The Washington herald., 1913-03-17

But the result of the tariff has been
| most serious on its moral side. 1t has
led to a certain kind of business coward
ice. to lack of efficiency, to a weak
ening Of initiative, and. worst of all,
to belief that business success II the
end Of the law and the high purpose
OF the government. From this last
nave arisen certain unconscious but real
class distinctions tending to create an
Industrial aristocracy. This tendency has
! found its supreme expression in the gi-
santlc combination known to US all as
trusts SO there are men who have
been brought up to believe that it is
the duty OF the government SO to enact
and to enforce law as to secure them
business profit. They would look with
scorn upon the idea that it is the duty
OF the government to secure lawyers
good fees or physicians good practice
or workmen high wages, but, consciously
or unconsciously, they have accepted and
acted upon the theory that the govern
ment should. in their particular case. Sc
cure them II profit. True. there are
many concerns in which energy and skill
OF high order are present. and there
are thousands of able men in our in
dustries able and anxious to press for
ward. But for one willing to be free. to
seek the fruits of freedom. there are
Want to Go on In Old Way.
1T is accepted by them that they are
doing the best they can. and they want
to be allowed to go on in the good old
way. Yet where pressure has actually
been brought upon these same industries
they have met IL successfully. To the
necessity for paying high wages they
have responded by inventions, which.
through labor-saving devices. has made
their product low in labor cost while
maintaining high rate OF pay. Be-
lieving. as I do, in a real though mod
crate and balanced reduction of the tar
il. ! believe in it chiefly because II
means the birth of a new moral and
mental life to our industries.
so ! look. when the necessary read
justments are over. for the blood of a
new life to he poured into the veins of
American industry. | look for the recog-
milton by the master of the true values
in the men. 1 hope for the time when
the pay roll will not be thought the
measures Of cost. but when that shall
be controlled by the value Of men and by
the Quality and quantity of their
product.
Value of Mnn In shop.
We must learn to appreciate that the
an in the shop is the most valuable
thing in II; that in order to be most
productive the conditions which make
for his best conservation must be pro-
duced and maintained. II will be no
harm to the nation If abnormal profits
are cut down. Public opinion will not
maintaining them at the cost
Of those who toll. The class OF those
who claim profits guaranteed by law.
separating them from others by this
privilege. may. indeed must, disappear.
The measure of a man must cease to
be the size of his purse. America needs.
as our President has justly said, a new
and one phase of It must be
freedom from the dominance Of the dol
lar. The brute power Of collected cash
must not rule our laws, our society,
or our business The tariff on its hui
man side has meant too much a financial
powerful in pocket. but weak
in the higher forms Of life and thought.
The prosperity Of the nation does not
depend upon the making of abnormal
profits by any part of it. We shall be
happier far when the temptation so to
do shall have been removed and stead
fastness shall replace cowardice. and
capital shall deal with labor as an ally,
not an Antagonist