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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3168442 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64224 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64224) diff --git a/old/64224-0.txt b/old/64224-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a034227..0000000 --- a/old/64224-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2192 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of American problems, by Theodore Roosevelt - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: American problems - -Author: Theodore Roosevelt - -Release Date: January 06, 2021 [eBook #64224] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images - made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN PROBLEMS *** - - - - - American Problems - - -[Illustration: - - Copyright 1910 by Moffett Studio - - Theodore Roosevelt -] - - - - - American Problems - - - Theodore Roosevelt - - - New York - - The Outlook Company - - 1910 - - - - - Copyright 1910 by - The Outlook Company - New York - All rights reserved - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Contents - - - PAGE - - The Management of Small States Which Are Unable to Manage 3 - Themselves - - A Remedy for Some Forms of Selfish Legislation 11 - - Rural Life 29 - - The Progressives, Past and Present 45 - - The Pioneer Spirit and American Problems 91 - - The Tariff: A Moral Issue 111 - - - - - THE CHAPTERS CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK - PRESENT MR. ROOSEVELT’S VIEWS ON - MANY OF THE GREAT NATIONAL ISSUES OF - TODAY. THEY WERE WRITTEN SINCE MR. - ROOSEVELT’S RETURN TO AMERICA, AND - APPEARED ORIGINALLY IN THE OUTLOOK - AS EDITORIALS OR ARTICLES - - - - - The Management of Small States Which are Unable to Manage Themselves - - -In the issue of The Outlook for June 18 there was a quotation from a -letter of an Anti-Imperialist correspondent, who, in speaking of Egypt -and the Philippines, stated that the proper course to pursue was to -protect countries of this nature by international agreement, the writer -citing in support of his theory the way in which many small powers had -their territories guaranteed by international agreement. - -The trouble is in the confusion of ideas which results in trying to -apply the same principle to two totally different classes of cases. A -State like Switzerland or Holland differs only in size from the greatest -of civilized nations, and in everything except size stands at least on a -level with them. Such a State is absolutely competent to preserve order -within its own bounds, to execute substantial justice, and to secure the -rights of foreigners. All that is necessary, therefore, is to guarantee -it against aggression; and when the great Powers have thus guaranteed -it, all covenanting to protect it from the aggression of any one of -their own number, their duty is done and the needs of the situation -completely met. In such a State the people themselves guarantee -stability, order, liberty, and protection for the rights of others. -There is not the slightest need of interfering with them, of seeking to -develop them, of protecting them from themselves. The needs of -civilization and humanity are sufficiently met by protecting them from -outside aggression. - -There is no analogy at all with what occurs in a community unable to -keep elementary order, or to secure elementary justice within its own -borders, and unable or unwilling to do justice to foreign nations. The -very worst thing from the standpoint of humanity which can happen to -such a community may be to guarantee it against outside aggression. The -condition of Algeria under French rule is infinitely better than its -condition before the French came to Algeria, or than the condition of -Morocco at this moment. The condition of Turkestan under Russia has very -greatly improved. The condition of the Sudan at present, as compared -with the condition of the Sudan under Mahdist rule, is the most striking -example of all. In the same way, Panama has benefited immeasurably from -every standpoint by the presence of Americans on the Isthmus. Any -arrangement which had guaranteed Algeria against the French, or -Turkestan against the Russians, or the Sudan against the English, or -Panama against the Americans, would have been an arrangement against the -interests of humanity and civilization, and against the interests of the -natives of the countries themselves. - -Moreover, if there must be interference for the sake of the country -itself, to promote its growth in order and civilization, actual -experience has shown that such interference can only come efficiently by -one nation, and not by many. Untried theorists, or even practical men -who are influenced by national jealousy and are untaught by the lessons -of history, have a curious fondness for trying a system of joint -interference or joint control. Americans forget, for instance, that we -have actually tried this system and found it completely wanting, in the -case of Samoa. We made an arrangement with England and Germany by which -there was a joint protectorate over Samoa. The system worked wretchedly. -It resulted badly for the natives; it was a fruitful source of bickering -among the three Powers. Then we abandoned the system, each Power took -its own sphere, and since then we have gotten along admirably; the only -trouble in connection with Samoa which arose during my entire -administration as President came because we were not able to grant the -earnest request of the natives that we should take real and complete -possession of our part of the islands and really regulate the government -instead of leaving it so much in the hands of the native chiefs. - -In the case of the Philippines, there were just two things that we could -do which would have been worse than leaving them under Spanish rule. One -of these would have been to turn the islands adrift to manage -themselves. The second would have been to try to manage them by a joint -arrangement of various Powers. Any such arrangement in the case of as -rich and valuable islands as the Philippines would very possibly have -led to war between the great Powers. It would have certainly led to -jealousy, bickerings, and intrigue among them, would have held the -islands back, would have prevented any development along the lines of -progress and civilization, and would have insured an endless succession -of devastating little civil wars. - -When all that is necessary as regards a small State is to protect it -from external aggression, then the great Powers can with advantage join -to guarantee its integrity. When anything more is necessary to try to -develop the people and civilization, to put down disorder, to stop civil -war and secure justice, then a combination of Powers offers the worst -possible way of securing the object sought to be achieved. Indeed, under -such circumstances it is probably better for the State concerned to be -under the control of a single Power, even though this Power has not high -ideals, rather than under the control of three or four Powers which may -possess high ideals but which are put into such an impossible situation -that they are certain to be riven asunder by jealousy, distrust, and -intrigue, and to do damage rather than good to the people whom they are -supposed to protect. - - - - - A Remedy for Some Forms of Selfish Legislation - - -The August number of the “World’s Work” contains an article which is of -interest to all who are concerned in the vital subject to which we give -the somewhat foggy title of “Political Reform.” The article, for obvious -reasons anonymous, is written by a member of Congress who, the editors -of the “World’s Work” say, has served for more than ten years in the -House of Representatives, has acted on many important committees, and -has been successful in “getting things” for his constituency. The -article is described as “showing the reason why the ‘pork-barrel,’ -special tariff favors, and private pension bills become law,” the reason -being, to quote the words of the author, that “the dictum of the -constituency to the Congressmen is, ‘Get all you can for US.’ There are -no restrictions placed upon his method of getting it.... Until the -American people themselves become more National and less local, until -constituencies cease to regard their Congressmen as solicitors at the -National Treasury, Congress will continue to enact iniquitous groups of -local favors into National legislation.” - -This serious charge against the American people—for which there is -unquestionably altogether too much justification—the author proceeds to -substantiate by relating some of his own experiences with constituents -which, however surprising they may seem to the general reader, will seem -almost commonplace to all who know how the average American constituency -does in actual practice treat its Congressman. - -The writer sets forth the fact that, in the first place, ninety per cent -of the letters which a Congressman receives are requests for special -favors to be obtained in some way or other, directly or indirectly, from -the United States Treasury. For instance, while the Payne-Aldrich Tariff -Law was under discussion, this particular Congressman received in May, -1909, the following letter from the secretary of a powerful commercial -association in his district: - - I have been instructed by the board of directors of this association - to advise you that at special meeting May 20, a resolution, copy of - which is enclosed, was unanimously adopted, urging our - Representatives in Congress to use every endeavor to have the - present tariff on [mentioning three of the products of the - industries referred to] increased one cent per pound and the present - tariff on [mentioning the other two products] increased half a cent - per pound. I wish to further advise you that we have heard from - Senator —— and he informs us that he will take care of this matter - in the Senate. - -When the bill was finally passed, the Congressman succeeded in adding -half a cent a pound to the duty on two of these products and in -preventing any reduction on the others. A year later, when the popular -clamor against the bill had become acute, the same association that had -asked him to vote for increases wrote to the Congressman denouncing the -bill as “the most iniquitous measure ever enacted by Congress” and -requesting him to explain by letter why he had voted with “the -Reactionaries” to pass the bill. When it was pointed out to the -association that it had urged the Congressman to obtain an increase of -duty on the products in which it was interested, it dropped its demand -for an explanation. An influential newspaper published in his district -editorially commended him while the bill was under debate for his -“intelligent efforts” to increase the duty on manufactured articles in -which the district was interested, and a year later the same newspaper -in the same editorial column denounced him as one of “the legislative -banditti responsible for the Payne-Aldrich measure.” - -As with the tariff, so with pensions; the Congressman is urged to obtain -local favors without regard to National interests. This is illustrated -by the following letter, which the author prints, and which was written -by the clergyman of a large and wealthy church: - - _My dear Congressman_: I received a call from James H. —— several - days ago, and he told me that he had received a very unsatisfactory - letter from you regarding his chances for getting a pension. Now, - Congressman, while I know he deserted during the second year of the - war, yet there must be some way the matter can be covered up and —— - be given a pensionable status. He is at present a charge on my - congregation. Every one seems to be able to get a pension. Why not - he? Do what you can for him, and oblige. - -It may be said that this is a unique instance from which it is unfair to -draw a general inference. The confessing Congressman answers, No; that -he has “hundreds of such letters filed away. So has every other -Congressman.” - -River and harbor legislation is another field in which local selfishness -busies itself, to the exclusion of National needs. In this case requests -are not made by letter but by delegations which come to Washington -besieging their Senators and Representatives. “There is,” says the frank -writer of this article, “figuratively speaking, between $50,000,000 and -$60,000,000 on the table to be divided. The Committee divides it so that -every one is satisfied, at least to a reasonable extent.” Every one, -that is, but the people at large, the people who have no special -interest to serve, and who feel keenly indignant that the rivers and -harbors of the United States are developed in a fashion so inferior to -that of Europe. - -Nor are all the requests for legislation merely. One constituent desired -to have this particular Congressman put his name on the free mailing -list for all public documents. That this would be impossible, because it -would mean delivering to the applicant several tons of documents every -month, does not in the slightest detract from the interest of the fact -elicited by an investigation that the applicant was the manufacturer of -an article made from waste paper, and the public documents would afford -a useful source of raw material. - -Is there a remedy for such a state of things? The answer is, yes; and, -moreover, it is a remedy which Congress can itself immediately provide. - -There is no complete remedy, of course. No scheme can be devised which -can prevent such a request as that of the constituent last named who -wished public documents to use in his private paper business. Requests -like this merely mean that in every district individuals will always be -found who will request improper favors. As regards these people, all -that can be done is to create a vigorous public opinion—an opinion which -shall not only make it uncomfortable for any man to demand such favors, -but which shall cordially support the Congressman in refusing them and -hold him accountable for granting them. We must trust to individual -integrity to resist such individual and sporadic attempts to corrupt it. - -The case is entirely different when we come to the other favors -mentioned. These favors are those which the Congressman describes as -being improperly, habitually, and insistently demanded by large portions -of a given constituency, with at least the acquiescence of the -constituency as a whole. It is futile to expect to cure this type of -evil merely by solemnly saying that each Congressman ought to be good. -It is futile to ask the average Congressman to cut his own throat by -disregarding the requests of his own constituents for special and -improper favors in the matter of tariff legislation, river and harbor -legislation, and pension legislation; even though these same -constituents adopt the beautifully illogical position of expressing a -great—and, curiously enough, often a sincere—indignation that their -Congressman, as the only means of securing for them what they insist he -shall secure, joins with other Congressmen in granting for all other -constituencies the same improper favors which are eagerly demanded by -his own individual constituency. Moreover, under the present system, the -small man, when he asks for something in which his own district is -keenly interested, is told by the big man who represents the big -interest that he can’t have his little favor granted unless he agrees to -stand by those who wish to grant the big favor—and the small man may be -remorselessly “held up” in this fashion, even though the small favor he -asks is proper, and the big favor he is required to grant entirely -improper. When such is the pressure upon the average Representative, -there is certain to be more or less yielding on his part, in the great -majority of cases. It is idle to hope that reform will come through mere -denunciation of the average Congressman, or by merely beseeching him to -reach the height of courage, wisdom, and disinterestedness achieved only -by the exceptional man; by the man who is so brave and far-seeing and -high-minded that he really will think only of the interests of the -country as a whole. - -On the other hand, it is just as idle for Congressmen to seek to excuse -themselves as a body by uttering jeremiads as to the improper way in -which their constituents press them to do things that ought not to be -done. The individual Congressman can be excused only by frankly -admitting that the fault lies with the Congressmen taken collectively. -The remedy is simple and easy of application. - -Congress has now, and has long had, the power to rid its members of -almost all the improper pressure brought to bear upon the individual by -special interests—great and small, local and metropolitan—on such -subjects as tariff legislation, river and harbor legislation, and -pension legislation. Congress has not exercised this power, chiefly -because of what I am bound to regard as a very shortsighted and unwise -belief that it is beneath its dignity to delegate any of its functions. -By passing a rule which would forbid the reception or passage of any -pension bill save the pension legislation recommended by the -Commissioner of Pensions (this of course to be rejected or amended as -Congress saw fit, but not so amended as to include any special or -private legislation), Congress would at once do away with the -possibility of its members being subject to local pressure for improper -private pension bills, and at the same time guarantee proper treatment -for the veteran who really does deserve to have everything done for him -that the country can afford. The veteran of this stamp has no stancher -friend than the Commissioner of Pensions; whereas he is often the very -man passed over when special bills are introduced, because the less -deserving men are at least as apt as the others to have political -influence. - -In the case of the tariff and the river and harbor legislation, what is -needed in each case is ample provision for a commission of the highest -possible grade, composed of men who thoroughly know the subject, and who -possess every attribute required for the performance of the great and -difficult task of framing in outline the legislation that the country, -as distinguished from special interests, really needs. These men, from -the very nature of the case, will be wholly free from the local pressure -of special interests so keenly felt by every man who is dependent upon -the vote of a particular district every two years for his continuance in -public life. Such a river and harbor commission could report, and -probably would report, a great and comprehensive National scheme for -river and harbor improvements fit to be considered by the people as a -whole upon its merits, and not dependent for enactment into law upon a -system of log-rolling designed to placate special interests which are -powerful in each of many score Congressional districts. Such a tariff -commission could get at the facts of labor cost here and abroad by -expert inquiry, and not by the acceptance of interested testimony; such -a commission could consider dispassionately the probable effect upon the -entire social and economic body of all changes in any given branch of -the tariff, and its recommendations would represent the exercise of -careful judgment from a disinterested standpoint. Such a commission -could work in harmony with the Commissioner of Labor, so as to insure -that the laborers for whom the tariff is passed get the full benefit of -it; for the major part of the benefit of a protective tariff should -unquestionably go to the wage-workers. - -Even under such conditions of tariff-making errors might be committed, -but they would be merely those errors of disinterested judgment -incidental to every kind of public or, for the matter of that, private -effort, and the work would not be hampered from the beginning by the -need of gratifying private selfishness. - -It is only in this way that tariff legislation, river and harbor -legislation, and pension legislation can be treated from the standpoint -of principle and not from the very low standpoint of privilege and -preference. The obstacle hitherto to the adoption of such a method of -treatment has come from the queer dislike felt by so many Congressional -leaders to a course of action which they (quite unjustifiably) feel -would in some way be a limitation of their powers. I think this feeling -is passing. It is simply another instance of the kind of feeling which -makes some executives suspicious about delegating their work to any -subordinate, and which makes many voters, who have not pondered the -matter deeply, desire to elect great numbers of people on a ticket of -such length that it is out of the question for any except professional -politicians to know much about them. - -As soon as business becomes at all complex—and nothing can be more -complex than the business of a Nation of a hundred million people—it can -only be performed by delegating to experts the duty of dealing with all -that can properly be delegated. It is only by such delegation that it is -possible to secure the proper consideration of the exceedingly important -business which cannot properly be delegated. The voters, as a whole, for -instance, must necessarily declare directly upon all really vital -issues, and they should do this when the issue is a man just as much as -when the issue is one of legislation. Indeed, in my judgment, there are -certain matters, as to which the voters do not at present have the -chance of thus acting directly, where it is important that the chance be -given them. But they can only exercise such choice with wisdom and -benefit where it is vitally necessary to exercise it, on condition of -not being confused by the requirement of exercising it in the great -multitude of cases where there is no such necessity, and where they can -with advantage delegate the duty to the man they deem most fit to do the -business. - -What is true of the voters is equally true of legislators and -administrators the moment that their tasks become sufficiently complex. -The village constable in a small community can do all his work directly. -But the President of the United States can do his work at all only by -delegating the enormous mass of it to his appointees, and by confining -his own share of the purely administrative work largely to supervision -and direction of these employees. When a President appoints a commission -to investigate such a vital matter as, for instance, country life, or -the conservation of natural resources, he does not abdicate his own -authority; he merely faces the fact that by no possibility can he -himself do this important piece of work as well as the experts whom he -appoints to devote their whole time to that purpose. Now, Congress can -with wisdom act in such matters of prime legislative importance as the -tariff and river and harbor improvement, in the same way that the -President acts in such matters of prime administrative importance as -country life and conservation. It no more represents abdication of power -on the part of Congress to appoint a first-class Tariff Commission than -it represents abdication of power on the part of the President to -appoint a first-class Country Life or Conservation Commission, or than -it represents abdication of power on the part of voters to elect as -Governor a man to whom they give all possible power to do his work well. -In each case the body delegating the authority, so far from abdicating -the power, has secured its wise use by intrusting it to a man or men -especially equipped thus to use it well, and this man, or these men, can -in turn be held to the most rigid accountability if it is not well used, -in the exclusive service of the people as a whole. - - - - - Rural Life - - -There are no two public questions of more vital importance to the future -of this country than the problem of Conservation and the problem of the -betterment of country life. Moreover, these two problems are really -interdependent, for neither of them can be successfully solved save on -condition that there is at least a measurable success in the effort to -solve the other. In any great country the prime physical asset—the -physical asset more valuable than any other—is the fertility of the -soil. All our industrial and commercial welfare, all our material -development of every kind, depends in the last resort upon our -preserving and increasing the fertility of the soil. This, of course, -means the conservation of the soil as the great natural resource; and -equally, of course, it furthermore implies the development of country -life, for there cannot be a permanent improvement of the soil if the -life of those who live on it, and make their living out of it, is -suffered to starve and languish, to become stunted and weazened and -inferior to the type of life lived elsewhere. We are now trying to -preserve, not for exploitation by individuals, but for the permanent -benefit of the whole people, the waters and the forests, and we are -doing this primarily as a means of adding to the fertility of the soil; -although in each case there is a great secondary use both of the water -and of the forests for commercial and industrial purposes. In the same -way it is essential for the farmers themselves to try to broaden the -life of the man who lives in the open country; to make it more -attractive; to give it every adjunct and aid to development which has -been given to the life of the man of the cities. Therefore the -conservation and rural life policies are really two sides of the same -policy; and down at bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law -that neither man nor nation can prosper unless, in dealing with the -present, thought is steadily taken for the future. - -In one sense this problem with which we have to deal is very, very old. -Wherever civilizations have hitherto sprung up they have always tended -to go through certain stages and then to fall. No nation can develop a -real civilization without cities. Up to a certain point the city -movement is thoroughly healthy; yet it is a strange and lamentable fact -that always hitherto after this point has been reached the city has -tended to develop at the expense of the country by draining the country -of what is best in it, and making an insignificant return for this best. -In consequence, in the past, every civilization in its later stages has -tended really to witness those conditions under which “the cities -prosper and the men decay.” There are ugly signs that these tendencies -are at work in this nation of ours. But very fortunately we see now what -never before was seen in any civilization—an aroused and alert public -interest in the problem, a recognition of its gravity and a desire to -attempt its solution. - -The problem does not consist merely in the growth of the city. Such a -growth in itself is a good thing and not a bad thing for the country. -The problem consists in the growth of the city at the expense of the -country; and, even where this is not the case, in so great an equality -of growth in power and interest as to make the city more attractive than -the country, and therefore apt to drain the country of the people who -ought to live therein. - -The human side of the rural life problem is to make the career of the -farmer and the career of the farm laborer as attractive and as -remunerative as corresponding careers in the city. Now, I am well aware -that the farmer must himself take the lead in bringing this about. A -century and a quarter ago the wise English farmer, Arthur Young, wrote -of the efforts to improve French wool: “A cultivator at the head of a -sheep farm of 3,000 or 4,000 acres would in a few years do more for -their wools than all the academicians and philosophers will effect in -ten centuries.” It is absurd to think that any man who has studied the -subject only theoretically is fit to direct those who practically work -at the matter. But I wish to insist to you here—to you practical men, -who own and work your farms—that it is an equally pernicious absurdity -for the practical man to refuse to benefit by the work of the student. -The English farmer I have quoted, Young, was a practical farmer, but he -was also a scientific farmer. One reason why the great business men of -to-day—the great industrial leaders—have gone ahead, while the farmer -has tended to sag behind the others, is that they are far more willing, -and indeed eager, to profit by expert and technical knowledge—the -knowledge that can come only as a result of the highest education. From -railways to factories no great industrial concern can nowadays be -carried on save by the aid of a swarm of men who have received a high -technical education in chemistry, in engineering, in electricity, in one -or more of scores of special subjects. The big business man, the big -railway man, does not ask college-trained experts to tell him how to run -his business; but he does ask numbers of them each to give him expert -advice and aid on some one point indispensable to his business. He finds -this man usually in some graduate of a technical school or college in -which he has been trained for his life work. - -In just the same way the farmers should benefit by the advice of the -technical men who have been trained in phases of the very work the -farmer does. I am not now speaking of the man who has had an ordinary -general training, whether in school or college. While there should -undoubtedly be such a training as a foundation (the extent differing -according to the kind of work each boy intends to do as a man), it is -nevertheless true that our educational system should more and more be -turned in the direction of educating men towards, and not away from, the -farm and the shop. During the last half-century we have begun to develop -a system of agricultural education at once practical and scientific, and -we must go on developing it. But, after developing it, it must be used. -The rich man who spends a fortune upon a fancy farm, with entire -indifference to cost, does not do much good to farming; but, on the -other hand, just as little is done by the working farmer who stolidly -refuses to profit by the knowledge of the day; who treats any effort at -improvement as absurd on its face, refuses to countenance what he -regards as new-fangled ideas and contrivances, and jeers at all “book -farming.” I wish I could take representatives of this type of farmer -down to Long Island, where I live, to have them see what has been done, -not as philanthropy but as a plain business proposition, by men -connected with the Long Island Railroad, who believe it pays to -encourage the development of farms along the line of that railway. They -have put practical men in charge of experimental farms, cultivating them -intensively, and using the best modern methods, not only in raising -crops, but in securing the best market for the crops when raised. The -growth has been astounding, and land only fifty miles from New York, -which during our entire National lifetime has been treated as worthless, -has within the last three or four years been proved to possess a really -high value. - -The farmer, however, must not only make his land pay, but he must make -country life interesting for himself and for his wife and his sons and -daughters. Our people as a whole should realize the infinite -possibilities of life in the country; and every effort should be made to -make these possibilities more possible. From the beginning of time it -has been the man raised in the country—and usually the man born in the -country—who has been most apt to render the services which every nation -most needs. Turning to the list of American statesmen, it is -extraordinary to see how large a proportion started as farm boys. But it -is rather sad to see that in recent years most of these same boys have -ended their lives as men living in cities. - -It often happens that the good conditions of the past can be regained, -not by going back, but by going forward. We cannot re-create what is -dead; we cannot stop the march of events; but we can direct this march, -and out of the new conditions develop something better than the past -knew. Henry Clay was a farmer who lived all his life in the country; -Washington was a farmer who lived and died in the country; and we of -this Nation ought to make it our business to see that the conditions are -made such that farm life in the future shall not only develop men of the -stamp of Washington and Henry Clay, but shall be so attractive that -these men may continue as farmers; for remember that Washington and -Henry Clay were successful farmers. I hope that things will so shape -themselves that the farmer can have a great career and yet end his life -as a farmer; so that the city man will look forward to living in the -country rather than the country man to living in the city. - -Farmers should learn how to combine effectively, as has been done in -industry. I heartily believe in farmers’ organizations; and we should -all welcome every step taken towards an increasing co-operation among -farmers. The importance of such movements cannot be over-estimated; and -through such intelligent joint action it will be possible to improve the -market just as much as the farm. - -Country life should be as attractive as city life, and the country -people should insist upon having their full representation when it comes -to dealing with all great public questions. In other words, country -folks should demand that they work on equal terms with city folks in all -such matters. They should have their share in the memberships of -commissions and councils; in short, of all the organized bodies for -laying plans for great enterprises affecting all the people. I am glad -to see on such bodies the names that represent financial interests, but -those interests should not have the right-of-way, and in all enterprises -and movements in which the social condition of the country is involved, -the agricultural country—the open country—should be as well represented -as the city. The man of the open country is apt to have certain -qualities which the city man has lost. These qualities offset those -which the city man has and he himself has not. The two should be put on -equal terms, and the country talent be given the same opportunity as the -city talent to express itself and to contribute to the welfare of the -world in which we live. - -The country church should be made a true social center, alive to every -need of the community, standing for a broad individual outlook and -development, taking the lead in work and in recreation, caring more for -conduct than for dogma, more for ethical, spiritual, practical -betterment than for merely formal piety. The country fair offers far -greater possibilities for continuous and healthy usefulness than it at -present affords. The country school should be made a vital center for -economic, social, and educational co-operation; it is naturally fitted -to be such a center for those engaged in commercial farming, and still -more for those engaged in domestic farming, for those who live on and by -the small farms they themselves own. The problem of the farm is really -the problem of the family that lives on the farm. On all these questions -there is need of intelligent study, such as marks the books of Professor -Bailey, of Cornell, and of Sir Horace Plunkett’s book on the “Rural Life -Problems of the United States.” - -One feature of the problem should be recognized by the farmer at once, -and an effort made to deal with it. It is our duty and our business to -consider the farm laborer exactly as we consider the farmer. No country -life can be satisfactory when the owners of farms tend, for whatever -reason, to go away to live in cities instead of working their farms; -and, moreover, it cannot be really satisfactory when the labor system is -so managed that there is for part of the year a demand for labor which -cannot be met, and during another part of the year no demand for labor -at all, so that the farmers tend to rely on migratory laborers who come -out to work in the country with no permanent interest in it and with no -prospect of steady employment. It is exceedingly difficult to make a -good citizen out of a man who cannot count upon some steadiness and -continuity in the work which means to him his livelihood. Economic -conditions on the farm—in variety and kind of crop-growing, especially -as distributed in time, and in housing for the men—must be so shaped as -to render it possible for the man who labors for the farmer to be -steadily employed under conditions which foster his self-respect and -tend for his development. - -Above all, the conditions of farm life must always be shaped with a view -to the welfare of the farmer’s wife and the farm laborer’s wife, quite -as much as to the welfare of the farmer and the farm laborer. To have -the woman a mere drudge is at least as bad as to have the man a mere -drudge. It is every whit as important to introduce new machines to -economize her labor within the house, as it is to introduce machinery to -increase the effectiveness of his labor outside the house. I have not -the slightest sympathy with any movement which looks to excusing men and -women for the non-performance of duty and fixes attention only on rights -and not on duties. The woman who shirks her duty as housewife, as -mother, is a contemptible creature; just as the corresponding man is a -contemptible creature. But the welfare of the woman is even more -important than the welfare of the man; for the mother is the real Atlas, -who bears aloft in her strong and tender arms the destiny of the world. -She deserves honor and consideration such as no man should receive. She -forfeits all claim to this honor and consideration if she shirks her -duties. But the average American woman does not shirk them; and it is a -matter of the highest obligation for us to see that they are performed -under conditions which make for her welfare and happiness and for the -welfare and happiness of the children she brings into the world. - - - - - The Progressives, Past and Present - - -There have been two great crises in our country’s history: first when it -was formed, and then again when it was perpetuated. The formative period -included not merely the Revolutionary War, but the creation and adoption -of the Constitution and the first dozen years of work under it. Then -came sixty years during which we spread across the continent—years of -vital growth, but of growth without rather than growth within. Then came -the time of stress and strain which culminated in the Civil War, the -period of terrible struggle upon the issue of which depended the -justification of all that we had done earlier, and which marked the -second great period of growth and development within. The name of John -Brown will be forever associated with this second period of the Nation’s -history; and Kansas was the theater upon which the first act of the -second of our great National life dramas was played. It was the result -of the struggle in Kansas which determined that our country should be in -deed as well as in name devoted to both union and freedom, that the -great experiment of democratic government on a national scale should -succeed and not fail. It was a heroic struggle; and, as is inevitable -with all such struggles, it had also a dark and a terrible side. Very -much was done of good, and much, also, of evil; and, as was inevitable -in such a period of revolution, often the same man did both good and -evil. For our great good fortune as a nation, we, the people of the -United States as a whole, can now afford to forget the evil, or at least -to remember it without bitterness, and to fix our eyes with pride on the -good that was accomplished. Even in ordinary times there are very few of -us who do not see the problems of life as through a glass, darkly; and -when the glass is clouded by the murk of furious popular passion, the -vision of the best and the bravest is dimmed. Looking back, we are all -of us now able to do justice to the valor and the disinterestedness and -the love of the right as to each it was given to see the right, shown -both by the men of the North and the men of the South in that contest -which was finally decided by the attitude of the West. We can see the -Puritan soldier, the man of the Bible and the sword, embodied again in -Stonewall Jackson, just as we see that Puritan embodied in the stern -soldiers who warred against Jackson. We can admire the heroic valor, the -sincerity, the self-devotion shown alike by the men who wore the blue -and the men who wore the gray; and our sadness that such men should have -had to fight one another is tempered by the glad knowledge that ever -hereafter their descendants shall be found fighting side by side, -struggling in peace as well as in war for the uplift of their common -country, all alike resolute to raise to the highest pitch of honor and -usefulness the nation to which they all belong. - -I do not speak of this struggle of the past merely from the historic -standpoint. Our interest is primarily in the application to-day of the -lessons taught by the contest of half a century ago. It is of little use -for us to pay lip loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless we -sincerely endeavor to apply to the problems of the present precisely the -qualities which in other crises enabled the men of that day to meet -those crises. It is half melancholy and half amusing to see the way in -which well-meaning people gather to do honor to the men who, in company -with John Brown, and under the lead of Abraham Lincoln, faced and solved -the great problems of the nineteenth century, while at the same time -these same good people nervously shrink from or frantically denounce -those who are trying to meet the problems of the twentieth in the spirit -which was accountable for the successful solution of the problems of -Lincoln’s time. - -John Brown stands to us now as representing the men and the generation -who rendered the greatest service ever rendered this country. He stood -for heroic valor, grim energy, fierce fidelity to high ideals. A great -debt is owed to John Brown because he is one of the most striking -figures in the mighty struggle which was to keep us forever a free and -united nation, which was to secure the continuance of the most -tremendous democratic experiment ever tried. He did much in his life and -more in his death; he embodied the inspiration of the men of his -generation; his fate furnished the theme of the song which most stirred -the hearts of the soldiers. John Brown’s work was brought to completion, -was made perfect, by the men who bore aloft the banner of the Union -during the four terrible years which intervened between Sumter and -Appomattox. To the soldiers who fought through those years—and of course -to a very few of their civilian chiefs, like Lincoln—is due the supreme -debt of the Nation. They alone, of all our people since we became a -nation, rendered to us and to all who come after us a service literally -indispensable. They occupy the highest and most honorable position ever -occupied by any men of any generation in our country. - -Of that generation of men to whom we owe so much, the man to whom we owe -most is, of course, Lincoln. Valor, energy, disinterestedness, -idealism—all these were his; and his also was that lofty and far-seeing -wisdom which alone could make the valor, the disinterestedness, the -energy, the idealism, of service to the Republic. Here again, in meeting -the problems of to-day, let us profit by, and welcome, and co-operate -with the John Browns; but let us also remember that the problems can -really be solved only if we approach them in the spirit of Abraham -Lincoln. - -John Brown prepared the way; but if the friends of freedom and union had -surrendered themselves to his leadership, the cause of freedom and union -would have been lost. After his death Lincoln spoke of him as follows: - -“John Brown’s effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection. It -was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves in which the -slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd that the -slaves, with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it could not -succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds with the many -attempts related in history at the assassination of kings and emperors. -An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people till he fancies -himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the -attempt, which ends in little less than his own execution. Orsini’s -attempt on Louis Napoleon and John Brown’s attempt at Harper’s Ferry -were, in their philosophy, precisely the same. The eagerness to cast -blame on Old England in the one case and on New England in the other -does not disprove the sameness of the two things.” - -In our struggle to-day we can study Lincoln’s career purely as an -example to emulate; we can study John Brown’s career partly as such an -example, but partly also as a warning. I think such study is especially -necessary for the extremists among the very men with whom my own -sympathy is especially keen. I am a progressive; I could not be anything -else; indeed, as the years go by I become more, and not less, radically -progressive. To my mind the failure resolutely to follow progressive -policies is the negation of democracy as well of progress, and spells -disaster. But for this very reason I feel concern when progressives act -with heedless violence, or go so far and so fast as to invite reaction. -The experience of John Brown illustrates the evil of the revolutionary -short-cut to ultimate good ends. The liberty of the slave was desirable, -but it was not to be brought about by a slave insurrection. The better -distribution of property is desirable, but it is not to be brought about -by the anarchic form of Socialism which would destroy all private -capital and tend to destroy all private wealth. It represents not -progress, but retrogression, to propose to destroy capital because the -power of unrestrained capital is abused. John Brown rendered a great -service to the cause of liberty in the earlier Kansas days; but his -notion that the evils of slavery could be cured by a slave insurrection -was a delusion analogous to the delusions of those who expect to cure -the evils of plutocracy by arousing the baser passions of workingmen -against the rich in an endeavor at violent industrial revolution. And, -on the other hand, the brutal and shortsighted greed of those who profit -by what is wrong in the present system, and the attitude of those who -oppose all effort to do away with this wrong, serve in their turn as -incitements to such revolution; just as the insolence of the ultra -proslavery men finally precipitated the violent destruction of slavery. - -In one of Lincoln’s addresses immediately after his second election, at -a time when any man of less serene magnanimity would have been tempted -to advocate extreme measures and to betray personal exultation, or even -to show hatred of his opponents, he said: - -“Human nature will not change. In any future great national affair, -compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as -silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us therefore study the -incidents of this as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them -as wrongs to be revenged. May not all having a common interest reunite -in a common effort to save our common country? For my own part, I have -striven and shall strive to avoid placing any obstacle in the way. So -long as I have been here I have not willingly planted a thorn in any -man’s bosom. May I ask those who have not differed with me to join with -me in this same spirit towards those who have?” - -Surely such a union of indomitable resolution in the achievement of a -given purpose, with patience and moderation in the policy pursued, and -with kindly charity and consideration and friendliness to those of -opposite belief, marks the very spirit in which we of to-day should -approach the pressing problems of the present. - -These problems have to do with securing a more just and generally -widespread welfare, so that there may be a more substantial measure of -equality in moral and physical well-being among the people whom the men -of Lincoln’s day kept undivided as citizens of a single country, and -freed from the curse of negro slavery. They did their part; now let us -do ours. - -Fundamentally, our chief problem may be summed up as the effort to make -men, as nearly as they can be made, both free and equal; the freedom and -equality necessarily resting on a basis of justice and brotherhood. It -is not possible, with the imperfections of mankind, ever wholly to -achieve such an ideal, if only for the reason that the shortcomings of -men are such that complete and unrestricted individual liberty would -mean the negation of even approximate equality, while a rigid and -absolute equality would imply the destruction of every shred of liberty. -Our business is to secure a practical working combination between the -two. This combination should aim, on the one hand, to secure to each man -the largest measure of individual liberty that is compatible with his -fellows’ getting from life a just share of the good things to which they -are legitimately entitled; while, on the other hand, it should aim to -bring about among well-behaved, hard-working people a measure of -equality which shall be substantial, and which shall yet permit to the -individual the personal liberty of achievement and reward without which -life would not be worth living, without which all progress would stop, -and civilization first stagnate and then go backwards. Such a -combination cannot be completely realized. It can be realized at all -only by the application of the spirit of fraternity, the spirit of -brotherhood. This spirit demands that each man shall learn and apply the -principle that his liberty must be used not only for his own benefit but -for the interest of the community as a whole, while the community in its -turn, acting as a whole, shall understand that while it must insist on -its own rights as against the individual, it must also scrupulously -safeguard these same rights of the individual. - -Lincoln set before us forever our ideal when he stated that this country -was dedicated to a government of, by, and for the people. Our whole -experiment is meaningless unless we are to make this a democracy in the -fullest sense of the word, in the broadest as well as the highest and -deepest significance of the word. It must be made a democracy -economically as well as politically. This does not mean that there shall -not be leadership in the economic as in the political world, or that -there shall not be ample reward for high distinction and great service. -Quite the contrary. It is our boast that in our political affairs we -have combined genuine political equality with high distinction in -individual service. During a century and a third we here on this -continent—more completely than anywhere else at any other time—have -actually realized the democratic principle, the principle of popular -government. Yet during this period we have produced, in the persons of -Washington and Lincoln, two leaders who on the roll of the world’s -worthies stand higher than any other two men ever produced by any other -country during a similar length of time. We believe that it is entirely -possible to combine equality of rights and at least an approximate -equality in the opportunity to achieve material well-being, with the -opportunity for the highest kind of individual distinction. Hitherto our -efforts towards this end have related to purely political matters; we -must now strive to achieve the same end in economic matters. - -To achieve our purpose we cannot trust merely to haphazard, easy-going -methods with complete absence of official Government action and a too -exclusively material standard. These did well enough in the pioneer days -when problems were comparatively simple, and when the country was still -so large that Uncle Sam could give every man a farm, so that, if any man -did not succeed where he was, all he had to do was to move somewhere -else. We must be true to the spirit of our ancestors, and therefore we -must avoid any servility to the letter of what they said and did. There -must be equal rights for all, and special privileges for none; but we -must remember that to achieve this ideal it is necessary to construe -rights and privileges very differently from the way they were -necessarily construed, by statesmen and people alike, a century ago. We -must strive to achieve our ideal by an exercise of governmental power -which the conditions did not render necessary a century ago, and of -which our forefathers would have felt suspicious. This is no reflection -on the wisdom of our forefathers; it is simply an acknowledgment that -conditions have now changed. If our farmers now used the wasteful -methods that served for their great-grandfathers, they would not merely -fail in the present, but would work a grave wrong to the American -citizens of the future. In the same way we must apply new political -methods to meet the new political needs, or else we shall suffer, and -our children also. In the same way, when we speak of the “square deal,” -we include two thoughts, each supplementary to the other. The square -deal can be secured in part by honest enforcement of existing laws, by -honest application of the principles upon which this Government was -founded, by the exercise of an aroused and enlightened public opinion. -But in order completely to secure it, there must be whatever legislation -is necessary to meet the new conditions caused by the extraordinary -industrial change and development that have taken place during the last -two generations. The greatest evils in our industrial system to-day are -those which rise from the abuses of aggregated wealth; and our great -problem is to overcome these evils and cut out these abuses. No one man -can deal with this matter. It is the affair of the people as a whole. -When aggregated wealth demands what is unfair, its immense power can be -met only by the still greater power of the people as a whole, exerted in -the only way it can be exerted, through the Government; and we must be -resolutely prepared to use the power of the Government to any needed -extent, even though it be necessary to tread paths which are yet untrod. -The complete change in economic conditions means that governmental -methods never yet resorted to may have to be employed in order to deal -with them. We cannot tolerate anything approaching a monopoly, -especially in the necessaries of life, except on terms of such -thoroughgoing governmental control as will absolutely safeguard every -right of the public. Moreover, one of the most sinister manifestations -of great corporate wealth during recent years has been its tendency to -interfere and dominate in politics. - -It is not merely that we want to see the game played fairly. We also -want to see the rules changed, so that there shall be both less -opportunity and less temptation to cheat, and less chance for some few -people to gain a profit to which either they are not entitled at all, or -else which is so enormous as to be greatly in excess of what they -deserve, even though their services have been great. We wish to do away -with the profit that comes from the illegitimate exercise of cunning and -craft. We also wish to secure a measurable equality of opportunity, a -measurable equality of reward for services of similar value. To do all -this, two mutually supplementary movements are necessary. On the one -hand, there must be—I think there now is—a genuine and permanent moral -awakening, without which no wisdom of legislation or administration -really means anything; and, on the other hand, we must try to secure the -social and economic legislation without which any improvement due to -purely moral agitation is necessarily evanescent. - -We pride ourselves upon being a practical people, and therefore we -should not be merely empirical in seeking to bring about results. We -must set the end in view as the goal; and then, instead of making a -fetish of some particular kind of means, we should adopt whatever -honorable means will best accomplish the end. In so far as unrestricted -individual liberty brings the best results, we should encourage it. But -when a point is reached where this complete lack of restriction on -individual liberty fails to achieve the best results, then, on behalf of -the whole people, we should exercise the collective power of the people, -through the State Legislatures in matters of purely local concern, and -through the National Legislature when the purpose is so big that only -National action can achieve it. There are good people who, being -discontented with present-day conditions, think that these conditions -can be cured by a return to what they call the “principles of the -fathers.” In so far as we have departed from the standards of lofty -integrity in public and private life to which the greatest men among the -founders of the Republic adhered, why, of course, we should return to -these principles. We must always remember that no system of legislation -can accomplish anything unless back of it we have the right type of -National character; unless we have ideals to which our practice -measurably conforms. But to go back to the governmental theories of a -hundred years ago would accomplish nothing whatever; for it was under -the conditions of unrestricted individualism and freedom from Government -interference, countenanced by those theories, that the trusts grew up, -and private fortunes, enormous far beyond the deserts of the -accumulators, were gathered. The old theories of government worked well -in sparsely settled communities, before steam, electricity, and -machinery had revolutionized our industrial system; but to return to -them now would be as hopeless as for the farmers of the present to -return to the agricultural implements which met the needs of their -predecessors, the farmers who followed in the footsteps of Daniel Boone -to Kentucky and Missouri. It may be that, in the past development of our -country, complete freedom from all restrictions, and the consequent -unlimited encouragement and reward given to the most successful -industrial leaders, played a part in which the benefits outweighed the -disadvantages. But nowadays such is not the case. - -Lincoln had to meet special and peculiar problems, and therefore there -was no need and no opportunity for him to devote attention to those -other problems which we face, and which in his day were so much less -intense than in ours. Nevertheless, he very clearly put the proper -democratic view when he said: “I hold that while man exists it is his -duty to improve not only his own condition but to assist in ameliorating -mankind.” And again: “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital; -capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed but for -labor. