The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-06-17

| war. but a lie" years ago we per Hlt-
ted thousands of re republicans to leave
u.s. thereby imperiling our political
! power, rather than abandon the gold
standard and plunge the country into
disaster and dishonor.
In these latest years, as in the most
remote, we have been true to our ira
ditions. In the process of development
point was reached where the coun-
| try was confronted by a situation
more perilous than any it has ever fac
ed except in the civil war, and we
republicans were therefore obliged to
deal with problems of the most COM
pick and difficult character.
To our honor be it said. we have
not shrunk from the task. Much has
been done-much, no doubt, still re-
mains to debut the great underly-
ing principles have been established
and upon them We can build, as ne ces-
sity arises, carefully and deliberately.
| have spoken of the seriousness Of
the situation with which the country
was confronted. It's gravity can hard
ly be overestimated. 1t grew out of
conditions and was the result of for
ces beyond the control of men,
Science and invention. the two great
factors in this situation, have not only
altered radically human environme MT
and our relations to nature, but, in
their application, they have revolu-
tionized economic conditions. These
changed economic conditions have in
turn affected profoundly society and
politics. They have led, among other
things, to combinations of capital and
labor on scale and with a power new
er before witne ssed. They have open
ed the way to accumulations of wealth
in masses beyond the dreams of avar-
ice and never before conte mplated by
men.
The social and political problems
thus created are wholly new. 1t is a
fallacy to suppose that because the
elements are old the problem itself
must therefore differ only in degree
from those which have gone before.
The elements may be old, but the
problem presented by a change in the
proportion Of the elements may be
and in this case is, entirely new.
Great individual fortunes and rich
men are, it is true, as old as record
ed history. Nearly 1000 years ago
the tax farmers of Rome formed a
trust for their own profit and pro-
lection; the English people, three
centuries ago. revolted against the
patents and monopolies granted by
Elizabeth and James to their courtiers
and monopolists, forestallers and spec
ulators in the nece ssities of life were
curse in our revolution and bitterly
denounced by Washington Yet it is
none the less true that the same
things today present questions diff
ferent in kind as we'll as in degree
from their predecessors
1t is the huge size of private for
tunes, the vast extent and power of
modern combinations of capital, made
possible by present conditions, which
have brought upon us in these later
years problems porpentous in their
possibilities and tire atening not only
our social and political welfare, but
even our personal freedom, if they are
not boldly met and wisely solved.
The great body of the American
people, neither very rich nor yery
poor the honest, the thrifty, the hard
working, the men and women who
earn and save. have no base envy.
no fanatic hatred, of wealth, whether
individual or corporate. if it is hon
ously employed with a sense of respon-
sibility to the public. But this great
body of our people, by habit and in
stinct alike, wisely conservative-these
people who are the bone and sinew of
our country, upon whom its fortunes
and its safety rest-began to observe
with deep alarm the recent manifesto
lions OF the new economic conditions.
More and more they came to believe
that these vast fortunes and these huge
combinations of capital were formed
and built up by tortuous and dishonest
means and through a cynical disre-
gard OF the very laws which the mass
OF the people were compelled to obey.
1hey began to fear that political DOW
er was being reft from their hands and
put into the possession of the money
holders, that their dearest rights were
49, NNthSSA, IhdG tHSlE hopes Oh success
and advancement were cut off by bust
ness systems which they could not I'M
derstand, but by which the individual
vas sacrificed and held down.
To those who looked beneath the
surface, an ominous unrest was appar-
ent. The violent counsels of violent
men, who aimed at the destruction of
property and the overthrow of law, be-
gan to be heard and hearkened to. The
great order-loving. Industrious masses
of the American people turned away
from these advocates of violence, but,
at the same time, demanded that their
government should give them in law
fui and reasonable ways, the protection
to which they were entitled against
the dangers they justly apprehended.
The great duty of fulfilling these
righteous demands, like all the great