The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-08-23

IASS vi NoiiNs V.HS u
Ignorance to offer as partial atonement.
When in addition to moral responsibility
these men have a legal responsibility
which can be proved so as to impress a
judge and jury, then the department viii
strain every nerve to reach them criminal
iy. Where this is impossible. then 1t viii
take whatever action will be most effec-
tive under the actual conditions.
Our aim IS to try to do something effec-
tive; our purpose is to stamp out the
eyil; we s sha.l 5 aee mo to find n',rn tns m and s Me
shall then use IT., whether the device can
be found in existing law or must be
We thus take action against the wealth
the interest Of every nan of property
who acts decently and fairly, by, his fell
hands of those who propose fearlessly to
defend property against all unjust at
obeying the law has anything to fear
from this administration.
The purpose OF the administration is to
stamp out the evil; that we shall seek
purpose; and that we shall then use 1t,
whether the device can be found in ex-
listing law or must be supplied by legis-
lntion. Moreover, when we thus take ac-
ton against the wealth which works In
EQUITY, we are acting in tho interest OF
every man of property who acts decently
strengthening the hands of those who pro-
pose fearlessly to defend property against
all unjust attacks.
very earnestly nope the legislation
which deals with the regulation of corpor-
ations engaged in interstate business will
also deal with the rights and interests of
the wage workers employed by those cor
porations. Action was taken by the con-
gress last year limiting the number of
hours that railway employees should be
employed. The law is a good one: but If
in practice 1t proves necessary to strength
en- 1t, 1t must be strengthened. We have
now secured a national employers liability
law; but ultimately a more far-reaching
and thorough-going law must be passed.
IL is monStrous that a man or woman VINO
Is crippled in an industry. even as the
result OF taking what are the necessary
risks of the occupation. should be re-
CURED to bear the whole burden of the
loss. That burden should be distributed
and not placed solely Upon the weakest in
dividuai, the one least able to carry it.
will ultimately be distributed among all
the beneticiaries OF the business.
Against Consumption.
increasing the power Of the national gov
eminent to deal with certain matters con-
corning the health of our people every
stance, should Join with all the state auth
critics in warning against the dreadful
scourge of tuberculosis. Your w state
serves high praise for the action it has
taken in these public health matters dur
ing the last few years: and in this, as in
some other matters. ! hope to see the ma
tlonal government stand abreast of the
foremost state governments.
have spoken of but one or two laws
which, in my judgment, 1t is advisable to
enact as part of the general scheme for
making the interference Of the national
government more effective in securing jus
tlce and far dealing as between man and
man here In the United States. Let me
add, however, that while it is necessary
to have legislation when conditions arise
where we can only cope with evils
through the Join action Of all of us, yet
the last analysis the all-important factor
for each of US must be his own individual
%e mar e. e 1t is q necessary thing to have
necessary of all things is to have a high
quality OF individual citizenship. This does
not. mean that we can afford to neglect
legislation. 1t VIII be highly disastrous if
we permit ourselves to be m.sled by the
pleas OF those who see in an unrestricted
indivldualism the all-sufficient panacea for
social evils: but It will be even more dis
any sociaHstic system which would de-
stroy, all individualisln. which would root
out the fiber of our whole citizenship. In
any great movement, such as that in
which we are engaged, nothing is more
necessary than sanity, than the refusal
to be led into extremes by the advocates
OF the ultra course on either side.
Liberty's Worst Foes.
Those professed friends of liberty who
liberty and tend by the reaction their vlo-
renee causes to throw the government
back into the hands of the men who cham
plon corruption and tyranny in the name
of order. So it is with this movement for
securing justice toward all men, and
equality Of opportunity so far as it can
pc secured by governmental action. The
clines to consider the rights and the needs
of those who are less we'll Off. and the poor
man who eNcites or INDUCES In envy and
alike alien to the spirit OF our national
life. Each of them should learn to appre-
ciate the baseness and degradation Of his
point OF View, as evil in the one case as
in the other. There exists no more sordid
and unlovely type of social development
than a pl~utocracy,. for there Is a peculiar
in a social and govern
mental ideal where wealth by and Of it
self Is held up as the greatest good. The
mnterialism of such a view. whether II
finds its expression in the life Of a man
who accumulates a vast fortune in ways
that are %repugnantt to everyinstinct of gen.
erosity and of fair dealing. or whether II
finds its expression in the vapidly useless
that fortune, is contemplate in the eyes
of all men capable of a thrill of lofty
feeling. Where the power of the law car
be wisely used to prevent or to minimize
such wealth and to make 1t pay by income
or inheritance tax Its proper share of the
Durden OF government, l would invoke
that power without q moments hesitation
But while we can accomplish something
by legislation, legislation can never be
more thar a part, and often no more thar
a small part, in the general scheme OF
moral progress: and crude or vindictivt
legislation may at any time bring such
rogress to a halt. Certain socialistit
leaders propose to redistribute the world:
goods by refusing to thrift and energy ant
industry their proper superiority over folly
and idleness and sullen envy. Such legis
lation would merely. in the words of tn,
president of Columbia university, "wrecl
the worlds efficiency for the purpose o
redistributing the worlds discomfort" W,
should all Of us work heart and soul fol
the real and permanent betterment whicl
will lift our democratic civilization to
higher level Of safety and usefulness. Sucl
betterment can come only by the slow
steady growth OF the spirit which metes
generous, but not a sentimental. justice t.
each man on his merits as a man. an<
which recognizes the fact that the highes
and deepest happiness for the individual
lies not in sclfishness but in service.
PACKERS ACQUIRE
INDEPENDENT FIRM