The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-16
HIS WHOLE CREED.
Col. Roosevelt Tells a Suffolk
County Audience
What Is Meant by the Term
New Nationalism."
OLD TIME MORALITY.
Applied to Modern Conditions
and Nothing More.
He Takes a Shot at Some News.
papers.

revolution in declaring his new po-
litlcal creed. Neither is he making an
| appear TO mob rule. In staunch de-
tense of his doctrine of the 'new ma
tlonalisrn," he declared he was merely
urging the application of old moralf-
ties to modern conditions. At the same
time, he replied with spirit to those
who have been opposing him and hotly
/ denounced newspapers which, he said,
attack public honest men.
Colonel Roosevelt's address was de-
J livered at the Suffolk county fair at
| R1verhead, L. 1. He rode about 100
miles in an automobile to and from
Riverhead and spoke to great crowd
on the fair grounds.
| The colonePs exposition of new ma
| tlonallsm came at the close of ! a
| speech in which he also denounced
dishonest corporations, dishonest men
of wealth. and political bosses. He
made no reference to the New York
state political situation.
Il have noticed a good deal of COM.
ment on my speech on new national
ism," he said. "All that new national-
ism means is the application of certain
| old time moralities to the changed.
conditions of the day.
| "I wish to see greater governmental
efficiency because we have to deal with
| a greater business efficiency. Simple
| laws are all that are necessary in small
| communities when there is no big
business and each man works for him.
| self. When you get masses of wealth
| gathered together and great corpora.
| tions developing, conditions then be-
come so changed that there must be-
| an increase in government activity to
control the wealth for business eff
| cheney.
/ "I would not do any wrong to the
i great corporation, but I don't intend
1 to rely only on the big -corporation's
good nature to see that the corpora
! tion does not do harm against u.s. L
want to see such control of the wealth.
now gathered for business uses as to
favor the honest man who uses the
4 wealth genuinely for the service of the
public and to make the dishonest man
feel that he has to do what is right;
and if he does not feel it, we shall see
| to it that he does.
| THAT is my whole creed. That is all
there is in it.
There is no revolution in it. There
| is no appeal to mob rule. On the con-
trary, L recognize mob violence as an.
enemy of public good just much
| as lawless wealth. 1 am against the
poor man who is guilty of the crime
of lawless violence, and. when it is in
my power, 1 shall try to punish him
for his misdeeds. just as whenever L
nave the power, 1 will join with those
that see to it that the corrupt man Of
wealth is good-not because he likes
it, but because he has to be-"
| Colonel Roosevelt spoke with even
! more than customary earnestness. H
, words were received with cheers.
Il now want to speak to you as
citizens interested in the great prob
lens which concern all of us. think
every citizen of a free democracy
ought to distrust above all others the
| public man whose deeds do not square
with his words.
THAT has two sides. 1t has to do
with the politician who makes prom
Scoc hot ho 60@r 80 - L. -
? to do with newspapers which say
what they know is not true. Mark
Twain said that there are $50 differ
ent kinds of lies but the only one
| which was authoritatively forbidden
/ was that of bearing false witness
against your neighbor. There are one
: or two metropolitan dailies which
would do we'll to print that at the
: head of their columns and then try
) to live up to it. / Withhold their
names, but the omission is easily sup
I piled.
3 There are two prime difficulties in
: getting good government. One arises
from the dishonest politician. l think
S of the people than the man who lies
about the honest public servant The
: damage he does is to the public, in
$ so confusing the public by attacking
the men who are honest that the pub
lie ceases to be able to recognize and
to war against men who are dishon-
est. Such a man is of the greatest
advantage to the thief The corrupt
politician is no worse than the corrupt
politicians mainstay, the newspaper
which says what is not true about
men in public life. Honesty, truth,
: | courage-you need them just as much
n in public as in private life
4 In concluding his speech Colonel
n Roosevelt urged greater respect for
manual labor AS for rich malefact-
v tors, he believed that the railway man
( gho gets rich by gambling in the Sc
: curities of the road he operates in
n trust for his stockholders should be
/. punished. and that if it is impossible
: to punish him under present laws. the
d laws should be changed.