Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-11
TALKED TEMPERANCE
Presidents Address atWilkes-
barre Yesterday
TO MINERS AUDIENCE
UNDER AUSPICES OF CATHOLIC
TOTAL ABSTINENCE UNION.
DESERTED Upon the Welfare Of the
Wage Worker and the Farmer
Practical Points.
TO MINERS AUDIENCE

The following is the address Of President
Roosevelt at Wilkesbarre. Pa. delivered
yesterday afternoon before an immense
audience of miners and other wage earn
ers. under the auspices Of the Catholic
Total Abstinence Union of America:
The President spoke as follows:
l am particularly glad to speak to this
audience Of miners and their wives and
children. and especially to speak under the
auspices Of this great temperance society.
In our country the happiness OF all the rest
of our people depends most of all upon the
welfare of the wage-worker and the well
fare Of the farmer. If we can secure the
welfare Of these two classes we can be
reasonably certain that the community as
whole will prosper. And we must never
forget that the chief factor in securing the
welfare alike Of wage-worker and Of farm
er. as of everybody else, must be the man
himself.
The only effective way to help anybody is
to help him help himself. There are excep-
tional times when any one of us needs out
side help, and then 1t should be given free
ly; but normally each one Of us must de-
pend upon his own exertions for his own
success. Something can be done by wise
legislation and by wise and honest ad-
ministratfon Of the laws; that Is something
can be done by our action taken In our col
lective capacity through the state and the
nation.
Something more can be Gone by combina-
ton and organization among ourselves in
our private capacities as citizens so long
as this combination or organization is
managed with wisdom and integrity with
lns1stence upon the rights of those bene-
hted and yet with just regard for the
rights of Others
But in the last analyses the factor most
influential in determining any mans sue
M CT ha l1o
own qualities, of his knowledge foresight
thrift and courage,
A Mutual Benefit.
Whatever tends to increase his self-re-
spect, whatever tends to help him overcome
the temptations with which all of us are
surrounded, is of benefit not only to him,
but to the whole community
No one society can do more to help the
wage-worker than such a temperance So
ciety as that which l am now addressing
1t is of incalculable consequence to file
man himself that he should be sober and
temperate, and 1t is of even more con-
sequence to his wife and his children; for
IT is a hard and cruel fact that in this
life of ours the sins of the man are
often visited most heavily upon those whose
welfare should be his one special care.
For the drunkard, for the man who
loses his job because he can not control
or will not control his desire for liquor
and for vicious pleasure, we have feel
OF anger and contempt mixed with our
pity; but for his unfortunate wife and little
ones we feel only pity, and that of the
deepest and tenderest kind.
Everything possible should be done to
encourage the growth of that spirit of self
respect, self-restraint, self-reliance, which
If 1t only grows enough is certain to make
all those In whom it shows itself move
steadily upward toward the highest STAN
dard of American citizenship.
1t is a proud and responsible privilege
to be citizens of this great self-governing
nation and each of US needs to keep
steadily before his eyes the fact that he
is wholly unfit to take part in the work
of governing others unless he can first
govern himself. . He must stand up man
fully for his own rights; he must respect
the rights of others; he must obey the
law, and he must try to live up to those
rules of righteousness which are above
and behind all laws
Rule Applies to All.
This applies just as much to the man OF
great wealth as to the man of small means;
to the capitalist as to the wage worker. And
as one practical point, let me urge that
in the event of any difficulty, especially II
1t is what is known as labor trouble, both
sides show themselves willing to meet, Will
ing to consult and anxious each to treat
the other reasonably and fairly, each to look
at the others side of the case and to do the
other justice. If only this course could be
generally followed the chance of industrial
Now my friends. l want to read you an
extract from letter l have just received
from Catholic priest whom l know well
and whom l know to be as stanch a friend
of the laboring man as there is to be found
in this country. Now and then-not too
often-it is a good thing for all of us to
hear what is not perhaps altogether pal
atable, provided only that the person who
tells the truth is our genuine friend knows
what he Is talking about (even though he
may not see all sides of the case), and
sire to hurt our feelings, but with the trans
parent purpose to do us good. With this
foreword, here is part of the letter:
II would humbly recommend that you
lend your entire weight to the cause which
the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of
America represents, and especially SO in its
relation to the working classes of this coun-
try. for whom 1t is doing SO much good
Temperance a Potent Auxiliary.
"You know that the temperance move
ment is a potent auxiliary to the institu-
tons of our country In building up better
manhood and a truer Christianity among
our citizens It played a very important
part in the two coal strikes Of 1900 and
1902. respectively by keeping the men sober.
and thus removing the danger Of riotous
and unbecoming conduct.
There Is one discouraging feature con-
nected with the upward tendency OF the
wage scale among the workmen Of this
country. The higher the wages, the more
money they spend in saloons. The shorter
the hours. the more they are inclined to
absent themselves from home. An apparent
disregard for family ties is growing among
the poorer classes which will eventually
lead to a disregard for the blessings our
country affords them.
Hence, with an increase Of wages a cor
responding movement for better manhood,
nobler citizenship and truer Christianity
should be set on foot The dignity of labor
should be maintained. which can be done
only through the love that man should
have for his work. and through the intelli-
gence which he puts into 1t. A steady hand
and sober mind are necessary for this.
Hence the necessity of the temperance
cause and of the efforts which organized
disclaimers are putting into the movement"
Now, in what is here written this priest
does not mean that the tendency Is to grow
worse; but he means that with shorter
hours and increased wages there Is a tend
ency to go wrong which must be offset by