Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1908-02-07
HISLATEST MESSAGE
OUR PRESIDENT TELLS CON-
RESS HIS VIEWS.
Bad Laws Need Fixins-TeIIs of Vast
Sums Used by the Rich to Beat the
courts-Urges Legislation to Help
the EmpIoye-Goes After the Rail.
roads Methods.

Ieueral Judges, demanded recompense
of employees unavoidably injured
while in the service of corporations
and denounced attacks by predatory
wealth upon law enforcement in a
message to congress Friday. Few pub
lie utterances have attracted atten-
ton or earned appreciation of con-
sgressmen more than this one. One of
his most significant utterances fol-
lows:
Under no circumstances would we
'countenance attacks upon law-abiding
property or do aught but condemn
those who hold up rich men as being
evil men because of their riches. On
the other hand, our whole effort is
to insist upon conduct, and not
wealth nor property nor any other
class distinction, as being the proper
standard by which to judge the &C
tons of men. For the honest men of
great wealth we have hearty regard
just as we have hearty regard for
the honest politician and honest news
paper. But part of the movement to
uphold honesty must be movement
to froVl on dishonesty We attack
only the corrupt men of wealth. who
find in the purchased politician the
most efficient instrument of corrup-
ton and in the purchased newspaper
the most efficient defender of corrup-
ton. Our main quarrel is not with
these agents and representatives of
interests. They derive their chief
power from the sinister offenders who
stand behind them. They are but
public puppets which move as the
strings are pulled.
ut is not the puppets, but the strong,
the cunning men and the mighty
forces working for evil behind and
through the puppets, with whom we
have to deal. We seek to control law
defying wealth in the first place to
prevent its doing dire evil to the re-
public and in the next place to avoid
the vindicLve and dreadful radicalism
which, if left uncontrolled, is certain
in the end to arouse sweeping at
tacks upon all property and all men
of means without regard to whether
any do well or ill. This would sound
the death knell of the republic; and
cent citizens permit those rich men
whose lives are corrupt and evil to
domineer in swollen pride, unchecked
and unhindered, over the destinies of
this country.
1--WE act in no vindictive spirit and
we are no respecter of persons. If
labor union does wrong we oppose it
as firmly as we oppose a corporation
which does wrong; we stand stoutly
for the rights of men of wealth and
for the rights of wageworkers. We
seek to protect the property of every
man who acts honestly, of every cor
pOratiOn that represents wealth hon
estly accumulated and honestly used.
We seek to stop Wrongdoing, and we
desire to punish the wrongdorers only
so far as is necessary to achieve this
end"
The president demands that employ
ers have due regard for the safety of
their wOrkmen, and strong emphasis
is laid upon the need of legislation
that will recompense the manned and
the helpless families of those slain
Following is a pertinent paragraph of
his address:
1T is hypocritical baseness to speak
of a girl who works in factory where
the dangerous machinery is unpro-
tected as having the right freely to
contract to expose herself to the dan
IS gers of life and limb. She has no al
tentative but to suffer wont or else to
expose herself to such dangers, and
x1yhO c6, &c oil leo
manned or disfgured for life it is
moral wrong that the whole burden of
the risk necessarily incidental to the
business should be placed with crush
ing weight upon her weak shoulders,
and all who profit by her work es-
cape Scot free. This is what oppo-
nents of a just employers liability law
advocate, and it is consistent that they
should usually also advocate immunity
for those most dangerous members
of the criminal class-the criminals of
great wealth"
In Wake of the Message.
House applauds remarkable docu-
ment; senate receives it coldly.
President Ripley of the Santa Fe
railroad denies that he was a party
to the secret rate on oil in California
Charge by a railroad official that
damaging letter given publicity was
stolen from the Santa Fe offices.
Rumor of Extra Session.
There is an impression, based on ex-
cellent foundation, that President
Roosevelt is considering calling con-
gress in extraordinary session this
summer if it adjourns without attempt
ing to safeguard what he considers
+ the welfare of the people. If this step
is taken it will mean that congress
may be kept in session during the
entire time of the nominating conven-