Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1907-08-22

guilty of conduct wlisch from the moral
standpoint is criminal. and their misdeeds
are TO a peculiar degree reprehenstble, be-
cause those committing them have no ex-
cuse of want, OF poverty, Of weakness and
When in addition to moral responsibility
these men have a legal responsibility
Judge and jury, then the department will
strain every nerve to reach them criminals
~ Where this is impossible, then 1t will
take whatever action will be most effec-
tive under the actual conditions.
Our aim is TO try to do something effec-
tive; our purpose, is to stamp out the
Elective device for this purpose: arc we
shall then use it.. whether the device can
supplied by legislation: ,a-=s.s.sr. when
we thus take action against the wealth
which works niquity. we ere acting in
who acts decently and fairly. by his fell
lows and we ar. are stTengt he the
defend property against all unjust at
taclss. No individual. no corporation
chewing the law has "a anything to fear
The purpose of the administration is to
stamp out the evil: that we shall seek
purpose: and that we shall then use it,
whether the device can be found in ex-
I isting law OF must be supplied by legis-
laton Moreover, when we thus take ac-
ton against the wealth which works in
liquity, we are acting in the interest of
every man of property who acts decently
and fairly by his fellows; and we are
strengthening the hands of those who pro-
pose fearlessly to defend property against
all unjust attacks.
| ! very earnestly hope the legislation
which deals with the regulation of corpor-
ations engaged in Interstate business will
also deal with the rights and interests of
lSe;S cor
porations. Action was taken by the con-
siess last year limiting the number OF
employed. The law is a good one: but if
in practice ii proves necessary to strength
en- it. it must be strengthened We have
now secured a national employers liability
law; but ultimately a more far-reachng
and thorough-going law must be passed.
~ Is monstrous that a man or woman who
result of taking what are the necessary
risks of the occupation, should be re-
CURED II, to bear the whole burden of the
/ ana not placed solely upon the weakest in
dlvldtal, the one least able to carry it.
5x n ,,. sl the employer liable the loss
siie oenefclaries of the business.
Against Consumption.
/ also hope that there will be legislation,
| increasing the power of the national gov
ernnent to deal with certain matters con-
csr I The the health Of our people every
stance should join with all the state auth.
critics in warning against the dreadful
government, here in massachusetts. de-
serves high praise for the action it has
tai ia ken in these public health matters dur
| ing the last few wears: and in this, as in
some other matters, hope to see the
/ tional government stand abreast of tho
foremost state governments.
nave spoken of but one or two laws
which, In my Judgment. it is advisable to
enact as part of the general scheme for
making the interference of the national
4 government more effective in securing JUS
tice and fair dealing as between man and
man here in the United States. Let
h az /. however that while It is necessary
where we can only cope with evils
through the joint action of all of us, yet
A that we can never afford to forget that in
the last analysis the all-important factor
for each of us must be his Individual
chaIaeter 1t is :, necessary thing to have.
4 good laws good institutions; hut the most
necessary of all things is to have a high
quality OF individual citizenship. This does
not mean that we can afford to neglect
4 legislation. 1t Will be highly disastrous if
We permit ourselves to be misled by the
pleas of those who see in an unrestricted
indiVidualism the Insufficient panacea for
. social evils: but it will be even more dis
astrous to adopt the opposite panacea of
ans socialistic system which would de-
stroN al ndividualism. which would root
out the fiber of our whole citizenship. In
any great movement, such as that in
! which we are engaged, nothing is more
n ,' s:. Try than sanity, than the refusal
OF the ultra course on either side.
Liberty's Worst Foes.
Those professed friends of liberty who
champion license are the worst foes of
liberty and tend by the reaction their vio--
back into the hands of the men who cham
pion corruption and tyranny in the name
securing Justice toward all men, and
: lseauality of opportunity SO far as it can
be secured by governmental action. The
rich man who with hard arrogance de-
clines to consider The rights and the needs
of those who are less we'll off. and the poor
man who eXcites or INDUCES in envy and.
hatred OF those who are better Off are
alike alien to the spirit of our national
| life Each of them should learn to appre-
ciate he baseness and degradation of his
!, point of view. ls evil in the one case
: IN the other. There exists nc more sordld
and urloNely type OF ccr:si development
: than II nllltocracy. for there is Il peculiar
! any iloie.oneness in "a social and govern
E mental ideal where wealth by and of it
: self is held up. as the greatest good: The
> materalism of such a view, whether it
4 finds Its expression in the life of a man
) | who accunulatcs vast fortune in ways
: that arc repugnant to evcry instinct of gen
i crosby and of fair dealing. or whether it
, finds its expression in the vapidly useless
, and self-induigent life of the nhertor of
' that fortune is contemplating in the eyes
T of all men capable of thrill of lofty
4 feeling. Where the power of the law can
: he wisely used to prevent or to minimize
f tile acquisition OF business employment OF
{: such wealth and to make it pay by income
: or inheritance tax its proper share of tho
i burden OF government, would invoke
n thar power without moments hesitation.
= Bat while we can accomplish something
+ by legislation. legislation can never be
+ more than part. and often no more than
>, Il small part, in the general scheme of
/. moral progress; and crude or yindictve
N legislation may at any time bring such
= progress TO a halt. Certain socialistio
Headers propose to redistribute the worlds
goods by refusing To thrift and energy and
n industry their proper superiority over folly
h and idleness and sullcn envy. Such legis-
q lation would merely. in the words of the
), president of Columbia university, wreck
! the worlds efficiency for the purpose of
q redistributins the worlds discomfort" We
if should ali of us work heart and soul for
) the real and permanent betterment which
; will lift our democratic civilization TO a
N higher level of safety and usefulness. Such
betterment can come only by the slow,
II steady growth of the spirit which nletes a
70 generous but not a sentimental, Justice to
l., each man on his merits as man. and
@ which recognizes the fact that the highest
il and deepest happiness for the individual
+. lies; not in seltshness but in service.
i PACKERS ACQUIRE
=