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher -consideration. Capital has its rights which are as worthy of protection -as any other rights.... Nor should this lead to a war upon the owners of -property. Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; is a -positive good in the world. Let not him who is houseless pull down the -house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, -thus by example showing that his own shall be safe from violence when -built.” It seems to me that in these words Lincoln took substantially -the attitude that we ought to take; he showed the proper sense of -proportion in his relative estimate of capital and labor, of human -rights and property rights. Above all, in this speech, as in so many -others, he taught a lesson in wise kindliness and charity; an -indispensable lesson to us of to-day, for if we approach the work of -reform in a spirit of vindictiveness—in a spirit of reckless disregard -for the rights of others, or of hatred for men because they are better -off than ourselves—we are sure in the end to do not good but damage to -all mankind, and especially to those whose especial champions we profess -ourselves to be. Violent excess is sure to provoke violent reaction; and -the worst possible policy for our country would be one of violent -oscillation between reckless upsetting of property rights, and -unscrupulous greed manifested under pretense of protecting those rights. -The agitator who preaches hatred and practices slander and -untruthfulness, and the visionary who promises perfection and -accomplishes only destruction, are the worst enemies of reform; and the -man of great wealth who accumulates and uses his wealth without regard -to ethical standards, who profits by and breeds corruption, and robs and -swindles others, is the very worst enemy of property, the very worst -enemy of conservatism, the very worst enemy of those “business -interests” that only too often regard him with mean admiration and -heatedly endeavor to shield him from the consequences of his iniquity. - -Now, the object we seek to achieve is twofold. A great democratic -commonwealth should seek to produce and reward that individual -distinction which results in the efficient performance of needed work, -for such performance is of high value to the whole community. But hand -in hand with this purpose must go the purpose which Abraham Lincoln -designated as the “amelioration of mankind.” Only by an intelligent -effort to realize this joint process of individual and social betterment -can we keep our democracy sound. We all admit this to be true -politically; but we have not paid much heed to the question from its -economic side. The wage-earner primarily needs what it is pre-eminently -to the interest of our democratic commonwealth that he should -obtain—that is, a high standard of living, and the opportunity to -acquire the means whereby to secure it. Every power of the Nation should -be used in helping him to this end; taking care, however, that the help -shall be given in such fashion as to represent real help, and not harm; -for the worst injury that could be done him or any other man would be to -teach him to rely primarily on “the State” instead of on himself. The -collective power of the State can help; but it is the individual’s own -power of self-help which is most important. - -Now, I am well aware that demagogues and doctrinaire reformers of a -certain type may try to turn such use of the powers of the State into an -abuse. We should set our faces like flint against any such abuse. We -should make it fully understood by the workingmen—by the men of small -means—that we will do everything in our power for them _except what is -wrong;_ but that we will do wrong for no man—neither for them nor for -any one else. Nevertheless, the fact that there are dangers in following -a given course merely means that we should follow it with a cautious -realization of these dangers, and not that we should abandon it, if on -the whole it is the right course. - -It is just so with personal liberty. The unlimited freedom which the -individual property-owner has enjoyed has been of use to this country in -many ways, and we can continue our prosperous economic career only by -retaining an economic organization which will offer to the men of the -stamp of the great captains of industry the opportunity and inducement -to earn distinction. Nevertheless, we as Americans must now face the -fact that this great freedom which the individual property-owner has -enjoyed in the past has produced evils which were inevitable from its -unrestrained exercise. It is this very freedom—this absence of State and -National restraint—that has tended to create a small class of enormously -wealthy and economically powerful men whose chief object is to hold and -increase their power. Any feeling of special hatred toward these men is -as absurd as any feeling of special regard. Some of them have gained -their power by cheating and swindling, just as some very small business -men cheat and swindle; but, as a whole, big men are no better and no -worse than their small competitors, from a moral standpoint. Where they -do wrong it is even more important to punish them than to punish a small -man who does wrong, because their position makes it especially wicked -for them to yield to temptation; but the prime need is to change the -conditions which enable them to accumulate a power which it is not for -the general welfare that they should hold or exercise, and to make this -change not only without vindictiveness, without doing injustice to -individuals, but also in a cautious and temperate spirit, testing our -theories by actual practice, so that our legislation may represent the -minimum of restrictions upon the individual initiative of the -exceptional man which is compatible with obtaining the maximum of -welfare for the average man. We grudge no man a fortune which represents -merely his own power and sagacity exercised with entire regard to the -welfare of his fellows. But the fortune must not only be honorably -obtained and well used; it is also essential that it should not -represent a necessary incident of widespread, even though partial, -economic privation. It is not even enough that the fortune should have -been gained without doing damage to the community. We should only permit -it to be gained and kept so long as the gaining and the keeping -represent benefit to the community. This I know implies a policy of a -far more active governmental interference with social and economic -conditions than we have hitherto seen in this country; but I think we -have to face the fact that such increase in governmental activity is now -necessary. We should work cautiously and patiently and with complete -absence of animosity, except toward the individuals whom we are certain -have been guilty of flagrant evil; but we should also work firmly to -realize the democratic purpose, economically and socially as well as -politically. We must make popular government responsible for the -betterment both of the individual and of society at large. - -Let me repeat once more that, while such responsible governmental action -is an absolutely necessary thing to achieve our purpose, yet it will be -worse than useless if it is not accompanied by a serious effort on the -part of the individuals composing the community thus to achieve each for -himself a higher standard of individual betterment, not merely material -but spiritual and intellectual. In other words, our democracy depends on -individual improvement just as much as upon collective effort to achieve -our common social improvement. The most serious troubles of the present -day are unquestionably due in large part to lack of efficient -governmental action, and cannot be remedied without such action; but -neither can any remedy permanently avail unless back of it stands a high -general character of individual citizenship. - -This governmental improvement can be accomplished partly by the States, -in so far as any given evil affects only one State, or one or two -States; in so far as a merely local remedy is needed for a merely local -disease. But the betterment must be accomplished partly, and I believe -mainly, through the National Government. I do not ask for -over-centralization; but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and -far-reaching nationalism when we deal with what concerns our people as a -whole. I no more make a fetish of centralization than of -decentralization. Any given case must be treated on its special merits. -Each community should be required to deal with all that is of merely -local interest; and nothing should be undertaken by the Government of -the whole country which can thus wisely be left to local management. But -those functions of government which no wisdom on the part of the States -will enable them satisfactorily to perform must be performed by the -National Government. We are all Americans; our common interests are as -broad as the continent; the most vital problems are those that affect us -all alike. The regulation of big business, and therefore the control of -big property in the public interest, are pre-eminently instances of such -functions which can only be performed efficiently and wisely by the -Nation; and, moreover, so far as labor is employed in connection with -inter-State business, it should also be treated as a matter for the -National Government. The National power over inter-State commerce -warrants our dealing with such questions as employers’ liability in -inter-State business, and the protection and compensation for injuries -of railway employees. The National Government of right has, and must -exercise, its power for the protection of labor which is connected with -the instrumentalities of inter-State commerce. - -The National Government belongs to the whole American people; and where -the whole American people are interested that interest can be -effectively guarded only by the National Government. We ought to use the -National Government as an agency, a tool, wherever it is necessary, in -order that we may organize our entire political, economical, and social -life in accordance with a far-reaching democratic purpose. We should -make the National governmental machinery an adequate and constructive -instrument for constructive work in the realization of a National -democratic ideal. I lay emphasis upon the word _constructive_. Too often -the Federal Government, and above all the Federal judiciary, has -permitted itself to be employed for purely negative purposes—that is, to -thwart the action of the States while not permitting efficient National -action in its place. From the National standpoint nothing can be -worse—nothing can be full of graver menace—for the National life than to -have the Federal courts active in nullifying State action to remedy the -evils arising from the abuse of great wealth, unless the Federal -authorities, executive, legislative, and judicial alike, do their full -duty in effectually meeting the need of a thoroughgoing and radical -supervision and control of big inter-State business in all its forms. -Many great financiers, and many of the great corporation lawyers who -advise them, still oppose any effective regulation of big business by -the National Government, because, for the time being, it serves their -interest to trust to the chaos which is caused on the one hand by -inefficient laws and conflicting and often unwise efforts at regulation -by State governments, and, on the other hand, by the efficient -protection against such regulation afforded by the Federal courts. In -the end this condition will prove intolerable, and will hurt most of all -the very class which it at present benefits. The continuation of such -conditions would mean that the corporations would find that they had -purchased immunity from the efficient exercise of Federal regulative -power at the cost of being submitted to a violent and radical local -supervision, inflamed to fury by having repeatedly been thwarted, and -not chastened by exercised responsibility. To refuse to take, or to -permit others to take, wise and practical action for the remedying of -abuses is to invite unwise action under the lead of violent extremists. - -I do not wish to see the Nation forced into ownership of the railways if -it can possibly be avoided; and the only alternative is thoroughgoing -and effective regulation, which shall be based on full knowledge of all -the facts, including a physical valuation of the property, the details -of its capitalization, and the like. We should immediately set about -securing this physical valuation. The Government should oversee the -issuance of all stocks and bonds, and should have complete power over -rates and traffic agreements. The railways are really highways, and it -is the fundamental right of the people as a whole to see that they are -open to use on just and reasonable terms, equal to all persons. The -Hepburn Bill marked a great step in advance; the law of last session, in -its final shape and as actually passed, marks, on the whole, another -decided step in advance. - -Corporate regulation is merely one phase of a vast problem. The true -friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that -property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; -who insists that the creature of man’s making shall be the servant and -not the master of the man who made it. The citizens of the United States -must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have -themselves called into being. - -Corporations are necessary to the effective use of the forces of -production and commerce under modern conditions. We cannot effectively -prohibit all combinations without doing far-reaching economic harm; and -it is mere folly to do as we have done in the past—to try to combine -incompatible systems—that is, to try both to prohibit and regulate -combinations. Combinations in industry are the result of an imperative -economic law which cannot be repealed by political legislation. The -effort at prohibiting all combination has substantially failed. The only -course left is active corporate regulation—that is, the control of -corporations for the common good—the suppression of the evils that they -work, and the retention, as far as may be, of that business efficiency -in their use which has placed us in the forefront of industrial peoples. -I need waste no words upon our right so to control them. The corporation -is the creature of government, and the people have the right to handle -it as they desire; all they need pay attention to is the expediency of -realizing this right in some way that shall be productive of good and -not harm. The corporate manager who achieves success by honest -efficiency in giving the best service to the public should be favored -because we all benefit by his efficiency. He realizes Abraham Lincoln’s -definition which I have quoted above, because he works for his own -material betterment and at the same time for the “amelioration of -mankind,” and he should be helped by the Government because his success -is good for the National welfare. But a man who grasps and holds -business power by breaking the industrial efficiency of others, who wins -success by methods which are against the public interest and degrading -to the public morals, should not be permitted to exercise such power. -Instead of punishing him by a long and doubtful process of the law after -the wrong has been committed, there should be such effective Government -regulation as to check the evil tendencies at the moment that they start -to develop. Overcapitalization in all its shapes is one of the prime -evils; for it is one of the most fruitful methods by which unscrupulous -men get improper profits, and when the holdings come into innocent hands -we are forced into the uncomfortable position of being obliged to reduce -the dividends of innocent investors, or of permitting the public and the -wage-workers, either or both, to suffer. Such really effective control -over great inter-State business can come only from the National -Government. The American people demands the new Nationalism needful to -deal with the new problems; it puts the National need above sectional or -personal advantage; it is impatient of the utter confusion which results -from local legislatures attempting to treat National issues as local -issues; it is still more impatient of the National impotence which -springs from the over-division of governmental powers; the impotence -which makes it possible for local selfishness, or for the vulpine legal -cunning which is hired by wealthy special interests, to bring National -activities to a deadlock. - -The control must be exercised in several different ways. It may be that -National incorporation is not at the moment possible; but there must be -some affirmative National control, on terms which will secure publicity -in the affairs of and complete supervision and control over the big, -Nation-wide business corporations; a control that will prevent and not -legalize abuses. Such control should imply the issuance of securities by -corporations only under thoroughgoing Governmental supervision, and -after compliance with Governmental requirements which shall effectually -prevent overcapitalization. Such control should protect and favor the -corporation which acts honestly, exactly as it should check and punish, -when it cannot prevent, every species of dishonesty. - -In the Inter-State Commerce Commission and in the Federal Bureau of -Corporations we have bodies which, if their powers are sufficiently -enlarged after the right fashion, can render great and substantial -service. The average American citizen should have presented to him in a -simple and easily comprehended form the truth about the business affairs -that affect his daily life as consumer, employee, employer, as investor, -as voter. The issue of securities should be subject to rigorous -Government supervision. There are concrete instances of unfair -competition that can be reached under the Federal criminal legislation, -and they should be attacked and destroyed in the courts. But the laws -should be such that normally, and save in extraordinary circumstances, -there should be no need of recourse to the courts. What is needed is -administrative supervision and control. This should be so exercised that -the highways of commerce and opportunity should be open to all; and not -nominally open, but really open, a consistent effort being made to -deprive every man of any advantage that is not due to his own -superiority and efficiency, controlled by moral purpose. The National -Bureau of Corporations has not been given the powers or the funds to -develop its full usefulness, and yet it offers one of the prime means at -the disposal of the people of keeping them fully acquainted with all the -facts about corporation control. We have a right to expect from this -Bureau and from the Inter-State Commerce Commission a very high grade of -public service. We should be as sure of the proper conduct of -inter-State railways and the proper management of inter-State business -as we are now sure of the conduct and management of the National banks, -and we should have as effective supervision in one case as in the other. - -Not only as a matter of justice and honesty, but as a matter of prime -popular interest, we should see that this control is so exercised as to -favor a proper return to the upright business manager and honest -investor. In the matter of railway rates, for instance, it is just as -much our duty to see that they are not too low as that they are not too -high. We must preserve the right of the railway employee to proper wages -and the right of the investor to proper interest as scrupulously as we -preserve the right of the shipper and the producer and the consumer. We -cannot afford to do injustice, or suffer it to be done, to any of these. -But in order to do justice we must have full knowledge. We must have the -right to find out every fact connected with the business of the railway, -so as to base our judgment, not on any one fact, but on all taken -together. Inasmuch as it is so often impossible to punish wrongs done in -the past, and to prevent the consequences of the wrongs thus committed -being felt by one innocent class, without shifting the burden to the -shoulders of another innocent class, we ought to provide that hereafter -business shall be carried on from its inception in such a way as to -prevent swindling. Incidentally, this will also tend to prevent that -excessive profit by one man, which may not be swindling, under existing -laws, but which nevertheless is against the interest of the -commonwealth; To know all the facts is of as much interest to the -investor and the wageworker as to the shipper, the producer, the -consumer. Full knowledge of the past helps us in dealing with the -future. If we find that high rates are due to overcapitalization in the -past, or to any kind of sharp practice in the past, then, whether or not -it is possible to take action which will partly remedy the wrong, we are -certainly in a better position to prevent a repetition of the wrong. - -Let me, in closing, put my position in a nutshell. When I say that I am -for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under -the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having these rules -changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and -of reward for equally good service. So far as possible, the reward -should be based upon service; and this necessarily implies that where a -man renders us service in return for the fortune he receives, he has the -right to receive it only on terms just to the whole people. For this -reason there should be a heavily progressive National inheritance tax on -big fortunes. The really big fortune, by the mere fact of its size, -acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree -from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. A heavily -progressive inheritance tax on all such fortunes (heaviest on absentees) -has the good qualities of an income tax, without its drawbacks; it is -far more beneficial to the community at large, and far less burdensome -to private individuals, as well as far more easily collected. A -moderate, but progressive, income tax, carefully devised to fall -genuinely on those who ought to pay, would, I believe, be a good thing; -but a heavy and heavily progressive inheritance tax on great fortunes -would be a far better thing. - -I have tried to set before you my creed. I believe in property rights, -but I believe in them as adjuncts to, and not as substitutes for, human -rights. I believe that normally the rights of property coincide with the -rights of man; but where they do not, then the rights of man must be put -above the rights of property. I believe in shaping the ends of -government to protect property; but wherever the alternative must be -faced, I am for man and not for property. I am far from underestimating -the importance of dividends, but I rank dividends below human character. -I know well that if there is not sufficient prosperity the people will -in the end rebel against any system, no matter how exalted morally; and -reformers must not bring upon the people permanent economic ruin, or the -reforms themselves will go down in the ruin. But we must be ready to -face any temporary disaster—whether or not brought on by those who will -war against us to the knife—if only through such disaster can we attain -our goal. And those who oppose all reform will do well to remember that -ruin in its worst form is inevitable if our National life brings us -nothing whatever but a swollen and badly distributed material -prosperity. In other words, I feel that material interests are chiefly -good, not in themselves, but as an indispensable foundation upon which -we should build a higher superstructure, a superstructure without which -the foundation becomes worthless. Therefore I believe that the destinies -of this country should be shaped primarily by moral forces, and by -material forces only as they are subordinated to these moral forces. I -believe that material wealth is an exceedingly valuable servant, and a -particularly abhorrent master, in our National life. I think one end of -government should be to achieve prosperity; but it should follow this -end chiefly to serve an even higher and more important end—that of -promoting the character and welfare of the average man. In the long run, -and inevitably, the actual control of the government will be determined -by the chief end which the government subserves. If the end and aim of -government action is merely to accumulate general material prosperity, -treating such prosperity as an end in itself and not as a means, then it -is inevitable that material wealth and the masters of that wealth will -dominate and control the course of national action. If, on the other -hand, the achievement of material wealth is treated, not as an end of -government, but as a thing of great value, it is true—so valuable as to -be indispensable—but of value only in connection with the achievement of -other ends, then we are free to seek through our government, and through -the supervision of our individual activities, the realization of a true -democracy. Then we are free to seek not only the heaping up of material -wealth, but a wise and generous distribution of such wealth so as to -diminish grinding poverty, and, so far as may be, to equalize social and -economic no less than political opportunity. - -The people as a whole can be benefited morally and materially by a -system which shall permit of ample reward for exceptional efficiency, -but which shall nevertheless secure to the average man who does his work -faithfully and well, the reward to which he is entitled. Remember that I -speak only of the man who does his work faithfully and well. The man who -shirks his work, who is lazy or vicious, or even merely incompetent, -deserves scant consideration; we may be sorry for his family, but it is -folly to waste sympathy on the man himself; and it is also folly for -sentimentalists to try to shift the burden of blame from such a man -himself to “society;” and it is an outrage to give him the reward given -to his hard-working, upright, and efficient brother. Still less should -we waste sympathy on the criminal; there are altogether too many honest -men who need it; and one chief point in dealing with the criminal should -be to make him understand that he will be in personal peril if he -becomes a lawbreaker. I realize entirely that in the last analysis, with -the nation as with the individual, it is private character that counts -for most. It is because of this realization that I gladly lay myself -open to the charge that I preach too much, and dwell too much upon moral -commonplaces; for though I believe with all my heart in the -nationalization of this Nation—in the collective use on behalf of the -American people of the governmental powers which can be derived only -from the American people as a whole—yet I believe even more in the -practical application by the individual of those great fundamental -moralities. - -A certain type of rather thinly intellectual man sneers at these -moralities as “commonplaces;” and base and evil men, selfish and -shortsighted men, are immensely pleased to see them denounced and -derided. Yet surely it is the duty of every public man to try to make -all of us keep in mind, and practice, the moralities essential to the -welfare of the American people. It is of vital concern to the American -people that the men and women of this great Nation should be good -husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters; that we -should be good neighbors, one to another, in business and in social -life; that we should each do his or her primary duty in the home without -neglecting the duty to the State; that we should dwell even more on our -duties than on our rights; that we should work hard and faithfully; that -we should prize intelligence, but prize courage and honesty and -cleanliness even more. Inefficiency is a curse; and no good intention -atones for weakness of will and flabbiness of moral, mental, and -physical fiber; yet it is also true that no intellectual cleverness, no -ability to achieve material prosperity, can atone for the lack of the -great moral qualities which are the surest foundation of national might. -In this great free democracy it behooves all the people so to bear -themselves that, not with their lips only but in their lives, they shall -show their fealty to the great truth pronounced of old—the truth that -Righteousness exalteth a nation. - - - - - The Pioneer Spirit and American Problems - - -For a number of years I have believed and urged the principles I set -forth in the following article. Their presentation here is in substance -what I said in three recent speeches at Cheyenne, Denver, and Omaha. - -The men who have made this great republic what it is, and especially the -men who have turned it into a continental commonwealth, have possessed -in the highest degree the great virile virtues of strength, courage, -energy, and undaunted and unwavering resolution. Their typical -leaders—of whom Abraham Lincoln, though the most exceptional, was the -most typical—have possessed keen intelligence, and a character not -merely strong but lofty, a character exalted by the fact that great -power was accompanied