The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-02

handkerchiefs as Theodore Roosevelt
came on the platform of Convention
| hall. Thousands of people had been
turned away from the doors of the big
hall after every seat and all standing
room had been occupied.
Colonel Roosevelt, coming to the
front of the platform, stood 'rigidly
erect as he was given an ovation, his
countenance fixed in stern lines. Gov
ernor Hadley. appearing shortly after
wards, was at once recognized and was
given an equally enthusiastic greeting.
! President w. T. Bland of the Kansas
City Commercial club, which had just
entertained the colonel at dinner, then
introduced him. He declared the wei
come being given Roosevelt, the man.
was warmer than that which. several
years ago, had been given him as
president of the United States.
Convention Hall Speech.
His speech follows:
There are certain matters which
should never be treated as party mat
tiers; and foremost among these is the
great and vital virtue of honesty. Hon
esty should be treated as prime ne
cessity to our success as nation. Inc
minute that a question of honesty as
against dishonesty is involved, then we
must all act together as Americans.
without the slightest regard to party
affiliations. Honesty is not party
matter; and the first man to attack
honest men of that party. When IN
office, always proceeded upon the the
DRY that there would be no neeQ OF
my opponents raising the cry OF Iurn
the rascals out because l would turn
them out myself just as soon as, by
vigilant and intelligent industry, could
discover them. The present Senator
Bristow, for instance, was in the post
office department when Information
reached me which convinced me that
W Ooln2
practiced in the department This IN
formation came to me through the then
first assistant postmaster general MT.
Wynne-an admirable man whose hon
esty I knew to be beyond proof. The
active work of the investigation was
done by another postoffice official In
whose honesty, courage and energy !
had absolute conference.-the present
Senator Bristow. When he got through
I knew that all the raScalS whose raS-
cality could be detected were out or
Office and that all of them that had COM
mitted acts which we could proceed
against as criminals were indicted or
imprisoned AS we dealt with the crook
ed public official, so we dealt with the
crooked private citizen; with the rich
swindler in New York or Chicago as
with the horsethief or homicide in In
dian Territory. We never attacked
man because he was a man OF one po-
litical faith or another. because he did
or did not possess wealth; and we never
shielded him because he was poor or
rich, because he belonged to any partic-
ular church or to any particular party.
But also wish you especially to re-
member that we never hesitated to
shield him and stand up for him once
we were convinced that he was impro-
perly attacked. There is no greater foe
of honesty than the man who, for any
reason, in any capacity attacks, or
seeks to attack an honest man for a
crime which he has not committed.
Falsely accusing an honest man OF dis
honesty is an act which stands on the
same level of infamy with that of the
dishonest man himself: and 1t is no
higher duty to attack the dishonest man
than it is to exonerate the honest man
falsely accused; and / should be asham-
ed to hesitate the fraction of a second
longer in one case than in the other.
Business and Politics.
Remember that honesty cannot be
unilateral. Good citizens should cord
tally distrust the man who can never
see dishonesty excepting in men of the
class he dislikes. The reckless agitator
who invariably singles out men Of
wealth as furnishing the only example
of dishonesty; and the equally un-
scrupulous-but no more INSCRIPTIONS
-reactionary who can see dishonesty
only in a Matchmaking politician or a
crooked labor leader; both stand on the
same plane Of obnoxlouSneSS. You will
never get honesty from politicians until
you exact honesty from business men;
on the other hand, you brand your
selves as fools or as hypocrites if you
say that the corporation owner, or the
employer, is always the dishonest man,
and the poor man never. that it is only
the wealthy man who corrupts the poll
tician and never the politician who
blackmails the corporation.
ANY man in his senses knows that
there are plenty of corporations in
this country who prosper by bribing
legislatures just as they prosper by
swindlinG the public; and any man in
his senses ought to know, in addition,
that there are plenty of corrupt men
of small means who. in legislative or
other bodies, try to blackmail corpora
tions-and try to blackmail other peo-
pie as well. If they doubt this, let
them look at the revelations of corrup-
ton in my own state-NeW York-and
in yours, my hearers-here in Missouri;
let them look at what has occurred IN
Illinois. In Illinois, for instance, one OF
the rascalities developed by the recent
investigation was the existence or
combination of legislators who black
mailed fishermen along certain river,
forcing them to pay to prevent legisla-
tion which would have interfered with
their business.
Treat All Scoundrels Alike.
Now, scoundrels who do these kind
of things are of course. the very men
who on one hand will blackmail a cor
poration, if they get a chance and. on
the other hand, will cheerfully, if the
chance occurs. sell themselves to that
corporation against the interests of the
public Their corruption Is no more
due to the action of the corporations
than the corruption of the corporations
is due to their action; and evil, and not
good, is done by the honest but mis-
guided man who would persuade you
that either fact is true Our duty is
to war with equal sternness against
the corrupt man of great wealth and
the small man who makes a trade of
corruption; cur fight is against both
the swindling corporation and the
Matchmaking or bribe-taking politi-
clan.
owe can not afford to limit a cam