The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-10-05
PRESIDENT GIVES
ANSWER To BRYAN
IN GREAT SPEECH
Continued From Page One3

though l earnestly nope that that little
will be permitted to be done by con-
gress The great bulk of the work,
however, must be left to the state leg
islature.
Interpretation of Constitution.
MANY legislative actions and many
judicial decisions which I am conf
dent time will show to have been er-
roneous and 2 damage to the country
would have been avoided if our legis-
lators and jurists had approached the
matter of enacting and constituting the
laws of the land in the spirit of your
great Pennsylvania, Justice Wilson
in the spirit of Marshall and of Wash
fngton. Such decisions put us at a
great disadvantage in the battle for
Industrial order as against the pres
ent industrial chaos If we interpret
the constitution in narrow instead Of
broad fashion, we, as a people, will
render ourselves impotent to deal with
any abuses which may be committed
by the men who have accumulated the
enormous fortunes of today, and who
use these fortunes in still yaster cor
porate form in business.
THE legislative or judicial actions
and decisions of which l complain, be
it remembered, do not really leave to
the states power to deal with corpo-
rate wealth in business. Actual ex-
perience has shown that the states
are wholly powerless to deal with this
subject; and any action or decision
that deprives the nation of the power
to deal with it, simply results in leav-
ing the corporations absolutely free
to work without any effective supeyvi-
sion whatever; and such a course is
ture of our whole system of govern
ment, and, indeed, to our whole civil
ization
ut is our clear duty to see, in the
interest OF the people, that there is
adequate supervision and coatrol over
the business use of the swollen for
tunes of today. and also wisely to de-
ternine the conditions upon which
these fortunes are to be transmitted
and the percentage that they shall
pay to the government whose protect
ing arm alone enables to exist. Only
the nation can do this work. To rele
gate it to the states is farce, and is
simply another way of saying that it
shall not be done at all.
Under wise and farseeing inter
probation of the interstate commerce
clause of the constitution | maintain
that the national government should
have complete power to deal with all
Of this wealth which in any way goes
into the commerce between the states.
The national legislators should most
scrupulously avoid any demagogic leg
islation about the business use of this
wealth. But, on the other hand, it
shall and must ultimately be under
stood that the United States govern
ment, on behalf of the people of the
United States, has and is to exercise
the power Of supervision and control
over the business use of this wealth.
Government Ownership.
Many of the greatest financiers of
this country We're certain that Mr..
knox's Northern Securities suit. if
won, would plunge us into the worst
panic we had ever seen. They de-
nounced as Indictment to anarchy, as
an apology for Socialism, the adyo-
cacy of policies that either have now
become law or are in fair way of be-
coming law; and yet these same poll
cies, so far from representing either
anarchy or Socialism, were in reality
the antidotes to anarchy, the anti
dotes to Socialism. To exercise a con
stantly increasing and constantly
more efficient supervision and con-
trol over the great common carriers Of
the country prevents all necessity for
seriously considering such project as
the government ownership of rail.
roads-a policy which would be evil
in its results from every standpoint
The government ought not to conduct
the business Of the country; but ii
ought to regulate it so that it shall
be conducted in the interest of the
public.
We have actually accomplished
much. But We have not accomplished
all, nor anything like all. that we feel
must be accomplished. We shall moi
halt; we shall steadily follow the path
We have marked out, executing the
laws We have succeeded in putting up-
on the statute books with absolute inn
Partially as between man and man.
and unresting in our eadeavor to
strengthen and supplement these bv
further laws which shall enable us in
more efficient and more summary
fashion to achieve the ends we have
in view"
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