by a high and fine determination to use this great -power for the common good, for the advancement of mankind. Such men were -the builders of New England. As the country grew, such men were the -pioneers that pushed the frontiers of civilization westward. A hundred -years ago, when men spoke of the West, they meant the country between -the Alleghanies and the Mississippi. Fifty years ago the white man’s -West took in Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas, and then skipped across to -California and Oregon. The country of the great plains and the Rockies -has grown up within my own lifetime. I myself saw and took part in the -closing years of the pioneer period, and it was my great privilege to -work side by side with the pioneers—the ranchmen, the miners, the -cow-punchers, the mule-skinners, the bull-whackers—who actually opened -up the country. I now travel in every comfort on railways across lands -which, when I first rode across them, were still the home of the Indian -and the buffalo; and I find cities where one can obtain not merely -comfort but luxury, in the places where, thirty years ago, there was not -a building beyond a log hut or a ’dobe house. The men who did this work -were engaged in the final stages of conquering the continent; and it was -their privilege to do one of the great works of all time, to do their -part in the performance of an epic feat in the history of the progress -of mankind. - -The pioneer days are over, save in a few places; and the more complex -life of to-day calls for a greater variety of good qualities than were -needed on the frontier. There is need at present to encourage the -development of new abilities which can be brought to high perfection -only by a kind of training useless in pioneer times; but these new -qualities can only supplement, and never supplant, the old, homely -virtues; the need for the special and distinctive pioneer virtues is as -great as ever. In other words, as our civilization grows older and more -complex, while it is true that we need new forms of trained ability, and -need to develop men whose lives are devoted wholly to the pursuit of -special objects, it is yet also true that we need a greater and not a -less development of the fundamental frontier virtues. - -These qualities, derived from the pioneers, were not confined to the -pioneers. They are shown in the deeds of the Nation; and especially in -the two great feats which during the past decade have made the deepest -impression abroad—the cruise of the battle fleet around the world, and -the digging of the Panama Canal. - -Now, there is no use of a nation claiming to be a great nation, unless -it is prepared to play a great part. A nation such as ours cannot -possibly play a great part in international affairs, cannot expect to be -treated as of weight in either the Atlantic or the Pacific, or to have -its voice as to the Monroe Doctrine or the management of the Panama -Canal heeded, unless it has a strong and thoroughly efficient navy. So -far from this increase in naval strength representing on our part either -a menace of aggression to weaker nations or a menace of war to stronger -nations, it has told most powerfully for peace. No nation regarded the -cruise as fraught with any menace of hostility to itself; and yet every -nation accepted it as a proof that we were not only desirous ourselves -to keep the peace, but able to prevent the peace being broken at our -expense. No cruise in any way approaching it has ever been made by any -fleet of any other Power; and the best naval opinion abroad had been -that no such feat was possible; that is, that no such cruise as that we -actually made could be undertaken by a fleet of such size without -innumerable breakdowns and accidents. The success of the cruise, -performed as it was without a single accident, immeasurably raised the -prestige, not only of our fleet, but of our Nation; and was a distinct -help to the cause of international peace. - -As regards the Panama Canal, I really think that outside nations have a -juster idea than our own people of the magnitude and success of the -work. Six years ago last spring the American Government took possession -of the Isthmus. The first two years were devoted to the sanitation of -the Isthmus, to assembling the plant and working force, and providing -quarters, food, and water supplies. In all these points the success was -extraordinary. From one of the plague-spots of the globe, one of the -most unhealthy regions in the entire world, the Isthmus has been turned -into a singularly healthy place of abode. Active excavation on a large -scale did not begin until January, 1907. Three years and a half have -gone by since then, and three-fifths of the total excavation has already -been accomplished. In 1908 and 1909 the monthly average of rock and -earth removed was three million cubic yards, notwithstanding the fact -that nine months of each year constituted a season of very heavy -rainfall; but it is impossible to maintain such a ratio as the depth -increases. Still, it is certain that such a rate can be maintained as -will enable the workers to finish the excavation considerably in advance -of the date fixed for opening the Canal—January 1, 1915. Indeed, I shall -be surprised if the Canal cannot be opened six months or even a year in -advance of the time set. The work has two great features: The Culebra -Cut, which I have been considering, and the great dam at Gatun. The -construction of the dam has advanced sufficiently to convince the -engineers in charge of the work of its absolute stability and -imperviousness. The engineer in charge has announced that all the -concrete in all the locks will be in place two years hence. - -This is a stupendous record of achievement. As a people we are rather -fond of criticising ourselves, and sometimes with very great justice; -but even the most pessimistic critic should sometimes think of what is -to our credit. Among our assets of the past ten years will be placed the -extraordinary ability, integrity, and success with which we have handled -all the problems inherited as the result of the Spanish War; the way we -have handled ourselves in the Philippines, in Cuba, in Porto Rico, in -San Domingo, and in Panama. The cruise of the battle fleet around the -world was a striking proof that we had made good with the navy; and what -we have done at Panama represents the accomplishment of one of the great -feats of the ages. It is a feat which reflects the highest honor upon -our country; and our gratitude is due to every man who has taken an -honorable part in any capacity in bringing it about. - -The same qualities that have enabled Americans to conquer the -wilderness, and to attempt tasks like the building of the Panama Canal -and the sending of the battle fleet around the world, need to be applied -now to our future problems; and these qualities, which include the power -of self-government, together with the power of joining with others for -mutual help, and, what is especially important, the feeling of -comradeship, need to be applied in particular to that foremost of -National problems, the problem of the preservation of our National -resources. - -The question has two sides. In the first place, the actual destruction, -or, if this is not possible, at any rate the needless waste, of the -natural resources must be stopped. In the second place, so far as -possible, these resources must be kept for the use of the whole people, -and not handed over for exploitation to single individuals or groups of -individuals. - -The first point I shall not here discuss at length. It is rapidly -becoming a well-settled policy of this people that we of the present -generation hold the land in part as trustees for the next generation, -and not exclusively for our own selfish enjoyment. Just as the farmer is -a good citizen if he leaves his farm improved and not impaired to his -children, and a bad citizen if he cares nothing for his children and -skins the land and destroys its value in his own selfish interest; so -the Nation behaves well if it treats the soil and the water and the -forests as assets which it must turn over to the next generation -increased and not impaired in value, and behaves badly if it leaves the -land poorer to those who come after us. No farm should be so used that -the soil is permitted to depreciate in value; no forest so used as -permanently to impair its productivity. - -The second part of the question relates to preserving and using our -natural resources in the interest of the public as a whole. We do not -intend to discourage individual excellence by improperly diminishing the -reward for that individual excellence; on the contrary, our desire is to -see that the fullest reward is given to the men of exceptional -abilities, up to the point when the abilities are used to the detriment -of the people as a whole. We favor the sheep man who feeds his sheep on -his own range in such manner that the range increases instead of -diminishes in value; and we are against the big man who does not live in -the country at all, but who sends migratory bands of sheep with a few -hired shepherds to wander over it, destroying pasturage and forests, and -seriously impairing the value of the country for actual settlers. We are -for the liberty of the individual up to, but not beyond, the point where -it becomes inconsistent with the welfare of the community as a whole. - -Now, to preserve the general welfare, to see to it that the rights of -the public are protected, and the liberty of the individual secured and -encouraged as long as consistent with this welfare, and curbed when it -becomes inconsistent therewith, it is necessary to invoke the aid of the -Government. There are points in which this governmental aid can best be -rendered by the States; that is, where the exercise of States’ rights -helps to secure popular rights, and as to these I believe in States’ -rights. But there are large classes of cases where only the authority of -the National Government will secure the rights of the people, and where -this is the case I am a convinced and a thoroughgoing believer in the -rights of the National Government. Big business, for instance, is no -longer an affair of any one State; big business has become nationalized; -and the only effective way of controlling and directing it, and -preventing abuses in connection with it, is by having the people -nationalize this control in order to prevent their being exploited by -the individuals who have nationalized the business. All commerce on a -scale sufficiently large to warrant any control over it by Government is -nowadays inter-State or foreign commerce; and until this fact is -heartily acknowledged, in particular by both courts and legislative -bodies, National and State alike, the interest of the people will -suffer. - -Take the question of the control of the water power sites. The enormous -importance of water power sites to the future industrial development of -this country has only been realized within a very few years. -Unfortunately, the realization has come too late as regards many of the -power sites, but many yet remain with which our hands are free to deal. -We should make it our duty to see that hereafter the power sites are -kept under the control of the general Government for the use of the -people as a whole. The fee should remain with the people as a whole, -while the use is leased on terms which will secure an ample reward to -the lessees, which will encourage the development and use of the water -power, but which will not create a permanent monopoly or permit the -development to be anti-social, to be in any respect hostile to the -public good. - -In this country, nowadays, capital has a National and not a State use. -The great corporations which are managed and largely owned in the older -States are those which are most in evidence in developing and using the -mines and water powers and forests of the new Territories and new -States, from Alaska to Arizona. I have been genuinely amused during the -past two months at having arguments presented to me on behalf of certain -rich men from New York and Ohio, for instance, as to why Colorado and -other Rocky Mountain States should manage their own water power sites. -Now I am sure that those men, according to their lights, are good -citizens; but, naturally enough, their special interest obscures their -sense of the public need; and as their object is to escape efficient -control, they clamor to be put under the State instead of under the -Nation. If we are foolish enough to grant their requests, we shall have -ourselves to blame when we wake up to find that we have permitted -another privilege to intrench itself, and another portion of what should -be kept for the public good to be turned over to individuals for -purposes of private enrichment. - -Our people have for many years proceeded upon the assumption that the -Nation controls the public land. The coal should be kept for the people, -and those who mine it should pay part of the profit back to the people. - -Remember also that many of the men who protest loudly against effective -National action would be the first to turn round and protest against the -State action if such action in its turn became effective, and would then -unhesitatingly invoke the law to show that the State had no -Constitutional power to act. I am a strong believer in efficient -National action; and if there is one thing which I abhor more than -another, it is the creation by legislative, by executive, or by judicial -action of a neutral ground in which neither the State nor the Nation has -power, and which can serve as a place of refuge for the lawless man, and -especially for the lawless man of great wealth, who can hire the best -legal counsel to advise him how to keep his abiding-place equally -distant from the uncertain frontier of both State and National power. - -Let me illustrate what I mean by a reference to two concrete cases. The -first is the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Knight -Sugar Trust case. This was really a decision rendering it exceedingly -difficult for the people to devise any method of controlling and -regulating the business use of great capital in inter-State commerce. It -was a decision nominally against National rights, but really against -popular rights, against the democratic principle of government by the -people. - -The second case is the so-called New York Bake-Shop case. In New York -City, as in most large cities, the baking business is likely to be -carried on under unhygienic conditions, conditions which tell against -the welfare of the workers, and therefore against the welfare of the -general public. The New York Legislature passed, and the New York -Governor signed, a bill remedying these improper conditions. New York -State was the only body that could deal with them; the Nation had no -power whatever in the matter. Acting on information which to them seemed -ample and sufficient; acting in the interest of the public and in -accordance with the demand of the public, the only governmental -authority having affirmative power in the matter, the Governor and the -Legislature of New York, took the action which they deemed necessary, -after what inquiry and study were needed to satisfy them as to the -conditions and as to the remedy. The Governor and the Legislature alone -had the power to remedy the abuse. But the Supreme Court of the United -States possessed, and unfortunately exercised, the negative power of not -permitting the abuse to be remedied. By a five to four vote they -declared the action of the State of New York unconstitutional. They -were, of course, themselves powerless to make the remotest attempt to -provide a remedy for the wrong which undoubtedly existed, and their -refusal to permit action by the State did not confer any power upon the -Nation to act. In effect, it reduced to impotence the only body which -did have power, so that in this case the decision, although nominally -against State rights, was really against popular rights, against the -democratic principle of government by the people under the forms of law. - -If such decisions as these two indicated the Court’s permanent attitude, -there would be real and grave cause of alarm; for such decisions, if -consistently followed up, would upset our whole system of popular -Government. I am, however, convinced, both from the inconsistency of -these decisions with the tenor of other decisions, and furthermore from -the very fact that they are in such flagrant and direct contradiction to -the spirit and needs of the time, that sooner or later they will be -explicitly or implicitly reversed. I mention them merely to illustrate -the need of having a truly National system of government under which the -people can deal effectively with all problems, meeting those that affect -the people as a whole by affirmative Federal action, and those that -merely affect the people of one locality by affirmative State action. - -In dealing with future problems like this one of Conservation, we need -to keep in mind the lesson taught by the American pioneer. It is a -lesson that is to be found in the fact that the pioneer is so good an -American. He is an American, first and foremost. The man of the West -throughout the successive stages of Western growth has always been one -of the two or three most typical figures, indeed I am tempted to say the -most typical figure, in American life; and no man can really understand -our country, and appreciate what it really is and what it promises, -unless he has the fullest and closest sympathy with the ideals and -aspirations of the West. - -The great lesson that all of us need to learn and to keep is the lesson -that it is unimportant whether a man lives North or South, East or West, -provided that he is genuinely and in good faith an American; that he -feels every part of the United States as his own, and that he is -honestly desirous to uphold the interests of all other Americans in -whatever sections of the country they may dwell. - - - - - The Tariff: A Moral Issue - - -Whenever men just like ourselves—probably not much better, and certainly -no worse—continually fail to give us the results we have a right to -expect from their efforts, we may just as well make up our minds that -the fault lies, not in their personality, but in the conditions under -which they work, and profit comes, not from denouncing them, but in -seeing that the conditions are changed. This is especially true of -tariff-making. It has been conclusively shown, by experiments repeated -again and again, that the methods of tariff-making by Congress, which -have now obtained for so many years, cannot, from the very nature of the -case, bring really satisfactory results. I think that the present tariff -is better than the last, and considerably better than the one before the -last; but it has certainly failed to give general satisfaction. I -believe this country is fully committed to the principle of protection; -but it is to protection as a principle; to protection primarily in the -interest of the standard of living of the American workingman. I believe -that when protection becomes, not a principle, but a privilege and a -preference—or, rather, a jumble of privileges and preferences—then the -American people disapprove of it. Now, to correct the trouble, it is -necessary, in the first place, to get in mind clearly what we want, and, -in the next place, to get in mind clearly the method by which we hope to -obtain what we want. What we want is a square deal in the tariff as in -everything else; a square deal for the wage-earner; a square deal for -the employer; and a square deal for the general public. To obtain it we -must have a thoroughly efficient and well-equipped tariff commission. - -The tariff ought to be a material issue and not a moral issue; but if -instead of a square deal we get a crooked deal, then it becomes very -emphatically a moral issue. What we desire in a tariff is such measure -of protection as will equalize the cost of production here and abroad; -and as the cost of production is mainly labor cost, this means primarily -a tariff sufficient to make up for the difference in labor cost here and -abroad. The American public wants the American laboring man put on an -equality with other citizens, so that he shall have the ability to -achieve the American standard of living and the capacity to enjoy it; -and to do this we must see that his wages are not lowered by improper -competition with inferior wage-workers abroad—with wage-workers who are -paid poorly and who live as no Americans are willing to live. But the -American public does not wish to see the tariff so arranged as to -benefit primarily a few wealthy men. - -As a means toward the attainment of its end in view we have as yet -devised nothing in any way as effective as a tariff commission. There -should be a commission of well-paid experts; men who should not -represent any industry; who should be masters of their subjects; of the -very highest character; and who should approach the matter with absolute -disregard of every outside consideration. These men should take up in -succession each subject with which the tariff deals and investigate the -conditions of production here and abroad; they should find out the facts -and not merely accept the statements of interested parties; and they -should report to Congress on each subject as soon as that subject has -been covered. Then action can be taken at once on the particular subject -concerned, while the commission immediately proceeds to investigate -another. By these means log-rolling would be avoided and each subject -treated on its merits, while there would be no such shock to general -industry as is implied in the present custom of making sweeping changes -in the whole tariff at once. Finally, it should be the duty of some -Governmental department or bureau to investigate the conditions in the -various protected industries, and see that the laborers really are -getting the benefit of the tariff supposed to be enacted in their -interest. Moreover, to insure good treatment abroad we should keep the -maximum and minimum provision. - -The same principle of a first-class outside commission should be applied -to river and harbor legislation. At present a river and harbor bill, -like a tariff bill, tends to be settled by a squabble among a lot of big -selfish interests and little selfish interests, with scant regard to the -one really vital interest, that of the general public. In this matter -the National Legislature would do well to profit by the example of -Massachusetts. Formerly Massachusetts dealt with its land and harbor -legislation just as at Washington tariff and river and harbor laws have -been dealt with; and there was just the same pulling and hauling, the -same bargaining and log-rolling, the same subordination of the general -interest to various special interests. Last year Governor Draper took up -the matter, and on his recommendation the Legislature turned the whole -business over to a commission of experts; and all trouble and scandal -forthwith disappeared. Incidentally, this seems to me to be a -first-class instance of progressive legislation. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - 3. 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} - .ol_1 li {font-size: .9em; } - .x-ebookmaker .ol_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: 0em; } - body {font-family: Georgia, serif, 'DejaVu Sans'; text-align: justify; } - table {font-size: .9em; padding: 1.5em .5em 1em; page-break-inside: avoid; - clear: both; } - div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; } - div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } - .ph1 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; - margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } - .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; - page-break-before: always; } - .left {text-align: justify; display: block; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: auto; - max-width: 50%;top: 1em;font-size:small; } - .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } - </style> - </head> - <body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of American problems, by Theodore Roosevelt</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: American problems</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Theodore Roosevelt</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 06, 2021 [eBook #64224]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN PROBLEMS ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='section ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>American Problems</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_frontispiece.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='left'>Copyright 1910 by Moffett Studio</span><br /><br />Theodore Roosevelt</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c002'>American Problems</h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Theodore Roosevelt</span></div> - <div class='c003'>New York</div> - <div class='c004'>The Outlook Company</div> - <div class='c004'>1910</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='small'>Copyright 1910 by</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>The Outlook Company</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>New York</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>All rights reserved</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'>Contents</h2> -</div> -<table class='table0' summary='Contents'> - <tr> - <th class='c006'></th> - <th class='c007'><span class='small'><span class='fss'>PAGE</span></span></th> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>The Management of Small States Which Are Unable to Manage Themselves</td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>A Remedy for Some Forms of Selfish Legislation</td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>Rural Life</td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_29'>29</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>The Progressives, Past and Present</td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_45'>45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>The Pioneer Spirit and American Problems</td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_91'>91</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>The Tariff: A Moral Issue</td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_111'>111</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c008'>THE CHAPTERS CONTAINED -IN THIS BOOK PRESENT -MR. ROOSEVELT’S VIEWS -ON MANY OF THE GREAT -NATIONAL ISSUES OF TODAY. -THEY WERE WRITTEN SINCE -MR. ROOSEVELT’S RETURN -TO AMERICA, AND APPEARED -ORIGINALLY IN THE OUTLOOK -AS EDITORIALS OR ARTICLES</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 class='c005'>The Management of Small States Which are Unable to Manage Themselves</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>In the issue of The Outlook for June 18 -there was a quotation from a letter of an -Anti-Imperialist correspondent, who, in -speaking of Egypt and the Philippines, stated -that the proper course to pursue was to protect -countries of this nature by international -agreement, the writer citing in support of his -theory the way in which many small powers -had their territories guaranteed by international -agreement.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The trouble is in the confusion of ideas -which results in trying to apply the same principle -to two totally different classes of cases. -A State like Switzerland or Holland differs -only in size from the greatest of civilized -nations, and in everything except size stands -at least on a level with them. Such a State -is absolutely competent to preserve order -within its own bounds, to execute substantial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>justice, and to secure the rights of foreigners. -All that is necessary, therefore, is to guarantee -it against aggression; and when the great -Powers have thus guaranteed it, all covenanting -to protect it from the aggression of any -one of their own number, their duty is done -and the needs of the situation completely met. -In such a State the people themselves guarantee -stability, order, liberty, and protection for -the rights of others. There is not the slightest -need of interfering with them, of seeking -to develop them, of protecting them from -themselves. The needs of civilization and -humanity are sufficiently met by protecting -them from outside aggression.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is no analogy at all with what occurs -in a community unable to keep elementary -order, or to secure elementary justice within -its own borders, and unable or unwilling to -do justice to foreign nations. The very worst -thing from the standpoint of humanity which -can happen to such a community may be to -guarantee it against outside aggression. The -condition of Algeria under French rule is infinitely -better than its condition before the -French came to Algeria, or than the condition -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>of Morocco at this moment. The condition -of Turkestan under Russia has very greatly -improved. The condition of the Sudan at -present, as compared with the condition of -the Sudan under Mahdist rule, is the most -striking example of all. In the same way, -Panama has benefited immeasurably from -every standpoint by the presence of Americans -on the Isthmus. Any arrangement which -had guaranteed Algeria against the French, -or Turkestan against the Russians, or the -Sudan against the English, or Panama against -the Americans, would have been an arrangement -against the interests of humanity and -civilization, and against the interests of the -natives of the countries themselves.