Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-09-02

vertion hall tonight was his principal
address of the day. He said that
honesty should not be made d party
matter and that the first man to at
tack a scoundrel should be a man in
the scoundrels party.
He spoke of corruption in New York.
Missouri. Illinois and California and
sais that the duty of the people was
to war with equal sternness against
the corrupt men of great wealth and
the small man who makes a trade o.
corruption.
I'VE need laws which shall put the
corporation out of business so far a.
concerns corrupting the servants Of
the public" he said.
At another point in his speech. he
asserted
THE people of this country will get
Justice from the corporations only it
they do Justice to them and rigidly
exact it from them"
There are certain matters which
should never be treated as party mat
ters: and formost among these is the
great and vital virtue of honesty. Hon
esty should be treated as prime nee
essity to our success as n nation. The
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 a
scoundrel of any party should be the
honest men of that party. When in
office, | always proceeded upon the
theory that there would be no need of
my opponents raising the cry Of Turn
the rascals out" because ! would turn
them out myself just as soon as. by
vigiiant and Intelligent industry could
discover them.
AS we dealt with the crooked public
official. SO we dealt with the crooked
private citizen: with the rich swindler
in New York or Chicago as with the
horse-thief or homicide in Indian Ter.
ritory. We never attacked a man be.
cause he was a man of one political
faith or another. because he did or die
not possess wealth; and we never
shielded him because he was poor OF
rich. because he belonged to any par.
ticular church or to any particular
to remember that we never hesitateo
10 shield him and stand up for hin
once we we're convinced that he was
improperly attacked. There is M
greater foe of honesty than the mar
who, for any reason. in any capacity
attacks, or seeks to attack. an hones
man for a crime which he has no
committed. Falsely accusing an hon
est man of dishonesty is an act which
stands on the same level of infam,
with that of the dishonest man him
self: and it is no higher duty to at
tack the dishonest man than IL is I,
eXonerate the honest man falsely ac
cused: and I should be ashamed {,
hesitate the fraction Of second long
er in one case than in the other.
Remember that honesty cannot b.
uniIateral. Good citizens should cor
daily distruSt the man who can neye
see dishonesty excepting in men of til,
class he dislikes. The reckless agitato
who invariably singles out men O
wealth as furnishing the only examples
OF dishonesty; and the equally un
lscrupulous--but no more unscrupulou
l-react1onary who can see dishonest,
only in a matchmaking politician or
crooked labor leader; both stand on tn
same plane of Consciousness. You will
never get honesty from politicians un
I'll you exact honesty from bushes
men; on the other hand, you bran,
yourself as fools or as hypocrits if 70,
say that the corporation owner, or tn
employer. is always the dishonest man
ana the poor man never. that it Is onl,
the wealthy man who corrupts the pol
itician and never the politician VIII,
Confined on Page Ten.)