The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1910-09-02
COL. ROOSEVELT Is ORATOR
AT OSAWATOMIE CEREMONY
He Delivers the Chief Address at the Dedica-
ton of John Brown Park, Discoursing of
the Present Day Struggle for
Human Betterment.

his own shall be safe from violence when
built" II seems 70 me that In these
words Lincoln took substantially the atti-
tude that we ought 10 take; he showed
the proper sense OF proportion In his rela-
tive OF capital and labor, OF
human rights and property riEhtc. Above
all, in this speech, as in many others. he
aught q lesson In wise kindness and
charity: an indispensable lesson TO us Of
today. But this wise kindliness and char
lty never weakened his arm or numbed
his heart. We cannot afford weakly to
ohnd ourselves 70 the actual conflict
which faces US today. The issue Is join
ed. and we must fight 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 b~RrbRrism TO civilization,
and through II 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 Mb-
erty has always been and must always
De 70 take from some one man or class
or men the light 10 enjoy power, or
wealth, or position. or immunity, which
has not been earned by service 10 his
or their fellows.
At many stages In the advance Of hu-
manity 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 II appears as the strug-
gle or free men to gain and hold the
right Of self-government as against the
special interests, who twist the methods
OF free government into machinery for
defeating the popular will. At every
stage and under all circumstance the
essence OF the struggle is to equallze op-
~portunity. destroy privilege, and give Is
the life and citizenship OF every individ-
uaI the highest possible value both to
himself and to the commonwealth.
Practical equality of opportunity for all
citizens. when We achieve IT, will have
two great results. First, every man will
have a 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
from every citizen the highest service of
Whlch ne Is capable. No man who car
ries the burden Of the special privileges
or another can give TO the commonwealth
that service TO which II is fairly en-
titled.
/ stand for the square deal. But when
1 say hat / am for the square deal I
mean not merely that I stand for fair
play under the present rules OF the game,
but that / stand for having those rules
changed so as to work for a more sub
stantial equality Of opportunity, and of
reward for equally good service.
This means that our governments, Ma
uonal 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 po-
hticsl 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
pront. 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, a voice on the bench, or to rep
resentation in any public office. The Con-
sitution guarantees protection to proper
~, and we must make that promise good.
But II does not give the right of suffrage
10 any corporation.
Property Should Be the Servant.
The true friend of property, the true
conservative, Is he vino 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 II. 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
1 COrpOra Hons uhfIa that rntIAtooi o~4twSk.,
remains. To put an end to 1t will be
neither a short nor an easy task, but 1t
can be done.
We must rave complete and effective
publicity OF corporate affairs, 80 that the
people may know beyond p~eradventure
whether the corporations obey the law
and whether their Management entities
them to the confidence OF the public. II
Is necessary that laws should be passed
to prohibit the use OF corporate funds
directly or Indirectly for political pur-
poses; 1t 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.
1t has become entirely clear that we
must have government supervision OF the
capitalization not only OF public service
corporations, including particularly rail-
ways, but of ell corporations doing an
'nter-state business. do not wish TO
see the Nation forced into ownership Of
the railways X II can possibly be avoided.
and the only alternative Is t~horoughgoing
Snd effective regulation, which shah be
based on a full knowledge of all the facts.
including a physical valuation OF the
properly, This physical valuation1is not
needed. OK at least is very rarely needed.
for fixing rates: but IL is needed as the
basis OF onss capitalization.
We have CONS to recognize that fran
chises should never be granted except
for a limited time. and never without
proper provision for Compensation TO the
public. III is my personal belief thar the
same kind and degree oil control and
supervision which should be exercised
over public service corporations should
be extended also to combinations which
control necessaries Of life, such as nnSat.
oil, and coal. or which deal In them OF
an important scale.
I believe that the officers. and espe-
cially the directors. OF corpors.tions.
should be held personally responsible
when any corporation breaks the law.
Dealing With Combinations.
Combinations In industry are the result
OF an imperative economic law which can
not be repealed by political legislation.