The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-08-11

for the benefit of the men who can
hire the best lawyers and who have
the sources of influence in lawmaking
at their command. Strict construc-
ton necessarily favors the great inter-
ests as against the people, and in the
long run can not do otherwise. iWse |
execution of the law must consider
what the law ought to accomplish for
the general good. The great oppres-
sive trusts exist because of subser-
Went lawmakers and adroit legal con-
structions. Here is the central strong
hold of the money power in the ever
| lasting canflict of the few to grab,
and the many to keep or win the
rights they were born with. Legal
technicalities seldom help the people.
The people, not the law, should have
the benefit of every doubt.
Equality of opportunity, square
deal for every man, the protection OF
the citizen against the concentrations
of capital, the intelligent use of laws
and institutions for the public good,
and the conservation of our natural
resources, not for the trusts but for
the people; these are real issues and
real problems. Upon such things as
these the perpetuity of this country as
a Nation of homes really depends. We
are coming to see that the simple
things to work for. More than that,
we are coming to see that the plain
American citizen is the man to work
for. The imagination is staggered by
the MAGNITUDE of the prize for which
we work If We succeed, there will
exist upon this continent a sane,
strong people, living through the cent
for the service of the people, its right
full masters, owned by the many and
not by the few. If we fail, the great
interests, increasing their control of
our natural resources, will thereby
control the country more and more,
and the rights of the people will fade
into the privileges of concentrated
wealth
There could be no better illustra-
ton of the eager, rapid unwearied alb
sorption by capital of the rights which
belong to all the people than the wa
Hyat hIIt
in rapid process of formation. This
statement is true, but not unchalleng-
ed. We are met at every turn by the
indignant denial of the water power
interests. They tell us that there is
no community of interest among them
and yet they appear year after year at
these congresses by their paid attor
neys, asking for your influence to help
them remove the few remaining OBJ
stacles to their perpetual and com
plete absorption of the remaining wa
ter powers. They tell us it has no
significance that the General Electric
interests are acquiring great groups
of water powers in various parts of the
United States and dominating the
power market in the region of each
group. And whoever dominates pow
err, dominates all industry. Have you
ever seen a few drops of oil scattered
on the water spreading until they
formed a continuous film which put
an end at once to all agitation of the
surface. The time for us to agitate
this question is now, before the sepa-
rate circles of centralized control
spread into the uniform, unbroken,
Nationwide covering of a single gi-
gantic trust. There will be little
chance for mere agitation after that.
No man at all familiar with the stu
alton can doubt that the time for eff
fectiye protest is very short. If We
do not use it to protect, ourselves now,
we may be very sure that the trust
will give hereafter small consideration
to the welfare of the average citizen
when in conflict with its own.
The man who really counts is the
plain American citizen. This is the
man for whom the Roosevelt policies
were created, and his welfare is the
end to which the Roosevelt policies
lead. AS a nation we are fortunate
at this time in this fact above all
others, that the great man who gave
his name to these policies has for his
successor another great President
whose administration is most solemn
y pledged to the support of them.
| stand for the Roosevelt policies
because they set the common good of
Ill of us above the private gain of
some of us; because they recognize
he livelihood of the small man as
more important to the Nation than |
he profit of the big man; because |
hey oppose all useless waste at pres
mt at the cost of robbing the future;
ecause they demand the complete,
ane. and orderly development of all
ur natural resources, not forgetting
ur rivers; because they insist upon