Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-06-11

of President Roosevelt to the National
! Editorial Association In Convention
/, Hall, jamestown Exposition, yester
day afternoon:
IL is of course a mere truism to
, say that no other body of our coun.
| trymen Yields as extensive an influ.
ence as those who write for the daily
press and for the periodicals. 1t Is
| also Il trulsm TO say that such power
implies the .grarest responsibility. and
the man exercising 1t should hold
himself accountable and should lie
held by others accountable. precise.
ly rs If he occupied any other posi-.
ton of public trust. | do not intend
to dwell upon your duties today, how
ever, save that ] shall permit myself
to point out one matter where 1t
seems to me that the need OF our
people Is vital. II is essential that
the man in public life and the man
who writes in the public press shall
both of them, If they are really good
servants of the people, be prompt IL
assail wrongdoing and wickedness.
But In thus assailing wrongdong and
wickedness, there are two conditions
to BIO fulfilled, because If unfulfilled,
harm and not good will result. III
the first place, be sure OF your facts
and avoid everything like hysteria or
eNaggeration; for to assail decent
man for something of which he is
innocent is 10 give aid ana comfort
to every scoundrel, while indulgence
III hysterloal exaggeration serves to
weaken, not strengthen, the statement
OF truth.
In the second place, be sure that
you base your Judgment on conduct
and not on the social or economic
position OF the individual with whom
You are dealing. There are good and
bad men In every walk of life, and
their being good or bad does not de-
pend upon whether they have or do
not have large bank accounts. Yet
this elemental fact, this fact which
we all accept as self-eyident, when we
think each of us OF the people whom
he himself knows in his business and
social relations. is often completely
ignored by certain public men and
certain public writer's. The men
who thus ignore 1t and who attack
wickedness only when found In q
particular class are always unsafe
and are sometimes very dangerous
leaders Distrust equally the man who
is never able to discover any vices
OF rlcn men TO attack ana the man
who confines himself to attacking the
sins and shortcomings of rich men
1t is sure sign of moral and mental
dishonesty in any man If in his pub
Lis. assaults upon inlqnlty he, Is never !.
able to see any lniquity save TINT Of
particular c,,tss: and this whether
he is able only to see the crimes OF
arrogance and oppression in the rich
or the crimes of envy and violence
in the poor. He is no true American
If he 10 respecter of persons where
right and wrong are concerned and
IL he fails to denounce the dema-
gogle no less than the corruptionist
to denounce alike crimes Of organic
ed greed and crimes of brutal vic.
lence. There is equal need to de.
nounce the wealthy man who swim
dies investors or buys legislatures or
Expresses wageworkers. and the needy
man who inflames class hatred or
incites mob violence. We need TO
hold the scales of justice even. and
to weigh them down on one side is as
bad as to weigh them down on the
other.