The Prescott daily news., 1910-08-31


 instead of limiting themselves. as they have far too often ,'rr,ted themselves Tn the past. solely 10 the question of the production of crops.
 Human Welfare Comes First.
 Nothing Is more true than that excess of every '-'od Is followed by reaction; fact which si'onld be porder"d by reform .-r and reac t,onary alike. We arc face to face with new coaScDticns nf the rela- tions of property to hgGlan welfare, chief lv because c, r'ain a -o '~+Cs Gf the rights of property as ava'rr' the rights of men have been pushing tfeir claims too far. The man who wrongly holds that every human right Is secondary to his profit must now give way to the advocate of human welfare who rightly maintains that every man holds his property sub feet to the general right of the commun- ity to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require 1t. But I think we may go still further. The right to regulate 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 is the chief element of wealth. directly in the interest of the common good. The fundamental thing to do for every man Is to give him the chance to reach a place in which he will make the greatest possi- ble contribution to the public welfare. No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of la bor short enough so that after his days work Is done he will have time and en- ergy to bear his share in the manage ment of the community, to help in car rying the general load. We keep count less men from being good citizens by the conditions of life with which we surround them. We need comprehensive work mems compensation acts, both state and National laws to regulate child labor and the work of women. and especially we need in our common sc hoos not merely education in book learning but also prac- tical trairing for daily fife and work. we need to enforce better sanitary conditions for our worl'ers. and to extend the use of safety appliances in industry and com merce both within and between the states. Also. friends, in the interest of the workinglnen himcelf we need to set our faces like flint against mob violence just as aeains corporate greed against violence and injustice and lawlessness by wage- workers just as much as against lawless cunning and greed and selfish ar rogance of employers.
 National efficiency has many factors. It is necessary result of the principle of conservation widely applied In the cpd \ will determine our failure or sue cess as a Nation. National efficiency has to do not only with natural resources and with men. Ii Is equally concerned with institutions. The state must be made ef- ficient 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 culpne legal cunning which will teach them how to avoid both jurisdictions. It is a misfor- tune when the National legislature fails 10 do its duty in providing a National remedy, so that the only National activ- ity is the purely negative activity of the judiciary in forbldding the state to ex- ercise power in the premises.
 Calls for Broad NationaIism.
 do not ask for over er-centralization, but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and farreaching Nationalism when we work for what concerns our people as whole. We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent l speak to you here in Kan- sas exactly as I would speak in New York or Georgia, for the most vital prob- lems are those which affect us all alike. The National government belongs to the whole American people, and where the whole American people are interested. that interest can be guarded effectively only by the National government. The betterment which we seek must be ac- compished. believe mainly through the National government.
 The American people are right in de- manding that new Natonalism without which we cannot hope to deal with new problems. The new Nationalism puts the National need before sectional or per sonal advantage. It is impatient of the utter confusion that results from local legislatures attempting to treat National issues as local issues It is still more im- patient of the impotence which springs from the over division of government powers, the impotence which makes 1t possible for local selfishness or for legal cunning, hired by wealthy special inter- ests, to bring National activities to deadlock. This new Natonalsm regards the executive power as the steward of the public welfare. It demands of the jud'ci- ary that 1t shall be interested primarily In human welfare rather than in proper ty just as 1t demands that the represen- tative body shall represent all the people. rather than any one class or section of the people.
 l believe in shaping the ends of gov- ernment to protect property as we'll as human welfare. Normally, and in the long run. the andx are tho saua hut