Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-10-02
THE PRESIDENT.
Continued from Page One.)

, wrongloers whose deeds are peculiarly
rcrrchensihle because they are not conf
mitted under the stress of want. When
eyer Il serious effort is made to cut
out what is evil in our political life,
whether the effort takes the shape of
; warning against sffe gross and sordid
forms of cvil> in some NUM-
cipality. or whether it takes
the shape .ef trying to secure the
honcst enlightenment of the law as
against erE:powerful and wealthy peo-
pie there are sure to be certain
individuals who demand that the move
ment stop because it may hurt business.
In each case the answer must be that
we earnestly hope and believe that
there will ~ no permanent damage to
business from the movement, but that
if righteousness conflicts with the
fancicd needs of business. then the
latter must go To the wall We can
not afford to substitute any other test
for that Of guilt or innocence. of wrong
doing or WelldCing. in Judging any man.
If a man docs well. if he acts honestly.
he has nothing to fear from this Adj
mniStr;tfion. I:It so far as in me lies
the corrupt politician, great or small,
the private citizen who tranSgrcSScS
the law-bc h" rich or poor-Shall be
brought before the impartial justice OF
a court. Perhaps I ana most anxious
to get aH the politician who is corrupt.
because NE bctrayS Il great trust; but
assuredly l shall. not spare his brother
corruptionist who shows himself q
swindler in business life: and. accord
ing to our power. crimes of fraud and
cunning shall be prosecuted rs rclent-
lesSly as crimes of brutality and ply
steal violence.
We need good laws and we need above
all things the hearty aid of good citlz2ni
in supporting and enforcing the laws.
Nevertheless. men and women of this
great Stat. men and women of tine MIDI
die West, never forget that law ana th''
administration of law. important Trough
they are. must always occupy wholly
secondary place as compared WITH me
character of the average citizen hllnael!
On this trip | shall speak to audiences in
each of which there Will be many men
who fought in the Civil War. lou who
wore the blue and your brothers of thu
South who wore the gray know that IN
war no general no mater how Sooh, M
or@2 niZation no mater how ptifect. can
avail if tie average man in the ranks mas
rot got the fighting edge. We need the
g. organization. tie preparation; we need
the good general: but we need most the
fighting edge in the Individual soldier
So II is in private life. We live in rough,
workaday world, and we are yet long
way from the millennium. We can not as
nation and we can not as individuals
afford To cultivate only the Sentlcr. softer
qualities. There must be gcntleness
ard tenderness-the strongest men are
gentle and tcnder-but there must also
he courage and strength. | have Il hearty
Symnathy with those who believe IN doing
All that can lie done for peace: but have
no sympathy at all with those who brliev"
that in the world rs it now is we car, al
ford to see the average American citizen
lose the qualities that in their sum make
up Il good fighting man. You men must
I've workers WHO work with all your heart
and strength and mind at your several
tasks in life, and you must also hc abb"
to fight at need. You women have even
higher and more difficult duti :: i"r |
honor no man, not even sac soldier who
iehtS for righteousness. quite as niuch
as | homer the good woman who Goes
her fun duty rs wife and mother Gut If
she ShirkS her duty as wife AMI mother
then she stands on Il par with the man
who II fuses to- work for himself and his
fnmily. fnr those dependent upon him
ana who in time of the nations need re-
fuses To fight. The man or woman who
shirlS his Cr her duty occupies Il con-
tcnptinle position. You here are the sons
and daughters e the pioneers. | preach t.
YOU no life of ease. | preach t" You the
life of effort. the life that finds its high
est satisfaction in doing well some work
that is Wei worth doing.
So r5,rch for what concerns every man
and every woman in this country. Now.
Il word or two as to matters which are of
peculiar interest to this region of our
county,.
Sine" I have been President have
tray, led in every Stat" of this Union,
hut my travelling has been almost entire
~ on railroads. save now and then by
ht,r- I,I- Nny I tIl.a
chance t" try travelling by river; to go
down tie greatest of our rivers, tn"
Father Of Waters. a good many years
ago when | lived in the Northwest |
Travelled occasionally on the Upper Mis-
souri, and its tributaries, but then WT
went in Il nathoat and did our own row
i.i; and padding and polling. Nov am to
try "A steamboat. I am 4 great l'clic vcr
in nuf railway SV stem: and tn" fact that
am very tiI1H in my belief as to the
necessity a.: tho 'i"rcrnmo ut exercising
proper supervision ai.ci control over
til" railroads DOES not in tn" Last inter
ferc with the other fact that greatly
admire the large minority of the men
in all positions. from t!l" top to The bot
tom. VIII" build and run them. Yet. while
Of course am aDXions t" see thcsh men,
and therefore the Corporations they rep
resent or serve. achieve IL" fullest meas
IRE "f l"sitiniats, prosperity, nevertheless IS
rs this country grows | feel that we can
rot lave too many hi%hr"a,ls. and that
Ill ''lt'ltlpll 10 tlt IRON IleilliftlS tI 'tlll
railway system we should also utilize the
great river highways which have been
given us hv nature. From a Nari .ty Of
causes these Highways have in many
PARTS of the country been almost ahan-
doE"d. THIS is not healthy. Our people.
ana especially the representatives of the
People in the National Congress. should
give their most careful attention to this
subject. We should be prepared to put
the nation collectively back of the move
mont To improve them for tie nations
use. Our knowledge at this time is not
Silch as to permit me to go into details.
Or I" say definitely Just what the nation
should do; but most assurc'ily our great
as much as "rtr great ScaCoaSt harborS
Exactly as it is for the interest of all the
country tl'"t nllr great harbors, should b,,
fitted to receive in safety the largest YES
sis of til" merchant fleets of the world
50 I'M de nrcninE ana otherwise. our river;
should lie fitted to bear their part in tn.
InoVcnent of our merchandise: and this
Is especially tru" of the Mississippi and
IFS tributaries which drain the immense,
and prosperous region which makes in
very fact the heart of our nation: the
basin Of tie Great Lakes being already
united With the basin of the Mississippi
and both REGIONS being identical in their
products and interests Waterways are
peculiarly lifted for the transportation of
the huikE commodities which come from
the soil o. under the soil: and no other
part Of our country is as fruitful as is
" 1f.h. a,