Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-12-07
QUOTES FROM 1905 MESSAGE
Innocent Will Have to Pay for Part Of
the Folly of the Guilty


u, In my ,oo message to the congress on
III the folly st q men mars the gen
nocent Of the folly viii have to pay
part of the penalty incurred by those
,Mho0 are guilty of the folly. panic
part Of the business community Would
surt the whole business community; but
such sbte to of od tt though
in the long run, the one vital factor
In the permanent prosperity of the coun..
the average American worker, the aver
age American citizen, no matter whether
his ", work be mental or manual, whether
man or professional man.
IN our industrial and social system
that of al Rs So 4a aeF
ity Of eases straight-doaling man. who
by his efficiency by his ingenuity and
benefit others, Normally. the man Of
great. productive capacity who becomes
rich by guiding the labor Of many 9th
produce more than they could produce
without his. guidance; and both, he and
also to the pubie at et large Wiz" The s SUPER
fetal fact that the sharing may be I'M
equal equal must never blind us to the under
and that the benefit comes in some de-
gree to each man concerned Normally;
wall as the average producer. are all
alike helped BY making conditions such
for his. ability. Something can be done
by legislation to help the, general pros
ly beneficial character can be given to
the less able and less fortunate save as
the the results of policy Theh shall
this is only another way of saying that
able and less fortunate must of neces-
and more Fortunate #. therefore, the
Of his more fortunate brother to strike
at the conditions under which they have
both. though unequally, prospered, the
result will assurediy be that While dam.
age may come to the one struck at, il
VIII visit with an !, even heavier load the
whole, we must all go up or go dowr
yet, yet. while not merely admitting, . bu
where there is no governmental restrain
or supervision some of the. exceptiona
men use their energies, not in ways tina
which tell against this common good
The fortunes amassed through corporate
such power in those that WELD them, a
to make 1t a matter of necessity to Civ
to the sov sSieg is TO to the gov
a Wholesome effective power of super
vision over their corporate use. In orde
to insure a healthy SOCIAL and industrial
responsible by. and be accountable tc
some sovereign strong enough to contrc
its conduct I am In no sense hostile t
corporations. This is an age of combina
ton, and any effort to prevent all com
bnation will be not ony 1 IS t5s 6u
tempt for law which the failure to en-
force law inevitably produces ,u. " :.
and ample fashion the immense goo
effected by corporate agencies in cour
try such as ours and o, the wealth
their service, and therefore normally t
the service of the public. by their OF
come to stay, just as, the trade unto
has come to stay Each can do and ha
done great good. Each should be favor
should be sharply checked where it act
against lazy and Justice.
"* The makers of our nationi
regulation of interstate commerce shout
come within the he sphere Of the j., gefn n,i
Of their taking this stand were eve
then overwhelming. But. they are fl
stronger today. in view Of the enormo 91
usually corporate in form. Experient
1, has shown concIusivey that 1t is us
less to try to get any adf tbaad rel
corporations by state action. Such rel
ulation and supervision can only be e
Jurisdiction is coextensve with the fie
of work of the corpora tions-that is,
the national government. believe tn
this regulation and supervision can
obtained by the enactment of law by Il
"a congress. 3 Our steady aim shou
be. by legislation. cautiously, and car
fully undertaken. but resolutely pc
severed in, to assert the sovereignty
the national government by affirmat
.'This Is only in form an innovatio
In substance it is merely restoratio
for from the earliest time such regul
ton of Industrial activities has been re
osn!zed in the action of the lawmakil
hodies; and all that j propose is to me
the changed conditions in such ma
dcating the power it has always pc
sessed not Only in this country: but al
in England before and since this cou
tr,, became separate nation.
i.Jt has been misfortune that t
national laws on this subject have hit
erto been Of sesatiXs Or dpro ohd Il
more that they nave in part sought
urohibit VIII could not be ,effectiys
pproi,ibited sad have in part in TIL
pprohibitious COMPOUNDED what SHOULD