The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1907-12-03
PRESIDENT s
MESSAGE.
Republic Fundamentally
Sound, Says MI.
Roosevelt.
BUT SORE SPOTS EXIST.
Dishonesty Must Be Eliminated
Though Innocent
Suffer.
ADVOCATES NEW LAWS.
Currency Legislation, Regulation Of
Corporations, Inheritance and In
come Taxes Among Presi.
Dental ReCOmmen-
datiODS.
ADVOCATES NEW LAWS.
To the Senate and House Of Repre-

To the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives:
No nation has greater resources than
ours, and think it can be truthfully
said that the citizens of no nation pos
, sess greater energy and industrial abil-
lily. In no nation are the fundamental
business conditions sounder than in
ours at this very moment, and it is
foolish, when such is the case, for peo-
pie to hoard money instead of keeping
1t in sound banks, for it is such hoard
ing that is the immediate occasion Of
money stringency. Moreover, as a
rule, the business of our people is con-
Quoted with honesty and probity, and
this applies alike to farms and facto-
ries. to railroads and banks, to all our
legitimate commercial enterprises.
z In any large body Of men, however,
there are certain to be some who are
dishonest, and If the conditions are
such that these men prosper or commit
their misdeeds with impunity their ex-
ample is very evil thing for the com.
munity. Where these men are business
men of great sagacity and of tempera-
ment both INSCRIPTIONS and reckless
and where the conditions are such that
they act without supervision or control
and at first without effective check
from public opinion they delude many
innocent people into making invest
ments or embarking in kinds of bust
ness that are really unsound When
the misdeeds of these successfully dis
honest men are discovered, suffering
comes not only upon them, but upon
the innocent men whom they have
misled. 1t is a painful awakening
whenever 1t occurs, and naturally
when 1t does occur those who suffer
are apt to forget that the longer it
was deferred the more painful it
would be. In the effort to punish the
guilty 1t is both wise and proper to
endeavor, SO far as possible, to mini
miZe the distress Of those who have
been misled by the guilty. Yet it is
not possible to refrain because Of such
distress from striving to put an end
to the misdeeds that are the ultimate
causes Of the suffering and as means
to this end where possible to punish
those responsible for them. There may
be honest differences of opinion as to
many governmental policies, but sure
ly there can be no such differences as
to the need Of unfinching perseverance
In the war against successful dishon-
esty
In my message to the congress on
Dec. 5, 1905, said:
IF the folly Of man mars the general
well being, then those who are limo
cent of the folly will have to pay part
of the penalty incurred by those who
are guilty Of the folly. A panic brought
on by the speculative folly of part of
the business community would hurt
the whole business community, but
such stoppage Of welfare, though 1t
might be severe. would not be lasting.
In the long run the one vital factor In
the permanent prosperity of the coun-
Z try is the high Individual character Of
the average American worker, the
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