Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-20
PRESIDENTS SPEECH
Delivered at Atlanta, Georgia,
This Afternoon.
TOUCHED ON PROBLEMS
ISSUES OF THE HOUR HANDLED
WITH GREAT vrooR.
Industries Of the South and Notably
That Of Cotton Referred to In
His Remarks.
TOUCHED ON PROBLEMS

| The following Is the Presidents speech
delivered at Atlanta. Ga, this afternoon be-
fore an audience of many thousands at the
fair grounds.
| Here in this great Industrial center In
| this city which is a typical southern city,
and therefore typical American city. II
| is natural to consider certain phases of the
| many-sided Industrial problem which this
! generation has to solve. In this world OF
ours it Is practically impossible to get sue
cess of any kind on a large scale without
paying sor.ething for it. The exceptions to
| the rule are too few to warrant our paying
| heed to them; and as a rule 1t may be said
| that something must be paid as an offset
| Tor everything we get and for everything
| We accomplish This is notably true of our
| Industrial life.
| The problems which we of America have
| to face today are very serious, but we will
| do well to remember that after all they
| are only part of the price which we have
| to pay for the triumphs we have won, for
| the high position to which we have at
| tanned. If We were a backward and sta
| tonary country we would not have to face
! these problems at all: but think that most
| of us are agreed that to be backward and
| stationary would be altogether too heavy a
price to pay for the avoidance of the prob
| lens in question.
| There are no labor troubles where there
| is no work to be done by labor. There are
| no troubles about corporations where the
| poverty OF the community Is SuCh that It Is
not worth while to form corporations.
Regulating the Railroads.
There is no difficulty in regulating rail-
| roads where the resources of a region are
so few that 1t does not pay to build rail-
| roads. There many excellent people
| who shake their heads over the difficulties
| that as a nation we now have to face; but
| their melancholy Is not warranted save in
| a very partial degree, for most of the things
| of which they complain are the inevitable
/, Accomplishments of the growth and great
| ness of which we are proud.
| Now, / do not wish to be misunderstood
| do not for one moment mean to say that
| there are not many and serious evils with
which we have to grapple, or that there are
| not unhealthy signs in the body social and
! polite; but do mean to say that while we
must not show a foolish optimism we must
| no less beware of mere blind pessimisan.
| There is every reason why we should be
| vigtlant In searching out what Is wrong and
| unfiinchingly resoute in striving to remedy
| it But at the same time we must not blind
| ourselves to what has been accomplished
| for good, and above all We must not lose
our heads and become either hysterical or
rancorous in graphing with what is bad.
| Take such a question for instance, as
the question, or rather the group of ques-
tions, connected with the growth of cor
| porations In this country. This growth has
| meant, of course, the growth of individual
| fortunes Undoubtedly the growth of
\ wealth In this country mas ndQ some very
unfortunate accomplishments, but Ii seems
| to me that much the worst damage that
| people of wealth can do the rest of US Is
not any actual physical harm, but the
| awakening in our breasts Of either the
| mean vice Of worshiping mere wealth. and
| the man Of mere wealth, for the wealth
sake, the equally mean vice of viewing
with rancorous envy and hatred the men OF
| wealth merely because they are men OF
| wealth. Envy is, of course, merely kind
| of crooked admiration; and we often see
| the very nan who in public is most intern
perate in his denunciation OF wealth, IN his
/ private life most eager to obtain wealth, in
| no matter what fashion, and at matter
| what moral cost.
Control of Great Corporations.
Undoubtedly there is need of regulation
by the government, In the interest of the
| public, of these great corporations which
| in modern life have shown themselves to
! be the most efficient business implements.
and which are, therefore..th implements
commonly employed by the owners of large
| fortunes. The corporation Is the creature
| of the state. 1t should always be held ac-
countable to some sovereign, and this &C
| countability should be real and not sham
| Therefore, in my judgment, all corpora
tions doing an interstate business, and this
| means the great majority of the largest
| corpora tons, should be held accountable to
the federal government, because their &C
| countability should be co-extensive with
! their HeIu Oh dCllOH Dul iHoSt Sci eoAAAy
| we should not strive to prevent or limit
| corporate activity
| We should strive to secure such efreective
| supervision over it. such power OF regula-
| ton over it as to enable US to guarantee
| that it's activity will be exercised only In
| ways beneficial to the public. The unwis-
| dom of any well-meaning but misguided
! effort to check corporate activity has been
shown in striking fashion in recent years
by our experience in the Philippines and IN
Porto Rico. Our national legislators very
| properly determined that the islands should
| not be exploited by adventures without re-
gard to the interests of the people of the
! islands themselves. But unfortunately in
| their zeal to prevent the Islands from being
| improperly exploited they took measures OF
| such severity as to seriously, and in some
! respects vitality hamper and retard the de-
velopment of the islands
Philippine Development.
There is nothing that the islands need
more than to have their great natural re-
| sources developed and these resources can
be developed only by the abundant use OF
capital, which, of course. will not be put
into them unless on terms sufficiently adj
| vantageous to offer prospects Of good re-
| muneration. We have made tfse,terms not
| merely hard, but often prohibitqry, with the
| result that American capital goes into for
eign countries. like Mexico and Is there
| used with immense advantage to the coun-
| try IN It's QeNeIopiHeHt, WHlie II caHuot 81
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.
1T is impossible too strongly to insist upon
what ought to be the patent fact that 1t is
| not only In the interest of the people Of
| wealth themselves, but in our interest In
the interest of the public as whole. that
| they should be treated fairly and justly;
that il they show exceptional business abil-
| ity they should be given exceptional reward
for that ability. The tissues of our indus
| trial fabric are interviewer in such complex
fashion that what strengthens or weakens
part also strengthens or weaAens the whole.
If we penaliZe industry we viii ourselves
In the end have to pay considerable part
| of the penalty. If we make conditions such
that the men of exceptional ability are able
to secure marked benefits by the exercise OF
that ability, then we shall ourselves BEN
i eft somewhat.
It Is our interest no lees than our duty
to treat them fairly. On the other hand,
1t Is no less their interest to treat us fairly
by '-us"-I mean the great body OF the peo-
pie the men of moderate or small fortunes,
the farmers. the wage-workers. the smallex
business men and professional men,
Fortune by Crooked Methods.
l The man OF great means who achieves