The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-10-01
LAW BREAKERS WILL BE
PROSECUTED, REGARDLESS
OF WEALTH OR FEAR THAT
RESULT WILL AFFECT
PROSPERITY.

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 1.-Pres. Roose-
velt's trip down the Mississippi
commenced this morning at KeO-
kuk will be one of the greatest
ovations ever given a president
over the same length of territory.
Hundreds of visitors are pouring
into st. Louis and river craft of
every description lies at the docks.
There will be the greatest as
semlage of steamboats, seen on the
river since the war.
The presidents speech at Keo-
kuk was addressed to the men and
women of Iowa. After preliminary
compliments he branched into eco
nomic discussion saying in part:
During the last few years we
Of the United States have been
forced to consider very seriously
certain economic problems. We
have made a beginning in the at
tempt to deal with the relations of
the national government-that is,
with the relations of the people of
the country-to the huge and
wealthy corporations, controlled
for the most part by few very
rich men, which are engaged in In
terstate business, especially the
great railway corporations. You
know that l believe that the ma
tional government, In the interests
of the people, should assume much
the same supervision and control
over the management of the inter
state common carriers that 1t now
exercises over the national banks.
You know furthermore that be-
lieve that this supervision and
control should be exercised in a
spirit of rigid fairness toward the
corporations. exacting justice from
them on behalf of the people but
giving them justice in return.
Recently l have been reading
the work of the eminent Italian
scholar Ferrero on the history of
the Roman republic, when the life
Of the Roman state had become
that of a complex and luxurious in
dustrial civilization. | am happy
to say that the differences between
that civilization and our own are
more striking than the resem-
blances: and there is no warrant
for our being drawn into any pessi-
mistic comparison between the two
civilizations. But there is every
reason why we should study care
fully the past in order to draw
from it lessons for use in the pres
ent.
"One Of the most striking fea-
lures of the years which saw the
downfall of the Roman republic
was the fact that the political life
of Rome became split between two
camps, one containing the rich who
wished to exploit the poor, and the
other the poor who wished to
plumber the rich. Naturally, under
such circumstances, the public
man who was for the moment sue
cessful tended to be either a VIC
lent reactionary or violent
demagogue. Any such condition OF
political life Is as hopelessly I'M
healthy now as it was then. I be-
lieve so implicitly in the future of
our people. because | believe that
the average American citizen will
no more tolerate government by a
mob than h will tolerate govern
ment by plutocracy; that he de-
sires to see justice done to and
justice exacted from rich man and
poor man alike. We are not try
ing to favor any man at the ex-
pense of his fellows.
I'VE are trying to shape things
so that as far as possible each
man shall have fair chance in
life; so that he shall have, so far
as by law this can be accomplish
ed, the chance to show the stuff
that there is in him. We have no
intention of trying to work for the
impossible and undesirable end OF
giving to the lazy. the thriftless
the weak and the vicious the re,
ward that belongs to, and in the