, 1907-08-20
ADMINISTRATION NOT
TO CHANGE ITS LINES
CONTINUED from page ~

NCOuL1uu0O 1IOm p&So IL
one OF whose actions seems clearly to
establish such technical guilt as will
ensure a conviction.
CIamor for Severe Action.
zone Of the favorite devices of those
who are really striving to prevent the
enforcement of these laws is to clamor
for action of such severity hat it car
not be undertaken because it will be
certain to fail If tried. An instance
of this is the demand often made for
criminal prosecutions where such pros.
ecutions would be certain to fail.
Queer Actions Of Juries.
I'VE have found by actual expert
ence that a jury which will gladly pun
ish a corporation by fine, for instance,
will acquit the individual members Of
that corporation il we proceed against
them criminally because Of those very
things which the corporation which
they direct and control has done. In q
recent case against the Licorice trust
we indicted and tried the two corpora
lions and their respective presidents.
The contracts and other transactions
establishing the guilt Of the corpora.
tons were made through, and SO far as
they were in writing were signed by.
the two presidents Yet the jury con-
victed the two corporations and &C.
quilted the two men.
At Cross Purposes.
Both verdicts could not possibly
have been correct; but apparently the
average juryman wishes to see trusts
broken up, and is quite ready to fine
the corporation itself; but is very re-
luctant to find the facts proven be-
yond a reasonable doubt when 1t
comes to sending to Jail a reputable
member Of the business community
for doing what the business community
has ~unhappily grown to recognize as
well-nigh normal in business. More.
over, under the necessary technicali-
ties of criminal proceedings, often the
only man who can be reached Grim
inally will be some subordinate who Is
not the real guilty party at all.
Request for Action.
During the present trouble in the
stock market, l have, Of course. re-
ceived countless requests and sug-
gestions, public and private, that l
should do something to ease the sit
uation. There is a worldwide flnan-
cial disturbance. 1t Is felt in the
bourses of Paris and Berlin, and Brit
ish consols are lower, while the prices
of railway securities have also depre-
ciated.
Government Will Move.
"On the New York stock exchange
the disturbance has been particularly
severe, most of 1t l believe to be due
to matters not particularly confined to
the United States and to matters
wholly unconneted with any govern
ment action, but it may well be that
the determination Of the government,
in which. gentlemen, it will never wav-
er, to punish certain malefactors Of
great wealth, has been responsible
for something Of the troubles, at least
to the extent Of having caused these
men to combine to bring about as
much financial stress as they possibly
can, in order to discredit the policy
of the government and thereby to Sc.
cure a reversal Of this policy, If pos
sible. II SO, l am sorry; but it will
not alter my attitude.
No Change In Policy.
Once for all, let me say that, as
far as l am concerned, and for the
eighteen months Of my administration
that remain. there will be no change in
the policy we have steadily persued-|
no let-up in our efforts to secure an
honest observance of the law, for I
regard this contest as n to determine
VINO snail rule this government, the
people through their governmental
agents or a few ruthless and deter
mined men whose wealth makes them
particularly formidable because they
are behind breastworks of corporation
organization.
Wants to Be Understood.
II wish there would be no misake
On this point. 1t is idle to ask me to !
prosecute a criminal, rich or poor. |
But l desire no less emphatically to
have it understood that we have un.
1ertaken, and will undertake, no &C
ion Of vindictive type, and. above all.
40 action which shall infiict great or /
inherited suffering upon innocent
and upon the public n =
whole.
Minimum Of Hardness
Our purpose Is to act with the min
mum of harshness compatible with
obtaining u ends. In . man Of great ;;
wealth, who has earned his wealth hon.