Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-08-07


If such a concentration and concsol
that they can easily be set up and used
at will Laws must be devised which
will prevent this, If laws can be work
ed out by fair and free counsel that
will accomplish that result without
destroying or seriously embarrassing
any sound or legitimate business I'M
dertaking or necessary and wholesome
arrangement
LABOR QUESTION.
Let me say again that what we are
seeking is not destruction Of any kind
nor the disruption of any sound or hon
est thing, but merely the rule Of right
and Of the common advantage l am
happy to say that new spirit has be-
gun TO show itself in the last year or
two among influential men Of business
and, what is perhaps even more signifi-
cant, among the lawyers who are their
expert advisers and that this spirit has
displayed itself very notably in the last
few months in an effort to return in
some degree at any rate TO the prac-
tees of genuine competition.
II am right about this, it is going
to be easier to act in accordance with
the rule of right and justice in deal
ing with the labor question. The so
called labor question is q question only
because we have not yet found the
ests Of labor and capital. The welfare.
the happiness, the energy and spirit
Of the men and women who do the
daily work in our mines and factories
on our railroads, in our offices and
marts Of trade, on our farms and on
the sea, are of the essence Of our ma
tional life. There can be nothing
wholesome unless their life Is whole
some; there can be no contentment IN
less they are contented. Their physi-
cal welfare affects the soundness of
the whole nation. We shall never get
very far in the settlement Of these
vital matters so long as we regard
everything done for the workingman,
by law or by private agreement, as
concession yielded to keep him from
agitation and a disturbance Of our
peace. Here again the sense of uni
versal partnership must come into
play IL we are to act like statesmen,
as those who serve not class, but a
nation.
The working people Of Amerlca-if
they must be distinguished from the
minority that constitutes the rest of
it-are, Of course, the backbone Of the
nation. No law that safeguards their
life, that improves the physical and
moral conditions under which they
live, that makes their hours of labor
rational and tOlerable, that gives
them freedom to act in their own in
terest and that protects them where
they cannot protect themselves can
properly be regarded as class legisla-
ton or as anything but as a measure
taken in the interest of the whole
people, whose partnership In right ac-
ton we are trying to establish and
make real and practical. 1t is in this
spirit that we shall act if we are genu-
inc spokesman Of the whole country.
AS our program is disclosed-for no
man can forecast 1t ready made and
before counsel is taken of every one
concerned-this must be its measure
and standard, the interest of all con-
cerned. For example, in dealing with
the complicated and difficult question
of the reform of our banking and cur
rency laws 1t is plain that we ought
to consult very many persons besides
the bankers, not because we distrust
the bankers, but because they do not
necessarily comprehend the business
Of the country, Notwithstanding they
are indispensable servants Of 1t and
may do "a vast deal to make 1t hard or
easy. No mere bankers plan will
meet the requirements, no matter how
honestly conceived. 1t should be a
: merchants and farmers plan as well,
elastic in the hands Of those who use
/ 1t as an Indispensable part of their
I daily business.
/ In dealing with the Philippines we
/ should not allow ourselves to stand
! upon any mere point of pride as If, In
| order to keep our countenance in the
+ families Of nations, 1t were necessary
/ for US to make the same blunders OF
/ selfshness that other nations have
made. We are not the owners of the
/ Philippine Islands. We hold them In
/ trust for the people who live in them
! They are theirs for the uses of their
/ life. We are not even their partners
/ 1t is our duty as trustees TO make
! whatever arrangement Of government
/ will be most serviceable TO their free
dom and development. Here again we
are TO set up the rule OF jstice and OF
right
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES.
! The rule Of the people is no idle
| phrase. Those who believe in it-ss
who does not that has caught the real
spirit Of America believe that there
can be no rule Of right without It.
that right in politics is made up OF
/ the interests Of everybody, and every
body should take part in the action
that is to determine It We have beer
keen for presidential primaries and
the direct election Of United States
senators because we wanted the &C
ton of the government to be determln
ed by persons whom the people had
actually designated as men whom they
were ready 10 trust and follow. We
I have been anxious that all campaign
contributions and expenditures should
be disclosed 10 the public in fullest