Evening star., 1938-07-08
Text of Roosevelt Speech
President Compares the Colonists With
Present-Day Spirit.

done. To them the use of government
was but another form Of the co-opers.
ton Of good neighbors.
Government Held indispensable.
Government was an indispensable
instrument Of their daily lives, Of the
security Of their women and theil
children and their homes and theil
opportunities. They looked on gov.
ernment not as thing apart-as 9
power over our people. They regarded
it as a power Of the people, as q dem.
ocratic expression Of organized self
help like q frontier husking bee.
There were worried legalists back ir
the seaboard towns who were sure II
was unconstitutional for the Federal
Government to help to put roads and
railroads and canals through these
new territories-who were sure that
the Nation would never get back the
money it was plowing into development
OF the natural and human resources OF
the Northwest.
But Abraham Lincoln, who incar-
mated the spirit Of the people who were
actually living in the Northwest Terri
tory. summed up their attitude when
he said: The legitimate object of gov
ernment is to do for q community of
people whatever they need to have
done, but cannot do at all, or cannot
do so well, for themselves, in their SEP
arate and individual capacities"
Mental Migration.
Today under new conditions and \
whole nation. the original l3 Statas
and all the West and South that has
grown out OF them, is on q mental mi
grafton, dissatisfied with old conditions,
seeking. like the little band that came
to Marietta, to create new conditions
OF security. And again the people see
an ally IN their own Government.
Many . man does not own his cabin
any more; his possessions are q bank
deposit.
Scarcely any man can call his neigh
oors to raise his roof any more-he
pays contractor cash and has to have
mortgage financing to find the cash.
And II that financing is of the wrong
kind or goes bad-he may need helm
to save his home from foreclosure.
once old age was safe because there
was always something useful. which
men and women, no matter how old.
might do to earn an honorable main.
tenance. That time Is gone, and some
new kind Of organised old-age insur.
ance has to be provided.
In these perplexities the individual
turns, Is he has always turned, to the
collective security Of the willingness Of
his fellows to cooperate through the
use Of Government to help him and
each other. The spirit Of the frontier
husking bee is found teday in carefully
drafted statutes-statutes insurinr
bank deposits; statutes providing mort
gage money for homes through +. H.
A.; statutes providing help through H.
O. L. c. for those In danger Of fore.
closure. The cavalry captain who pro-
tected the log cabins Of the Northwest
Is now supplanted by legislators, like
Senator Bulkley, toiling over the draft
ing Of such statutes and over the ef.
ficiency Of Government machinery to
administer them 80 that such protec.
ton and help Of Government can be
extended to the full.
On . thousand fronts government
State and municipal Is well Is Fed
erals playing the same role Of the
insurer Of security for the average
man, woman and child that the Army
detachments played in the early days
Of the old Northwest Territory. When
you think 1t through, at the bottom
most Of the great protective statutes
OF today are In essence mutual insur-
ance companies, and our recent legis-
lation is not q departure from but q
return to the healthy practices oi
mutual self-help Of the early settlers
Of the Northwest.
Let US not be afraid to help each
other-let US never forget that gov
ernment Is ourselves and not an alien
power over US. The ultimate rulers
Of our democracy are not . President
and Senators and Congressmen and
Government odacials, but the voters Of
this country.
I believe that the American people,
not AFRAID Of their own capacity tc
choose orward-looking Representatives
to run their government, want the
same cooperative security and have
the same courage to achieve It, II
1888 8 In 17Ss. I an sure they know
that We win always have . frontier
Of social problems and that We must
always move In to bring law and order
to 1t. IN that confidence I am push
ing on. ! am sure you win push ou
with me.
Wrong Place to Fish.