The Morris County chronicle., 1906-04-17
MUST LIMIT FORTUNES
Presidents Radical Proposal IN
muck Rake Speech.
BITTER AGAINST FALSIFlERS

Roosevelt Makes One Of the Most Nota.
BILE Addresses He Has Ever Delivered
Proposes Levy on Wealth to Pre-
vent the Bequeathing of Great
misunderstanding the Great-Rich.
Washington. D. C.-The sensation of
President Roosevelt's much advertised
Muck Rake speech at the laying Of
the cornerstone of the new office build
ing for the House of Representatives,
was not the reference to the mud sling
Ing scribblers, but the springing of a
brand new idea, so bold and radical
that it fairly took away the breath
If the Senators and Representatives
who heard it, It was a proposition to
lax all fortunes and to limit the
amount of money which may be be-
Iueathed to an individual.
The speech was one Of the most re-
narkable the President has delivered.
It was comprehensive to an unusual
degree, embracing practically every
topic of the day and having some-
thing in it in the nature of a moral
lesson for persons in every walk of
life. The President decried hysterical
and unthinking sensationalism, scored
the traducers of public men and Of the
nation, and Iauded those who exercise
sanity and honesty in uncovering and
furnishing fraud in low and high places.
There was a note Of warning to those
ancient enemies. capital and labor,
and a denunciation for the wealthy
trust officials who by technicalities es-
cape punishment for violations of law,
md for the "Sam Parks of labor.
Then came the bombshell for which
few of those present were prepared
the advocacy of a graduated tax on
fortunes, and of provision of law that
will prevent millionaires from be-
dueathing more than certain amount
Of their wealth, the balance to go to
the Government. This proposal COM
pletely dwarfed the muck rake" fea-
ture and set the Senators to buzzing.
When the ceremonies were over it
was the only thing that was discussed.
1t took Mr.. Roosevelt half an hour
to get through with what he had to
say about the muck rake sort of crfti-
cism and critics. The salient para
graphs of this part of his address are
as follows:
''In Bunyans 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.
"In Pilgrims Progress the man with
the muck rake is set forth as the ex-
ample of him whose wisdom 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 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 needed 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,
speedily becomes, not help to society.
not an incitement to good, but one of
the more potent forces for evil
There are, in the body polite, eco
nomic 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.
II hail as a 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 abso-
lutely truthful The liar is no whit
better than the thief, and If his men
dacity takes the form of slander he
may be worse than most thieves.
"One of the chief counts against
those who make indiscrlminate as
sault upon men in business or men in
public life is that they invite reac-
tion which is sure to tell powerfully
In favor Of the unscrupulous scoundrel.
zone serious difficulty encountered
in getting the right type Of men to
dig the Panama Canal is the certainty
that they will be exposed to utterly
reckless assaults on their character and
capacity.
The men with the muck rake are
often indispensable to the well-being
of society but only when they know
when to stop rsking the muck.
"Hysterical sensationalism is the
very poorest weapon with which to
fight for lasting righteousness.
The men who. with stern sobriety
and truth, assail the many evils Of our
time, whether in the public press or in
magazines or in books, are the leaders
and allies of all engaged in the work
for social and political betterment.
The reform that counts is that
which comes through steady, continu-
Gus growth; violent emotionalism leads
to exhaustion
But 1t was not the muck rake feature
of the address that attracted attention
1t was his new scheme for the progress
sive taxation of fortunes. On that
point the President observed
Winter Wheat Crop is Big.