The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-05-05
The PRESIDENT, in
MESSAGE, APPEALS
TO CONGRESS
Legislation on Lines of PreUi-
Gus Recommendations Urged
-Denounces "Sordid
Multimillionaires. /"


Washington, D. G. - President
Roosevelt sent TO Congress a message
reiterating his recommendation for
various kinds OF legislation, particu-
larly relating to the limitation of the
power of injunction and amendment
of The Sherman Antitrust law. In.
corporated with the message was an
appendix giving report of the chair
man OF the Finance Commission to
the Mayor and City Council of Boston
on the evil practices of certain cor
porations which have business rela-
tons with that city.
Nj. Roosevelt reminds Congress of
his message of March 25 last, and
says there is good ground for hope
that various measures then advo-
Gated will be enacted, including finan-
cial legislation providing for tempo
rary measures of meeting any trouble
that may arise in the next year or
two, and for commission of experts
who shall thoroughly investigate the
whole matter, both here and in the
great commercial countries abroad,
SO as to be able to recommend legis-
lation which will put our financial
system on an efficient and permanent
basis
1T Is much to be wished" the
President adds, that one feature of
the financial legislation of this ses-
sion should be the establishment of
postal savings banks. Ample appro-
priation should be made to enable
the Interstate Commerce Commission
to carry out the, very important feat
ure of the Hepburn law which gives
to the commission supervision and
control over the accounting systems
of the railways
Mr.. Roosevelt finds there is doubt
about the enactment of measures to
do away with the abuse of power of
Injunction and to strengthen control
by the National Government of cor
porations doing an interstate bust
ness.
The President declares that recent
decisions of the Supreme Court in the
Minnesota and North Carolina cases
show the impossibi1ity of dual control
OF national commerce. The failure
of Congress to act has left the regula-
ton of such commerce, he says, to
the occasional and necessarily made
quate and one-sided action of the
Federal judiciary" A court, he says,
can never act constructively, only
negatively or destructively.
"A court can decide what is faulty,
but it has no power to make better
what it thus finds to be faulty"
In the message the President urges
national incorporation law, or, if
that be deemed inexpedient, COM
mission in the Executive service
which shall pass upon any combina-
ton or agreement in relation to in
terstate commerce. Portions of the
message are devoted to a lecture on
the need Of honesty in business and
money making, Certain brands of
the rich are verbally trounced by the
President.
In this lecture on business hon
esty with which the message con-
eludes the President says:
Among the many kinds of evil, So
cial, industrial and political, which it
is our duty as nation sternly to
combat, there is none at the same
time more base and more dangerous
than the greed which treats the plain
and simple rules of honesty with Gym
ical contempt it they interfere with
making profG; and as a nation we
cannot be held guiltless if we condone
such action. The man who breaches
hatred of wealth honestly acquired,
who inculcates envy and jeal-
ousy and slanderous i'll will to-
ward those of his fellows who by
thrift, energy and industry have be-
come men of means, is a menace to
the community. But his counterpart
in evil is to be found in that particu-
lar kind of multimillionaire who is
almost the least enviable, and is GER
tainly one of the least admirable, of
all our citizens; man of whom it
has been well said that his face has
grown hard and cruel while his body
has grown soft; whose son is fool
and his daughter foreign princess:
whose normal pleasures are at best
those of a tasteless and eztravagant
luxury, and whose real delight, whose
real life work is the accumulation
and use OF power in its most sordid
and least elevating form.
I'm the chaos of an absolutely I'M
restricted commercial individualism
under modem conditions, this is a
type that becomes prominent as inev-
itably as the marauder baron became
prominent in the physical chaos CT
tho DARK A Uac