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Moreover, if there must be interference -for the sake of the country itself, to promote -its growth in order and civilization, actual -experience has shown that such interference -can only come efficiently by one nation, and -not by many. Untried theorists, or even -practical men who are influenced by national -jealousy and are untaught by the lessons of -history, have a curious fondness for trying a -system of joint interference or joint control. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>Americans forget, for instance, that we have -actually tried this system and found it completely -wanting, in the case of Samoa. We -made an arrangement with England and -Germany by which there was a joint protectorate -over Samoa. The system worked -wretchedly. It resulted badly for the natives; -it was a fruitful source of bickering among -the three Powers. Then we abandoned the -system, each Power took its own sphere, and -since then we have gotten along admirably; -the only trouble in connection with Samoa -which arose during my entire administration -as President came because we were not able to -grant the earnest request of the natives that -we should take real and complete possession -of our part of the islands and really regulate -the government instead of leaving it so much -in the hands of the native chiefs.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the case of the Philippines, there were -just two things that we could do which would -have been worse than leaving them under -Spanish rule. One of these would have been -to turn the islands adrift to manage themselves. -The second would have been to try -to manage them by a joint arrangement of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>various Powers. Any such arrangement in -the case of as rich and valuable islands as the -Philippines would very possibly have led to -war between the great Powers. It would -have certainly led to jealousy, bickerings, and -intrigue among them, would have held the -islands back, would have prevented any development -along the lines of progress and civilization, -and would have insured an endless -succession of devastating little civil wars.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When all that is necessary as regards a -small State is to protect it from external -aggression, then the great Powers can with -advantage join to guarantee its integrity. -When anything more is necessary to try to -develop the people and civilization, to put -down disorder, to stop civil war and secure -justice, then a combination of Powers offers -the worst possible way of securing the object -sought to be achieved. Indeed, under such -circumstances it is probably better for the -State concerned to be under the control of a -single Power, even though this Power has -not high ideals, rather than under the control -of three or four Powers which may possess -high ideals but which are put into such an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>impossible situation that they are certain to -be riven asunder by jealousy, distrust, and -intrigue, and to do damage rather than good -to the people whom they are supposed to -protect.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span> - <h2 class='c005'>A Remedy for Some Forms of Selfish Legislation</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>The August number of the “World’s -Work” contains an article which is -of interest to all who are concerned -in the vital subject to which we give the somewhat -foggy title of “Political Reform.” The -article, for obvious reasons anonymous, is -written by a member of Congress who, the -editors of the “World’s Work” say, has -served for more than ten years in the House -of Representatives, has acted on many important -committees, and has been successful -in “getting things” for his constituency. The -article is described as “showing the reason -why the ‘pork-barrel,’ special tariff favors, -and private pension bills become law,” the -reason being, to quote the words of the -author, that “the dictum of the constituency to -the Congressmen is, ‘Get all you can for US.’ -There are no restrictions placed upon his -method of getting it.... Until the American -people themselves become more National -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>and less local, until constituencies cease to -regard their Congressmen as solicitors at the -National Treasury, Congress will continue to -enact iniquitous groups of local favors into -National legislation.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>This serious charge against the American -people—for which there is unquestionably -altogether too much justification—the author -proceeds to substantiate by relating some of -his own experiences with constituents which, -however surprising they may seem to the -general reader, will seem almost commonplace -to all who know how the average American -constituency does in actual practice treat its -Congressman.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The writer sets forth the fact that, in the -first place, ninety per cent of the letters which -a Congressman receives are requests for -special favors to be obtained in some way or -other, directly or indirectly, from the United -States Treasury. For instance, while the -Payne-Aldrich Tariff Law was under discussion, -this particular Congressman received in -May, 1909, the following letter from the -secretary of a powerful commercial association -in his district:</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>I have been instructed by the board of directors of this -association to advise you that at special meeting May 20, a -resolution, copy of which is enclosed, was unanimously -adopted, urging our Representatives in Congress to use every -endeavor to have the present tariff on [mentioning three of -the products of the industries referred to] increased one cent -per pound and the present tariff on [mentioning the other -two products] increased half a cent per pound. I wish to -further advise you that we have heard from Senator —— -and he informs us that he will take care of this matter in the -Senate.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When the bill was finally passed, the -Congressman succeeded in adding half a -cent a pound to the duty on two of these -products and in preventing any reduction on -the others. A year later, when the popular -clamor against the bill had become acute, the -same association that had asked him to vote -for increases wrote to the Congressman -denouncing the bill as “the most iniquitous -measure ever enacted by Congress” and -requesting him to explain by letter why he -had voted with “the Reactionaries” to pass -the bill. When it was pointed out to the -association that it had urged the Congressman -to obtain an increase of duty on the products -in which it was interested, it dropped its -demand for an explanation. An influential -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>newspaper published in his district editorially -commended him while the bill was under -debate for his “intelligent efforts” to increase -the duty on manufactured articles in which the -district was interested, and a year later the -same newspaper in the same editorial column -denounced him as one of “the legislative -banditti responsible for the Payne-Aldrich -measure.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>As with the tariff, so with pensions; the -Congressman is urged to obtain local favors -without regard to National interests. This -is illustrated by the following letter, which -the author prints, and which was written by -the clergyman of a large and wealthy church:</p> - -<p class='c011'><i>My dear Congressman</i>: I received a call from James H. -—— several days ago, and he told me that he had received a -very unsatisfactory letter from you regarding his chances for -getting a pension. Now, Congressman, while I know he -deserted during the second year of the war, yet there must be -some way the matter can be covered up and —— be given a -pensionable status. He is at present a charge on my congregation. -Every one seems to be able to get a pension. Why -not he? Do what you can for him, and oblige.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It may be said that this is a unique instance -from which it is unfair to draw a general -inference. The confessing Congressman -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>answers, No; that he has “hundreds of such -letters filed away. So has every other Congressman.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>River and harbor legislation is another field -in which local selfishness busies itself, to the -exclusion of National needs. In this case -requests are not made by letter but by delegations -which come to Washington besieging -their Senators and Representatives. “There -is,” says the frank writer of this article, “figuratively -speaking, between $50,000,000 and -$60,000,000 on the table to be divided. The -Committee divides it so that every one is satisfied, -at least to a reasonable extent.” Every -one, that is, but the people at large, the people -who have no special interest to serve, and who -feel keenly indignant that the rivers and -harbors of the United States are developed in -a fashion so inferior to that of Europe.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Nor are all the requests for legislation -merely. One constituent desired to have this -particular Congressman put his name on the -free mailing list for all public documents. -That this would be impossible, because it -would mean delivering to the applicant several -tons of documents every month, does not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>in the slightest detract from the interest of the -fact elicited by an investigation that the applicant -was the manufacturer of an article made -from waste paper, and the public documents -would afford a useful source of raw material.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Is there a remedy for such a state of -things? The answer is, yes; and, moreover, -it is a remedy which Congress can itself -immediately provide.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is no complete remedy, of course. -No scheme can be devised which can prevent -such a request as that of the constituent last -named who wished public documents to use in -his private paper business. Requests like this -merely mean that in every district individuals -will always be found who will request improper -favors. As regards these people, all -that can be done is to create a vigorous public -opinion—an opinion which shall not only -make it uncomfortable for any man to demand -such favors, but which shall cordially support -the Congressman in refusing them and hold -him accountable for granting them. We -must trust to individual integrity to resist -such individual and sporadic attempts to corrupt -it.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>The case is entirely different when we come -to the other favors mentioned. These favors -are those which the Congressman describes as -being improperly, habitually, and insistently -demanded by large portions of a given constituency, -with at least the acquiescence of the -constituency as a whole. It is futile to expect -to cure this type of evil merely by solemnly -saying that each Congressman ought to be -good. It is futile to ask the average Congressman -to cut his own throat by disregarding -the requests of his own constituents for -special and improper favors in the matter of -tariff legislation, river and harbor legislation, -and pension legislation; even though these -same constituents adopt the beautifully illogical -position of expressing a great—and, -curiously enough, often a sincere—indignation -that their Congressman, as the only means of -securing for them what they insist he shall -secure, joins with other Congressmen in granting -for all other constituencies the same improper -favors which are eagerly demanded -by his own individual constituency. Moreover, -under the present system, the small man, -when he asks for something in which his own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>district is keenly interested, is told by the big -man who represents the big interest that he -can’t have his little favor granted unless he -agrees to stand by those who wish to grant -the big favor—and the small man may be -remorselessly “held up” in this fashion, even -though the small favor he asks is proper, and -the big favor he is required to grant entirely -improper. When such is the pressure upon -the average Representative, there is certain to -be more or less yielding on his part, in the -great majority of cases. It is idle to hope -that reform will come through mere denunciation -of the average Congressman, or by merely -beseeching him to reach the height of courage, -wisdom, and disinterestedness achieved only -by the exceptional man; by the man who is so -brave and far-seeing and high-minded that -he really will think only of the interests of -the country as a whole.</p> - -<p class='c010'>On the other hand, it is just as idle for -Congressmen to seek to excuse themselves as -a body by uttering jeremiads as to the improper -way in which their constituents press -them to do things that ought not to be done. -The individual Congressman can be excused -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>only by frankly admitting that the fault lies -with the Congressmen taken collectively. The -remedy is simple and easy of application.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Congress has now, and has long had, the -power to rid its members of almost all the -improper pressure brought to bear upon the -individual by special interests—great and -small, local and metropolitan—on such subjects -as tariff legislation, river and harbor -legislation, and pension legislation. Congress -has not exercised this power, chiefly because -of what I am bound to regard as a very shortsighted -and unwise belief that it is beneath -its dignity to delegate any of its functions. -By passing a rule which would forbid the -reception or passage of any pension bill -save the pension legislation recommended by -the Commissioner of Pensions (this of -course to be rejected or amended as Congress -saw fit, but not so amended as to include any -special or private legislation), Congress -would at once do away with the possibility of -its members being subject to local pressure -for improper private pension bills, and at the -same time guarantee proper treatment for the -veteran who really does deserve to have everything -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>done for him that the country can afford. -The veteran of this stamp has no -stancher friend than the Commissioner of -Pensions; whereas he is often the very man -passed over when special bills are introduced, -because the less deserving men are at least as -apt as the others to have political influence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the case of the tariff and the river and -harbor legislation, what is needed in each case -is ample provision for a commission of the -highest possible grade, composed of men who -thoroughly know the subject, and who possess -every attribute required for the performance -of the great and difficult task of framing in -outline the legislation that the country, as distinguished -from special interests, really needs. -These men, from the very nature of the case, -will be wholly free from the local pressure of -special interests so keenly felt by every man -who is dependent upon the vote of a particular -district every two years for his continuance -in public life. Such a river and harbor commission -could report, and probably would report, -a great and comprehensive National -scheme for river and harbor improvements -fit to be considered by the people as a whole -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>upon its merits, and not dependent for enactment -into law upon a system of log-rolling -designed to placate special interests which are -powerful in each of many score Congressional -districts. Such a tariff commission could get -at the facts of labor cost here and abroad by -expert inquiry, and not by the acceptance of -interested testimony; such a commission could -consider dispassionately the probable effect -upon the entire social and economic body of -all changes in any given branch of the tariff, -and its recommendations would represent the -exercise of careful judgment from a disinterested -standpoint. Such a commission could -work in harmony with the Commissioner of -Labor, so as to insure that the laborers for -whom the tariff is passed get the full benefit -of it; for the major part of the benefit of a -protective tariff should unquestionably go to -the wage-workers.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Even under such conditions of tariff-making -errors might be committed, but they would be -merely those errors of disinterested judgment -incidental to every kind of public or, for the -matter of that, private effort, and the work -would not be hampered from the beginning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>by the need of gratifying private selfishness.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is only in this way that tariff legislation, -river and harbor legislation, and pension legislation -can be treated from the standpoint of -principle and not from the very low standpoint -of privilege and preference. The -obstacle hitherto to the adoption of such a -method of treatment has come from the queer -dislike felt by so many Congressional leaders -to a course of action which they (quite unjustifiably) -feel would in some way be a limitation -of their powers. I think this feeling is -passing. It is simply another instance of the -kind of feeling which makes some executives -suspicious about delegating their work to any -subordinate, and which makes many voters, -who have not pondered the matter deeply, -desire to elect great numbers of people on a -ticket of such length that it is out of the -question for any except professional politicians -to know much about them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As soon as business becomes at all complex—and -nothing can be more complex than the -business of a Nation of a hundred million -people—it can only be performed by delegating -to experts the duty of dealing with all that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>can properly be delegated. It is only by such -delegation that it is possible to secure the -proper consideration of the exceedingly important -business which cannot properly be -delegated. The voters, as a whole, for instance, -must necessarily declare directly upon -all really vital issues, and they should do this -when the issue is a man just as much as when -the issue is one of legislation. Indeed, in -my judgment, there are certain matters, as to -which the voters do not at present have the -chance of thus acting directly, where it is -important that the chance be given them. But -they can only exercise such choice with wisdom -and benefit where it is vitally necessary -to exercise it, on condition of not being confused -by the requirement of exercising it in -the great multitude of cases where there is no -such necessity, and where they can with -advantage delegate the duty to the man they -deem most fit to do the business.</p> - -<p class='c010'>What is true of the voters is equally true -of legislators and administrators the moment -that their tasks become sufficiently complex. -The village constable in a small community -can do all his work directly. But the President -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>of the United States can do his work at -all only by delegating the enormous mass of -it to his appointees, and by confining his own -share of the purely administrative work -largely to supervision and direction of these -employees. When a President appoints a -commission to investigate such a vital matter -as, for instance, country life, or the conservation -of natural resources, he does not abdicate -his own authority; he merely faces the fact -that by no possibility can he himself do this -important piece of work as well as the experts -whom he appoints to devote their whole time -to that purpose. Now, Congress can with -wisdom act in such matters of prime legislative -importance as the tariff and river and -harbor improvement, in the same way that -the President acts in such matters of prime -administrative importance as country life and -conservation. It no more represents abdication -of power on the part of Congress to -appoint a first-class Tariff Commission than -it represents abdication of power on the part -of the President to appoint a first-class Country -Life or Conservation Commission, or than -it represents abdication of power on the part -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>of voters to elect as Governor a man to whom -they give all possible power to do his work -well. In each case the body delegating the -authority, so far from abdicating the power, -has secured its wise use by intrusting it to a -man or men especially equipped thus to use -it well, and this man, or these men, can in -turn be held to the most rigid accountability -if it is not well used, in the exclusive service -of the people as a whole.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span> - <h2 class='c005'>Rural Life</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>There are no two public questions of -more vital importance to the future -of this country than the problem of -Conservation and the problem of the betterment -of country life. Moreover, these two -problems are really interdependent, for -neither of them can be successfully solved -save on condition that there is at least a -measurable success in the effort to solve the -other. In any great country the prime -physical asset—the physical asset more valuable -than any other—is the fertility of the -soil. All our industrial and commercial welfare, -all our material development of every -kind, depends in the last resort upon our preserving -and increasing the fertility of the -soil. This, of course, means the conservation -of the soil as the great natural resource; and -equally, of course, it furthermore implies the -development of country life, for there cannot -be a permanent improvement of the soil if -the life of those who live on it, and make their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>living out of it, is suffered to starve and languish, -to become stunted and weazened and -inferior to the type of life lived elsewhere. -We are now trying to preserve, not for exploitation -by individuals, but for the permanent -benefit of the whole people, the waters and -the forests, and we are doing this primarily -as a means of adding to the fertility of the -soil; although in each case there is a great -secondary use both of the water and of the -forests for commercial and industrial purposes. -In the same way it is essential for the -farmers themselves to try to broaden the life -of the man who lives in the open country; to -make it more attractive; to give it every -adjunct and aid to development which has -been given to the life of the man of the cities. -Therefore the conservation and rural life -policies are really two sides of the same -policy; and down at bottom this policy rests -upon the fundamental law that neither man -nor nation can prosper unless, in dealing with -the present, thought is steadily taken for the -future.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In one sense this problem with which we -have to deal is very, very old. Wherever -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>civilizations have hitherto sprung up they -have always tended to go through certain -stages and then to fall. No nation can -develop a real civilization without cities. Up -to a certain point the city movement is -thoroughly healthy; yet it is a strange and -lamentable fact that always hitherto after this -point has been reached the city has tended to -develop at the expense of the country by draining -the country of what is best in it, and making -an insignificant return for this best. In -consequence, in the past, every civilization in -its later stages has tended really to witness -those conditions under which “the cities prosper -and the men decay.” There are ugly -signs that these tendencies are at work in this -nation of ours. But very fortunately we see -now what never before was seen in any civilization—an -aroused and alert public interest -in the problem, a recognition of its gravity -and a desire to attempt its solution.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The problem does not consist merely in -the growth of the city. Such a growth in -itself is a good thing and not a bad thing for -the country. The problem consists in the -growth of the city at the expense of the country; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>and, even where this is not the case, in -so great an equality of growth in power and -interest as to make the city more attractive -than the country, and therefore apt to drain -the country of the people who ought to live -therein.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The human side of the rural life problem -is to make the career of the farmer and the -career of the farm laborer as attractive and -as remunerative as corresponding careers in -the city. Now, I am well aware that the -farmer must himself take the lead in bringing -this about. A century and a quarter ago the -wise English farmer, Arthur Young, wrote -of the efforts to improve French wool: “A -cultivator at the head of a sheep farm of -3,000 or 4,000 acres would in a few years do -more for their wools than all the academicians -and philosophers will effect in ten centuries.” -It is absurd to think that any man who has -studied the subject only theoretically is fit to -direct those who practically work at the matter. -But I wish to insist to you here—to you -practical men, who own and work your farms—that -it is an equally pernicious absurdity -for the practical man to refuse to benefit by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>the work of the student. The English -farmer I have quoted, Young, was a practical -farmer, but he was also a scientific farmer. -One reason why the great business men of -to-day—the great industrial leaders—have -gone ahead, while the farmer has tended to -sag behind the others, is that they are far -more willing, and indeed eager, to profit by -expert and technical knowledge—the knowledge -that can come only as a result of the -highest education. From railways to factories -no great industrial concern can nowadays -be carried on save by the aid of a swarm -of men who have received a high technical -education in chemistry, in engineering, in -electricity, in one or more of scores of special -subjects. The big business man, the big railway -man, does not ask college-trained experts -to tell him how to run his business; but he -does ask numbers of them each to give him -expert advice and aid on some one point -indispensable to his business. He finds this -man usually in some graduate of a technical -school or college in which he has been trained -for his life work.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In just the same way the farmers should -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>benefit by the advice of the technical men -who have been trained in phases of the very -work the farmer does. I am not now speaking -of the man who has had an ordinary general -training, whether in school or college. -While there should undoubtedly be such a -training as a foundation (the extent differing -according to the kind of work each boy intends -to do as a man), it is nevertheless true that -our educational system should more and more -be turned in the direction of educating men -towards, and not away from, the farm and -the shop. During the last half-century we -have begun to develop a system of agricultural -education at once practical and scientific, -and we must go on developing it. But, after -developing it, it must be used. The rich man -who spends a fortune upon a fancy farm, with -entire indifference to cost, does not do much -good to farming; but, on the other hand, just -as little is done by the working farmer who -stolidly refuses to profit by the knowledge of -the day; who treats any effort at improvement -as absurd on its face, refuses to countenance -what he regards as new-fangled ideas and -contrivances, and jeers at all “book farming.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>I wish I could take representatives of this -type of farmer down to Long Island, where I -live, to have them see what has been done, not -as philanthropy but as a plain business proposition, -by men connected with the Long Island -Railroad, who believe it pays to encourage -the development of farms along the line of -that railway. They have put practical men -in charge of experimental farms, cultivating -them intensively, and using the best modern -methods, not only in raising crops, but in -securing the best market for the crops when -raised. The growth has been astounding, -and land only fifty miles from New York, -which during our entire National lifetime has -been treated as worthless, has within the last -three or four years been proved to possess a -really high value.