Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-10-15
Steadfastness to Law.

president Rooseyel,'s Keokuk speech
You know that / believe that the
National government, in the interests of
the people, should assume much the
same supervision and control of the iu-
terstate common carriers that it now
exercises over the national banks. You
know furthermore that / believe that
this supervision and control should be
exercised in spirit Of rigid fairness
toward the corporations, exacting justice
from them on behalf of the people but
giving them justice in return. There
fore we need wise laws, and we need to
have them resolutely administered. We
can get such laws, such administration
only if the people are alive to their
interests.
Each man here knows that he himself
has been able to use his freedom to ad-
vantage only provided that he could
master himself, that he could control his
own passions and direct his own facul-
ties. Each of you fathers and mothers
here knows that il your sons are to do
we'll in the world they must know how
to master themselves. Every man must
have a master; II he is not his own mas
ter, then somebody else will be. This is
Just as true of public life as of private
life. IL We can not master ourselves,
control ourselves, then sooner or later
we shall have to submit to outside con-
troll. One way OF exercising such con-
troll is through the laws Of the land.
Ours is government of liberty, but it 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 to me
not 10 enforce the law against certain
wrongdOers of great wealth because to
do so would interfere with the business
prosperity of the country. Under the
effects of that kind of fright which when
sufficiently acute we call panic, this APP
peal has been made to 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 to the effect that the so-called
financial weakness was due entirely to
the admitted intention of President
Roosevelt to punish the large moneyed
interests which had transgressed the
laws. II that be so, while / do not ad-
NIT it, as far as am concerned it must
be accepted as disagreeable but un-
avoidable feature in a course of policy
which as long as am President will not
be changed.
In any great movement for righteous
ness, where the forces of evil are strong
ly intrenched, it is unfortunately in
evitable that some unoffending people
should suffer in company with the real
offenders. This is not our fault. 1t is
the fault of those to whose deceptive
action these innocent people owe their
false position. A year or two ago GER
tain representatives Of labor called upon
me and in the course of a very pleasant
conversation told me that they regarded
me as the friend of labor. l answered
that certainly was, and that / would
do everything in my power for the labor
ing man except anything wrong have
the same answer to make to the business
man. viii do everything can to help
business conditions. except anything
that is wrong. And it would be not
merely wrong but infamous to fail to do
all that can be done to secure the pun
ishment of those wrongdoers whose
deeds are peculiarly reprehensible be-
cause they are not committed under the
stress of want.