Albuquerque morning journal., 1915-03-25
EIIHU ROOTS SPEECH

(which he pointed out as a vital need
lor the country the immediate restora-
tlon OF confidence in the integrity Of
business, big and little Mr. Roots
Isuggcstion that the remedy could on
lly be applied by the republicans, was
of course. merely politics, because the
/ democratic administration can inspire
confidence quite us readily as the RE-
lpublcans could If n sets itself to
do 20.
1t IL well for the American people
TO keep the record straight. Begin
ming with the first election Of Pres
ident MeKiuley the road was opened
! Tor the advent Of frenzied finance.
4 As a result, FOR a number of years
huge corporations came into exist
cnce. consultations occurred, prices
were advanced TO the consumer to
Ipay interest and dividends on bonds
and stocks which represented no cap-
ltal or service Capital became drunk
ana went on a long debauch from
which u reaction was inevitable.
During the second administration
Of Theodore Roosevelt the reaction
was under way, the president taking
o radical stand to check the activities
Of "big business" provided it was not
q big business friendly TO his inter
csts.
"Muckrakcrs' started the avail
anche Of popular dlstrust ana con
ldcmnalion. The president condemn
cd those writer's. at the beginning
Later. he took them mp, made use of
them. loved them, gave them offices
IdisplacinR the rough riders for them
But. aside from Joining in popu-
lar furore against "malcfactors of
grcat wealth. President Roosevelt
did them little harm, placed few re-
lstrietions upon their activities But
when the slow-moylng, almost noise
less Taft came TO the White House,
he was imbued with the idea that
trusts must be curbed, that anti-trust
laws must be defined ana enforced.
lie was lawyer himself ana gather
ed about him q cabinet composed al
most entirely Of big lawyers
without beating the tom-toms ana
burning red fire, TAFT began a cam
paign most remarkable In its scope
and for-reachng in It's consequences.
Both the civil and the criminal laws
were called into action. No corpor-
ation or combination was too big or
too little to be caught in the dragnct
of the department Of Justice,
The work was done with so little
noise that there was little dis
urhancc to business and when the
Taft administration ended the coun-
try was on the crest of the highest
wave of prosperity the nation ever
had known incidentally. the su-
.prcmc court, In ii series of decisions,
had defined pretty thoroughly what
business could and could not do.
with the administration Of Prcsi-
dent Wilson, there cnme To Washing
ton lot of congressman whose pre-
vious experience in public life had
been confined 10 making democratic
speeches ana mmbasting the trusts.
They had been the party nominees In
l0l2, largely because they were rec
cgnlzcd as campaign speakers In dis
tricts hopelessly republican until the
split came i'm the republican party
They believed the things they had
been telling the people, and they were
not ohservaut enough to know that
practically all of the evils AGAINST
which they had iuveghed had been
corrected quietly through the efforts
Of the department OF Justice ana the
decisions of the federal supreme
court The first thing these men
did when they got to Washington
was to start all sorts of Investigations.
These probes extended To the
banks. the insurance companies, the
railroads. the manufacturing estah-
ushments the whole business of the
country. What was worse, the CON
gressional committees pronounced all
of the objects of these Investigations
guilty before they commenced taking
evidence Every man who wore "a /
clean shirt was suspected, every man
who rode in an automobile was /
guilty
In the presence OF this spirit of hit
ter hostility to business IN all OF it's I
forms. men with money stopped I'M
vestmg in anything except municipal /
bonds on nearly SO and paralysis was
becoming general when the European
war broke out
Meantime. President Wilson had
begun q campaign intended to restore
confidence llc was succeeding in /.
some degree. despite the activities If
men like Walsh of the federal com-
mission ON industrial relations and /,
me uttcrances of radicals like Sona-
tors Lewis and Thomas The war
upset everything. ana conditions cam
not Doe adjusted until the struggle in
Europe ends In
Restoration of confidence Is cssen-
ial II can he brought about ny
democrats as readily as by republic !
ans Americans naturally are ops ,
imisuc They breathe it eat it, talk
Z evude ST. They are ready to see
he bright side of everything if given N
chance. and they care little about 81
which political party sets itself to .