The Mena weekly star., 1907-12-05
A STRONG HAND ON THE
 BRAKE.

The Saturday Evening Post of November 30 published series of articles from leading men in answer to the query, 'Is Roosevelt Men ace to Business ?" The following is by Alexander H. Revell, Chicago merchant and manufacturer, and seems to cover the question pretty thoroughly:
 Certainly 1 do not believe that President Roosevelt is menace 10 business. On the contrary, regard him as statesman, and very far sighted one, who has remarkably clear view of the fundamentals of good and honest government.
 Tt is quit possible, l admit, that, if we had a President more given to temporizing and conciliation than President Roosevelt, things might present a smoother surface just at the moment; but that condition would only be false peace, preced- ing far more disastrous reaction than that which now confronts us.
 If the causes which have brought OH the present financial disturbance had been allowed to go unchecked by the restraining hand of courag- eous Chief Executive 1t seems to me altogether probable that the natural result would have been a political upheaval, possibly revolutionizing all existing political alignments and turning the control of the nations affairs over to radical and inexpe- rienced men wholly unfit for the responsibilities of government, and lacking in that integrity of character calculated to command the confi- dence of the people.
 Almost the whole cause of the present trouble appears to me to rest in the mania of speculation and frenzied finance which has, for long time, been holding the center of the stage in Wall Street. Some big men of this country seem inclined to dodge this point, but 1 can see no use in trying to escape this conclu- sion, or in attempting to conceal it by evasion. or by throwing up dust in other directions. l do not wish to charge those who are closest to the monetary situation of the coun- try with making evasive statements; but l do believe that it is idle to at tempt to cure the situation without coming out squarely and placing the responsibility where it belongs,
 If new laws are to be enacted dealing with our currency system those who are to frame such laws should have the advantage of plain and frank statement of the facts at the bottom of the trouble, and this is only to be had from those who are on the inside and know the truth. And 1 do not believe that we are likely to have any currency legis- lation-especially any that will serve as real remedy unless it is found ed on the basis of a real knowledge of the inside facts-a knowledge, for example, of the extent to which Wall Street has absorbed, in specu- lation and high finance, the surplus money of this country.
 There is kind of speculation, of course, which is legitimate, and there is kind which is illegitimate. AS see it, President Roosevelt does not believe that illegitimate specula- tion should have the first call on the money of the country-it should be put way down low on the waiting list. to take what is left after the manufacturer and the marchant and the real producer have had enough to do business on.
 Right now this country is in what might well be called the very flower of prosperity. with its factories busy with thrilled orders and its crops overfiowing in abundance.
 "A panic right now is a misfit, a contradiction to all the basic condi- tions. By every visible sign our prosperity should continue indefi- nitely and still we are in a money stringency. All this means to me that the trouble is speculative and currency difficulty one that ought to be impossible and one which should, by prompt and sensible leg islation, be made impossible of recurrence.