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The farmer, however, must not only make -his land pay, but he must make country life -interesting for himself and for his wife and -his sons and daughters. Our people as a -whole should realize the infinite possibilities -of life in the country; and every effort should -be made to make these possibilities more possible. -From the beginning of time it has been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>the man raised in the country—and usually -the man born in the country—who has been -most apt to render the services which every -nation most needs. Turning to the list of -American statesmen, it is extraordinary to see -how large a proportion started as farm boys. -But it is rather sad to see that in recent years -most of these same boys have ended their lives -as men living in cities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It often happens that the good conditions -of the past can be regained, not by going back, -but by going forward. We cannot re-create -what is dead; we cannot stop the march of -events; but we can direct this march, and out -of the new conditions develop something better -than the past knew. Henry Clay was a -farmer who lived all his life in the country; -Washington was a farmer who lived and died -in the country; and we of this Nation ought -to make it our business to see that the conditions -are made such that farm life in the -future shall not only develop men of the -stamp of Washington and Henry Clay, but -shall be so attractive that these men may continue -as farmers; for remember that Washington -and Henry Clay were successful farmers. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>I hope that things will so shape themselves -that the farmer can have a great career and -yet end his life as a farmer; so that the city -man will look forward to living in the country -rather than the country man to living in the -city.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Farmers should learn how to combine -effectively, as has been done in industry. I -heartily believe in farmers’ organizations; and -we should all welcome every step taken -towards an increasing co-operation among -farmers. The importance of such movements -cannot be over-estimated; and through -such intelligent joint action it will be possible -to improve the market just as much as the -farm.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Country life should be as attractive as city -life, and the country people should insist upon -having their full representation when it comes -to dealing with all great public questions. In -other words, country folks should demand that -they work on equal terms with city folks in -all such matters. They should have their -share in the memberships of commissions and -councils; in short, of all the organized bodies -for laying plans for great enterprises affecting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>all the people. I am glad to see on such -bodies the names that represent financial -interests, but those interests should not have -the right-of-way, and in all enterprises and -movements in which the social condition of -the country is involved, the agricultural country—the -open country—should be as well -represented as the city. The man of the open -country is apt to have certain qualities which -the city man has lost. These qualities offset -those which the city man has and he himself -has not. The two should be put on equal -terms, and the country talent be given the -same opportunity as the city talent to express -itself and to contribute to the welfare of the -world in which we live.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The country church should be made a true -social center, alive to every need of the community, -standing for a broad individual outlook -and development, taking the lead in -work and in recreation, caring more for conduct -than for dogma, more for ethical, spiritual, -practical betterment than for merely -formal piety. The country fair offers far -greater possibilities for continuous and -healthy usefulness than it at present affords. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>The country school should be made a vital -center for economic, social, and educational -co-operation; it is naturally fitted to be such -a center for those engaged in commercial -farming, and still more for those engaged -in domestic farming, for those who live on -and by the small farms they themselves own. -The problem of the farm is really the problem -of the family that lives on the farm. On -all these questions there is need of intelligent -study, such as marks the books of Professor -Bailey, of Cornell, and of Sir Horace Plunkett’s -book on the “Rural Life Problems of -the United States.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>One feature of the problem should be recognized -by the farmer at once, and an effort -made to deal with it. It is our duty and our -business to consider the farm laborer exactly -as we consider the farmer. No country life -can be satisfactory when the owners of farms -tend, for whatever reason, to go away to live -in cities instead of working their farms; and, -moreover, it cannot be really satisfactory -when the labor system is so managed that -there is for part of the year a demand for -labor which cannot be met, and during another -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>part of the year no demand for labor at all, -so that the farmers tend to rely on migratory -laborers who come out to work in the country -with no permanent interest in it and with no -prospect of steady employment. It is exceedingly -difficult to make a good citizen out of a -man who cannot count upon some steadiness -and continuity in the work which means to -him his livelihood. Economic conditions on -the farm—in variety and kind of crop-growing, -especially as distributed in time, and in -housing for the men—must be so shaped as -to render it possible for the man who labors -for the farmer to be steadily employed under -conditions which foster his self-respect and -tend for his development.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Above all, the conditions of farm life must -always be shaped with a view to the welfare -of the farmer’s wife and the farm laborer’s -wife, quite as much as to the welfare of the -farmer and the farm laborer. To have the -woman a mere drudge is at least as bad as to -have the man a mere drudge. It is every -whit as important to introduce new machines -to economize her labor within the house, as it -is to introduce machinery to increase the effectiveness -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>of his labor outside the house. I -have not the slightest sympathy with any -movement which looks to excusing men and -women for the non-performance of duty and -fixes attention only on rights and not on duties. -The woman who shirks her duty as housewife, -as mother, is a contemptible creature; -just as the corresponding man is a contemptible -creature. But the welfare of the woman -is even more important than the welfare of -the man; for the mother is the real Atlas, who -bears aloft in her strong and tender arms the -destiny of the world. She deserves honor -and consideration such as no man should -receive. She forfeits all claim to this honor -and consideration if she shirks her duties. -But the average American woman does not -shirk them; and it is a matter of the highest -obligation for us to see that they are performed -under conditions which make for her -welfare and happiness and for the welfare -and happiness of the children she brings into -the world.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span> - <h2 class='c005'>The Progressives, Past and Present</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>There have been two great crises in -our country’s history: first when it -was formed, and then again when it -was perpetuated. The formative period included -not merely the Revolutionary War, -but the creation and adoption of the Constitution -and the first dozen years of work under -it. Then came sixty years during which we -spread across the continent—years of vital -growth, but of growth without rather than -growth within. Then came the time of stress -and strain which culminated in the Civil War, -the period of terrible struggle upon the issue -of which depended the justification of all that -we had done earlier, and which marked the -second great period of growth and development -within. The name of John Brown will -be forever associated with this second period -of the Nation’s history; and Kansas was the -theater upon which the first act of the second -of our great National life dramas was played. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>It was the result of the struggle in Kansas -which determined that our country should be -in deed as well as in name devoted to both -union and freedom, that the great experiment -of democratic government on a national scale -should succeed and not fail. It was a heroic -struggle; and, as is inevitable with all such -struggles, it had also a dark and a terrible -side. Very much was done of good, and -much, also, of evil; and, as was inevitable in -such a period of revolution, often the same -man did both good and evil. For our great -good fortune as a nation, we, the people of -the United States as a whole, can now afford -to forget the evil, or at least to remember it -without bitterness, and to fix our eyes with -pride on the good that was accomplished. -Even in ordinary times there are very few of -us who do not see the problems of life as -through a glass, darkly; and when the glass -is clouded by the murk of furious popular -passion, the vision of the best and the bravest -is dimmed. Looking back, we are all of us -now able to do justice to the valor and the -disinterestedness and the love of the right as -to each it was given to see the right, shown -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>both by the men of the North and the men of -the South in that contest which was finally -decided by the attitude of the West. We -can see the Puritan soldier, the man of the -Bible and the sword, embodied again in -Stonewall Jackson, just as we see that Puritan -embodied in the stern soldiers who warred -against Jackson. We can admire the heroic -valor, the sincerity, the self-devotion shown -alike by the men who wore the blue and the -men who wore the gray; and our sadness that -such men should have had to fight one another -is tempered by the glad knowledge that ever -hereafter their descendants shall be found -fighting side by side, struggling in peace as -well as in war for the uplift of their common -country, all alike resolute to raise to the highest -pitch of honor and usefulness the nation -to which they all belong.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I do not speak of this struggle of the past -merely from the historic standpoint. Our -interest is primarily in the application to-day -of the lessons taught by the contest of half a -century ago. It is of little use for us to pay -lip loyalty to the mighty men of the past unless -we sincerely endeavor to apply to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>problems of the present precisely the qualities -which in other crises enabled the men of that -day to meet those crises. It is half melancholy -and half amusing to see the way in -which well-meaning people gather to do honor -to the men who, in company with John Brown, -and under the lead of Abraham Lincoln, faced -and solved the great problems of the nineteenth -century, while at the same time these -same good people nervously shrink from or -frantically denounce those who are trying to -meet the problems of the twentieth in the -spirit which was accountable for the successful -solution of the problems of Lincoln’s -time.</p> - -<p class='c010'>John Brown stands to us now as representing -the men and the generation who rendered -the greatest service ever rendered this country. -He stood for heroic valor, grim energy, -fierce fidelity to high ideals. A great debt -is owed to John Brown because he is one of -the most striking figures in the mighty struggle -which was to keep us forever a free and -united nation, which was to secure the continuance -of the most tremendous democratic -experiment ever tried. He did much in his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>life and more in his death; he embodied the -inspiration of the men of his generation; his -fate furnished the theme of the song which -most stirred the hearts of the soldiers. John -Brown’s work was brought to completion, -was made perfect, by the men who bore aloft -the banner of the Union during the four terrible -years which intervened between Sumter -and Appomattox. To the soldiers who -fought through those years—and of course -to a very few of their civilian chiefs, like Lincoln—is -due the supreme debt of the Nation. -They alone, of all our people since we became -a nation, rendered to us and to all who come -after us a service literally indispensable. -They occupy the highest and most honorable -position ever occupied by any men of any -generation in our country.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Of that generation of men to whom we -owe so much, the man to whom we owe most -is, of course, Lincoln. Valor, energy, disinterestedness, -idealism—all these were his; -and his also was that lofty and far-seeing wisdom -which alone could make the valor, the -disinterestedness, the energy, the idealism, of -service to the Republic. Here again, in meeting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>the problems of to-day, let us profit by, -and welcome, and co-operate with the John -Browns; but let us also remember that the -problems can really be solved only if we -approach them in the spirit of Abraham -Lincoln.</p> - -<p class='c010'>John Brown prepared the way; but if -the friends of freedom and union had surrendered -themselves to his leadership, the cause -of freedom and union would have been lost. -After his death Lincoln spoke of him as -follows:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“John Brown’s effort was peculiar. It was -not a slave insurrection. It was an attempt -by white men to get up a revolt among slaves -in which the slaves refused to participate. In -fact, it was so absurd that the slaves, with all -their ignorance, saw plainly enough it could -not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, -corresponds with the many attempts related -in history at the assassination of kings and -emperors. An enthusiast broods over the -oppression of a people till he fancies himself -commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. -He ventures the attempt, which ends in little -less than his own execution. Orsini’s attempt -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>on Louis Napoleon and John Brown’s attempt -at Harper’s Ferry were, in their philosophy, -precisely the same. The eagerness to cast -blame on Old England in the one case and on -New England in the other does not disprove -the sameness of the two things.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>In our struggle to-day we can study Lincoln’s -career purely as an example to emulate; -we can study John Brown’s career partly as -such an example, but partly also as a warning. -I think such study is especially necessary for -the extremists among the very men with whom -my own sympathy is especially keen. I am -a progressive; I could not be anything else; -indeed, as the years go by I become more, and -not less, radically progressive. To my mind -the failure resolutely to follow progressive -policies is the negation of democracy as well -of progress, and spells disaster. But for this -very reason I feel concern when progressives -act with heedless violence, or go so far and -so fast as to invite reaction. The experience -of John Brown illustrates the evil of the -revolutionary short-cut to ultimate good ends. -The liberty of the slave was desirable, but it -was not to be brought about by a slave insurrection. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>The better distribution of property -is desirable, but it is not to be brought about -by the anarchic form of Socialism which -would destroy all private capital and tend to -destroy all private wealth. It represents not -progress, but retrogression, to propose to -destroy capital because the power of unrestrained -capital is abused. John Brown rendered -a great service to the cause of liberty -in the earlier Kansas days; but his notion that -the evils of slavery could be cured by a slave -insurrection was a delusion analogous to the -delusions of those who expect to cure the evils -of plutocracy by arousing the baser passions -of workingmen against the rich in an endeavor -at violent industrial revolution. And, on the -other hand, the brutal and shortsighted greed -of those who profit by what is wrong in the -present system, and the attitude of those who -oppose all effort to do away with this wrong, -serve in their turn as incitements to such revolution; -just as the insolence of the ultra proslavery -men finally precipitated the violent -destruction of slavery.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In one of Lincoln’s addresses immediately -after his second election, at a time when any -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>man of less serene magnanimity would have -been tempted to advocate extreme measures -and to betray personal exultation, or even to -show hatred of his opponents, he said:</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Human nature will not change. In any -future great national affair, compared with -the men of this, we shall have as weak and as -strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as -good. Let us therefore study the incidents -of this as philosophy to learn wisdom from, -and none of them as wrongs to be revenged. -May not all having a common interest reunite -in a common effort to save our common country? -For my own part, I have striven and -shall strive to avoid placing any obstacle in -the way. So long as I have been here I have -not willingly planted a thorn in any man’s -bosom. May I ask those who have not differed -with me to join with me in this same -spirit towards those who have?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Surely such a union of indomitable resolution -in the achievement of a given purpose, -with patience and moderation in the policy -pursued, and with kindly charity and consideration -and friendliness to those of opposite -belief, marks the very spirit in which we of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>to-day should approach the pressing problems -of the present.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These problems have to do with securing -a more just and generally widespread welfare, -so that there may be a more substantial measure -of equality in moral and physical well-being -among the people whom the men of -Lincoln’s day kept undivided as citizens of a -single country, and freed from the curse of -negro slavery. They did their part; now let -us do ours.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Fundamentally, our chief problem may be -summed up as the effort to make men, as -nearly as they can be made, both free and -equal; the freedom and equality necessarily -resting on a basis of justice and brotherhood. -It is not possible, with the imperfections of -mankind, ever wholly to achieve such an -ideal, if only for the reason that the shortcomings -of men are such that complete and -unrestricted individual liberty would mean the -negation of even approximate equality, while -a rigid and absolute equality would imply the -destruction of every shred of liberty. Our -business is to secure a practical working combination -between the two. This combination -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>should aim, on the one hand, to secure to each -man the largest measure of individual liberty -that is compatible with his fellows’ getting -from life a just share of the good things to -which they are legitimately entitled; while, -on the other hand, it should aim to bring about -among well-behaved, hard-working people a -measure of equality which shall be substantial, -and which shall yet permit to the individual -the personal liberty of achievement and -reward without which life would not be worth -living, without which all progress would stop, -and civilization first stagnate and then go -backwards. Such a combination cannot be -completely realized. It can be realized at -all only by the application of the spirit of -fraternity, the spirit of brotherhood. This -spirit demands that each man shall learn and -apply the principle that his liberty must be -used not only for his own benefit but for the -interest of the community as a whole, while -the community in its turn, acting as a whole, -shall understand that while it must insist on -its own rights as against the individual, it -must also scrupulously safeguard these same -rights of the individual.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>Lincoln set before us forever our ideal -when he stated that this country was dedicated -to a government of, by, and for the people. -Our whole experiment is meaningless unless -we are to make this a democracy in the fullest -sense of the word, in the broadest as well as -the highest and deepest significance of the -word. It must be made a democracy economically -as well as politically. This does not -mean that there shall not be leadership in the -economic as in the political world, or that -there shall not be ample reward for high distinction -and great service. Quite the contrary. -It is our boast that in our political -affairs we have combined genuine political -equality with high distinction in individual -service. During a century and a third we -here on this continent—more completely than -anywhere else at any other time—have actually -realized the democratic principle, the -principle of popular government. Yet during -this period we have produced, in the persons -of Washington and Lincoln, two leaders -who on the roll of the world’s worthies stand -higher than any other two men ever produced -by any other country during a similar length -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>of time. We believe that it is entirely possible -to combine equality of rights and at least -an approximate equality in the opportunity -to achieve material well-being, with the opportunity -for the highest kind of individual distinction. -Hitherto our efforts towards this -end have related to purely political matters; -we must now strive to achieve the same end -in economic matters.</p> - -<p class='c010'>To achieve our purpose we cannot trust -merely to haphazard, easy-going methods -with complete absence of official Government -action and a too exclusively material standard. -These did well enough in the pioneer days -when problems were comparatively simple, -and when the country was still so large that -Uncle Sam could give every man a farm, so -that, if any man did not succeed where he -was, all he had to do was to move somewhere -else. We must be true to the spirit of our -ancestors, and therefore we must avoid any -servility to the letter of what they said and -did. There must be equal rights for all, and -special privileges for none; but we must remember -that to achieve this ideal it is necessary -to construe rights and privileges very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>differently from the way they were necessarily -construed, by statesmen and people alike, a -century ago. We must strive to achieve our -ideal by an exercise of governmental power -which the conditions did not render necessary -a century ago, and of which our forefathers -would have felt suspicious. This is no reflection -on the wisdom of our forefathers; it is -simply an acknowledgment that conditions -have now changed. If our farmers now used -the wasteful methods that served for their -great-grandfathers, they would not merely -fail in the present, but would work a grave -wrong to the American citizens of the future. -In the same way we must apply new political -methods to meet the new political needs, or -else we shall suffer, and our children also. In -the same way, when we speak of the “square -deal,” we include two thoughts, each supplementary -to the other. The square deal can -be secured in part by honest enforcement of -existing laws, by honest application of the -principles upon which this Government was -founded, by the exercise of an aroused and -enlightened public opinion. But in order -completely to secure it, there must be whatever -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>legislation is necessary to meet the new -conditions caused by the extraordinary industrial -change and development that have taken -place during the last two generations. The -greatest evils in our industrial system to-day -are those which rise from the abuses of aggregated -wealth; and our great problem is to -overcome these evils and cut out these abuses. -No one man can deal with this matter. It is -the affair of the people as a whole. When -aggregated wealth demands what is unfair, -its immense power can be met only by the still -greater power of the people as a whole, -exerted in the only way it can be exerted, -through the Government; and we must be -resolutely prepared to use the power of -the Government to any needed extent, even -though it be necessary to tread paths which -are yet untrod. The complete change in -economic conditions means that governmental -methods never yet resorted to may have to be -employed in order to deal with them. We -cannot tolerate anything approaching a monopoly, -especially in the necessaries of life, -except on terms of such thoroughgoing -governmental control as will absolutely safeguard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>every right of the public. Moreover, -one of the most sinister manifestations of -great corporate wealth during recent years -has been its tendency to interfere and dominate -in politics.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is not merely that we want to see the -game played fairly. We also want to see the -rules changed, so that there shall be both less -opportunity and less temptation to cheat, and -less chance for some few people to gain a -profit to which either they are not entitled at -all, or else which is so enormous as to be -greatly in excess of what they deserve, even -though their services have been great. We -wish to do away with the profit that comes -from the illegitimate exercise of cunning and -craft. We also wish to secure a measurable -equality of opportunity, a measurable -equality of reward for services of similar -value. To do all this, two mutually supplementary -movements are necessary. On -the one hand, there must be—I think there -now is—a genuine and permanent moral -awakening, without which no wisdom of legislation -or administration really means anything; -and, on the other hand, we must try -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>to secure the social and economic legislation -without which any improvement due to purely -moral agitation is necessarily evanescent.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We pride ourselves upon being a practical -people, and therefore we should not be -merely empirical in seeking to bring about -results. We must set the end in view as the -goal; and then, instead of making a fetish of -some particular kind of means, we should -adopt whatever honorable means will best -accomplish the end. In so far as unrestricted -individual liberty brings the best results, we -should encourage it. But when a point is -reached where this complete lack of restriction -on individual liberty fails to achieve the best -results, then, on behalf of the whole people, -we should exercise the collective power of the -people, through the State Legislatures in matters -of purely local concern, and through the -National Legislature when the purpose is so -big that only National action can achieve it. -There are good people who, being discontented -with present-day conditions, think that -these conditions can be cured by a return to -what they call the “principles of the fathers.” -In so far as we have departed from the standards -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>of lofty integrity in public and private -life to which the greatest men among the -founders of the Republic adhered, why, of -course, we should return to these principles. -We must always remember that no system of -legislation can accomplish anything unless -back of it we have the right type of National -character; unless we have ideals to which our -practice measurably conforms. But to go -back to the governmental theories of a hundred -years ago would accomplish nothing -whatever; for it was under the conditions of -unrestricted individualism and freedom from -Government interference, countenanced by -those theories, that the trusts grew up, and -private fortunes, enormous far beyond the -deserts of the accumulators, were gathered. -The old theories of government worked well -in sparsely settled communities, before steam, -electricity, and machinery had revolutionized -our industrial system; but to return to them -now would be as hopeless as for the farmers -of the present to return to the agricultural -implements which met the needs of their predecessors, -the farmers who followed in the -footsteps of Daniel Boone to Kentucky and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>Missouri. It may be that, in the past development -of our country, complete freedom -from all restrictions, and the consequent unlimited -encouragement and reward given to -the most successful industrial leaders, played -a part in which the benefits outweighed the -disadvantages. But nowadays such is not -the case.