The National tribune., 1906-12-06
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
State Paper BrsiIng With Points, Allegations Theories Deca
rations and Recommendations.

Y,ent of our prosperity and the good
work done by Congress- and piunges al
once into recommendations. The first
is for a law prohibiting corporations
from contributing to campaign eN-
spenses The next is to give the Gov
ernment the right of appeal in certain
criminal cases This has special refer
ence to cases under the Interstate Com
merce laws. Next he favors the re-
sstriction of the power of injunction. A
vigorous denunciation is made of lynch
law. With reference to this he says:
ast .I.et Justice he swift and sure
I'd n'Eyil will surely come in the end to
both races if we substitute for this just
rule the habit of treating all the mem
berS of the race, good and bad, alike.
There is no question of social equality
or negro domination involved: only
the question of relentlessly furnishing
bad men. and of securing to the good
man the right to his life, his liberty and
the pursuit of his happiness as his own
qualities of heart, head and hand enable
Ii 70 arhieve it.
.'t,f cry colored man should realize
that the worst enemy of his race is the
negro criminal and above all the negro
criminal who commits the dreadful
crime of rape; and it should be felt as
in the highest degree an offense against
the whole country, and against the col
ored race in particular, for colored
man to fail to help the officers of the
law in hunting down with ali possible
earnestness and zeal every such in
famous offender Moreover, in my
judgment, the crime of rape should al
ways be punished with death. as is the
case with murder; assault with intent
to commit rape should be made a capi-
tai crime, at least in the discretion of
- 1RA
made by which the punishment may
follow Immediately upon the heels OF
the offense; while the trial should be
SO conducted that the victim need not
be wantonly shamed while giving testi-
Irlony. and that the least possible pub
Iicity shall be given to the details.
''The members of the white race, on
the other hand, should understand that
every lynching represents by just so
much loosening of the bands of civ
ilization; that the spirit of lynching in
evitably throws into prominence in the
community all the foul and evil crea
lures who dwell therein. No man can
take part in the torture of a human
being without having his own moral
nature permanently lowered. Ever
lvnching means just so much moral de-
terioration in all the children who have
any knowledge of 1t, and therefore just
generation of americans.
Let justice be both sure and swift:
but let it be justice under the law. and
not the wild and crooked savagery of l
mob
4 plea is made for education for the
Negro, and the demagogs who preach
race hatred are severely denounced.
Glass Hatred.
I'm dealing with both labor and cap.
ital, with the questions affecting both
corporations and trades unions, there Is
one matter more important to remem-
Der than aught else, and that is the i'm
finite harm done by preachers of mere
discomfort. These are the men who
seek to excite a violent class hatred
against all men of wealth. They seek
to turn wise and proper movements for
the better control of corporations and
for doing away with the abuses con-
nected with wealth, into campaign of
hysterical excitement and faisehood N
which the aim is TO infiame to madness,
: the brutal passions of mankind. The
sinister demagogs and foolish vision
aries who are always eager to UNDER
take such a campaign of destruction
sometimes seek to associate themselves
with those working for a genuine re-
form in governmental and social meth
ods, and sometimes masquerade as such
reformers In reality they are the worst
enemies of the cause they profess to
advocate, just as the purveyors of sem
sational SANDER in newspaper or maga-
zine or the worst enemies of all men
who are engaged in an honest effort to
better what is bad in our social and
governmental conditions. To preach
hatred of the rich man as such, to carry
on q campaign of SANDER and invective
against him, to seek to mislead and
inflame to madness honest men whose
lives are hard and who have not the
kind of mental training which viii per-
NIT them to appreciate the danger in
the doctrines preached-all this is 10
commit a crime against the body polite
and to be false to every worthy princi
pie and tradition of American National
life Moreover, while such preaching
and such agitation may give a liveli-
hood and certain notoriety to some of
those who take part in it. and may
result in the temporary political sue
cess of others. in the long run every
such movement will either fail or else
will provoke n violent reaction, which
will itself result not merely in undoing
the mischief wrought by the demagog
and the agitatOr. but also in undoing
the good that the honest reformer. the
true upholder of popular right has
painfully and laboriously achieved. Cor
Is never 50 HI CpiililluUl-
ties where the demagog and the agi-
tator bear full sway. because in such
communities all moral bands become
Ioosened. and hysteria and sensational
ism replace the spirit of sound judg-
ment and fair dealing as between man
and man"
4 drastic and thoro" child-labor law
IS recommended for the District Of Co
iumbia and the Territories.
Employers Liability.
The Employers Liability law passed
by the last Congress was excellent, but
did not go far enough.
''In spite OF all precautions exercised
by employers, there are unavoidable
accidents and even deaths involved in
nearly every line OF business connected
with the mechanic arts. This inevitable
sacrifice of life may be reduced to d
minimum but IL cannot be completely
eliminated II is a great social injus-
tice to compel the employe. or. rather
the family of the killed or disabled vic
tim. TO bear the entire burden of such
an inevitable sacrifice. In other words
society shirks its duty by laying the
whole cost on the victim, whereas tho
injury comes from what may be called
the legitimate risks of the trade. Com
pensati for accidents or deaths due
in any line of industry to the actua
conditions under which that industry i:
carried on should be paid by that por,
E.t.. ,;s,-