation that I am suggest
ing, and of the need of temperate and
cautious action in securing it. I should
emphatically protest against improp-
g, erly radical or hasty action. The first
. thing to do is to deal with the great
corporations engaged in the business
of interstate transportation. AS l
said in my message Of December G
last, the immediate and most pressing
need, so far as legislation is concerned,