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Lincoln had to meet special and peculiar -problems, and therefore there was no need -and no opportunity for him to devote attention -to those other problems which we face, -and which in his day were so much less intense -than in ours. Nevertheless, he very clearly -put the proper democratic view when he said: -“I hold that while man exists it is his duty to -improve not only his own condition but to -assist in ameliorating mankind.” And again: -“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital; -capital is only the fruit of labor, and -could never have existed but for labor. Labor -is the superior of capital, and deserves much -the higher consideration. Capital has its -rights which are as worthy of protection as -any other rights.... Nor should this lead -to a war upon the owners of property. Property -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; -is a positive good in the world. Let -not him who is houseless pull down the house -of another, but let him work diligently and -build one for himself, thus by example showing -that his own shall be safe from violence -when built.” It seems to me that in these -words Lincoln took substantially the attitude -that we ought to take; he showed the proper -sense of proportion in his relative estimate of -capital and labor, of human rights and property -rights. Above all, in this speech, as in -so many others, he taught a lesson in wise -kindliness and charity; an indispensable lesson -to us of to-day, for if we approach the work -of reform in a spirit of vindictiveness—in a -spirit of reckless disregard for the rights of -others, or of hatred for men because they are -better off than ourselves—we are sure in the -end to do not good but damage to all mankind, -and especially to those whose especial -champions we profess ourselves to be. Violent -excess is sure to provoke violent reaction; -and the worst possible policy for our country -would be one of violent oscillation between -reckless upsetting of property rights, and unscrupulous -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>greed manifested under pretense -of protecting those rights. The agitator who -preaches hatred and practices slander and untruthfulness, -and the visionary who promises -perfection and accomplishes only destruction, -are the worst enemies of reform; and the man -of great wealth who accumulates and uses his -wealth without regard to ethical standards, -who profits by and breeds corruption, and robs -and swindles others, is the very worst enemy -of property, the very worst enemy of conservatism, -the very worst enemy of those “business -interests” that only too often regard him -with mean admiration and heatedly endeavor -to shield him from the consequences of his -iniquity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Now, the object we seek to achieve is twofold. -A great democratic commonwealth -should seek to produce and reward that individual -distinction which results in the efficient -performance of needed work, for such performance -is of high value to the whole community. -But hand in hand with this purpose -must go the purpose which Abraham Lincoln -designated as the “amelioration of mankind.” -Only by an intelligent effort to realize this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>joint process of individual and social betterment -can we keep our democracy sound. We -all admit this to be true politically; but we -have not paid much heed to the question from -its economic side. The wage-earner primarily -needs what it is pre-eminently to the interest -of our democratic commonwealth that he -should obtain—that is, a high standard of -living, and the opportunity to acquire the -means whereby to secure it. Every power of -the Nation should be used in helping him to -this end; taking care, however, that the help -shall be given in such fashion as to represent -real help, and not harm; for the worst injury -that could be done him or any other man -would be to teach him to rely primarily on -“the State” instead of on himself. The collective -power of the State can help; but it is -the individual’s own power of self-help which -is most important.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Now, I am well aware that demagogues -and doctrinaire reformers of a certain type -may try to turn such use of the powers of the -State into an abuse. We should set our faces -like flint against any such abuse. We should -make it fully understood by the workingmen—by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>the men of small means—that we will -do everything in our power for them <i>except -what is wrong;</i> but that we will do wrong for -no man—neither for them nor for any one -else. Nevertheless, the fact that there are -dangers in following a given course merely -means that we should follow it with a cautious -realization of these dangers, and not that we -should abandon it, if on the whole it is the -right course.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is just so with personal liberty. The -unlimited freedom which the individual property-owner -has enjoyed has been of use to this -country in many ways, and we can continue -our prosperous economic career only by retaining -an economic organization which will offer -to the men of the stamp of the great captains -of industry the opportunity and inducement -to earn distinction. Nevertheless, we as -Americans must now face the fact that this -great freedom which the individual property-owner -has enjoyed in the past has produced -evils which were inevitable from its unrestrained -exercise. It is this very freedom—this -absence of State and National restraint—that -has tended to create a small class of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>enormously wealthy and economically powerful -men whose chief object is to hold and -increase their power. Any feeling of special -hatred toward these men is as absurd as any -feeling of special regard. Some of them have -gained their power by cheating and swindling, -just as some very small business men cheat -and swindle; but, as a whole, big men are no -better and no worse than their small competitors, -from a moral standpoint. Where they -do wrong it is even more important to punish -them than to punish a small man who does -wrong, because their position makes it especially -wicked for them to yield to temptation; -but the prime need is to change the conditions -which enable them to accumulate a power -which it is not for the general welfare that -they should hold or exercise, and to make this -change not only without vindictiveness, without -doing injustice to individuals, but also in -a cautious and temperate spirit, testing our -theories by actual practice, so that our legislation -may represent the minimum of restrictions -upon the individual initiative of the -exceptional man which is compatible with -obtaining the maximum of welfare for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>average man. We grudge no man a fortune -which represents merely his own power and -sagacity exercised with entire regard to the -welfare of his fellows. But the fortune must -not only be honorably obtained and well used; -it is also essential that it should not represent -a necessary incident of widespread, even -though partial, economic privation. It is not -even enough that the fortune should have -been gained without doing damage to the -community. We should only permit it to be -gained and kept so long as the gaining and -the keeping represent benefit to the community. -This I know implies a policy of a far -more active governmental interference with -social and economic conditions than we have -hitherto seen in this country; but I think we -have to face the fact that such increase in governmental -activity is now necessary. We -should work cautiously and patiently and with -complete absence of animosity, except toward -the individuals whom we are certain have been -guilty of flagrant evil; but we should also -work firmly to realize the democratic purpose, -economically and socially as well as -politically. We must make popular government -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>responsible for the betterment both of -the individual and of society at large.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Let me repeat once more that, while such -responsible governmental action is an absolutely -necessary thing to achieve our purpose, -yet it will be worse than useless if it is not -accompanied by a serious effort on the part -of the individuals composing the community -thus to achieve each for himself a higher -standard of individual betterment, not merely -material but spiritual and intellectual. In -other words, our democracy depends on individual -improvement just as much as upon collective -effort to achieve our common social -improvement. The most serious troubles of -the present day are unquestionably due in -large part to lack of efficient governmental -action, and cannot be remedied without such -action; but neither can any remedy permanently -avail unless back of it stands a high -general character of individual citizenship.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This governmental improvement can be -accomplished partly by the States, in so far -as any given evil affects only one State, or one -or two States; in so far as a merely local -remedy is needed for a merely local disease. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>But the betterment must be accomplished -partly, and I believe mainly, through the -National Government. I do not ask for -over-centralization; but I do ask that we work -in a spirit of broad and far-reaching nationalism -when we deal with what concerns our -people as a whole. I no more make a fetish -of centralization than of decentralization. -Any given case must be treated on its special -merits. Each community should be required -to deal with all that is of merely local interest; -and nothing should be undertaken by the Government -of the whole country which can thus -wisely be left to local management. But -those functions of government which no wisdom -on the part of the States will enable -them satisfactorily to perform must be performed -by the National Government. We -are all Americans; our common interests are -as broad as the continent; the most vital problems -are those that affect us all alike. The -regulation of big business, and therefore the -control of big property in the public interest, -are pre-eminently instances of such functions -which can only be performed efficiently and -wisely by the Nation; and, moreover, so far -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>as labor is employed in connection with inter-State -business, it should also be treated as a -matter for the National Government. The -National power over inter-State commerce -warrants our dealing with such questions as -employers’ liability in inter-State business, and -the protection and compensation for injuries -of railway employees. The National Government -of right has, and must exercise, its -power for the protection of labor which is -connected with the instrumentalities of inter-State -commerce.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The National Government belongs to the -whole American people; and where the whole -American people are interested that interest -can be effectively guarded only by the National -Government. We ought to use the -National Government as an agency, a tool, -wherever it is necessary, in order that we may -organize our entire political, economical, and -social life in accordance with a far-reaching -democratic purpose. We should make the -National governmental machinery an adequate -and constructive instrument for constructive -work in the realization of a National -democratic ideal. I lay emphasis upon the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>word <i>constructive</i>. Too often the Federal -Government, and above all the Federal judiciary, -has permitted itself to be employed for -purely negative purposes—that is, to thwart -the action of the States while not permitting -efficient National action in its place. From -the National standpoint nothing can be worse—nothing -can be full of graver menace—for -the National life than to have the Federal -courts active in nullifying State action to -remedy the evils arising from the abuse of -great wealth, unless the Federal authorities, -executive, legislative, and judicial alike, do -their full duty in effectually meeting the need -of a thoroughgoing and radical supervision -and control of big inter-State business in all its -forms. Many great financiers, and many of -the great corporation lawyers who advise -them, still oppose any effective regulation of -big business by the National Government, -because, for the time being, it serves their -interest to trust to the chaos which is caused -on the one hand by inefficient laws and conflicting -and often unwise efforts at regulation -by State governments, and, on the other hand, -by the efficient protection against such regulation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>afforded by the Federal courts. In the -end this condition will prove intolerable, and -will hurt most of all the very class which it at -present benefits. The continuation of such -conditions would mean that the corporations -would find that they had purchased immunity -from the efficient exercise of Federal regulative -power at the cost of being submitted to -a violent and radical local supervision, inflamed -to fury by having repeatedly been -thwarted, and not chastened by exercised -responsibility. To refuse to take, or to permit -others to take, wise and practical action -for the remedying of abuses is to invite unwise -action under the lead of violent extremists.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I do not wish to see the Nation forced into -ownership of the railways if it can possibly -be avoided; and the only alternative is -thoroughgoing and effective regulation, which -shall be based on full knowledge of all the -facts, including a physical valuation of the -property, the details of its capitalization, and -the like. We should immediately set about -securing this physical valuation. The Government -should oversee the issuance of all -stocks and bonds, and should have complete -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>power over rates and traffic agreements. The -railways are really highways, and it is the -fundamental right of the people as a whole -to see that they are open to use on just and -reasonable terms, equal to all persons. The -Hepburn Bill marked a great step in advance; -the law of last session, in its final shape and -as actually passed, marks, on the whole, another -decided step in advance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Corporate regulation is merely one phase -of a vast problem. The true friend of property, -the true conservative, is he who insists -that property shall be the servant and not the -master of the commonwealth; who insists that -the creature of man’s making shall be the -servant and not the master of the man who -made it. The citizens of the United States -must effectively control the mighty commercial -forces which they have themselves called -into being.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Corporations are necessary to the effective -use of the forces of production and commerce -under modern conditions. We cannot effectively -prohibit all combinations without doing -far-reaching economic harm; and it is mere -folly to do as we have done in the past—to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>try to combine incompatible systems—that is, -to try both to prohibit and regulate combinations. -Combinations in industry are the -result of an imperative economic law which -cannot be repealed by political legislation. -The effort at prohibiting all combination has -substantially failed. The only course left is -active corporate regulation—that is, the control -of corporations for the common good—the -suppression of the evils that they work, -and the retention, as far as may be, of that -business efficiency in their use which has placed -us in the forefront of industrial peoples. I -need waste no words upon our right so to -control them. The corporation is the creature -of government, and the people have the right -to handle it as they desire; all they need pay -attention to is the expediency of realizing this -right in some way that shall be productive of -good and not harm. The corporate manager -who achieves success by honest efficiency in -giving the best service to the public should be -favored because we all benefit by his efficiency. -He realizes Abraham Lincoln’s definition -which I have quoted above, because he works -for his own material betterment and at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>same time for the “amelioration of mankind,” -and he should be helped by the Government -because his success is good for the National -welfare. But a man who grasps and holds -business power by breaking the industrial -efficiency of others, who wins success by -methods which are against the public interest -and degrading to the public morals, should -not be permitted to exercise such power. Instead -of punishing him by a long and doubtful -process of the law after the wrong has been -committed, there should be such effective Government -regulation as to check the evil tendencies -at the moment that they start to develop. -Overcapitalization in all its shapes is one of -the prime evils; for it is one of the most fruitful -methods by which unscrupulous men get -improper profits, and when the holdings come -into innocent hands we are forced into the -uncomfortable position of being obliged to -reduce the dividends of innocent investors, or -of permitting the public and the wage-workers, -either or both, to suffer. Such really -effective control over great inter-State business -can come only from the National Government. -The American people demands the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>new Nationalism needful to deal with the new -problems; it puts the National need above -sectional or personal advantage; it is impatient -of the utter confusion which results from -local legislatures attempting to treat National -issues as local issues; it is still more impatient -of the National impotence which springs from -the over-division of governmental powers; the -impotence which makes it possible for local -selfishness, or for the vulpine legal cunning -which is hired by wealthy special interests, to -bring National activities to a deadlock.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The control must be exercised in several -different ways. It may be that National incorporation -is not at the moment possible; but -there must be some affirmative National control, -on terms which will secure publicity in -the affairs of and complete supervision and -control over the big, Nation-wide business -corporations; a control that will prevent and -not legalize abuses. Such control should -imply the issuance of securities by corporations -only under thoroughgoing Governmental -supervision, and after compliance with Governmental -requirements which shall effectually -prevent overcapitalization. Such control -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>should protect and favor the corporation -which acts honestly, exactly as it should check -and punish, when it cannot prevent, every -species of dishonesty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the Inter-State Commerce Commission -and in the Federal Bureau of Corporations -we have bodies which, if their powers are sufficiently -enlarged after the right fashion, can -render great and substantial service. The -average American citizen should have presented -to him in a simple and easily comprehended -form the truth about the business -affairs that affect his daily life as consumer, -employee, employer, as investor, as voter. -The issue of securities should be subject to -rigorous Government supervision. There -are concrete instances of unfair competition -that can be reached under the Federal criminal -legislation, and they should be attacked -and destroyed in the courts. But the laws -should be such that normally, and save in -extraordinary circumstances, there should be -no need of recourse to the courts. What is -needed is administrative supervision and control. -This should be so exercised that the -highways of commerce and opportunity should -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>be open to all; and not nominally open, but -really open, a consistent effort being made to -deprive every man of any advantage that is -not due to his own superiority and efficiency, -controlled by moral purpose. The National -Bureau of Corporations has not been given -the powers or the funds to develop its full -usefulness, and yet it offers one of the prime -means at the disposal of the people of keeping -them fully acquainted with all the facts about -corporation control. We have a right to -expect from this Bureau and from the Inter-State -Commerce Commission a very high -grade of public service. We should be as -sure of the proper conduct of inter-State -railways and the proper management of inter-State -business as we are now sure of the -conduct and management of the National -banks, and we should have as effective supervision -in one case as in the other.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not only as a matter of justice and honesty, -but as a matter of prime popular interest, we -should see that this control is so exercised as -to favor a proper return to the upright business -manager and honest investor. In the -matter of railway rates, for instance, it is just -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>as much our duty to see that they are not too -low as that they are not too high. We must -preserve the right of the railway employee to -proper wages and the right of the investor to -proper interest as scrupulously as we preserve -the right of the shipper and the producer and -the consumer. We cannot afford to do injustice, -or suffer it to be done, to any of these. -But in order to do justice we must have full -knowledge. We must have the right to find -out every fact connected with the business of -the railway, so as to base our judgment, not -on any one fact, but on all taken together. -Inasmuch as it is so often impossible to punish -wrongs done in the past, and to prevent the -consequences of the wrongs thus committed -being felt by one innocent class, without shifting -the burden to the shoulders of another -innocent class, we ought to provide that hereafter -business shall be carried on from its inception -in such a way as to prevent swindling. -Incidentally, this will also tend to prevent that -excessive profit by one man, which may not be -swindling, under existing laws, but which -nevertheless is against the interest of the commonwealth; -To know all the facts is of as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>much interest to the investor and the wageworker -as to the shipper, the producer, the -consumer. Full knowledge of the past helps -us in dealing with the future. If we find that -high rates are due to overcapitalization in the -past, or to any kind of sharp practice in the -past, then, whether or not it is possible to take -action which will partly remedy the wrong, -we are certainly in a better position to prevent -a repetition of the wrong.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Let me, in closing, put my position in a nutshell. -When I say that I am for the square -deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair -play under the present rules of the game, but -that I stand for having these rules changed -so as to work for a more substantial equality -of opportunity and of reward for equally -good service. So far as possible, the reward -should be based upon service; and this necessarily -implies that where a man renders us -service in return for the fortune he receives, -he has the right to receive it only on terms just -to the whole people. For this reason there -should be a heavily progressive National -inheritance tax on big fortunes. The really -big fortune, by the mere fact of its size, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind -as well as in degree from what is possessed by -men of relatively small means. A heavily -progressive inheritance tax on all such fortunes -(heaviest on absentees) has the good -qualities of an income tax, without its drawbacks; -it is far more beneficial to the community -at large, and far less burdensome to -private individuals, as well as far more easily -collected. A moderate, but progressive, income -tax, carefully devised to fall genuinely -on those who ought to pay, would, I believe, -be a good thing; but a heavy and heavily progressive -inheritance tax on great fortunes -would be a far better thing.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I have tried to set before you my creed. I -believe in property rights, but I believe in -them as adjuncts to, and not as substitutes for, -human rights. I believe that normally the -rights of property coincide with the rights of -man; but where they do not, then the rights -of man must be put above the rights of property. -I believe in shaping the ends of government -to protect property; but wherever the -alternative must be faced, I am for man and -not for property. I am far from underestimating -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>the importance of dividends, but I -rank dividends below human character. I -know well that if there is not sufficient prosperity -the people will in the end rebel against -any system, no matter how exalted morally; -and reformers must not bring upon the people -permanent economic ruin, or the reforms -themselves will go down in the ruin. But we -must be ready to face any temporary disaster—whether -or not brought on by those who -will war against us to the knife—if only -through such disaster can we attain our goal. -And those who oppose all reform will do well -to remember that ruin in its worst form is -inevitable if our National life brings us nothing -whatever but a swollen and badly distributed -material prosperity. In other words, -I feel that material interests are chiefly good, -not in themselves, but as an indispensable -foundation upon which we should build a -higher superstructure, a superstructure without -which the foundation becomes worthless. -Therefore I believe that the destinies of this -country should be shaped primarily by moral -forces, and by material forces only as they -are subordinated to these moral forces. I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>believe that material wealth is an exceedingly -valuable servant, and a particularly abhorrent -master, in our National life. I think -one end of government should be to achieve -prosperity; but it should follow this end -chiefly to serve an even higher and more -important end—that of promoting the character -and welfare of the average man. In -the long run, and inevitably, the actual control -of the government will be determined -by the chief end which the government subserves. -If the end and aim of government -action is merely to accumulate general material -prosperity, treating such prosperity as -an end in itself and not as a means, then it is -inevitable that material wealth and the -masters of that wealth will dominate and control -the course of national action. If, on the -other hand, the achievement of material -wealth is treated, not as an end of government, -but as a thing of great value, it is true—so -valuable as to be indispensable—but of -value only in connection with the achievement -of other ends, then we are free to seek -through our government, and through the -supervision of our individual activities, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>realization of a true democracy. Then we -are free to seek not only the heaping up of -material wealth, but a wise and generous distribution -of such wealth so as to diminish -grinding poverty, and, so far as may be, to -equalize social and economic no less than -political opportunity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The people as a whole can be benefited -morally and materially by a system which -shall permit of ample reward for exceptional -efficiency, but which shall nevertheless secure -to the average man who does his work faithfully -and well, the reward to which he is entitled. -Remember that I speak only of the -man who does his work faithfully and well. -The man who shirks his work, who is lazy or -vicious, or even merely incompetent, deserves -scant consideration; we may be sorry for his -family, but it is folly to waste sympathy on -the man himself; and it is also folly for sentimentalists -to try to shift the burden of blame -from such a man himself to “society;” and it -is an outrage to give him the reward given to -his hard-working, upright, and efficient -brother. Still less should we waste sympathy -on the criminal; there are altogether too many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>honest men who need it; and one chief point -in dealing with the criminal should be to -make him understand that he will be in personal -peril if he becomes a lawbreaker. I -realize entirely that in the last analysis, with -the nation as with the individual, it is private -character that counts for most. It is because -of this realization that I gladly lay myself -open to the charge that I preach too much, -and dwell too much upon moral commonplaces; -for though I believe with all my heart -in the nationalization of this Nation—in the -collective use on behalf of the American people -of the governmental powers which can be -derived only from the American people as a -whole—yet I believe even more in the practical -application by the individual of those -great fundamental moralities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A certain type of rather thinly intellectual -man sneers at these moralities as “commonplaces;” -and base and evil men, selfish and -shortsighted men, are immensely pleased to -see them denounced and derided. Yet surely -it is the duty of every public man to try to -make all of us keep in mind, and practice, -the moralities essential to the welfare of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>American people. It is of vital concern to -the American people that the men and women -of this great Nation should be good husbands -and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and -daughters; that we should be good neighbors, -one to another, in business and in social life; -that we should each do his or her primary -duty in the home without neglecting the duty -to the State; that we should dwell even more -on our duties than on our rights; that we -should work hard and faithfully; that we -should prize intelligence, but prize courage -and honesty and cleanliness even more. Inefficiency -is a curse; and no good intention -atones for weakness of will and flabbiness of -moral, mental, and physical fiber; yet it is -also true that no intellectual cleverness, no -ability to achieve material prosperity, can -atone for the lack of the great moral qualities -which are the surest foundation of national -might. In this great free democracy it behooves -all the people so to bear themselves -that, not with their lips only but in their lives, -they shall show their fealty to the great truth -pronounced of old—the truth that Righteousness -exalteth a nation.