Evening journal., 1906-12-04
7 PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
A STRONG DOCUMENT
it Excuiive Discusses Questions Affecting Capital and
Labor, Divorce, Merchant Marine, Currency
os and the Cuban Situation R's'077s'7e9o'2
President Roosevelt in his annual

onferring upon the government the
-li Of appeal in criminal cases on
iuestons OF law Continuing, the
resident says: Ns R %
cannot too strongly urge the pas
age Of the bin in question. A failure
,ro D.ess it viii result in seriously ham
tsering the government in its effort to
sbtain justice, especially against
wealthy individuals or corporations
who do wrong, and may also prevent
he government from obtaining justice
s4or wageworkers who are not them
elves able effectively to contest a case
where the judgment Of an Inferior
ourt has been against them. l have
Decifcally in vlew recent decision
~ a district Judge leaving railway
Employees without remedy for viola
ion Of certain so called labor statute.
The Importance Of enacting into law
he particular bill in question Is fur
her increased by the.fact that the gov
1fnment has now definitely begun a
|. .1aHcy Of resorting to the criminal law
D those trust and interstate commerce
.ases where such a course offers a rea-
enable chance Of success.
Proper Use of Iniuncdons.
In my last message l suggested the
nactment Of a law in connection with
he-issuance of injunctions, attention
saving been sharply drawn to the mat
er by the demand that the right Of ap-
dying injunct!ons in labor cases
hould be wholly abolished 1t is at
east doubtful whether n law abolish
ng altogether the use Of injunctions
n such cases would stand the test Of
Il he corrts. in which case. Of course, the
eglslaton would be ineffective. More
,vcr. believe It would be wrong nlto-
other to prohibit the use Of injunc-
ions. It is criminal to permit sym
llthy for criminals to weaken our
aands IN upholding the law. and If
non seek 70 destroy life or property
49, " mob violence there should be no i'm
~ Shineut Of the power Of the courts to
aal with them in the most summary
nd effective way possible. But so
ar as possible the abuse Of the power
hould be provided against by some
., ueh law as ! advocated last year.
Against Lynching.
I call your attention and the atten-
--eiep Of the nation to the prevalence OF
WINE among US and, above all, 10 the
3idcmic OF lynching and mob violence
Salslt springs mp now IN n-one-p -part Of our
.s,3antry, now in another. Each sec
ion north. south. east or west, has
is own faults. No section can with
wisdom spend its time jeering at the
tults Of another section it should be
jusy trying 20 amend its own short
emings. 20 deal with the crime Of
orruption 1t is necessary to have an
wakoned public conscience and to
Implement this 10y whatever legisla-
ION will add speed and certainty in
he execution Of the law. When we
zeal With lynching even more is neces-
airy. A great many white men are
ynched. hut the crime is peculiarly
requent in respect TO black men. The
sreatest existing cause Of lynching is
he preparation, especially by black
nen, Of the hldeous crime Of rape. the
most abomnable I'm all the category
f crimes. even worse than murder.
Lawlessness grows by what it feeds
ID lpon, and. when mobs begin to lynch
1 81 rape they speedily extend the
-sphere of their operations and lynch
or many other kinds OF crimes, so that
wo-thlrds of the lynchlngs are NOT
or rape at all, while q considerable
proportion of the individuals lynched
re innocent Of all crime.
There is hut one safe rule in dealing
With black men as with white men
It is the same rule that must be ap.
oiled IN dealing with rich men and
Y poor men-that Is. to treat each man
rWhatever his color, his creed or his so
cial position, with even handed justice
On his real worth as a man. White
people owe it quite as much to them
(selves as TO the colored race to treat
Yell the colored man who shows by
his life that he deserves such treatment
rhere is no question of social equality
|---.F-aegro domination involved.
- ~ my judgment. the crime of rape
ii ilipuld always bepnnlshed With death
Is is the case with murder. Assault
With intent to commit rape should be
t1dQt u Cdllldi at itucA III TIT
discretion Of the court, and provision
should be made by which the punish
,nent may follow Immediately upon
he heels of the offense.
No more shortsighted policy can be
amaglned than in the fancied interest
sisf one class to prevent the education
sflf another class The white man, il
1ie is wise, will decline TO allow the
iegroes in a mass to grow to man
lood and womanhood without educa
Ion mm ~
ssPreachers of Mere Discontent."
' In dealing with both labor and cap
.stal, with the questions affecting botf
corporations and trades unions, there
one matter more important to re
lvnember than aught else. and that is
'-he infinite harm done by preachers Of
mere discomfort. These are the meT
who seek to excite a violent class ha
red against all men of wealth. They
eek to turn wise and proper move
1ents for the better. control Of, corpora
ions and for doing away with ths
buses connected with wealth into {
ampaign of hysterical excitement ant
,alsehood in which the aim is TO In
aame 10 madness the brutal passions
~ mankind. The sinister demagogue'
essnd foolish visIonaries who are always
.