Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-01


the selfish big interests have gotten
more than tie selfish small interests.
The duty of congress Is to proVlde u
method by which the interest Of the
whole people shall be all that receives
consideration. To this end there must
be an expert tariff commission, wholly
ness influence. Such commission
removed from the possibility of po-
litical pressure or of improper busl-
can find out the real difference be-
tween cost of production, which IS
mainly the difference of labor cost
here and abroad. AS fast as its rec
concentrations are made, l believe In
revising one schedule at time. a
general revision of the tariff almost in
evitably leads to logrolling, and the
subordination of the general public IN
terest to local and special interests.
mo man should receive a dollar un-
less that dollar has been fairly earned.
Every dollar received should represent
a dollars worth of service rendered.
The really big fortune, the swollen
fortune, by the mere fact of its SIZE
acquires qualities which differentlate
1t In kind as we'll as in degree from
what is possessed by men of rela-
lively small means. Therefore, be-
lieve in a graduated income tax on big
fortunes, and in another tax which is
far more easily collected and far more
effectiye-a graduated inheritance tax
on big fortunes, properly sateguarueu
against evasion, and increasing rapidly
in amount with the size of the estate.
",The people of the United States
suffer from periodical financial panlcs
to a degree substantially unknown
among the other nations which ap-
proach us in financial strength. There
Is no reason why we should sufter
what they escape. 1t Is OF prolouIlu
Importance that our financial system
should be promptly investigated 1 anu
So Thoroughly and effectively revised
as to make it certain that hereafter
our currency will no longer fail at
critical times to meet our needs
REACTION FOLLOWS EXCESS
Nothing is more true than that ex-
cess - every kind is followed by re-
action q fact which should be pom
dered by reformer and reactionary
alike. We are face to face with new
conceptions of the relations of prop
| erty to human welfare chiefly because
certain advocates OF the rights OF
property as against the rights OF men
have been pushing their claims too
far. The man who wrongly holds tnat
| every human right is secondary 10 ms
profit must now give way to the ad-
ly maintains that every man holds his
property subject to the general right
of the community to regulate its use
to whatever degree the public welfare
| may require it. But l think we may
go still further The right to regu-
| late the use of wealth in the public
interest is universally admitted. Let
us admit also the right to regulate the
| terms and conditions of labor, which
| ;e ali mt nf wealth direct
ly in the interest of>the common good.
National efficiency has many fac
| tors 1t is a necessary result of the
| principle of conservation widely ap-
piled. In the end it will determine
| our failure or success as nation
National efficiency has to do not only
with natural resources and with men,
1t is equally concerned with institu-
tions. The state must be made efficient
for the work which concerns only the
| people of the state and the nation for
that which concerns all the people.
| There must remain no neutral ground
to serve as a refuge for lawbreakers,
and especially for lawbreakers OF
great wealth, who can hire the vul-
pine legal cunning which will teach
them how to avoid both jurisdictions.
1t is q misfortune when the national
| legislature fails to do its duty in pro-
viding a national remedy, so that the
| only national activity is the purely
negative activity of the judiciary, in
| forbidding the state to exercise power
in the premises.
WORK FOR PEOPLE AS WHOLE
At do not ask for overcentralization,
but 1 do ask that we work in a spirit
of broad and far-reaching nationalism
when we work for what concerns our
people as a whole. We are all Ameri-
cans. Our common interests are as
broad as the continent. I speak to you
here in Kansas exactly as [ would
speak In New York or Georgia, for the
most vital problems are those which
affect us all alike. The national gov
ernment belongs to the whole American
people, and where the whole American
people are interested, that interest can
| be guarded effectively only by the ma
tional government. The betterment
which we seek must be accomplished, l
| believe, mainly through the natlonal
government.
1.-THE American people are right in
demanding that new nationalism with
out which we cannot hope to deal with
new ploblems. The new nationaliSm
puts the national need before sectional
or personal advantage. 1t is impatient
of the utter confusion that results from
local legislatures attempting to treat
national issues as local issues. 1t is
still more impatient of the impotence
| which springs from the oVerdivision
of government powers, the impotence
which makes it possible for local self
| ishness or for legal cunning, hired by
wealthy special interests, to bring ma
tional activities to a deadlock. This
new nationalism regards the executive
power as the stewardship of the public
welfare. 1t demands of the judiciary
that it shall be interested primarily In
human welfare rather than in property.
lust as it demands that the representa-
tive body shall represent all the people,
rather than any one class or section OF
the people.
MUST SERVE THE PEOPLE
zone of the fundamental necessities
in a representative government such
as ours is TO make certain that the
men to whom the people delegate their
power shall serve the people by whom
they are elected, and not the spec1al
interests. / believe that every national
officer, elected or appointed, should be
forbidden to perform any service or re-
ceive any compensation directly or In
directly from interstate corporationsi
and a similar provision could not fall
to be useful within the states.
1.-The object of government is the
welfare of the people. The material
progress and prosperity of a nation
are desirable chiefly so far as they
lead to the moral and material welfare
of all good citizens. Just In proper