Rocky Ford enterprise., 1912-02-16
LINCOLN DAY BANQUET
Continued From First Page

zone so. lney Can oeoduCu tho PeoPiS
government through corrupt politicians
and the peoples official servants. and
the future will prove that their malign
activities in politics will be more danger
Gus because more subtle than ever.
These trusts have not suffered; their act
ivities in politics will be more dangerous
because more subtls than ever. These
| trusts have not suffered; they actually
have benefited. But the peopls do suffer
and have not benefited. Even every
dollar of expense these trusts have been
put to by this frutfuless litigation will be
taken from the pocket of the people. In
short strike at trust evils directly. 1t
is these that hurt the people. End the
wrongs OF organized capital but do not
try to end org anized capital itself. That
cannot be done. Make it the giant serv-
ant of the psople-the mighty helper of
our common prosperity. If the laws
have named are not the best TO stop the
outrages of corporate wealth name better
ones and am with you. But go for the
evils; do away with the abuses. The
people need some thing done that will
help them. 1t does not make the cost of
living less by futile lawsuits. 1t strokes
| at no abuse of capital: it shields those
abuses by kicking up dust that blinds
the peoples eyes to the evils that hurt
the people.
If our first great problem to be solved
| in the peoples interests is our trust ques-
ton closely second to it is our tariff
question. In this. grave matter bad
influences have worked bad results. no
| matter which party was in power, Thus
the peoples protest and partisan rancor
begins to tear down any tariff as soon as
| it is built. The only certain thing about
the tariff is uncertainty. No matter
which part wins an election on the tariff
issue, the business and industry of the
| whole land is sure to be disturbed till an
other tariff upheaval is forced upon the
nation.
What then. IS the common sense thing
| 20 do with our tariff? Our tariffs have
oeen made without our lawmakers know
ing the facts. Common sense says that
We should find out the truth and build
o lr tariff on that. A genuine. permanent
,on-partisan tariff commission to find out
these facts is the first common sense
,lng we must have to make orr tariff
wise and honest and steady. Many years
ago began the fight for this simple and
fundamental reform. 1t is no experiment.
Rival nations long since have put the idea
INTO successful practice. How childish
that we Americans, the fathers OF mod
arm protection. should let other nations
adopt these improvements upon it and yet
refuse to adopt these Improvements of
tour rivals.
nd
methods of treating our business and tariff
problems are the main questions before
the people. they ought not to be and are
so because we have dealt with them as
exclusively political questions instead Of
economic questions. Long ago thess
questions should have been out of part
san discussion, and we should have met
and solved more human problems. or
these child labor is first.
The defender of child labor says that
it can be handled only by the States, Just
as they said that slavery and lottery tick
cts and obscene literature and the sale OF
diseased meat and poisoned food could be
handled only by the States. But we know
that this twentieth century evil can be
handled only by the Nation. If you ir
1 a
which your business men must observe
they can not compete in the Nations
market with the business men of states
where child labor is permitted; because
Colorado business men must employ
manhood labor at manhood wages, where.
as their competitors may employ child
hood labor at childhood wages. So child
labor is wrong to honest business.
Other questions are put to this republic
by our changed conditions. Nearly all oil
them concern the peoples safety anc
sheer living. Many of them affect the
saving or the plumber of the people S
substance. All of them must be answer
ed for the peoples good. How may this
be donep Only by the people themselves
passing on their own needs. And that is
right for theirs is the burden. theirs
the suffering. theirs the lives at hazard.
The people can be trusted. 1t is they who
do the nations work in peace and the
nations fighting in war. Who can be
better judges of what is good for the re-
public than those who made and saved
the republic?
If it is said that the people can not deal
with own good. the answer is that is the
peoples business. Surely they can better
deal with their own good than can politi-
sal bos os hired by corrup:ing influences
that pile up unjust millions of dollars
from the hard earned billions of the
peoples pennies. 1t all comes down to
this: Shall we trust the good sense and
honest judgement of the civic average
or shall we rather trust the praotioed
craft and selfish power of the political
supermanP
AS for me. believe in the people. All
history proves that | am right. And if
all history did not prove that, yet my
i E.. II.