Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-04-27

for his failures. a sovereign must accept
the responsibility for the exercise Of the
power that inheres in him. and where as
is true IN our republic. the people are sover-
eign, then the people must show sober
gnaeTstanains and sane and stsadtast
purpose N they are to preserve that orderly
liberty upon which as a foundation every
republic must rest
In Industrial matters our enormous pros
perity has brought with Il certain grave
evils. II Is our duty to try to cut out these
evils without at the same time destroying
our well being Itself. This is an era Of
combination alike in the world Of capital
and in the world OF labor. Each kind Of
combination can do good, and yet each,
however powerful, must be opposed when II
does I'M At the moment the greatest prob
lem before us is how to exercise such con-
troll over the business use OF vast wealth,
individual, but especially corporate, as will
insure its not being used against the inter-
est OF the public, while yet permitting such
ample legitimate profits as will encourage
individual initiative. 1t Is our business to
put a stop to abuses and to prevent their
recurrence, without showing a spirit OF
mere indebtedness for what has been done
The wrongdoer the man who swindles
and cheats. whether on a big scale or a
little one. shall receive at our hands
mercy as scant as IL he committed crimes
Of violence or brutality. We are unalter-
ably determined to prevent wrongdoing in
the future we have no intention Of trying
to wreak such an indiscriminate vengeance
for wrongs done in the past would con-
found the innocent with the guilty. Our
purpose Is to build up rather than to tear
down. We show ourselves the truest
friends Of property when we make IL evil
dent that we will not tolerate the abuses
OF property. We are steadily bent on pre-
serving the institution Of private property.
We combat every tendency toward reduc-
ing the people to economic servitude: and
we care not whether the tendency Is due
to a sinister agitation directed against all
Prton z, or fbo whether It g due to the
classes whose anti-social power IL immeAs-
urably Increased because Of the very fact
that they possess wealth.
MANS n man for n That"
Above all. we insist that while facing
i changed conditions and new problems. we
must face them in the spirit which our
forefathers showed when they founded and
preserved this republic. The cornerstone
of the republic lies in our treating each
man on his worth as man., paying no
occupation, asking not whether he is rich
or poor. whether he labors with head OF
hand; asking only whether he acts de-
tons Of his life. whether he behaves we'll
to his family, to his neighbors, to the
state. We base our regard for each man
on the essentials and not the accidents.
| We judge him not by his profession, but
! by his deeds; by his conduct, not by what
Other "a" republics have fallen, because oI the
/ citizens gradually grew to consider the
| interests of a class before the interests OF
mattered little whether 1t was the poor
/ who plundered the rich or the rich who
/ exploited the poor; IN either event the end
| of the republic was at hand. We are reso-
lutte in our purpose not to fall In such a
| pit. This great republic Of ours shall
| never become the government of a plu-
/ tocracy, and 1t shall never become the
government of a mob. God willing, II
shall remain what our fathers who
founded 1t meant 1t to be-a government
in which each man stands on his worth
as a man, where eacl. is given the largest
/ personal liberty consistent with securing
| the well-being Of the whole, and where, SC
| far as in us lies, we strive continually Ia
secure for each man such equality OF
| opportunity that in the strife of life he
may have fair chance to show. the stun
/ that is in him. We are proud Of our
schools and of the trained intelligence they
give our children the opportunity to &C.
quire. But what we care for most Is the
character Of the average man; for we be-
/ lieve that II the average Of character In
| the individual citizen Is sufficiently high
/ IL he possesses those qualities which make
/ him worthy Of respect in his family life
and in his work outside. as we'll as the
! qualities which At him for success In the
/ hard struggle of actual existence-that II
such is the character OF our Individual
citizenship, there is literally no height OF
! triumph unattainable in this vast expert.
ment of government by, Of and for free
! people.