Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-12-04
ROOSEVELT
TO CONGRESS
The Most important Message of
Recent Years.
COMPREHENSIVE IN SCOPE.

Great Questions of State Ably Presented by
President Roosevelt, Who Recommends
Legislation of Importance Along
Many Lines.
The president in his message to con.
| gress says:
No nation has greater resources than
ours, and / think 1t 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 1t is
foolish when such is the case for peo-
pie to hoard money instead Of keeping
it in sound banks, for it is such hoard
ing that is the immediate occasion Of
money stringency. Moreover. as a
rule, the business Of our people is con-
Quoted with honesty and probity. and
l'this applies alike to farms and fac
tories, 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
example is q very evil thing for the
community. Where these men are
business men Of grea. sagacity and o.
temperament both INSCRIPTIONS and
reckless, an! 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 in
vestments or embarking in kinds Of
business 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 whom they have misled.
It Is a painful awakening. whenever 1t
occurs, and naturally when 1t does oc-
cur 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 minimize 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 ulti-
mate causes of the suffering and, as a
means to this end, where possible to
punish those responsible for them
There may be honest differences Of
opinion as to many governmental poll
cies, but surely there can be no such
differences as to the need Of unfiinch-
ing perseverance in the war against
successful dishonesty.
Interstate Commerce.
No small part of the trouble that we
have comes from carrying to an ex-
treme the national virtue Of self reli-
ance, of independence in initiative
and action. 1t is wise to conserve this
virtue and to provide for its fullest
exercise compatible with seeing that
liberty does not become liberty to
wrong others. Unfortunately this is
the kind of liberty that the lack of all
effective regulation inevitably breeds.
The founders of the constitution pro-
vided that the national government
should have complete and sole control
Of interstate commerce. There was
| then practically no interstate business
save such as was conducted by water.
and this the national government at
| once proceeded to regulate In thorough
going and effective fashion. Conditions
have now so wholly changed that the
| interstate commerce by water Is insig
nificant compared with the amount
that goes by land, and almost all big
business concerns are now engaged In
Interstate commerce. AS result 1t can
be but partially and imperfectly con-
trolled or regulated by the action Of
| any one Of the several states, such ac-
ton inevitably tending to be either
| too drastic or else too lax and In either
case ineffective for purposes Of justice.
Only the national government can In
L tuOIOuSuSOluS iuouiOh CASiStoC thC
needed control. This does not mean
that there should be any extension Of
federal authority. for such authority
already exists under the constitution
in amplest and most far reaching form.
but 1t does mean that there should be
an extension Of federal activity. This
is not advocating centralization. 1t is
merely looking facts In the face and
realizing that Capitalization in business
has already come and cannot be avoid
ed or undone and that the public at
large can only protect itself from GER
tain evil effects of this business cen
tralization by providing better methods
for the exercise Of control through the
authority already centralized in the
national government by the constitu-
ton itself. There must be no halt In
the healthy constructive course Of ac-
ton which this nation has elected to
pursue and has steadily pursued dur
| ing the last six years. as shown both
In the legislation Of the congress and