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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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