The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1906-04-17
WOULD TAX FORTUNES
President Roosevelt, In "MuCk
Rake" Speech, Favors Assess
ment on Great Wealth.
DENOUNCES THE "ExP0SERS"

UEWUUNGEo lie EAF UOEhO
Executive Inveishs Against "WiIc
Preachers of Unrest and Discomfort
Speech Not to Be Construed as In
dorsement Of Whitewashing, He Says
Favors Supervision of Corporations.
Washington, April 17.-In the pres
ence of both houses of congress, mem
bers of the diplomatic corps and q
great concourse of people the president
delivered his already famous speech
on "The Man With the Muck Rake,
meaning thereby the .sexposers' who
are finding graft in many depart
ments of the government. The presi-
dents address, which was enthusiastic
ally received, was delivered at the end
of the Masonic ceremonies attending
the laying Of the cornerstone of the
office building for the use of members
of the house of representatives. Prob
ably the part of the presidents address
which is arousing the most discussion
Is that in which he proposes progress
i've tax on great fortunes. The presi-
dent spoke in part as follows
''As a matter of personal conviction
and without pretending to discuss the
details or formulate the system, | feel
that we shall ultimately have to consid-
er the adoption of some such scheme as
that Of progressive tax on all fortunes
beyond q certain amount, either given in
life or devised or bequeathed upondeath
to any Individual tax SO framed as to
put It cut of the power of the owner of
one Of these enormous fortunes to hand
no more than a certain amount to any
one individual, the tax, of course, to
be imposed by the national and not
the state government
Aimed at Great Fortunes.
s'Such taxation should, of course, be
aimed merely at the inheritance or
transmission in their entirety of those
fortunes swollen beyond all healthy
limits.
1T is important to this people to
grapple with the problems connected
with the amassing of enormous for
tunes and the use of those fortunes,
both corporate and individual, in bust
ness. We should discriminate in the
sharpest way between fortunes well
won and fortunes i'll won.
"The national government must in
some form exercise supervision over
corporations engaged in interstate bust
ness-and all large corporations are
engaged In interstate business-wheth-
er by license or otherwise, SO as to
permit us to deal with the far reaching
evils of overcapitalization. This year
we are making beginning in the di-
rection of serious effort to settle some
of these economic problems by the rail-
way rate legislation.
THE first requisite In the public serv-
ants who are to deal in this shape with
corporations, whether as legislators or
as executives, is honesty.
THE eighth commandment reads,
Thou shalt not steal 1t does not
read, Thou shalt not steal from the
rich man. 1t does not read, Thou shalt
not steal from the poor man 1t reads
simply and plainly, Thou shalt not
steal
1.-THE only public servant who can be
trusted honestly to protect the rights
of the public against the misdeed of
corporation Is that public man who
will just as surely protect the corpora
fion itself from wrongful aggression.
"But, in addition to honesty, we need
sanity. No honesty will make public
man useful If that man is timid or fool
fsh, If he is a hot headed zealot or an
impracticable visionary AS we strive
for reform we find that it is not at all
merely the case Of a long uphill pull
On the contrary, there is almost as
much Of breeching work as Of collar
work To depend only on traces means
that there will soon be a runaway and
mn upset
Movement Not to BE Checked.
''The men of wealth who today are
trying to prevent the regulation and
control of their business In the interest
of the public by the proper government
authorities will not succeed, in my
Judgment, In checking the progress of
fhe movement But if they did sue
coed they would find that they had
sown the wind and would surely reap
the whirlwind
"On the other hand, the wild preach
GERS of unrest and discomfort, the wild
,agitators against the entire existing or
der, the men who act crookedly, wheth-
4er because Of sinister design or from
mere puzzle headedness; the men who
preach destruction without proposing
any substitute for what they intend to
destroy or who propose a substitute
which would be far worse than the ex-
listing evils-all these men are the most
dangerous opponents of real reform.
Tin Bunyan.s Pilgrims 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 a 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
"Man With Muck Rake" Explained.
I'm Pilgrims Progress the man
with the muck rake is set forth as the
example of him whose vision is fixed
ON carnal instead of on spiritual things.
Yet he also typifies the man who in
this life consistently refuses to see
aught that is lofty and Axes his eyes
with solemn intentness only on that
which is vile and debasing. Now, it is