The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1907-12-04
Must Var Against
Successful Dishonesty

In any large body OF men, however,
there are certain 10 be some VINO are
dfshonest and il the conditions are
s75ch that these men prosper or commit
their rnfsdeeds with impunlty their eA-
sr7rIe IS q very evil thing Tor the COM
,,1unffs- Where these men are business
mon OF great sagacity and OF tenpera-
rnent both unscrupulous ana rec eShltss,
and where the conditions are such lhdt
they act without supervision OF coItI2t Iy
and at first without eHectlNS cheCh
from public opinion, they oeluoe many
innocent people into making lnNcst-
lnenrs or embarl<ing IN kinds OF ousl-
ess that are really unsOund. When the
,ofs5eeds of these successfully dlsnoAeSl
mon are discovered sarerlnS comes,
not only upon them Dul upoH ne n
nOcput men whom they have missed II
IS a painful awakening whenever II oc-
ours. and naturally when II does occur
those who suffer are apt to forget that
the longer II was deferred the more
painful ii woulS be. In the effort 70
nunish the guilty il is both wise ana
-,rore,. 70 endeavOr so far as possible 10
-ninjnnfze the distress OF those who nave
heen misled by the guilty. Yet II IS
nos nossfbIe to refrain because. or such
t5ssfress from striving TO put an END 70
the misdeeds that are the uitilnate
causes of the suffering. ana as q means
"a this end. where possible, TO punish
those responSi bic for them Ihere may
- bonesf differences Of opinion as to
many governmental policies, but surely
there can be no such differences as 10
the need OF unf1inchlng perseverance IN
the war against SucCeSsAU4 uASi-OHtSt9- .
In my message TO the congress on
December 3, 1905. said.
eTf the folly Of man mars the general
we'll being then those who are innocent
~ the folly viii have TO pay part OF
he Denalty incurred by those who are
r11iIfv Of the folly. A panic brought
~ nv the speculative folly Of part OF
the business community Woulo hure
~ whole business community. but
e-ch efoppage Of welfare, though 1t
night be severe would not be lasting.
IN the long run the one vital factor IN
the permanent prosperity OF the coun-
frv IS the high individual character OF
-,e average American worker. the av-
eraae American citizen, no matter
1vLether his work be mental or manual.
,r-befher he be farmer or wage worker,
businessman or professional man.
Interests Intertwncd
ON our industrial and social system
+ha interests Of all men are so closely
f-terfzvfned that in the immense major
sfv of cases a straight dealing man who
bv his efficiency, by his ingenuity and
Industry. benefits himseh must also
benedf others. Normally the man Of
rrreaf productive capacity who becomes
@;ct nv guiding the labor Of many other
-.e- doee so by enabling them to pro-
6uce more than they could produce
r,-fffort HIS guidance, and Doth ne and
they share in the oenents "nlch comes
LED - the public at large. The super
9cisl fact that the sharing may be un-
e-,,eg mast never blind us to the under
1,-issr~. fact that there is this sharing and
5haf the benefit comes IN some degree
- each man concerned Normally the
,- -. ---orixer- the man of small means
end the average consumer, as Wen as
the average producer. are al anke
,-olreS h~ making conditions such that
ehe nan OF exceptional business ability