The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-06

Washington, December 5.-The message of President Roosevelt, which was read before. Congress yesterday, is as follows: To the Senate and House of Representa-
 tives
 The peoNe of this country continue to enjoy great prosperity. Undoubtedly there will be cob and flow in such prosperity, and this ebb and flow will be felt more Or less by all members of the communi- ty, both by the deserving and the unde- serving. Against the wrath of the Lord the wisdom of man cannot avail; in times of flood or drought human ingenuity can but partially repair the disaster A gen eral failure of crops would hurt all of us. Again if the folly of man mars the gen. eral well being, then those who are in- nocent 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 of the business community would hurt the whole business community. But such stoppage of welfare, though 1t might be severe, would not be lasting. In the long run the one vital factor in the permanent prosperity of the country is the high individual character of the average American worker, the average American citizen, no matter whether his work be mental or manual, whether ae be farmer or wage-worker, business man or professional man.
 In our industrial and social system the interests of all men are so closely inter- twned that in the immense majority of cases a straight dealing man who by his efficiency, by his ingenuity and indus try, benefits himself must also benefit others. Normally the man of great pro- ductive capacity who becomes rich by guiding the labor of many other men does so by enabling them to produce more than they could produce without his nd hnt the benefit, which comes also to the pub lie at large. The superficial fact that the sharing may be unequal must never blind us to the underlying fact that there in this sharing, and that the benefit comes in some degre to each man concerned. 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 abil- ity receives an exceptional reward for his ability. Something can be done by legis- lation to help the general prosperity: but such help of permanently beneficial character can be given to the less able and less fortunate, save as the results of a policy which shall inure to the ad- vantage of al Industrious 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 be the more able and more for tunate. If. therefore, the less fortunate man is moved by envy of his more for tunate brother to strs1s at the conditions under which they have both, though un- equally prospered the result will suredly be that while damage may come to the one struck at, it will visit with an even heavier load the one who strikes tho blow. Taken whole we must all go up or go down together
 Corporations.
 Yet, while not merely admitting, but insisting upon this. it is also true that where ther is no governmental restraint or supervision some of the exceptional men use their energies not in ways that are for the common good, but in ways which tell against their common good. The fortunes amassed through corporate organizations are now so large, and vast such powers in those that wield them. as to make 1t 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 corporate use In order to insure a healthy social and n- dustrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by. and be account able to, some sovereign strong enough to control it's conduct. I am in sense hostile to corporations. This Is an age of combination, and any effort to prevent all
 
 in the end vicious, because of the con- tempt for law which the failure to en- force law inevitably produces. We should. moreover recognize in cordial and ample fashion the immense good effected by cor porate agencies in country such as ours and the wealth of intellect. energy and fidelity devoted to their service and there fore normally to the service of the public, by their officers and directors. The cor poration has come to say, just as the trade union has come to stay. Each can do and has done great good. Each spould be favored so long as 1t does good. But each should be sharply checked where IL acts against law and justice.
 So long as the finances of the nation are kept upon an honest basis no other ques- tion of internal economy with which the Congress has the power to deal begins to approach in importance the matter Of endeavoring to secure proper industrial conditions under which the individuals and especially the great corporations - doing an interstate business are to act. The makers of our national constitution provided especially that the regulation of interstate commerce should come within the sphere of the general government. The arguments in favor of their taking this atand were even then overwhelming But they are far stronger today. in view of the enormous development of great bus mess agencies, usually corporate in form. Experience has shown conclusively that it is useless to try to get any adequate regu- Iation and supervision of these great corporations by state action. Such regu- iation and supervision can only be eff fectiyely exercised by sovereign whose Jurisdiction is coextensive with the field of work of the corporatlons-that IS, by the national government. I believe that this regulation and supervision can be obtained by the enactment of law by the Congress. If this proves impossible, it will certainly be necessary ultimately to confer in fullest form such power upon the national government by proper amendment of the constitution. It would obviously be unwise to endeavor to secure onch an amendment until 1t is certain