Mexico Missouri message., 1910-09-01

the world. Let not him who is houseless
pull down the house OF another, but let
him work diligently and build one for
himself. thus by example showing that
his own shall be safe from violence when
built 1t seems to me that In these
words Lincoln took substantially the atti-
tude that we ought TO take; he showed
the proper sense OF proportion in his rela-
tive estimates OF capital and labor. Of
human rights and property rights. Above
all In this speech. as IN many others. he
taught n lesson in wise klndllness and
charity, an Indispensable lesson to us OF
today. But this wise kindllness and char
lily never weakened hts arm or numbed
MS heart We cannot AFFORD weakly TO
blind ourselves TO the actual conflict
which faces us today The issue lie join
ed, and we must night or fail
Equality Of Opportunity.
In every wise struggle for human bet
terment one Of the main objects. and
often the only object, has been TO achieve
In larger measure equality OF opportunity.
In the struggle for this great end, ma
lions rise from harbarism to civilization,
and through It peoples press forward from
one stage OF enlightenment to the next.
One Of the chief factors in progress Is
the destruction Of special privilege. The
essence OF any struggle for healthy lib
erty has always been and must always
De TO take from some one man or class
of men the right to enjoy power, or
wealth. or position or immunity, which
has not been earned by service to his
or their fellows.
AT many stages in the advance OF hui
mainly this conflict between the men who
possess more than they have earned and
the men who have earned more than they
possess Is the central condition OF prog
ress. In our day Il appears as the strug-
D. ~ FHaE
rght OF self-governlnent as against the
special interests, who twist the methods
or free government into machinery for
defeating the popular will. At every
stage and under all circumstances the
essence OF the struggle is 10 equalize op-
portunity' destroy privilege, and give 10
the lie and citizenship Of every individ-
ual the highest possible value both to
himself and 10 the commonwealth.
Pracucal equality Of opportunity for all
citizens, when we achieve IT, will have
TWO great results. First every man will
have fair chance to make Of himself all
that in him lies, to reach the highest point
TO which his capacities, unassisted by
special privilege OF his own and unham-
pered by the special privileges OF others,
can carry him, and TO get for himself
and his family substantially what he has
earned. Second, equality Of opportunity
means that the commonwealth will get
winch he Is capable. No man who car
ries the burden of the special privileges
OF another can give TO the commonwealth
that service to which It is fairly en-
titled
stand for the square deal But when
I say that I am for the square deal I
mean not merely that l stand for fair
play under the present rules OF the game.
but that I stand for having those rules
changed so as to work for a more sub
stantal equality Of opportunity, and OF
reward for equally good service
This means that our governments, Ma
tional and State, must be freed from the
sinister influence or control Of special
interests. Exactly as the special interests
OF cotton and slavery threatened our DO
Htical integrity before the Civil war so
now the great special business interests
too often control and corrupt the men and
methods Of government for their own
profit We must drive the special inter-
ests out of politics. That is one of our
tasks today. Every special interest is
entitled to justice-full fair, and com
plete-but not one is entitled to a vote in
congress, voice on the bench, or to rep
resentation in any public office. The Con-
sdtuuon guarantees protection to proper
ty, and we must make that promise good
But 1t does not give the right Of suffrage
to any corporation.
Property Should Be the Servant.
The true friend of property. the true
conservative, is he who insists that prop
erty shall be the servant and not the
master OF the commonwealth; who Insists
that the creature of mans making shall
be the servant and not the master of the
man who made It, The citizen Of the
United States must effectively control the
mighty commercial forces which they
have themselves called into being,
There can be no effective control OF
corporations while their political activity
remains. To put an end to IL will be
neither short nor an easy task, but 1t
can be done.
We must have complete and effective
publicity Of corporate affairs, so that the
people may know beyond peradventure
whether the corporations obey the law
and whether their management entities
them to the confidence OF the public It
is necessary that laws should be passed
to prohibit the use of corporate funds
directly or indirectly for political pur-
poses; II is still more necessary that
such laws should be thoroughly enforced
Corporate expenditures for political pur-
poses, and especially such expenditures
by public service corporations, have sup
piled one Of the principal sources Of cor
ruption in our political affairs
It has become entirely clear that we
must have government supervision Of the
SobiAoAAFtloH NOT only OF puDGlc BeTr%He
corporations, including particularly rail
ways but of all corporations doing an
Interstate business. do nct wish TO
see the Nation forced into ownership OF
the railways II 1t can possibly ~ avoided.
and the only alternative is thorouE Ayoing
and effective regulation, which shall be
based on full knowledge OF all the facts,
including a physical valuAtioh or the
property. This physical valuation is not
needed or at least is very rarely needed.
for fixing rates; but 1t is needed as the
basis of honest capitalization.
We have come to recognize that fran
chises should never be granted except
for limited time. and never without
proper provision for compensGS ion TO The
public. 1t is my personal belief that the
same kind and degree OF contrVl and
supervision which should be exercised
over public service corporations should
be extended also to combinations which
control necessaries OF life such al meat,
oil, and coal, or which deal in them on
an important scale.
I believe that the officers, ana espe-
cially the directors, OF Corporations.
should be held personally responsible