Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-04-16
MAsTERlY SPEECH BY
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT


ing for members OF the house was
laid this afternoon in the presence OF
a distinguished audience
Grand Master Brown OF the local
Masons struck the marble stone with
the gayel Geo. Washington used in
laying the cornerstone OF the capitol.
and the ceremony and program was
followed as observed on that occas
ion.
The building will occupy u city
square aud contain il0 offices grouped
about a hollow square.
President Roosevelt. Speaker Can
non and Representatives Hepburn and
Richardson spoke
The feature OF the Presidents
speech was his suggestion of a pro
gressive tax on fortunes He dis.
cussed the attitude of the people at
| large towards great corporations. and
took au optimistic view OF present ef
forts to better existing Industrial con.
dltlons
In proposing plan for a levy on
the accumulation of wealth President
Roosevelt said:
'As a matter of personal conyic.
tion and without pretending to dis
cuss the details or formulate the sys.
ten, | feel that we shall ultimately
have TO consider the adoption of some
sueh scheme as that of a progressive
tax on all fortunes, beyond a certain
amount, either given in life or devised
| or bequeathod upon death, to any In.
diyidual-a tax so framed as to put
it out OF the power of the owner OF
| one Of these enormous fortunes to
have ON hand more than certain
amount, the tax, of course. to be i'm.
posed by. the national and not the
state government Such taxation
should. OF course. be aimed merely at
| the inheritance or transmission IN
their entirety of these fortunes, swol
lon beyond all healthy limits
He then advocated the supervision
| by the government of the great cor
porations, and finally came TO the
mach talked of nuke rake saying.
"fhe eighth commandment reads
Thou shalt not steal 1t does not
| read. Thou shalt not steal from tine
rich man. IT does not read Thou
shalt not steal from the poor man.
| II reads simply and plainly, Thou
shalt not steal.
No good whatever will come from
that warped and meek morality
| which denounces the misdeeds of men
of wealth and forgets the misdeeds
at their expense which denounces
bribery. but blinds itself to black
mail. which foams with rage If a
| certain corporation secures fayors by
| improper methods, and merely leers
with pious mirth il the corporation
| Ia itself wronged. The only public
| servant who can be trusted honestly
| to protect the rights OF the public
| against The misdeeds of n corporation
| Is that public man who will Just as
| from wrongful aggression. II pub
lie man is willing TO yield to popular
clamor and do wrong to the men OF
wealth or to rich corporations. 1t may
be set down as certain that II the op
| portunity comes he VIII secretly and
furtiyely do wrong to the public In
| the interest OF corporation. The
need for exposure Of wrongdoing Is
| emphasized in these words: There
are In the body polite, economic and
| social, many and grave evils. and
there is urgent necessity for the ear
| nest war upon them. There should
| be relentless exposure of and attack
| upon every evil man, whether politi-
cal or business man, every evil prac-
lice. whether in politics. In business.
or in social life.
Il hail as benefactor every writer
| or speaker, every man who on the
| platform or In book, magazine or
newspaper, with merciless severity
makes such an attack; provided al
ways that he in mis- turn remembers
| that the attack is of use only If 1t Is
| absolutely truthful. The liar is no
whit better than the thief. and II his
mendaciy takes the form of slander
ne may be worse than most thieves.
1t puts a premium upon knavery to
untruthfully attack an honest man, or
even with hySterical exaggeration to
| iSBiiii Ddu man WIN untlutns An
epidemic OF indlscrimlnate assault
upon the character does no good, but
very great harm. The soul OF every
sconndrel Is untruthfully assailed
one Of the chief counts against those
| who make indiscrlmlnate assault upon
men In business or men In public life,
Is that they invite a reaction, which
Is sure 10 tell powerfully in favor OF
the unscrupulous scoundrel who really
ought to be attacked. who ought to
he exposed, who ought, II possible, to
be put in the penitentiary. II Arls-
tides Is praised overmuch as Just,
people get tired hearing it, and over
censnre of the unjust finally. and
from similar reasons. results in their
fayos. Any excess is almost sure TO
invite reaction, and unfortunately.
the reaction. instead OF taking the
form OF punishment of those guilty of
the excess. is very apt to take the
form, either of punishment OF unof-
tending. or OF giving immunity and
even strength TO offenders. The ef-
fort to make financial or political