The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1909-09-24


rnfk " W susessd. there wlll ssisi
up0H ilIs soniitent q sane. strong pee
p.e. living tifeuah che centuries 10
land snhdued end controlled for the
stftlce of the people, iis uahtful
masters, owned BY the many and not
by the Few ~ We fail, the great Ia.
forests, Increasing their control II our
natural resources, will thereby control
ihe country more aud more, aud the
rights Of the people Will fade into the
privileges Of concentrated wealth.
There could be no better illustration
Of the eager, rapid, unwearied absoTp.
ton by capital Of the rights which be
long to all the people than the water
power trust, not yet formed, but in
rapid process OF formation. This state.
ment Is true, but not unchallenged. We
are met at every turn by the in.
dignant denial of the water power in.
terests 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 oh.
stacles to their perpetual and complete
absorption of the remaining water
powers. They tell us it has no signifi
canoe, that the General Electric inter.
ests are acquiring great groups of
waterpowers in various parts of the
United States, and dominating the
power market in the region of each
group. And whoever dominates power
dominates all industry. Have you ever
seen a few drops of oil scattered on
ha 60
n continuous film? The time for us
to agitate this question is now, before
the separate circles of centralized con.
troll 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 situa.
ton can doubt that the time for eff.
feetive 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
emu 10 winch tue hOOSeVelC pOUcleS
lead. AS 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 successor an
other great President, whose admins.
tration is most solemnly pledged to the
support of them.
l stand for the Roosevelt policies
because they set the common good of
all of us above the private gain of
some of us; because they recognize the
livelihood of the small man as more i'm.
portant to the nation than the profit
of the big man; because they oppose
all useless waste at present at the cost
o. robbing the future; because they
demand the complete, sane, and order
ly development of all our natural re-
sources, not forgetting our rivers; be-
cause they insist upon equality of OPP
portunity and denounce monopoly and
special privilege; because discarding
false issues they deal directly with the
vital questions that really make a diff
ference with the welfare of us all
and most of ALL because in them the
plain American always and every
where holds the first place. And pro-
pose to stand for them while | have
the strength to stand for anything.