Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1912-09-27
WHY EDISON is APR0GRESS|VE
The Worlds Inventor Gives His Reasons Why
Roosevelt is the Man for the People,

transform everything. And we've got
to have a big strong, honest man at
the head. Teddy's that man. go
the whole way with him.
"An experim tent? Yes. OF course.
How can you get any new thing with
out experiment? You never know
: until you try in government or in
) mechanics. And if you don't expert
ment you don't get anywhere. What.
do do when 1 get an idea? Well If
think it is sound enough,
| take the time and money and energy
to work it out. Sometime it fails
and sometimes it succeeds generally
it succeeds, after I've tried it enough
ways. Suppose l was afraid to try?
Would l ever get anywhere? But even
if we should make a terrible mistake,
what then? We have the power to cor
rect it every four yearS-yes, every
two, because the President isn't all
there is to the government.
"We can just forget the Republi-
can party here-and l was an old line
Repu blican before l woke up, at that.
And nearly all the Democrats offer is
honest application of The stuff. I've
heard that before, campaign after
campaign, until I'm sick Of it. Wen
tinker the tariff here, put in few
fancy frills there, and everything will
be all right. But we 60 on just the
same, somehow, wasting our resourc-
eS, widening the gap between work
and pay, our government-ou regula-
tor generations behind our indus
tries. our invention everything.
Free com petition-take that for
example! That IDEAS as old and worn
out as the states rights doctrine,
which is the joke in this campaign.
We've got clear past the wasteful-
ness of the free competitive era. We
might as well talk about smashing all
J the steam engines and electric lights
and going back to stage coaches and
candles. Put in two railroads, freely
competing in the same territory, and
what generally happens? After all
the waste and the throatcutting and
the disturbance, they both go into
the hands of receiver. Some male
factor of great wealth comes along
and picks up the pieces; and it's mono
poly, and a tyrannical and unfair one,
too. Free competition would be like a
mob without the police. Somebody
would gobble it all in the end, and
make all the old trouble in the pro-
cess. We must recognize com mbination,
if only for it's economy-and then see
that the benefits are passed around,
that no gentleman sits in Wall srteet
and gathers up the proceeds"
Edison, as he talked, had been gaz-
ing out over the whizzing Jersey
landscape. He turned now, and his
eyes changed from dreamy to shrewd.
II had my experiences with Wall
street myself he said, "and left
some deposits not sub iect to check
Building new world out of old
material, that's what we've doing,'
be continued, "that's what some of
us have been doing all our lives!" He
sat dreaming for few minutes after
this, and we had to guess at his
thought. But if you have tried to
get the inner meaning Of this mans
career, you understand what it may
have been. Every one of his ten thou
sand experiments has been a hammer
stroke in this new w0rld-building;
everything which he has put forth an
effort to make life more full and
happy for the millions. Had he STOP
ped on any one Of his greater inven-
tions, given his energy to turning it
into money, he might have been a
very rich man-and little more. But
his>protits have meant to him only
the means of more experiment, fur
ther effort to make the unknown
forces serve the welfare of mankind.
A progressive always, even before the
Progressive movement reached pol
itics! Embodiment, as he is, of the
American raised to the highest power
by genius, he is expressing in his pol
J ticS what he has expressed all his
life in his work.
: tThere's the initiative and refer
endum and all that, she said, coming
back to politics few minutes later.
'It's another line where l go the
:: whole way. The Democrats are for it
yes. don t object TO the Democratic
party when it agrees with me. Do you
know about Herbert Spencer's expert
, ments with craftsmanship? He look
ed over the British Parliament and
, deduced the law that in any delibera-
| tive body the intelligent result of the
! deliberations is lower than the in
telligence of the most stupid member
Something like that, anyhow. The
r British Parliament passed thirty
three laws to ameliorate the condi-
tion of the poor. OF these, thirty-two
didn't work; and any member of Par
) lament sitting alone with his COM
mon sense should have been able to
) see that they wouldn't. l tell you,
I'm inclined to believe that the aver