Evening journal., 1907-04-27
Saturday, April a7, 1907.
pREs1pENT Ar JAMESTOWN.

II VERY formal utterance by President
IL Roosevelt in referring TO the nation, its
past and future and the larger patriotism. re-
veas his real enlightenment He grows upon
one His addresses, such as the one at James
town, show the depth of the man as thinker. his
comprehensive knowledge of history i'm its higher
sense, his penetration of the inevitable trend OF
nations under certain given conditions. In this
respect no president has surpassed Mr.. Roose-
velt
We have been blessed with wonderful indus
trial and commercial growth. We have been
often blinded by our prosperity. We have over
estimated it. For instance, an address by Speaker
Cannon on the conditions of the country tells
us Of nothing but the materialistic side. We are
great and rich-that is, some of us are-and
therefore nothing can happen TO us. Former
Secretary Shaw, for example, in his public adj
dresses declares that we arc so rich that we
should pray to the Lord TO halt the prosperity
Of the country. Many noted speakers take the
same line. They end there
Not so with Roosevelt. He looks at the coun-
try in a larger and higher sense. The United
States, according to his Interpretation, is not on
safe ground as yet lie is a guiding hand to
point the paths of safety to future real prosperity
which is a prosperity to be shared equitaby and
justly by all classes of the people. MIR. Roosc-
velt, as illustrated in this jamestown address,
realizes that there has been great production
of wealth in this couptry and also that there has
been an enormous concentration of riches in the
hands Of a few. Hence the gigantic corpora
tions. How shall they be dealt with? What shall
Ii. IL. IL. ..,f t,
the right to benefit by his own industry and sa-
gacity and what shall be his relations to the COM
munityl
President Roosevelt by implication, disposes
OF the socialist doctrine as leading to industrial
servitude We are to be economically and poht-
ically free and untrammeed people, lie speaks
for exact justice for ALL for protection against
predatory wealth, but he also condemns the
would-be destroyers OF property and Individuals
tic efforts who would cause industrial chaos or
create a despotism under the guise of a COM
munstic mob rule.
Underlying the thought of the President, as
often stated by him. and reiterated in the James
town address, is distrbutive justice. That is tho
problem forced upon all prosperous, all glowag
and wealthy nations. 1t e not merely the crea
ton Of wealth but its distribution.
Those who rightly unders:and the President
must look upon him as a conservative, not as a
radical Many OF his ideas on these questions
have long been held by writers both here and
abroad They have never been riveted upon the
popular attention merely because no man OF the
personality of Roosevelt has brought them home
to the people But they arc founded upon justice
They seem radical to those who hold to the doc
trine that government and nation are the
mere playthings Of the exploiting classes. Roose
welt brings to the heart and mind of the hum.
blest as we'll as TO the most intelligent OF cit-
zens, the essence OF justice as applied to nation.
industrially and Individually. His doctrines arc
fundamentally correct. They apply to present
conditions, not to those of thirty, or twenty, OF
even ten years ago. They rest upon a foundation
as strong as the rock of Gibraltar That is wh,
he is so intense in holding them; why he is s,
indifferent OF criticism against him; why he is ST
earnest in warning the country of them; why h
is SO eager in appealing to the nation, north ant
south, east and west, TO listen to them.
The President may be impulsive, at times h
may be indiscreet in some of his utterances; h
may be severely criticised but in all his forma
statements, like that at Jamestown he returns t
his real beliefs, changing them not in the slight
est but holding his faith as firmly as did til
apostles Of old.