The Washington times., 1912-02-21

Lincoln's Prophecy.
Lincoln, with his clear vision. his in
grained sense of justice and his spirit of
kindly friendliness to all, forecast our
present struggle and saw the way out.
What he said should be pondered by
capitalist and workingman alike. He
spoke as Follows Il condense):
II hold that while man exists II lie his
duty TO improve not only his condition
but to assist In ameliorating mankind.
Labor, is prior TO and independent of
tai and deserves much the higher con-
sideration. Capital has its rights,
which are as worthy OF protection as
any other rights. Nor should this lead
the fruit of labor. Property is desirable,
is a positive good in the world. Let not
him who Is houseless pull down the
house of another, but let him work
thus by example assuring that his own
shall be safe from violence when built"
This last sentence Enthusiastically
shows Lincoln's homely, kindly common
sense. His is the attitude that we ought
TO take. He showed the proper sense
of proportion in his relative estimates
of capital and labor, of human rights
and the rights of wealth. Above all, in
what he thus said, as on so many other
occasions, he taught the Indispensable
lesson of the need of wise kindness and
charity of sanity and moderation, III
the dealings of men one with another.
We should discriminate between two
purposes we have in view. The first Is
the effort to provide what are them
selves the ends of good government; the
second Is the effort to provide proper
machinery for the achievement of these
ends.
Aim of Good Government.
The ends of good government in our
democracy are to secure by genuine
popular rule a high average of moral
and material well-being among our citl-
zens. 1t has been we'll said that in the
past we have paid attention only 10
the. accumulation of prosperity, and
that from henceforth we must pay
equal attention to the proper dlstribu-
ton of prosperity. This is true. The
only prosperity worth having Is that
which affects the mass of the people.
We are bound to strive for the fair dis
tribution of prosperity. But it behoovGs
us to remember that there is no use in
devising methods for the proper dis
tribution of prosperity unless the pros
perity is there to distribute. l hold it
to be our duty to see that the wage
nary consumer, shall get their fair
share of the benefit of business pros
perity. But it either Is or ought to be
evident to every one that business has
to prosper before anybody can get any
benefit from ii. Therefore ! hold that
he is the real progressive, that he Is
the genuine champion of the people,
who endeavors to shape the policy alike
OF the Nation and of the several States
so as to encourage legitimate and non
est business at the same time that he
wars against all Crookedness and In
justice and unfairnesS and tyranny in
the business world (for, of course, We
can only get business put on a basis
of permanent prosperity when the ele-
ment of injustice Is taken out of IT..
This is the reason why l have for SO
many years insisted, as regards our
National Government, that 1t Is both
correct the evils of big business by an
attempt to restore business conditions
as they were in the middle of last CEN
fury, before railways and telegraphs
had rendered larger business organiza-
tons both inevitable and desirable.
The effort to restore such conditions,
and to trust for justice solely to sucn
proposed restoration, Is as foolish ds
with the fiintlocks of Washington's Con
weapons of precision. FIlrtlock leglsla-
ton. OF the kind that seeks to prohibit
all combinations. good or bad, is bound
to fail, and the effort in so far as 1t ac-
comptsnes anything at all, merely
means that some of the worst combina-
lions are not checked and that honest
business is checked. Wha. Is needed 10,
first, the recognition that modern bust
ness conditions have come to stay, in
so far at least as these conditions mean
mat business must be done In larger
units, and then the cool-headed and
resolute determination to introduce
an effective method of regulating big
corporations so as to help legitimate
business as an Incident TO thoroughly
and completely safeguarding the inter-
ests of the people as a whole. We are
soil, the wagc-workers, the business
men-these are the three big and vitality
important divisions of our popula ton.
The welfare of each division is vitality
necessary to the welfare of the people
IS whole. The great mass of business
Is. of course, done by men whose bust
ness Is either small or of moderate size.
The middle-sized business men form an
element of strength which Is of literally
incalculable value to the nation. Taken
as class, they are among our best
citizens. They have not been seekers
after enormous fortunes; they have
been moderately and justly prosperous
by reason of dealing fairly with
pioyes. They are satisfied With leSlti-
mate profit that will pay their exprnsus
OF living and lay by something for those
who ccme after. and the additional
oiiNNll LOI tue DtllSl ill''ul
ard improvement of their plant. The
average business man of tiIis type is,
as rule, leading citizen Of his .,om-
munity, foremost in everything that
tells for its tetterment, Il man whom
his neiEkbors look up to and respect
he is IN no sense dangerous to his Hom-
r,un:tY, just because he is 1nsint 2 gal
part of his CCmmLn nifty, bone Of Hs bone.
and flesh of Its flesh. His life fibers are
intertwi1cd with the life Iih"'S OF his
fellow citi7ehs. Yet nowadays many
men of this kind, when they come 10
make necessary trade agreements With
one another, find themselves in danger
OF becoming unwilling transgressors OF
the law, nd are at a loss to know wh2
TIL. law forbldS aud what II permits.
This is all wrong. There should be a
fixed governmental policy, policy
which shall Clearly define and punish
wrong-doing, and shall give in advance
tull information to any man AS To just
what lie can and just what he cannot
legally srd properly do. 1t Is absurd
ard wicked to treat the deliberate law
breaker as on an exact par with the
man eager to obey the law, whose ot!ly
| desire Is to fHd out from some Compc-
| tent governmental anth )rity what the
law is and then live up to it u is All.
| Surd to endeaN or 10 regulate busine IS
! in the interest of the public by means
| of long drawn Ia wsuits without any aC.
! compartment of administrative control
and regulation, and without any ut.
tempt 10 discriminate between tho
! fuECst man who has succeeded IN hlsi,
| ness lr'ausC C rendering 4 service II