Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1910-06-03
IS I, ~ pRut4REsE.Ss 3.

:0uuOEoU s8QO GulILX@1OuT years uuI6I4OA
in: these United States Of America,
with what has frequently beer styled,
.'the best government on earth II
appears BY reports. and comments o.
the press. that a good many of: our
people are ready for Iheodo ocracy. Ii
it progress2 Our ex-president is q
man OF strong and various character
lstics. His career since relieved Of
the cares of public Office has brought
these characteristics into view of the
world. While the reception given
him by the various nations he has
visited can not but be gratifying to
all Americans when considered as
indications of friendly. interest and
relations toward the United States, his
utterances in the way of speeches and
addresses as representative Of American
ideals in civic government cannot be
equally gratifying to all. Compare
his speeches in the Soudan and
Egypt, to people aspiring to civil
liberty and self-government, and bis
Sorboune speech in Paris to citizens of
q republic like our own.
He said some fine things in the
latter; things which the French
people. according to press reports,
were delighted to hear. But value or
appreciation of things is naturally
determined by supply and demand ;
and we Americans have had such a
large supply of such fine things that
we couldn't use to get any good out
of, that we couldn't naturally be ex-
pected to appreciate them as the
French people seem to.
One of the fine things he said was, is
reported, Ordinarily, and in the
great majority of cases, human rights
and property rights are fundamentally
and IN the long run identical; but
when it clearly appears that there is
real conflict between them, human
rights must have the upper hand. -
That sounds good, and there is not
the slightest doubt but Mr.. Roosevelt
meant what he said. Hut looking at
the statement critically, what did he
really say? Practically, SO far as
modern social and industrial condl-
tlons are concerned he said nothing.
There IS no one, no worker at least,
of ordinary intelligence and reading,
that does not know that Natural
property rights rights based on pro
duction, transferable by inheritance,
gifts, or bequest, and human rights
(which are also from nature) are
identical. But does he mean to Infer
that legal proper ty-rights In the
large majority of cases are identical
in the long run with human
rights? Would he say that out plain2
Wouldshe say that the legal property
right of the slave-owner was identical
in the long run with the human
rights of the slave? Would he say
that the legal property rights Of those
holding monopoly control OF the
natural resources of these United
States, acquired and held by legal
special privilege, are identical in the
long run with the human rights of
the fifty millions of landless, and
therefore homeless people, who are
dependent on their will and caprice
for opportunity to get or make a
living for themselvesf Standing be-
fore that literary and cultured people
at the Sorbonne as "a man of
letters did he mean to infer that it
was only occasionally that it clearly
appeared there was a real conflict
between them? Did he know that
there was such q real conflict In the
Soudan, and that In his speech he
took the property-right side? And
in Egypt, where the natives fancy
something of parallel In their
situation with that Of the American
colonies In rs, who SUCCESSFULLY
established an Independent govern
ment on the basis of human rights
against property rights, did he realize
where he stood there in his speech
and the significance of the protest
against it? On which side has he
been identified in the case of the
Filipinos, where the real conflict still
persists? On which side here at
homo, where the conflict is becoming
keener with the days and with each
recurring campaign Of course, some
of the human rights side may be
undesirable citizens, but that Is
nothing new; the victims, the robbed,
always have been undesirable citizens
to the property right class, when they
stand in defense Of their rights. But
now Mr.. Roosevelt seems to see and
think differently. at any rate while
he is away from home, and if on
his return the masses of American
citizens can make it ''clearly appear
Ito him) that there IS real conflict
between them, why, if "human
rights must have the upper hand"
anywhere, they surely must have 1t
where he holds such potent influence.
No wonder so many are ready to
idoliZe him.
I know this Is re-iterating the teach
ing of the Herald as to the real issue
in American politics, state and ma
tlonal; but it is only by lover and
over again" that we learn anything,
and comparedwith the American start