New-York tribune., 1907-10-02

great or small the private citizen who trans
crosses the laW--be he rich or poor--shall ne
brought before the impartial justice OF a court
Perhaps l am most anxious to get at the Poll-
tician who is corrupt, because he betrays a
great trust: but assuredly shall not spare ms
brother corruptionist who shows himself sWlh-
dler in business life; and according to our
power. crimes OF fraud and cunning shaH pe
prosecuted as relentessly as crimes of brutallty
and physical violence
We need good laws and we need ABOVE all
things the hearty aid of good citizens in sup
porting and enforcing the laws. Nevertheless;
men and women of this great state. men ana
women of the Middle West, never forget that
law and the administration Of law important
though they are, must always occupy a Mnony .
secondary place as compared with the character
Of the average citizen himself on this trip
shall speak to audiences in each OF which there
will be many men who fought in the Civil war
FIGHTING EDGE REQUIRED.
You who wore the blue and your brothers Of
the South who wore the gray know that IN war
no general. no matter how good, no organic
ton no matter how perfect, can avail II the
average man in the ranks has not got the fight
ing edge. We need the organization, the prepa-
ration, need the good general; but we need
most the fighting edge in the individual solder
So it is in private life. We live in n rough,
workaday world. and we are yet long way
from the millennium We can not as nation
and we can not individuals afford TO cult
vate only the gentler. softer qualities Ihere
must be gentleness and tenderness-the strong
est men are gentle and tender-but there must
also be courage and strength. nave hedlty
sympathy with those who believe in doing all
that can be done for peace; but l have no sym
pathy at all with those who believe that in the
world as il now is we can afford TO see the
average American citizen lose the qualities that
in their sum make up a good hghtlng man;
You men must be workers who work with all
your heart and strength and mind at your sew
eral tasks in life; and you must also be aole
to fight at need You women have even hlBher
and more difficult duties; for honor no man.
not even the soldier who fights for righteous
ness. quite much as honor the good woman
who does her full duty as wife and mother. But
If she shrks her duty as wife and mother. then
she stands par with the man VINO refuses
TO work for himself and his family. for those
dependent upon him, and Who in time Of the
nations need refuses to fight. The man or
woman who shirks his or her duty occupies a
contemplate position. You here are the sons
and daughters of the pioneers. preach 10 you
life of ease. / preach to you the lie or efort
the life that finds its highest satisfaction In
doing we'll some work that is well worth dong.
NEED OF WATERWAYS.
So much for what concerns every man and
every woman in this country. Now word or
two as TO matters which are Of peculiar interest
TO this region of our country.
Since I have been President have travelled
in every state Of this Union, but my travelling
has been almost entirely on railroads, save now
and then by wagon or on hoTseoack' NO"
have ths chance to try travelling by river; TO
go down the greatest of our rivers, the Father
of Waters. A good many years ago when L
lived in the Northwest l travelled occasionally
on the upper Missouri and its tributaries; put
then we went in a flatboat and did our own
rowing and padding and polling. Now l am to
try a steamboat 1 great believer in our
railway system; and the fact that 1 am very
firm in my belief as to the necessity of the gov,
control over the railroads does not in the least
interfere with the other fact that greatly ad-
mre the large majority of the men in all posi-
tions, from the top to the bottom VINO build
and run. them
MUST USE RIVER HIGHWAYS.
Yet, while of course 1 am anxious to see these
men, and therefore the corporations they repre-
sent or serve, achieve the fullest measure OF
legitimate prosperity nevertheless as this coun-
try grows feel that cannot have too many
highroads. and that in addition to the iron high
roads Of our railway system we should also
utilize the great river highways which have been
given US by nature From variety OF causes
these highways have in many parts Of the coun-
try been almost abandoned. This is not healthy
Our people and especially the representatives
Of the people in the national Congress, should
give their most careful attention to this sub
feet We should be prepared to put the nation
collectively back of the movement TO improve
them for the nations use Our knowledge at
this time is not such as TO permit me to go into
details, to say definitely just what the ma
tion should do: but most assuredly our great
navIgable rivers national assets just as
much as our great seacoast harbors Exactly
as IL is for the interest of all the country that
our great harbors should be fitted TO receive in
safety the largest vessels Of the merchant fleets
of the world SO by deepening and otherwise our
rivers should be fitted TO bear their part in the
movement of our merchandise: and this is espe-
ciay true Of the Mississippi and its tributaries
which drain the immense and prosperous region
which makes I'm very fact the heart of our ma
tion: the basin of the Great Lakes being already
united with the basin of the Mississippi, and
both regions being identical in their products
and interests Waterways peculiarly fitted
for the Transportation of the bulky commodities
which come from the soil or under the SOIL and
no other part of our country Is as fruitful as Is
this in such commodities.
TO KEEP YOU ON FARMS.
You in Iowa have many manufacturing GEN.
tres. but you remain. and I hope you VIII al
ways remain, great agricultural state. hope
that the means of transporting your comrodi-
ties 70 market will be steadily Improved but
1 this will be OF unless you keep produc-
/ ing the commodities, and in the long run this
Mil largely depend upon your being able to