The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-08-20
President
Roosevelt Talk 5

sc ii al plre lelsd inalviauslsa
NE afIcient st.lcs ior Soda ~
d hut ii iii De essn more asa Foyls
t6 adopt tie opposite paua any,
sociailstic system which wofld destroy
an indisfdualism which would gcot
out the fiber 81 our whole Itisenships
In any great movement such as that
In which We are engaged, nothing q
more necessary than SANITY, than the
refusal to belied into extremes BY the
advocates Of the ultra course on either
Side. Those protested friends Of lib;
|erty who champion license are the
worst foes Of liberty. and tend by the
reaction their violence causes to throw
the government back into the, hands
Of the men who champion corruption
and tyranny in the name Of order. 50
It Is with this movement for securing
justice toward all men, and equality
Of opportunity 50 far as It can be Sc.
cured by governmental acion, The
rich man who with hard arrogance de-
lclines to consider the rights and the
needs Of those who are less well of,
and the poor man who excltes or In
Idulgesin envy and hatred Of those who
are better of, are alike alien to the
spirit Of our national life. Each OF
them should learn to appreciate the
baseness and degradation Of his point
Of view, as evil in the one case as in
the other. There exists no more sor.
did and unloyely type Of social ieyel,
opment thanta plutocracy, for there
| is peculiar unwholesomeness in a
social and governmental ideal where
wealth by and Of itself is held up as
the greatest good. The materlallsm Of
such a view, whether 1t finds its ex.
preston in the life Of man who &C.
cumulates vast fortune in ways that
are repugnant to every instinct Of
generosity and Of fair dealing, or
whether it finds It's expression in the
yapidly useless and self-indulgent life
Of the inheritor of that fortune, is con-
temptible in the eyes Of all men capa.
bic of a thrill Of lofty feeling. Where
the power of the law can be wisely
used to prevent or to minimize the
acquisition or business employment Of
such wealth and to make IT pay by in.
come or inheritance tax its proper
share Of the burden Of government, I
would invoke that power without a
moments hesitation.
Limits Of Liquidation.
But while we can accomplish some
thing by legislation, legislation can
never be more than a part and often
no more than a small part, in the
general scheme Of moral progress;
and crude or vindictlve legislation
may at any time bring such progress
to halt. Certain soclalisttc leaders
propose to redtstrtbute the worlds
goods by refusing to thrift and energy
and industry their proper superiority
over folly and idleness and sullen en-
Ivy Such legislation would merely,
in the words of the president Of colum,
bia University, wreck the worlds et.
fclency for the purpose of redistrib.
Ntlng the worlds discomfort We
should all Of US work heart and soul
for the real and permanent betterment
which will lift our democratic civiltEa.
ltion to a higher level Of safety and
usefulness Such betterment can
come only by the slow, steady growth
Of the spirit which metes a generous,
lbut not a sentimental justice to each
man on his merits as a man, and which
recognizes the fact that the highest
and deepest happiness for the iudlvld.
ual lies not in selfishpess but in ser.