Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1905-12-07
PRESIDENT OUTLINES
ISSUES OF THE DAY
important Recommendations as to LEGISLATION Made
in Annual Message to Congress-Large Part of
Document Devoted to Corporations and Railroad
Rate Observation-Disclosures of Labor and Capital
Dealt With Fully.

old highway it is a very difficuit and
complex thing to manage. and it is fan
petter that it should be managed By
private individuals than by the govern
nent But it can only be so managed on
condition that justice is done the public
ownership of railroads IS highly undesir
able and would probably in this country
entail far-reachihg disaster. that / wish
10 see such supervision and regulation
OF them In the interest of the public as
VIII make 1T evident that there is no need
lor public ownership. The opponents of
g;o,fx..e sr regulation dwell upon the
difhculties TO be encountered and the
intr1cate and involved nature of the prob
complicated and delicate problem, and ali
hlncs OF difficulties are sure to arise in
connection with any plan. of solution.
hoped for by its more optimistic adher-
ents. Moreover. under any healthy plan.
rapidly; Finally, We must clearly under
to do this peculiarly Responsible and
deiicate work must themselves be of the
hasghest type both as regards integrity and
otherwise able men can not in the long
run r pc secured and they must possess
a. lofty probity which will revolt as quick
gust of popular prejudice against rich
men as the thought of anything even
mem. But WbIi f SH6ser Gi to rieh
culties In the way, 1 do not for a moment
admit that these difficulties warrant us
and just System. They should have " ne
other effect than to spur us on to the
exercise 1 19 of the resolution; the even-hand
which we like to think Of as typicaly
American. and which will in the end
achieve s;c5d good results in this as in other
one and underlies the task of dealing
WITH the whole industrial problem. But
the fact that it is a great problem does
attempt to solve it. AT present we face
such utter lack of supervision. such
excellent men have often been literally r,iiS
forced Into doing what they deplored
because otherwise they were left at the
mercy OF Inscriptions competitors. To
rail at and assail the men who have done
as they best could under the conditions
accomplishes little. What we need to do
such system only come through
the gradually increased exercise of the
right of efficient government control.
The necessity for safety appliances
on railroads, recommended in the
Presidents message to the last Con-
gress. is emphasized, together with
the necessity for law regulating the
hours of labor of railroad men.
On the labor question, the mes
sage says:
There has been demand for depriving
courts OF the power to issue injunctiOns
OF the equity powers Of oGr Courts Won
be most unwise. 1t Is true that some
judges have mlsused this power; but this
does not justify a denial of the power
any more than an improper exercise of
the power to call a strike by a labor
leader would justify the denial of the right
to strike. The remedy is to regulate the
procedure by requiring the judge to give
due notice to the adverse parties before
granting the writ. the hearing to be eN
parte if the adverse party does not APP
pear at the time and place ordered.
What is due notice must depend upon the
facts of the case; it should not be used
as a preteNt to permit viola ton of law.
or the Jeopardizing OF life property.
or course. this would not authorize the
ton in any case in which 1t is not already
authorized by existing law.
| renew the recommendation l made in
my last annual message for an investiga =
lion by the Department of Commerce and
Labor of general labor conditions. especial
attention to be paid to the conditions of
child labor and child-labor legislation in
the several states. Such an investigation
should take into account the various prob
lens with which the question of child
labor is connected. 1t is true that these
problems can be actually met in most
cases only by the states themselves. but
1t would be we'll for the nation to endeav-
information as to the conditions of the
labor of children in the different states
so as to spur up those that are behind
hand. and to secure approximately uni
form legislation of a high characte
among the several states. In such a
Republic ours the one thing that We
can not afford TO neglect is the problem
of turning out decent citizens. The
future of the nation depends upon the
the children of to-day are those who to-
morrow will shape the destiny of our land
and We can not afford to neglect them
The legislature of Colorado has recon-
mended that the national government
provide some general measure for the
protection from abuse of children and
IIIrrN n Aa1v
States: 1 lay the matter before you for
what trust will be your favorable con-
In any great labor disturbance not only
are employer and employee interested. bu;
also third party-the general public
Every considerable labor difficulty il
which interstate commerce is involved
should be investigated by the government
public
The question of securing healthy. self
respecting. and mutually sympathetic at
titude as between emp oyer and employe
capitalist and wageworker. is a difficult
one. All phases of the labor problem
prove difficult when approached. But the
underlying principles, the root principles
must be solved are entirely simple. We
can get justice and right dealing only il
We must face accomplished facts, and tht
principle of treating a man on his worth
as a man rather than with reference Il
his social position, his occupation. or the
class to which he belongs. There are
If they are capitalists their seifshnes:
and brutality may take the form of hare
of every moral restraint which interfere:
with the accumulation of wealth. ant
cold-blooded exploitation of the weak; or
If they are laborers, the form of laziness
of sullen envy of the more fortunate anC
of willingness to perform deeds of MUIR
derous violence. Such conduct is JUS
other, and all honest and farseeing mer
should join in warning against it wherevei
it becomes manifest. Individual capital
list and individual wage worker, corpora
ton and union. are alike entitled to the
protection OF the law. and must alike
obey the law. Moreover: in addition t.
mere obedience to the law. each man
If he be a really good citizen, must show
broad sympathy for his neighbor anC
arising between them from the standpoint
of that neighbor no less than from hi:
own; and to this end it is essential tina
capitalist and wage-worker should con-
strive to bring closer the day when botf
shall realize that they are properly part
questions which inevitably arise between
them solely from the standpoint which
treats each side in the mass as the en-
envy of the other side in the mass is botf
wicked and foolish. In the past the mos
direful among the influences which hav'
brought about the downfall of republic!
has ever been the growth of the elias:
spirit. the growth of the spirit which
tends to make man subordinate the wei
fare OF the puDllc as a whole TO the Wei
fare of the particular class to which HI
belongs. This inevitably brings about {
tendancy to treat each man not on hi:
merits as an individual, but on his posi-
ton as belonging to a certain class IL
the community. If such a spirit grows VI
in this Republic it will ultimately prove
fatal to us, as in the past 1t has proved
fatal to every community in which it ha:
become dominant. Unless We con
tinue to. keep quick and livel!
sense of the great Fundamental
truth that our concern is with the Individual
worth of the individual man. ~ rovern-
ment cannot permanently hold place
which it has achieved among the Il ,. The
vital lines of cleavage among oUr people dc
not correspond. and indeed run al right an
giles to. the lines of cleavage which divide
occupation from occupation, which divide
wage-workers from capitalists, farmers from
bankers. men of small means from men OF
large means. men who live in the towns from
men who live in the country; for the vital
line of cleavage is the line which divides the
honest man who tries to do well by his
neighbor from the dishonest man who does i'll
by his neighbor. In other words, the stand
ard we shou,. establish is the standard
of conduct. not the standard of occupation.
of means of social position. 1t is the
mans moral quality. his attitude toward the