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span> - <h2 class='c005'>The Pioneer Spirit and American Problems</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>For a number of years I have believed -and urged the principles I set forth -in the following article. Their presentation -here is in substance what I said in -three recent speeches at Cheyenne, Denver, -and Omaha.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The men who have made this great republic -what it is, and especially the men who have -turned it into a continental commonwealth, -have possessed in the highest degree the great -virile virtues of strength, courage, energy, -and undaunted and unwavering resolution. -Their typical leaders—of whom Abraham -Lincoln, though the most exceptional, was -the most typical—have possessed keen intelligence, -and a character not merely strong but -lofty, a character exalted by the fact that -great power was accompanied by a high and -fine determination to use this great power for -the common good, for the advancement of -mankind. Such men were the builders of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>New England. As the country grew, such -men were the pioneers that pushed the frontiers -of civilization westward. A hundred -years ago, when men spoke of the West, they -meant the country between the Alleghanies -and the Mississippi. Fifty years ago the -white man’s West took in Minnesota, Iowa, -and Kansas, and then skipped across to California -and Oregon. The country of the -great plains and the Rockies has grown up -within my own lifetime. I myself saw and -took part in the closing years of the pioneer -period, and it was my great privilege to work -side by side with the pioneers—the ranchmen, -the miners, the cow-punchers, the mule-skinners, -the bull-whackers—who actually -opened up the country. I now travel in every -comfort on railways across lands which, when -I first rode across them, were still the home -of the Indian and the buffalo; and I find cities -where one can obtain not merely comfort but -luxury, in the places where, thirty years ago, -there was not a building beyond a log hut or -a ’dobe house. The men who did this work -were engaged in the final stages of conquering -the continent; and it was their privilege to do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>one of the great works of all time, to do their -part in the performance of an epic feat in the -history of the progress of mankind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The pioneer days are over, save in a few -places; and the more complex life of to-day -calls for a greater variety of good qualities -than were needed on the frontier. There is -need at present to encourage the development -of new abilities which can be brought to high -perfection only by a kind of training useless -in pioneer times; but these new qualities can -only supplement, and never supplant, the old, -homely virtues; the need for the special and -distinctive pioneer virtues is as great as ever. -In other words, as our civilization grows -older and more complex, while it is true that -we need new forms of trained ability, and -need to develop men whose lives are devoted -wholly to the pursuit of special objects, it is -yet also true that we need a greater and not -a less development of the fundamental frontier -virtues.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These qualities, derived from the pioneers, -were not confined to the pioneers. They are -shown in the deeds of the Nation; and especially -in the two great feats which during the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>past decade have made the deepest impression -abroad—the cruise of the battle fleet around -the world, and the digging of the Panama -Canal.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Now, there is no use of a nation claiming -to be a great nation, unless it is prepared to -play a great part. A nation such as ours -cannot possibly play a great part in international -affairs, cannot expect to be treated as -of weight in either the Atlantic or the Pacific, -or to have its voice as to the Monroe Doctrine -or the management of the Panama Canal -heeded, unless it has a strong and thoroughly -efficient navy. So far from this increase in -naval strength representing on our part either -a menace of aggression to weaker nations or -a menace of war to stronger nations, it has -told most powerfully for peace. No nation -regarded the cruise as fraught with any menace -of hostility to itself; and yet every nation -accepted it as a proof that we were not only -desirous ourselves to keep the peace, but able -to prevent the peace being broken at our expense. -No cruise in any way approaching -it has ever been made by any fleet of any other -Power; and the best naval opinion abroad -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>had been that no such feat was possible; that -is, that no such cruise as that we actually made -could be undertaken by a fleet of such size -without innumerable breakdowns and accidents. -The success of the cruise, performed -as it was without a single accident, immeasurably -raised the prestige, not only of our fleet, -but of our Nation; and was a distinct help to -the cause of international peace.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As regards the Panama Canal, I really -think that outside nations have a juster idea -than our own people of the magnitude and -success of the work. Six years ago last -spring the American Government took possession -of the Isthmus. The first two years -were devoted to the sanitation of the Isthmus, -to assembling the plant and working force, -and providing quarters, food, and water supplies. -In all these points the success was -extraordinary. From one of the plague-spots -of the globe, one of the most unhealthy -regions in the entire world, the Isthmus has -been turned into a singularly healthy place of -abode. Active excavation on a large scale -did not begin until January, 1907. Three -years and a half have gone by since then, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>three-fifths of the total excavation has already -been accomplished. In 1908 and 1909 the -monthly average of rock and earth removed -was three million cubic yards, notwithstanding -the fact that nine months of each year constituted -a season of very heavy rainfall; but -it is impossible to maintain such a ratio as the -depth increases. Still, it is certain that such -a rate can be maintained as will enable the -workers to finish the excavation considerably -in advance of the date fixed for opening the -Canal—January 1, 1915. Indeed, I shall -be surprised if the Canal cannot be opened -six months or even a year in advance of the -time set. The work has two great features: -The Culebra Cut, which I have been considering, -and the great dam at Gatun. The -construction of the dam has advanced sufficiently -to convince the engineers in charge of -the work of its absolute stability and imperviousness. -The engineer in charge has announced -that all the concrete in all the locks -will be in place two years hence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is a stupendous record of achievement. -As a people we are rather fond of criticising -ourselves, and sometimes with very great -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>justice; but even the most pessimistic critic -should sometimes think of what is to our -credit. Among our assets of the past ten -years will be placed the extraordinary ability, -integrity, and success with which we have -handled all the problems inherited as the -result of the Spanish War; the way we have -handled ourselves in the Philippines, in Cuba, -in Porto Rico, in San Domingo, and in -Panama. The cruise of the battle fleet -around the world was a striking proof that -we had made good with the navy; and what -we have done at Panama represents the accomplishment -of one of the great feats of -the ages. It is a feat which reflects the -highest honor upon our country; and our -gratitude is due to every man who has taken -an honorable part in any capacity in bringing -it about.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The same qualities that have enabled -Americans to conquer the wilderness, and to -attempt tasks like the building of the Panama -Canal and the sending of the battle fleet -around the world, need to be applied now to -our future problems; and these qualities, -which include the power of self-government, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>together with the power of joining with -others for mutual help, and, what is especially -important, the feeling of comradeship, need -to be applied in particular to that foremost -of National problems, the problem of the -preservation of our National resources.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The question has two sides. In the first -place, the actual destruction, or, if this is not -possible, at any rate the needless waste, of -the natural resources must be stopped. In -the second place, so far as possible, these -resources must be kept for the use of the -whole people, and not handed over for exploitation -to single individuals or groups of -individuals.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The first point I shall not here discuss at -length. It is rapidly becoming a well-settled -policy of this people that we of the present -generation hold the land in part as trustees -for the next generation, and not exclusively -for our own selfish enjoyment. Just as the -farmer is a good citizen if he leaves his -farm improved and not impaired to his children, -and a bad citizen if he cares nothing -for his children and skins the land and -destroys its value in his own selfish interest; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>so the Nation behaves well if it treats the soil -and the water and the forests as assets which -it must turn over to the next generation increased -and not impaired in value, and -behaves badly if it leaves the land poorer to -those who come after us. No farm should -be so used that the soil is permitted to depreciate -in value; no forest so used as permanently -to impair its productivity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The second part of the question relates to -preserving and using our natural resources -in the interest of the public as a whole. We -do not intend to discourage individual excellence -by improperly diminishing the reward -for that individual excellence; on the contrary, -our desire is to see that the fullest reward is -given to the men of exceptional abilities, up -to the point when the abilities are used to the -detriment of the people as a whole. We -favor the sheep man who feeds his sheep on -his own range in such manner that the range -increases instead of diminishes in value; and -we are against the big man who does not live -in the country at all, but who sends migratory -bands of sheep with a few hired shepherds to -wander over it, destroying pasturage and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>forests, and seriously impairing the value of -the country for actual settlers. We are for -the liberty of the individual up to, but not -beyond, the point where it becomes inconsistent -with the welfare of the community as a -whole.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Now, to preserve the general welfare, to -see to it that the rights of the public are protected, -and the liberty of the individual -secured and encouraged as long as consistent -with this welfare, and curbed when it becomes -inconsistent therewith, it is necessary to invoke -the aid of the Government. There are -points in which this governmental aid can best -be rendered by the States; that is, where the -exercise of States’ rights helps to secure popular -rights, and as to these I believe in States’ -rights. But there are large classes of cases -where only the authority of the National -Government will secure the rights of the people, -and where this is the case I am a convinced -and a thoroughgoing believer in the -rights of the National Government. Big -business, for instance, is no longer an affair -of any one State; big business has become -nationalized; and the only effective way of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>controlling and directing it, and preventing -abuses in connection with it, is by having the -people nationalize this control in order to -prevent their being exploited by the individuals -who have nationalized the business. -All commerce on a scale sufficiently large to -warrant any control over it by Government -is nowadays inter-State or foreign commerce; -and until this fact is heartily acknowledged, -in particular by both courts and legislative -bodies, National and State alike, the interest -of the people will suffer.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Take the question of the control of the -water power sites. The enormous importance -of water power sites to the future industrial -development of this country has only -been realized within a very few years. Unfortunately, -the realization has come too late -as regards many of the power sites, but many -yet remain with which our hands are free to -deal. We should make it our duty to see that -hereafter the power sites are kept under the -control of the general Government for the -use of the people as a whole. The fee -should remain with the people as a whole, -while the use is leased on terms which will -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>secure an ample reward to the lessees, which -will encourage the development and use of -the water power, but which will not create a -permanent monopoly or permit the development -to be anti-social, to be in any respect -hostile to the public good.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In this country, nowadays, capital has a -National and not a State use. The great -corporations which are managed and largely -owned in the older States are those which are -most in evidence in developing and using the -mines and water powers and forests of the -new Territories and new States, from Alaska -to Arizona. I have been genuinely amused -during the past two months at having arguments -presented to me on behalf of certain -rich men from New York and Ohio, for instance, -as to why Colorado and other Rocky -Mountain States should manage their own -water power sites. Now I am sure that those -men, according to their lights, are good -citizens; but, naturally enough, their special -interest obscures their sense of the public -need; and as their object is to escape efficient -control, they clamor to be put under the State -instead of under the Nation. If we are foolish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>enough to grant their requests, we shall -have ourselves to blame when we wake up to -find that we have permitted another privilege -to intrench itself, and another portion of what -should be kept for the public good to be -turned over to individuals for purposes of -private enrichment.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Our people have for many years proceeded -upon the assumption that the Nation controls -the public land. The coal should be kept for -the people, and those who mine it should pay -part of the profit back to the people.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Remember also that many of the men who -protest loudly against effective National -action would be the first to turn round and -protest against the State action if such action -in its turn became effective, and would then -unhesitatingly invoke the law to show that -the State had no Constitutional power to act. -I am a strong believer in efficient National -action; and if there is one thing which I abhor -more than another, it is the creation by legislative, -by executive, or by judicial action of -a neutral ground in which neither the State -nor the Nation has power, and which can -serve as a place of refuge for the lawless man, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>and especially for the lawless man of great -wealth, who can hire the best legal counsel to -advise him how to keep his abiding-place -equally distant from the uncertain frontier of -both State and National power.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Let me illustrate what I mean by a reference -to two concrete cases. The first is the -decision of the United States Supreme Court -in the Knight Sugar Trust case. This was -really a decision rendering it exceedingly -difficult for the people to devise any method -of controlling and regulating the business use -of great capital in inter-State commerce. It -was a decision nominally against National -rights, but really against popular rights, -against the democratic principle of government -by the people.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The second case is the so-called New York -Bake-Shop case. In New York City, as in -most large cities, the baking business is likely -to be carried on under unhygienic conditions, -conditions which tell against the welfare of -the workers, and therefore against the welfare -of the general public. The New York Legislature -passed, and the New York Governor -signed, a bill remedying these improper conditions. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>New York State was the only body -that could deal with them; the Nation had no -power whatever in the matter. Acting on -information which to them seemed ample and -sufficient; acting in the interest of the public -and in accordance with the demand of the -public, the only governmental authority having -affirmative power in the matter, the Governor -and the Legislature of New York, took -the action which they deemed necessary, after -what inquiry and study were needed to satisfy -them as to the conditions and as to the remedy. -The Governor and the Legislature alone had -the power to remedy the abuse. But the -Supreme Court of the United States possessed, -and unfortunately exercised, the negative -power of not permitting the abuse to be remedied. -By a five to four vote they declared -the action of the State of New York unconstitutional. -They were, of course, themselves -powerless to make the remotest attempt to -provide a remedy for the wrong which undoubtedly -existed, and their refusal to permit -action by the State did not confer any power -upon the Nation to act. In effect, it reduced -to impotence the only body which did have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>power, so that in this case the decision, -although nominally against State rights, was -really against popular rights, against the -democratic principle of government by the -people under the forms of law.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If such decisions as these two indicated the -Court’s permanent attitude, there would be -real and grave cause of alarm; for such decisions, -if consistently followed up, would upset -our whole system of popular Government. I -am, however, convinced, both from the inconsistency -of these decisions with the tenor of -other decisions, and furthermore from the -very fact that they are in such flagrant and -direct contradiction to the spirit and needs of -the time, that sooner or later they will be -explicitly or implicitly reversed. I mention -them merely to illustrate the need of having -a truly National system of government under -which the people can deal effectively with all -problems, meeting those that affect the people -as a whole by affirmative Federal action, -and those that merely affect the people of one -locality by affirmative State action.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In dealing with future problems like this -one of Conservation, we need to keep in mind -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>the lesson taught by the American pioneer. -It is a lesson that is to be found in the fact -that the pioneer is so good an American. He -is an American, first and foremost. The -man of the West throughout the successive -stages of Western growth has always been -one of the two or three most typical figures, -indeed I am tempted to say the most typical -figure, in American life; and no man can really -understand our country, and appreciate what -it really is and what it promises, unless he has -the fullest and closest sympathy with the -ideals and aspirations of the West.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The great lesson that all of us need to learn -and to keep is the lesson that it is unimportant -whether a man lives North or South, East or -West, provided that he is genuinely and in -good faith an American; that he feels every -part of the United States as his own, and that -he is honestly desirous to uphold the interests -of all other Americans in whatever sections -of the country they may dwell.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span> - <h2 class='c005'>The Tariff: A Moral Issue</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>Whenever men just like ourselves—probably -not much better, -and certainly no worse—continually -fail to give us the results we have a right -to expect from their efforts, we may just as -well make up our minds that the fault lies, -not in their personality, but in the conditions -under which they work, and profit comes, not -from denouncing them, but in seeing that the -conditions are changed. This is especially -true of tariff-making. It has been conclusively -shown, by experiments repeated again -and again, that the methods of tariff-making -by Congress, which have now obtained for -so many years, cannot, from the very nature -of the case, bring really satisfactory results. -I think that the present tariff is better than -the last, and considerably better than the one -before the last; but it has certainly failed to -give general satisfaction. I believe this -country is fully committed to the principle of -protection; but it is to protection as a principle; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>to protection primarily in the interest of -the standard of living of the American workingman. -I believe that when protection becomes, -not a principle, but a privilege and a -preference—or, rather, a jumble of privileges -and preferences—then the American people -disapprove of it. Now, to correct the trouble, -it is necessary, in the first place, to get in mind -clearly what we want, and, in the next place, -to get in mind clearly the method by which -we hope to obtain what we want. What we -want is a square deal in the tariff as in everything -else; a square deal for the wage-earner; -a square deal for the employer; and a square -deal for the general public. To obtain it -we must have a thoroughly efficient and well-equipped -tariff commission.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The tariff ought to be a material issue and -not a moral issue; but if instead of a square -deal we get a crooked deal, then it becomes -very emphatically a moral issue. What we -desire in a tariff is such measure of protection -as will equalize the cost of production -here and abroad; and as the cost of production -is mainly labor cost, this means primarily -a tariff sufficient to make up for the difference -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>in labor cost here and abroad. The American -public wants the American laboring man -put on an equality with other citizens, so that -he shall have the ability to achieve the American -standard of living and the capacity to -enjoy it; and to do this we must see that his -wages are not lowered by improper competition -with inferior wage-workers abroad—with -wage-workers who are paid poorly and -who live as no Americans are willing to live. -But the American public does not wish to see -the tariff so arranged as to benefit primarily -a few wealthy men.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As a means toward the attainment of its -end in view we have as yet devised nothing -in any way as effective as a tariff commission. -There should be a commission of well-paid -experts; men who should not represent any -industry; who should be masters of their subjects; -of the very highest character; and who -should approach the matter with absolute disregard -of every outside consideration. These -men should take up in succession each subject -with which the tariff deals and investigate the -conditions of production here and abroad; -they should find out the facts and not merely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>accept the statements of interested parties; -and they should report to Congress on each -subject as soon as that subject has been -covered. Then action can be taken at once -on the particular subject concerned, while the -commission immediately proceeds to investigate -another. By these means log-rolling -would be avoided and each subject treated on -its merits, while there would be no such shock -to general industry as is implied in the present -custom of making sweeping changes in the -whole tariff at once. Finally, it should be the -duty of some Governmental department or -bureau to investigate the conditions in the -various protected industries, and see that -the laborers really are getting the benefit of -the tariff supposed to be enacted in their -interest. Moreover, to insure good treatment -abroad we should keep the maximum -and minimum provision.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The same principle of a first-class outside -commission should be applied to river and -harbor legislation. At present a river and -harbor bill, like a tariff bill, tends to be settled -by a squabble among a lot of big selfish interests -and little selfish interests, with scant -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>regard to the one really vital interest, that of -the general public. In this matter the National -Legislature would do well to profit by -the example of Massachusetts. Formerly -Massachusetts dealt with its land and harbor -legislation just as at Washington tariff and -river and harbor laws have been dealt with; -and there was just the same pulling and hauling, -the same bargaining and log-rolling, the -same subordination of the general interest to -various special interests. Last year Governor -Draper took up the matter, and on his recommendation -the Legislature turned the whole -business over to a commission of experts; and -all trouble and scandal forthwith disappeared. -Incidentally, this seems to me to be a first-class -instance of progressive legislation.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c003'> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN PROBLEMS ***</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>This file should be named 64224-h.htm or 64224-h.zip</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/2/2/64224/</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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