Arizona republican., 1908-02-16
AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN ON THE SPECIAL MESSAGE.
1t Describes the Document as a Flow Of Personal Vituperation.

Theodore Roosevelt's message to
 congress or January 3Ist contained
 was socialistic. much that was petty
 and persOnal-but' nothing unexpect-
 ed.
 Such a tirade of Rooseveltian veIi-
 Seance. in ordinary times. would have
 started a panic Such a remarkable
 flow of personal vituperation from
 any former president of the United
 States would have started a reyolu-
 tion. But Roosevelt has already
 done his worst; so no one trembled.
 nothing happened.
 And when we say his worst" we do
 not refer to the panic of the past six
 ty days-admit. if you want to. that Roosevelt had nothing to do with that. We refer to the fact that the president by his inflammatory talk. by his broadside accusations. and by the slime of suspicion he has thrown over all big business enterprises, has as effectually checked initiative in the
 United States. as if it were a crime punishable by imprisonment.
 Initiative and enterprise distinguish the United States from all other na- tions on the globe. not only as regards business, but as regards literature. art. invention. educ2tion. civilization. pro- gress. Asia sleeps and snOres under the blanket of her traditions. Africa wriggles under the thumb of foreign CTS. and is poor in spite of her riches. South America stumbIes in Spanish shackles. Europe moves leisurely. and in circles. While. in less than 150 years. the United States has been able to surpass them all. It is not the wealth of our mines. or the richness of our soil that has enabled us to do this-it is the initiative. the enterprise that springs from and inspires our people.
 The railroad is the best example of our national initiative and enterprise. The railroad is no ordinary business It differs strikingly in that. while ordinary businesses follow demand the railroad precedes de- mand.
 The manufacturer says: 'I will test this new invention by making up a few: if it proves to be what the peo- pie want. I will manufacture it on a larger and better scale"
 The merchant says: If there is a cail for this new class of goods. I will lay in big stock. and push the sale"
 But with the railroad. it is different. There are no populous stretches of farms no strings of cities full of fact Ories and stores. waiting for the rail- road to come along and carry their passengers and haul their freights. The railroad must come first. It must wait for the farmers, it must wait for the merchants. it must wait for the towns that will crystalline into cities full of factories aItd mills and shops
 It is initiative. and enterprise. that builds railroads from the coast to the and over the mountains. and over the praries. and over the desert. and over the mountains again to the coast It is initiative and en- terprise. without which we would be no better off than Africa or South America, with future no better than Asia's.
 If you do not believe that Roose- welt has positively and absolutely checked railroad enterprise and initia- tive. if you think that only the bad railroads are in for punishment and the good ones vii be let alone, go to your banker and ask him how best to invest your savings. The chances are ten to one that he will say: Put your money in good bonds. but not in rail- road bonds"
 We do not mean a Wall Street banker, but the banker right in your home town.
 And if you press him for his reason. he will tell you that the railroads are in for a bad spell; that there is so much agitation about rate bills. and two-cents fares. and interstate com plications. that the railroads are paralyzed with caution and doubt that as result of present conditions there are today a third of a million freight cars standing empty and idle on lone ly side-tracks. and that if the thing goes on much longer, there won't be enough side tracks to hold the empty cars; that close on to 10000 locomo- tives are rusting away in the round houses; that several hundred million dollars worth of equipment, which, a year ago, was doing almost dIible duty, is now idle. and producing no income; that, in addition to these things, which are due only indirectly to the Roosevelt administration. rail1 roads, nowadays, are liable to have their property confiscated by huge fines for technical offenses over which, as a bondholder. you would have no control
 vinced, and say to yourself that it seems hard on the-railroads. but that it is better so. if the rich offenders can~be put in jail. Then remember this: