The Yale expositor., 1908-02-14

people with contempt which the public
| deserves as long as II permits such men
| 10 act with impunity." Ii was at that
! point and i'm connection with the insur-
! anCe and Chicago * Alton scandals that
! Mr. Roosevelt took the heaviest fall out
/ of wealthy corporations which have been
! held To account by the government. The
| message continued:
The Keynote of an these attacks upon
| the effort to secure honesty in business
! and In politics is well expressed In bra
zen protests against any effort for the
! moral regeneration OF the business WORTH
| ON the ground that II is unnatural, un-
warranted and injurious. and that busl-
ness panic is the necessary penalty for
such effort to secure business honesty.
! The morality OF such plea is precisely
as great as If made on behalf of the
men caught in Il gambling establishment
! when that gambling establishment Is
raided by the police. IL such words mean
| anything they mean that those
whose sentiments they they represent
about moral regeneration of business
which will prevent a repetition of the in
surance. banlylng , and street railroad
the Chicago & Alton deal; repetition
! of the combination between certain pro-
| tess.onal politicians, certain professional
labor leaders, and certain big hnanciers,
! from the disgrace of which San Francis
| 60 has just been rescued; repetition
| OF the successful effort by the Standard
| oil people To crush out every competitor,
! to overawe the common carriers and to
establish monopoly which treats the
|
| deserves so long as IL permits men or
! such principles and such sentiments to
avow and act on them with immunity.
! The cutlery against stopping dishonest
| practices among wrongdoers who hap
! pen 10 be wealthy is precisely similar
| to the outcry raised against every effort
! for cleanliness and dccency in city gov
| eminent, because, forsooth, 1t VIII 'hurt
! business
Tells of criticising Judges.
"Our opponents have recently been bit
! fns1N tFiG =
To I'm the accompanying Communications
! from the Standard Oil Company and the
! Santa Fe Railroad for having imposed
! heavy fines on these two corporations;
! and vet these same critics OF these two
! Judges exhaust themselves in denounc-
! ing the most respectful and cautious
| discussion Of the official action of a judge
| which results i'm immunity 10 wealthy
| and powerful wrongdocrs. Most certain
| utmost respect the high office of judge;
| and our Judges, as a whole. are brave
| and upright men. Respect for the law
! must 60 hand i'm hand with respect Tor
! the Judges: and. as a whole, II is true
| now as in the past that the judges stand
! i'm character and service above all other
! men among their fellow-serVants Of the
! public. The judge who does his fun
! duty well stands higher, and renders
o oftgr n SgNe' servant he is entitled 10
| greater respect; and If he is true ser
| want of the people. II he is upright wise
| and fearless he will unhesitatingly dis
regard even the wishes of the people
! if they conflict with the eternal prln-
ciples of right as against wrong. He
| must serve the people; but he must
/ serve his own conscience first All honor
| to such a Judge; and all honor can not
be rendered him II II is rendered equally
| to his brethren who fall UNNECESSARILY
| below the high ideals for which he
stands Untruthful criticism is wicked at
all times and whoever may be the OBJ
! ject: but IL is peculiarly hagrant In
! iquity when a judge is the object. No
man should lightly, criticise a judge; no
| man should. even in his own mind. con-
denim a judge unless he Is sure OF the
| facts. II a judge is assailed for stand,
| ing against popular folly. and above all
| for standing against mob violence, all
| honorable men should rally instantly TO
! his support. Nevertheless IL he clearly
fails TO do his duty by the public in
| dealing with lawbreaking corporations,
| lawbreaking men of wealth, he must eN-
| pect to feel the weight OF public opin-
| ion; and this is but right, for except In
extreme cases this is the only way in
| which he can be reached at all. No ser
want of the people has a right to expect
! to be free from just and honest crltlclsm'
"An Ethical Movement"
'"The opponents of the measures we
another measure for especial attack and
| speak as II the movement in which we
are engaged was purely economic. IL mas
! n large economic side, but II is funda-
| mentally an ethical movement IL is not
a movement to be completed in one year,
| or two years or three years: IL is
movement which must be persevered in
until The spirit which lies behind il sinks
deep into the heart and the conscience
portant to choose the right means TO
| achieve our purpose. but 1t is even
more important to keep this purpose
| clearly before us; and this purpose rs
| to secure national honesty in business
| and i'm politics. We do not subscribe TO
the cynical belief that dishonesty and
| unfair dealing are essential to business
| success, and are to be condoned when the
| success is moderate and applauded when
the Se Is sTep OH peepe and those
| engaged in the other combinations or
| which I have spoken above nave
| achieved great fortunes can only be JUS
| tilted by the advocacy of a system OF
| morality which would also JUSTIFY every
| form of Criminality on the part or
| corruption and fraud from murder 70
bribery and ballot-box stuffng in poll
| tics We are trying to secure equallIy
| of opportunity for all: and the struggle
| for honesty is the same whether II Is
| made on behalf of one set OF men or OF
| another In the interest of the small
| settlers and landowners. and against the
| embittcred opposition of wealthy owners
| Of huge wandering ilocks OF sheep, or or
corporations desiring TO rob the people
| of coal and timber, we strive 10 put an
| end TO the theft of public land IN the
| west When we do this, ana protest
| against the action OF all men. whether
! i'm public life or in private lfe who
| either take part in or refuse TO try 10
stop such theft we arc really engaged
| To- put a stop to rebates or 10 prevent
| the upgrowth Of uncontrolled mOnopolies.
! orr effort is simply to enforce the prin-
| ciples of common honesty and common
sense. 1t would indeed be III for the
country should there be any halt in our
| work"
State Government Must Aid.
Eth. the state or national gov
eminent must undertake the regula-
| ton, of which the president spoke, and
| the executive asked the common
! wealths to share the responsibility or
curbing those corporations which are
accused of evil-dong. "Of course in
| any event both the national and state
| governments must each do its part.
| said President Roosevelts message.
! and each can do a certain amount
| that the other cannot do, while the
| only really satisfactory results must
| be obtained by the representatives OF
| the national and state governments
| working heartily together within their
| respective spheres. But in my. judg-
| ment thorough going and satisfactory
| control can in the end only be obtained
| by the action of the national govern
| ment for almost all the corporations of
| enormous wealth-that is. the corpo-
| rations which il is especially desirable
| to control--are engaged in interstate