Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-03
HOW TO MEET
NEW CONDITIONS
Need for Federal Control Over
The Railroads.
PRESIDENTS CAIRO SPEECH
With That Control Average Mans
Chances Will Be Increased.
PRESIDENTS CAIRO SPEECH
With That Control Average Mans
DICKENS MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT
1t May Now Be Read With Profit.
Types of Sixty-Five Years Ago
Differ From Those Now.

CAIRO. ILL.,. October 3-President Roose-
welt in his address here today spoke as
follows
Men of Illinois and You Men of Kentucky
and Missouri:
/ am glad to have the chance to speak
to you today. This is the heart of what
may be called the Old West, which we now
call the Middle West, using the term to de-
note that great group of rich and powerful
states which literally forms the heart of
the country 1t is a region whose people
are distinctivey American in al their
thoughts, in all their ways of looking at
life; and in its past and it's present alike
it is typical of our country. The oldest men
present can still remember the pioneer days,
the days of the whte-t tilted OK wagon, OF
the emigrant. and of the log cabin In
which that emigrant first lived when he
settled to his task as pioneer farmer.
They were rough days, days of hard work.
and the people who did that work seemed
themselves uncouth and forbiddng to visit
ors who could not look below the surface
1t is curious and amusing to think that
even genuine lover of his kind, a man
normally so free from national prejudices
as Charles Dickens, should have selected
the region where now standing as
the seat of his forlorn EDEN in Martin
SUuZZleWit lHS country lie so bitterly as
sailed is now one of the most fertile and
productive portions of of the most
fertile and productive agricultural terri
tories in all the world, and the dwellers In
this territory represent a higher average
of comfort, intelligence. and sturdy capacity
! for self government than the people in any
tract of like extent in any other continent
The land teens with beauty and fertility
and but score of years after Dickens
wrote it shown to be a nursery and
breeding ground of heroes of soldiers and
statesmen of the highest rank while the
rugged worth of the rank and file of the
citizenship rendered possible the deeds Of
the mighty men who led in council and In
battle. This was the region that brought
forth mighty Abraham Lincoln, the incar-
nation of all that is best in democratic
life; and from the loins of the same people,
living only a little farther south, sprang
another of our greatest Presidents Andrew
Jackson, "Old Hickory''-a man who made
mistakes, like most strong men, but man
of iron will and incorruptibe integrity,
fearless, upright, devoted to the welfare
of his countrymen, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh a typical American IL
ever there was
Profit in Martin Chuzzlewit"
Chuzzlewt' to the pessimsts of today, to
the men who. instead of fighting hard to dc
away with abuses while at the same time
losing no jot of their buoyant hopefuness
for the country. insist that all our people,
socially and industrially, in their private
lives less than as politicians, newspaper
men and business men. are at lower ebb
than ever before. If ever any one of you
feels little downcast over the peculiarly
gloomy view of the present taken by some
we'll ll-meaning pessimist of today, you will
find it real comfort to read Martin Chuz-
Zewit." to see what wel-meaning pes
simst of the past thought of our people
siXty-fve years ago: and then think of the
extraordinary achievement. the eXtraordi
nary gain, morally no less than materially.
of those sixty-five years. Dickens can be
read by with profit; Elijah Pogram.
Hannibal Chollop. jefferson Br : and Scad
der have their repres entatives today, plenty
of them: and the wise thing for US to do is
to recognize that these are still types OF
evil in politics. journalism, business and
private life, and to war against them with
all our hearts. But it is rank folly to re-
gard these as the only. or the chief types
in our national life. 1t was not of much
consequence whether Dickens made such
an error OF not Dul IL Houlu Dt VI great
consequence if we ourselves did: for a fool
ish pessimism is an even greater foe of
healthy national growth than a foolish op-
timism 1t was not that Dickens invented
characters or scenes that had no basis I'm
fact; on the contrary what he said
true as far as it went the trouble was
that out of many such half truths he made
a picture which whole was absurd for
often a half truth is the most dangerous
falsehood. 1t would be simply silly to be
angry Martin ChuzZlewit:" on the
contrary. read it, be amused by 1t, profit
by it: and don't be misled by it. Keep a
lively watch against the present-day Po-
grams and Bricks; but. above all, distrust
the man who would persuade you to feel
downhearted about the country because of
these same Pograms and Bricks. past or
present. 1t would be foolish to ignore their
existence or the existence of anything else
that is bad in our national life: but il would
be even more foolish to ignore the vaster
forces that tell for righteousness. Friends.
there is every reason why we should fight
whatever Is evil in the present. But there
is also every reason why We should feel a
sturdy and confidnt hope for the future
There are many wrongs 10 right; there are
many and powerful wronsdoers against
whom 10 war: and ii would be base to
shrink from the contest. or to fail to wage
it with a high. resolute will. But | am
cause | know that the heart of our people
is sound Our average men and women are
good men and wonderland this is true in all
sections OF our country and among all
classes of our countrymen. There is no
other nation on earth with such vast nat
ural resources. or with such high standard
of living and of industrial efficiency among
its workers. We have as nation an era
of unexampled prosperity ahead of US; We
shall enjoy il, and our children will enjoy
it after us The trend of wel-being in
Continued on Sixth Page)