The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1907-12-03
To the Senate and House of Repre-

No nation mas STedter fcoouiSco eh"'
ours. and / think il can be truthfnlly
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 al this very moment, and 1t Is
foolish. when such is the case, for peo-
ple to hoard money instead of keeping
Il in sound banks, for 1t is such hoard
ing that is the immediate occasion OF
money stringency. Moreover, as
rule. the business of our people is con-
Quoted with honesty and probity, and
fhis applies alike to farms and facto-
ries 10 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 busi-
ness that are really unsound. When
the misdeeds OF these successfully dis
comes not only upon them. but upon
the innocent men whom they have
misled IL is a painful awakening
whenever il occurs, and naturally
when Il does occur those who suffer
are apt to forget that the longer II
was deferred the more painful il
would be- In the effort TO punish the
guilty IL is both wise and proper TO
endeavor, so far as possible. 10 mini
mize the distress of those who have
been misled by the guilty. Yet ii is
not possible TO refrain because OF such
distress from striving TO put an end
10 the misdeeds that are the ultimate
causes of the suffering and as a means
70 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
10 the need of unfiinching perseverance
in the war against successful dishon-
esty.
I'm my message TO the congress on
Dec. !. 1905. said:
III the folly OF man mars tho general
well being, then those who are jnno-
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 10y the speculative folly OF part of
the business community would hurt
the whole business community, but
such stoppagc OF welfare, though IL
might he severe. would not be lasting.
ia 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
the interests Of all men are SO closely
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 10 produce more than they could
produce without his guidance, and both
be and they share in the benefit which
comes also 10 the public at large. The
superficial fact that the sharing may
bc unequal must never blind us to the
underlying fact that there is this shar-
ing and that the benefit comes i'm some
degree 10 each man concerned. Nor
mally the wageworker, the man Of
small means and the average consum-
or as we'll as the average producer are
all alike helped by making conditions
such that the man of exceptional bust
ness ability receives an exceptional re-
ward for his ability. Something can
be done by legislation to help the gen,
eral prosperity, but no such help OF a
permanently beneficial character car
be given TO the less able and less for
tunate save as the results OF policy
which shall inure TO the advantage o.
all industrious and efficient people wh'
act decently, and this is only anothe
way of saying that any benefit which
comes to the less able and less fortu
nate must Of necessity come even mor'
10 the more able and more fortunate
If therefore the less fortunate mar
is moved by envy Of his more fortu
nate brother TO strike at the condi
tions under which they have both
though unequally. prospered. the result
will assuredly be that, while damage
may come TO the one struck at, IL will
visit with an even heavier load the
one who strikes the blow. Taken as
a whole. we must all go up or 90 down
together.