The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-01-12
Tells Members Of CONNER.
ciaI Club in Chicago
They Must Act
HELP TO CONSERVE
. NATIONS WEALTH
National Greatness Depends
Upon Freedom From All
Monopoly, President
Elect Declares

CHICAGO, Jan. 1.-THE honest
business men in this country haven't
get chance" said Elect
Wilson in his speech before five hun
cred members of the Commercial
club. and their guests here tonight.
The governor bemoaned the unequal
conditions that surrounded business
In America. He said that competi-
ton had been entirely eliminated In
some fields, and that the independent
business men were unable 10 get q
foothold.
We must see to 1t that business is
set free of every feature OF mono
poly he added And then after q
short pause, ne said: Il notice you
do not applaud that
Indeed, among his auditors were
practically all of the big business men
OF Chicago, including beef packers.
railroad officials, and bank direo-
tors.
Among them were J. ogden Ar
mour, Louis +. Swift. E. j. Earring,
president of the Milwaukee railroad:
John V. Farwell, multi-millionaire:
S. NJ. FELTON,, president of the Great
Western f. A Delano, president OF
the Wabash Marvin Hewitt, presi-
dent of the Northwestern; Cyrus Nc
Cormick, head of the Harvester trust.
James A. Patten. the wheat king.
George NJ Reynolds, president of the
Continental and Commercial National
bank; Julius Rosenwald and John
8. Runnelis, president of the Pullman
company.
Reads Lecture.
THE fes5itiefftatfeot proceeded to
read Il caustic lecture TO these gem
tlemen that silenced their applause.
II am not here to tell you what
am going to do" he said This bus
! mess future of this country does not
depend upon the government OF the
United States. it depends upon BUSH
ness men OF the country. The busf-
ness men have devoted their thought
10 exploiting the resources of Amer
lea. bat very few have devoted their
thought TO outstanding the resources
of the country. Until they do so SEINE
of the problems that face us will be
difficult of solution. The government
at Washington has been TREMENDOUSLY
suspicious OF those who have ap-
preached il for rights in forest. re-
serves water reserves, and mineral
/ reserves
They have looked with suspicion
upon every applicant. The thing that
has to be done Is this. The raw ma
terial of this country must be at the
! disposal of everybody in the United
States upon the same terms.
Il want to take the, sternness out
of this country said the speaker. Il
want to remove suspicion. As mat
tiers now stand. perfectly honest, up
right men, whom anybody could pick
out are at a disadvantage in this
country. That is unfair 10 You, or
, .a-a anybody q business touches.
The people dc not believe that men
OF every kind are upon an equality.
not only in their access TO the re-
sources of the country. but as to the
justice of the country.
Chance TO Get Justice.
'It Is believed In this country that
the poor man has less chance to get
justice than the rich man. God for
bid that that should be generally
/ true, But so long as that Is true. the
! belief constitutes a threatening fact.
Il have been told by some gentle-
men with whom / have dealt in poll
tiles that / am not treating them
fairly, because | understand their
motives an dthe general public does
not understand their motives. The be-
lief of the people that you are not act
ing upon high motives Is the under-
lying belief the way they vote. You
have got to clear yourselves before
the general jury.
I have been rejecting as I sat
here tonight that it would be futile
, f0r: me 10, pretend that the chief
routes or Thought raa through Chi
l>cago: but that / want to induce you,
II ! may. 10 travel. or perhaps <
should say TO forecast some of tina
routes OF thought which must be
travelled In this country If we are TO
settle the problem that are now Inn
mediately confronting us. For l am
| rot here to tell you tonight what am
going to do. ! am not here to speak
of the responsibilities which will fall
upon me- tell you frankly that if
I permitted my thought to dwell upon
| the responsibility which will center
upon myself. / should be daunted in
facing the future.
To Ask for Counsel
7 come here to ask for your coun~
| sell and assistance, and to remind you
! of the RESPONSIBILITIES which lie upon
us as representatives OF the people
| in America The business future Oh
| this country does not depend upon the
/ government of the United States II
! depends upon the business men or
! the United States. The government
| cannot breed a temper in men. The
! government cannot generate thought
and purpose. And only the temper
I and the thought. and the purpose Of
| bushes men in America Is going to
/ determine what the future at business
! shall be- There are many things -
| do which you can do without the -
/ sistance, and also without the WHIP
/ of law. The thing which is done only
/ under the whip OF law Is done im~
perfectly, reluctantly. sometimes sul~
| lenly. and never successfully.
| "The hope OF America is in TIN
| changing attitude OF the business mon
I OF this country towards the things
which they have to handle in this ~
ture. II that temper had not changed,
! the things could not have happeue4
which have happened tn rooem4
months. For what we have witnessed
within the last two months ~ m44