The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1906-04-19
R0OSEVELT'SSPEECH
President Roosevelt Denounces Reck.
less Newspapers and Assas=
sins of Character.

AAS AoVOAS q Progressive NdtlOudl
| Inheritance Tax on Enor-
nous Fortunes.
At the laying of the cornerstone of
the office building for the house of
representatives in Washington last
Saturday, President Roosevelt deliv-
cred a notable speech in which he
took occasion to severely arraign
newspaper liars and assassins of
character. The part of his talk that re-
ferred to a national Inheritance tax on
the enormous fortunes that are being
amassed nowadays is being denounced
in some quarters as extremely social
istic. Subjoined are few extracts
covering the main features of the
speech:
Over century ago Washington laid
the corner stone of the capitol in
what was then little more than
tract of wooded wilderness here be-
side the Potomac. We now find it
necessary to provide by great ad-
ditional buildings for the business of
the government. This growth in the
need for the housing of the govern
ment is but proof and example of
the way in which the nation has grown
and the sphere of action of the ma
tional government has grown. We
now administer the affairs of nation
in which the extraordinary growth of
population has been outstripped by
the growth of wealth and the growth
in complex interests. The material
problems that face US today are not
such as they were in Washington's
time, but the underlying facts of hui
man nature are the same now as they
were then. Under altered external
form we war with the same tendencies
toward evil that were evident in Wash
ington's time, and are helped by the
same tendencies for good. It is about
some of these that I wish to say
word today.
The Man with the Muck=Rake.
In Bunyan's Pilgrim s Progress you
may recall the description of the Man
with the Muck-Rake, the man who
could look no way but downward, > with
the muck-rake in his hand: who was
offered celestial crown for his muck
rake, but who would neither look up
nor regard the crown he was offered,
but continued to rake to himself the
filth of the floor.
In Pilgrims Progress the Man with
the Muck-Rake is set forth as the ex-
ample of him whose vision is fixed on
carnal instead of on spiritual things.
Yet he also typifes the man who in
this life consistently refuses to see
aught that is lofty, and fixes his eyes
with solemn intentness only on that
which is vile and debasing.
Now:,it is very necessary that we
should not finch from seeing what is
vile and debasing. There is filth on
the floor, and it must be scraped
up with the muck-rake; and there are
times and places where this service is
the most needful of all the services
that can be performed. But the man
who never does anything else, who
never thinks or speaks or writes, save
of his feats with the muck rake, speed
lily becomes, not help to society, not
ia Indictment to good, but one of the
most potent forces for evil.
Liars as Bad as Thieves.
There are, in the body polite, econ
omic and social, many and grave
evils, and there is urgent necessity
for the sternest war upon them. There
should be relentless exposure of and
attack upon every evil man, whether
politician or business man, every evil
practice whether in politics, in bust
ness, or in social life. 1 hail as
benefactor every writer or speaker,
every man who on the platform or in
book, magazine or newspaper, with
merciless severity makes such attack,
provided always that he in his turn
remembers that the attack is of use
only if it is absolutely truthful. The
liar is no whit better than the thief,
and if his mendacity takes the form
of SANDER he may be worse than most
thieves. It puts premium upon
knavery untruthfully to attack an
honest man, or even with hysterical
exaggeration to assail bad man
with untruth. An epidemic of indis-
criminate assault upon character does
not good, but very great harm. The
soul OF every scoundrel is gladdened
whenever a honest man is assaulted,