Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1906-12-05
THE PRESIDENTS
ANNUAL MESSAGE
AN EXHAUSTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE
DOCUMENT.
President Roosevelt Discusses the Needs Of
the Nation and Recommends Such Leg.
islation % he Deems Most Ex.
pedient.

the Nation and Recommends Such Leg.
islation ~ he Deems Most Ex.
pedient.
President Roosevelt in his annual
message again urges the enactment of
a law prohibiting corporations from
contributing to campaign funds. He
also urges the passage of the mea snYe
comforting upon the government the
right Of appeal In criminal cases on
questions of law. Continuing. the
president says:
I cannot too strongly urge the pas
sage Of the bill in question. A failure
to pass 1t will result in seriously ham,
pering the government in its effort to
obtain justice, especially against
wealthy individuals or corporations
who do wrong. and may also prevent
the government from obtaining Justice
for wageworkers who are not them
selves able effectively to contest case
where the judgment OF an inferior
court has been against them. ! have
In view a recent decision
by a district Judge leaving railway
without remedy for VIOLA
ton of certain 80 called labor statute.
The Importance Of enacting into law
the particular bill in question Is fur
ther Increased by the fact that the gov
ernment has now definitely begun a
policy Of resorting to the criminal law
in those trust and interstate commerce
cases where such a course offers rea-
sonable chance Of success.
Proper Use Of Injunctions.
In my last message l suggested the
of law In connection with
the issuance of injunctions. attention
having been sharply drawn to the mat
ter by the demand that the right Of ap-
plying injunctions in labor cases
should be wholly abolished. 1t is at
least doubtful whether law abolish
ing altogether the use Of lnjunctiOns
in such cases would stand the test Of
the courts. in which case. of course, the
legislation would be ineffective. More
over, l believe it would be wrong alto
gerher to prohibit the use of injunc-
tions. 1t Is criminal to permit SYM
pathy for criminals to weaken our
hands in upholding the law. and II
men seek to destroy life or property
by mob violence there should be no i'm
pairment of the power Of the courts to
deal with them In the most summary
and effective way possible. But so
far as possible the abuse of the power
should be provided against by some
such law as I advocated last year.
Against Lynching.
call your attention and the atten-
ton of the nation to the prevalence of
crime among us and. above all, to the
epidemic of lynching and mob violence
that springs up now in one part Of our
now In another. Each Sec
ton, north. south, east or west, has
its own faults. No section can with
wisdom spend its time jeering at the
faults of another section. 1t should be
busy trying to amend its own short
To deal with the crime Of
1t Is necessary to have an
public conscience and to
this by whatever legisla-
ton will add speed and certainty in
the execution Of the law. When we
deal with lynching even more Is neces-
sary. A great many white men are
lynched, but the crime Is peculiarly
frequent in respect to black men. The
greatest existing cause of lynching Is
the perpetration, especially by black
men, Of the hideous crime Of rape, the
most abominable in all the category
Of crimes, even worse than murder.
Lawlessness grows by what 1t feeds
upon. and when mobs begin to lynch
for rape they speedily extend the
sphere Of their operations and lynch
for many other kinds Of crimes. 30 that
two-t thirds Of the lynchings are not
for rape at all. while a considerable
of the individuals lynched
are innocent Of all crime.
There Is but one safe rule in dealing
with black men as with white men.
II is the same rule that must be ap-
piled In dealing with rich men and
poor men-that Is. to treat each man.
whatever his color. his creed or his so
cial position. with even handed justice
on his real worth as a man. White
people owe 1t quite as much to them
selves al to the colored race to treat
well the colored man who shows by
his life that he deserves such treatment.
There IL no question Of social equality
or negro domination involved.
In my judgment. the crime Of rape
should always be punished with death.
- is the case with murder. Assault
with intent to commit rape should be
made a capital crime; at least In the
discretion Of the court and provision
should be made by which the punish
ment may follow Immediately upon
the heels Of the offense.
No more shortsighted policy can be
imagined than in the fancied interest
Of one class to prevent the education
Of another class. The white man, II
be is wise, will decline to allow the
negroes In a mass to grow to man.
hood and womanhood without educa-
ton.