The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-12-17
! President Roosevelt's +
+ Message to Congress-



sarily invites a violent reaction against
the cause the wrongdoer nOminally up
holds. In point of danger to the nation
there is nothing TO choose between on the
one hand the corruptiOniSt, the bride
giver, tlIe bribe-taker. the man who en-
ploys his great talent to swindle his fell
low-citiZens on large scale, and, on the
other hand, the preacher OF. class hatred,
the man who. whether from ignorance or
from willingness to sacrifice his country
to his ambition. persuades well-meaning
but wrong-headed men to try to destroy
the instruments upon which our prosper
lty mainly rests. Let each group of men
beware of and guard against the shOrtcom-
Ings to which that group is itself most
liable. Too often we see the business
community in a spirit OF unhealthy class
consciousness deplore the effort to hold to
account under the law the wealthy men
who in their management of great corpo-
rations, whether railroads, street railways,
or other Industrial enterprises, have be-
haved in a way that revolts the conscience
of the plain, decent people. Such an atti-
tude cannot be condemned too severely,
for men of property should recognize that
they jeopardize the rights of property
when they fail heartily to join in the eff
fort to do away with the abuses of wealth.
On the, other hand. those who advocate
proper control on behalf of the public,
through the State. of these great corpora
tions. and of the wealth engaged on q
giant scale in business operations, must
ever keep in mind that unless they do
scrupulous justice to the corporation. I'M
less they permit ample profit. and cordial
ly encourage capable men of business so
long as they act with honesty, they are
striking at the root of our national we'll
being; for in the long run, under the mere
pressure of material distress, the people
as a whole would probably go back to the
reign of an unrestricted individualsm
rather than submit to control by the
State so drastic and so foolish, conceived
in a spirit of such unreasonable and mar
row hostility to wealth. as to prevent bust
ness operations from being profitable, and
therefore to bring ruin upon the entire
business community, and ultimately upon
the entire body of citizens. We do not
for a moment believe that the problem
will be solved by any short and easy
method. The solution will come only by
pressing various concurrent remedies.
which the federal government alone can
enact and which is absolutely vital in or
der to secure the attainment of our mr.
pose. Many laws are needed. There
should be regulation by the national gov
eminent of the great interstate corpora
tions including a simple method of ac-
count keeping, publicity, supervision of
the issue of securities, abolition OF rebates
and of special privileges There should
be short time franchises for all corpora
tons engaged in public business; includ-
ing the corporations which get power from
water rights. There should be national
as well as State guardianship Of mines
and forests The labor legislation herein
after referred to should concurrentiy be
enacted into law.
To accomplish this. means OF course n
certain increase in the use of-not the ere
alton of-power by the general government.
The power already exists; it does not have
to be created; the only question is wheth-
or II shall be used or left idle-and mean
while the corporations over which the
power ought 10 be exercised Will not re
main idle. Let those who object to this
Increase in the use Of the only power
available. the national power, be frank. and
admit openly that they propose to aban-
don any effort to control the great busi-
ness corporations and TO exercise super
viion over the accumulation and distribu-
ton of wealth; for such supervision and
control can only come through this par
ticular kind of increase Of power. We no
more believe in that empircism which de-
Tantls absolutely unrestrained individual
i.m than we do in that empiricsm which
clamors for deadening socialism which
lvould destroy all individual initiative and
would ruin the country with complete
ness that not even an unrestrained indi-
vidualism itself could achieve. The danger
to American democracy lies not In the least
in the concentration of administrative pow
er In responsible and accountable hands. Ii
lies In having the power insufficiently CON
centrated, so that no one can be held re
sponsible TO the people for its use. Con
centrated power is palpable, visible. re
sponsible. easily reached. quickly held 10
oh.
administrators, many legislators. many men
who work behind and through legislators
and administrators, is impaipabie. Is un-
seen, Is irresponsible. cannot be reached.
cannot be held to account. Democracy l.
in peril wherever the administration of po-
litical power Is scattered among a variety
Of men who work in secret, whose very
names are unknown TO the common people
IL is not In peril from any man who de
rlves authority from the people, who ex-
ercises IL in sight Of the people, and who
Is from time to time compelled to give an
account of its exercise to the people.
/. Labor.
There are many matters affecting labor
and the status of the wageworker to which
/ should like to draw your attention, but
an exhaustive discussion of the problem in
all its aspects Is not now necessary. This
administration is nearing its end; and.
moreover. under our form of government
the solution of the problem depends upon
the action OF the States, as much as upon
the action of the nation. I believe In a
steady effort, or perhaps IL would be more
accurate to stay in steady efforts in many
different directions, to bring about a condi-
ton OF affairs under which the men who
work with hand with brain, the laborers.
the superintendent, the men who produce
for the market and the who ind a
market for the articles produced, shall own
a far greater share than at present of the
wealth they produce, and be enabled to
In ho fnn1 nd inst 20 ht-
which all the work Is carried AS far as
possible ] hope to see frank recognition
OF the advantages conferred by machinery,
organization and division of labor. accom-
panied by an effort to bring about a larger
share In the ownership of wagew0rker OF
railway, mill and factory. In farming this
simply means that We wish to see the farm
er own his own land We do not wish to see
the farms so large that they become the
property Of absentee landlords who farm
them by tenants, nor yet small that the
farmer becomes like a European peasant.
Again, the depositors In our savings banks
now number over one-tenth of entire
population. These are all capitalists, who
through the savings banks loan their
money to the workers-that Is, In many
cases to themselves-to carry on their va
riouS Industries. The more increase
their number, the more we Introduce the
principles of cooperation into our indus
try. Every increase in the number of small
stockholders in corporations Is a good thing,
ioI the sdHie TedSOuS anu Wnefc the eDl-
ployes the stockholders the result Is
particularly good Very much of this move
ment must be outside OF anything that can
be accomplished by legislation but legis-
lation can do good deal Postal savings
banks will make it easy for the poorest to
keep their savings in absolute safety. The
regulation of the national highways must be
such that they shall serve all the people
with equal justice. Corporate finances
must be supervised so as to make 1t far
safer than at present for the man of small
means to invest his money In stocks. There
must be prohibition of child labor, diminu-
ton of woman labor, shortening of hours of
all mechanical labor stock watering should
be prohibited, and stock gambling so far
as Is possible discouraged. There should
be progressive inheritance tax on large
fortunes. Industrial education should he
encouraged As far as possible we should
tighten the burden of taxation on the small
man. We should put a premium upon
thrift, hard work and business energy; but
these qualities cease to be the main fac
tors in accommodating a fortune long before
that fortune reaches point where it would
be seriously affected by any inheritance tax
such as | propose. 1t "a eminenty right
that the nation should fix the terms upon
which the great fortunes are Inherited