Bisbee daily review., 1909-03-07

necessary to. each one of us. IL would indeed be Q sad and evil thing for America If the day should ever ar rye when the great body of our peo. pie should feel their fifst loyalty to some caste or class rather than to the nation as Q whole, when they would treat any man primarily as an individual in or representative of. a certain class rather than on his worth as man.
 The class consciousness shown by the business men of high social stand Ing who shield a crook because not to do so will hurt business is on an exact level with the conduct of the labor people who stand by a crook because he is supposed to favor labor. Honest business men, honest capital lsts, honest wage-workers. should join to express their abhorrence of the crooked labor leader, of the corrupt or vicious or disorderly wageworker, and if possible their even greater ab- nOrrence of the corrupt or brutaIly selfish capitalist or employer. and especially of the crooked political or business leader of great wealth and high social position. There are inter ests which particularly affect farmers as class, or wage-wOrkers as a class, or business men as q class. It ls right that there should be special heed paid In legislation to these spe- ciai interests But the great funda- mental interests are these affecting good citizenship, affecting all good citizens, no matter what their occupa- tions or tbeir social prominence. The bonds that unite all decent men who think clearly and work hard, who per form their duties as good Lizens toward their families, toward their neighbOrs, toward the state, are Ci l immeasurably greater consequence
 than the bonds which merely unite the men who happen all Co belong Co a given profession or all to follow a given occupation.
 nope You will preach the great ] doctrine that the tie which connects one labOTing man with another. one capitalist with anOtler, one business man with another, is of indeed little consequence compared with the ties that should unite together all men
 who lead hardsworking, useful. up-
 right lives, without the slightest re- gard as to whether they are men who work with their heads or their hands.
 men who work for wages or who em. ploy wagewOrkers, without the slight est regard .c what creed they may profess or as to whether or not they are socially prominent Of course those waO have much should Je judged more severely when they so wrong. than those Of less opportuni- v, to whom temptation would natuT. ally be greater.
 The conduct of business and social leaders who commit crime should awaken an even greater abhorrence than tB like conduct of labor men. of men Of small means But let us not forget that We cannot afford to condOne little graft any more than big graft. If we attack crookedness, not because it is crookedness. but be
 cause t is shown by a certain class Of men, We really play into the hands
 of those who are crooked; for they | are only too delighted to substitute | class consciousness, class feeling, for the elementary rules Of morality Tie
 scoundrel Is always helped when he ' is attacked not as a scoundrel, but as
 a memJer of a class; he Is the one
 who really benefits by the substitu
 tiOn Of class consciousness, class Joy | alty, for loyalty Co the cause of fine
 and sound manhood. If we are to do our duty, We must stand for good cit 1 izensship and for good citizens
 wherever they are found. and must J cOndemn without stint. and try Sd
 far as may be to secure the punish
 ment of, the eyildOer. simply because
 he is an cvildoer. and without the
 slightest regard to Wether he Is rich Tor poor, to whcter his crime Is one lcf cunning or one of violence.
 l Very truly yours.
 THBoDORE ROOSEVELT.