Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-12-03


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
ity. 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 Il
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.
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 a 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 painful awakening
whenever it occurs, and naturally
when it 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, l said:
eff 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 il
might be severe. would not be lasting
In the long run the one vital factor in
the permanent prosperity of the coun-
try Is the high individual character Of
the average American worker, the
average American citizen, no matter
whether his work be mental or man
ual, whether he be farmer or wage
worker, business man or professional
man.
In our industrial and social system
intertwined that in the immense ma
jority of cases a straight dealing man
who by his efficiency, by his ingenuity
and industry benefits himself must
also benefit others. Normally the man
of great productive capacity who be
comes rich by guiding the labor OF
many other men does so by enabling
them to produce more than they could
produce without his guidance, and both
he and they share in the benefit which
comes also to the public at large. The
superficial fact that the sharing may
be unequal must never blind us to the
underlying fact that there is this shar
ing and that the benefit comes in some
degree to each man concerned. Nor
mally the wageworker, the man OIL
small means and the average consum
er as well as the average producer are
all alike helped by making conditions
such that the man of exceptional busi
ness ability receives an exceptional re
ward for his ability. Something car
be done by legislation to help the gen
eral prosperity, but no such help Of ;
permanently beneficial character cal
be given to the less able and less for
tunate save as the results of a polio.
which shall inure to the advantage 0
all Industrious and efficient people VIII
act decently, and this is only anothe
way of saying that any benefit whicl
comes to the less able and less fortu
nate must of necessity come even NOR
to the more able and more fortunate
II therefore the less fortunate ma
is moved by envy of his more fortu
nate brother to strike at the cond
lions under which they have boil
though unequally, prospered. the resul
will assuredly be that, while damag
may come to the one struck at, it wi
visit with an even heavier load th
one who strikes the blow. Taken a
a whole, we must all go up or go dow
together.
'Yet, while not merely admitting bu
insisting upon this, 1t Is also true tina
where there is no governmental II
straint or supervision some of the el