The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-10-24

De put Into them unless OIL terms Sufn-
: GENTLY advantageous TO offer prospects
of good remuneration. We have made
the terms not merely hard, but often
prohibitory, with the result that Amer
lean capital goes into foreign countries,
like Mexico, and is there used with i'm
lei advantage to the country In its
development, while it cannot go into
our own possessions or be used to de-
velop the lands under our own flag.
The chief sufferers by this state OF
things are the people of the islands
themselves.
APPEAL FOR SQUARE DEAL"
1t lis Impossible 100 strongly &c insist
upon what ought tn be the patent faEt
that is is no only in the interest of the
people Of wealth themselves but in
| our interest, in the interest of the pub
lie as a whole, that they should be
treated fairly and justly; that if they
show exceptional business ability they
| should be given exceptional reward for
that ability. The tissues Of our indus
trial fabric are interviewer in such
complex fashion that what strength
ems or weakenS part also strength
ems or weakens the whole. II we
penalize industry we will ourselves in
the end have to pay Il considerable
part of the penalty. If we make con-
ditions such that the men of exception
al ability are able to secure marked
benefits by the exercise Of that ability,
then we shall ourselves benefit some
what. 1t is our interest no less than
our duty to treat them fairly. On the
other hand, it is DO less their interest
to treat is fairly-by us | mean the
great body of the people, the men of
moderate Or small fortunes, the farm
ers, the wage-workers, the smaller
business men and professional men.
The man of great means VINO achieves
fortune by crooked methods does
| wrong to the whole body polite. But
he not merely does wrong, he becomes
a source of imminent danger to other
men of great means: for his li-woh
success tends to arouse a feeling OF
resentment, which if it becomes in
famed fails to ~differentiate between,
the men of wealth who have done de-
Gently and the men of wealth who nave
not done decently.
THE POWER OF PUBLIC OPINION.
The conscience of our people has
| been deeply shocked by the revelations
made of recent years as to the way in
which some of the great fortunes have
been obtained and used, and there is,
I think, in the minds of the people
at large a strong feeling that a serious
effort must be made to put a stop to
the cynical dishonesty and contempt
J for right which have thus been re-
| vealed. I believe that something, n
| hope that a good deal, can be done
| by law to remedy the state of things
| complained Of. But when all that can
| be, has thus been done, there will yet
remain much which the law can not
touch, and which must be reached by
the force of public opinion. There
are men who do not divide actions
merely into those that are honest and
| those that are not, but create a third
! suhdivision-thet Of law honesty; or
that kind of honesty which consists
in keeping clear of the p~enitentlary
It is hard to reach astute men Of this
type save by making them feel the
weight of an honest public indigna-
| ton. But this indignation, if it is to
| be effective, must be intelligent. 1t
is, of course, to the great advantage Of
| dishonest men of wealth if they are
denounced, not for bS2ng dishonest
but for being wealthy, and if they are
denounced in terms so overstrained
and hysterical as to invite a reaction
in their favor. We can not afford in
| this country to draw the distinction
as between rich man and poor man.
The distinction upon which we must
insist is the vital, deep-lying, I'M
changeable distinction between the
honest man and the dishonest man
between the man who acts decentiy
and fairly by his neighbor and with a
quick sense of his obligations, ano
the man who acknowledges no intec-
nal law save that of his will and ap7
petite. Above all we should treat with
a peculiarly c~ontemptuous adherence
the man who in a spirit of sheer cyni-
cism debauches either our business
life or our political life. There are
men who use the phrase practical
politics as merely a euphemism for dir
ty politics, and it is such men who
lave brought the word poll
clan" into discredit. There are other
men who use the noxious phrase "bus-
mess is business as an excuse and
justification for every kind Of mean
and crooked work; and these men
make honest Americans hang their
heads because of some of the things
they do. 1t is the duty of every hon
est patriot to rebuke in emphatic
fashion alike the politician who does
not understand that the only kind of
practical politics" which a nation can
with safety tolerate is that kind whi-h
we know as clean politics, and that we
are as severe in our condemnation OF
the business trickery which Is
as of the business trickery which fails.
The scoundrel who fails can never by
any possibility be as dangerous to me
community as the scoundrel who sue
ceeds; and of all the men in the coun-
try, the worst citizens, those who
shoIE. excite in our minds the most
contemptuous adherence, are the men
who have achieved great wealth, or
any other form Of success, in any saw
a clean and straightforward manner
COTTON THE BASIS OF THE
SOUTH'S WEALTH.