Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-12-07
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE


ready. Few members were absen
when Speaker Cannon called III
house TO order at noon. The gallerie
were little occupied. Representativ
McClyeary announced that the pres
dent would communicate with tn
house by written message. The hous,
then took ten-minute recess.
To the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives:
The people of this country continu.
TO enjoy great prosperity. Undoubt
edly there will be ebb and flow in suct
prosperity, and this ebb and flow will
he felt more or less by all mem bers
OF the community, both by the deserv
ing and the undeserving. Against the
wrath of God the wisdom of man can
not avail; in times of food or drought
human ingenuity can but partially re
pair the disaster. A general failure
OF crops would hurt all of us. Again
If the folly of man mars the general
well being, then those who are limo,
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 OF
the business community would hurt
the whole business community. But
such stoppage of welfare. though it
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 charac.
ter of the average American worker.
the average American citizen. no mat
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
'he interests OF all men are so close
ly intertwined that in the immense
majority of cases a straight dealing
man who by his efficiency. by his in.
gcnuity and industry, benefits himself
must also benefit others. Normally
The man of great productive capacity
VINO becomes rich by guiding the la.
nor OF many other men does so by
enabling them to produce more than
they could produce without mis- guiu.
ance; and both he and they share in
the benefit, which comes also to the
public at large. The superficial fact
that the sharing may be UNEQUAL must
never blind us to the underlying fact
That mere is this sharing. and that the
dement, comes in some degree to each
man concerned. Normally the wage
worker, the man of small means. and
tae average consOiuer. as s.ell 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
legislation to help the general pros.
perity; but no such help of per
manently beneficial character can be
given TO the less able and less fortu-
nate, save as the results of policy
which shall inure to the advantage
oi al! Industrious and efficient people
who act decently; and this is only
another way of saying that any bene.
mt 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 for.
t'lnate man is moved by envy of mis-
more fortunate brother to strike al
the conditions under which they have
both, though unequuly. prospered, the
result will assuredly be that while
damage may come to the one struck
at. 1t Will visit with an even heavier
load the one VINO strikes the blow.
Taken as whole we must all go up
or go down together
Yet. while not merely admitting
but insisting upon this, 1t is also true
That where there 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
this common good.
Corporations.
The fortunes amassed through cor.
porate organization are now so large.
and vest such power In those that
WELD them. as to make it matter OF
necessity to give to the sovereign
AiluL 10, W hic WHICH rep
resents the people as a Wholesome
effective power of supervision over
their corporate use. In order to in
sure a healthy social and Industrial
life. every big corporation should be
held responsible by. and be account
able to, some sovereign strong enough
TO control its conduct | am in no
sense hostile to corporations. This is
an age of combination, 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 the law inev.
itably produces. We should more
over, recognize in cordial and ample
fashion the immense good effected by
corporate agencies in country such
as ours, and the wealth of intellect
energy and fidelity devoted to their
service, and therefor normally tc
the service of the public. by theii
officers and directors. The corpora
ton has come to stay, just as the
trade union has come to stay. Eaci
can do and has done great good. Each
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