The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-01-30
PROSPERITY NOW
CLOSE AT HAND
SAYS WILSON
President Believes Administration
Has Removed Obstacles
TALKS TO TROLLEY ROAD MEN
Says We Are Seeking for Liber:y to
Both Business and the
Individual.

w
fdent prediction that the country
soon will enter upon new era of en-
terprise and prosperity was voiced
at yesterday by President Wilson in
speech before the convention of the
American electric railway association.
Il have always maintained that the
only way in which men could under
stand one another was by meeting
one another" said the president. IF
| believed all that read in the news
papers ! would not understand any
body. | have met many men whose
horns dropped away the moment !
was permitted to examine their char
acter
1T seems to me that can say with
q good deal of confidence that we are
upon the eve of a new era of enter
prise and of prosperity. Enterprise
has been checked in this country for
almost 90 years because men were
moving among a maze OF interroga-
ton points. They did not know what
was going to happen to them. All
sorts of regulations were proposed
and it was a matter of uncertainty
what sort OF regulation was going to
be adopted.
"The most necessary thing ther
fore was for us to agree, as we did by
slow stages agree, upon the main par
ticulars of what ought TO be done and
to correspond with that general judg-
then to put our laws in such shape as
will correspond with that general judg
ment. | for one have never doubted
mat All America was " uiIa hpanci-
pie l have never doubted that
Ame. "a believed in doing what was
fair and honorable and of good report.
But the method, the method of
control by law against the small min
ority that was recalcitrant against
these principles, was a thing that it
was difficult to determine upon. And
it was a very great burden. let me
say, to fall upon particular admins
tration of this government to have to
undertake practically the whole bust
ness OF final definition. That is what
has been attempted by the Congress
now about to come to a close. 1t has
attempted the definitions for which
the country had been getting ready or
trying to get ready for nearly half a
generation. 1t win require period
of test to determine whethe: they
have successfully defined them or not.
but no one needs to have it proved
to him that it was necessary to de-
fine them and remove the uncertaint-
les and that the uncertainties being
removed common understanding ere
possible and universal cooperation.
knowing the elements we have to
deal with, we can deal with them;
and with that confidence of knoN
ledge we can have confidence of ei,
terprise. And that enterprise is 60
ing to be afraid of or suspicious OF
any business merely because it is big.
III my judgment is correct. nobody
has been suspicious of any business
merely because it was big. but they
have been suspicious whenever they
thought that the bigness was being
used to take an unfair advantage
The era of private business, in The
sense of business conducted with the
money Of the pagtners-I mean of the
managing partners is practically past,
not only in this country but almost
everywhere Therefore, almost all
business has this direct responsibility
to the public in general. We owe a
constant report to the public whose
money we ere constantly asking for in
order to conduct the business Itself.
81 take it thal we are in a position
now to come TO common under
kroo ing that only COM
mon understanding will be the stable
basis OF business and that what we
want for business hereafter is the
same kind OF liberty that we want for
the individual The liberty of the in
diyidual is limited with the greatest
sharpness where his actions come in
to collision with the interests of the
community he lives in.