The Washington times., 1907-10-01

advantage only provided that he could
master himself. that he could control
his own passions and direct his own
faculties. Each Of you fathers and
mothers here knows that II your sons
are TO do well IN the world they must
know how 20 master themselves. Every
his own master. then somebody else viii
be This IS just as true OF public life
as OF private life. II we cannot master
ourselves, control ourselves, then sooner
or late- We shall have 20 submit 70 out
side control. for there must be control
somewhere
Way TO Exercise Control.
One way Of execising such control IS
through the laws Of the land. Ours is
government OF liberty. but Il IS a
government Of that orderly liberty
which comes by and through the honest
enforcement OF and obedience to the
law. At intervals during the last few
months the appeal has been made 10
me not TO enforce the law against Ger
tain wrongdOers OF great wealth, be-
the business prosperity OF the country.
Under the effects OF thar kind 1f friElt
which when sufficiently acute We can
panic. this appeal has been made 10 me
even by men who ordinarily behave as
decent citizens. One newspaper which
has Itself strongly advanced this view
gave prominence TO the statement OF a
certain man OF great wealth. 70 the ef-
feet that the sO-called financial weak
ness was due entirely TO the admitted
intention Of President Roosevelt to pun
!sn the large mCneyed interests which
had transgressed the laws" do NOT
admit that this has been the main
cause OF any business troubles we hg.ys
had; but Il Is possible that Il has teSq
cOnIrlbuIory cause II So friends rs
Tar as I am concerned. It must be az
= n Heafe D.
bic feature in d course OF policy which
as long as / am President viii nSt re
changed.
In any great movement for right
eOusRess, where the forces OF evil
are strongly iRtrenehed. it is un-
fortunately inevitable that some un-
offending people should suffer in
company with the real offenders,
This is not our fault. II is the
fault Of those to whose deceptive
action these innocent people owe
their false position.
4 year or two ago certain representa-
uves OF labor called upon me. and IN
the course Of a very pleasant conversa-
| tiOn told me that they regarded me as
/ the friend of labor" 1 answered that
everything in my power for the labor
ing man. except anything that was
wrong.
I have the same answer to make to
the business man.
I viii do everything I can do to help
business conditions. except anything
| ihat Is wrong And IL would be not
tGerely wrong but Infamous to fail 10
so all that can be done to secure the
/ punishment of those wrOngdOers whose
deeds ars peculiarly reprehensible be-
cause they are not committed under the
stress Of want Whenever a serious ef-
fort is made 70 cut Out what is 4 II in
our political life. whether the effort
takes the shape of warning against the
| gross and sordid forms OF evil in some
municipality. or whether il takes the
shape OF trying TO secure the honest en-
forcement of the law as against very
| powerful and wealthy people. there are
sure 70 be certain individuals who de-
mahd that the movement stop because It
may hurt business IN each case the
answer must be that we earnestly hope
and believe that there Will be ~ perma-
nent damage 10 business from the move
ment, but that II righteousness conflicts
With the fanciec needs of business, then
The latter must go 70 the wall.
We cannot AFFORD te substitute
any other test for that of guilt or
innocence, of wrOngdOing or we'll
doing, in Judging any man. If a
man does well, If he acts honestly,
he has nothing TO fear from this
Administration. But so far as in
me lies the corrupt politician, great
or small, the private citizen who
transgresSes the Iaw-be he rich or
pOOr-shall be brought before the
impartial justice Of a court.
Perhaps I am most anxious to get at
the politician who Is corrupt, because
he betrays a great trust, but assuredly
shall not spare his brother corruption
lst VINO shows himself a swindler IN
business hfe and. according to our pow
er. crimes Of fraud and cunning shall
be prosecuted as relentlessly as crimes
OF brutality and physical violence.
We need good laws aud we need, above
all things. the hearty aid OF good cit
liens in supporting and enforcing the
laws Nevertheless. men and women G Z
this great state. men and women of ths
Middle West, never forget that law AMI
the admin IstrauOm OF law, important
though they are, must always Occupy 4
wholly secondary place as compared
with the character OF the average cltl-
zen himself. on this trip I shall speals