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Show " A SIZZLING MESSAGE S' PRESIDENT .ROOSEVELT SCORES BIG CORPORATIONS BECAUSE' , OF THEIR ATTITUDE. ' - . STANDARDS METHODS ARE TORN TO PIECES Tendency of Oil Concern to "Over-AwCrush and Disdain Public, Proves Warm Theme In Chiefs Communication. e, mesPresident Roosevelts sizzlin fair employers' liability law. of Commerce powers for the Interstate and the executive again Commission, called to the attention of the lawmakers his campaign against the spethe cially privileged rich" Regarding deemployers liability act. recently clared uncons utiooal by the supreme couit, the president said;, As regards the employers liability law. I advocate its immediate reenactment, limiting its scope so that it shall apply only to the class of cases as to which the court says it can constitutionally apply, but strengthening it3 provisions within this scope. Interstate employment being thus covered by in-an adequate national law, the field of trastate employment will be left to the action of the several states. With this clear definition of responsibility the states will undoubtedly give to the performance of their duty within their field the consideration the importance of the demands. ' "I alsosubject very urgently advise that a comprehensive act be passed providing for compensation by thein government to all the government employes injured service. Under the present law an InIn the workman employment of jured the government has no remedy, and the entire burden of the accident falls on the helpless man. his wife, and his young children. This is an outrage. to the naIt is a matter of humiliation tion that there should not be on our statute .books provision to meet anij atone for cruel misfortune partially when it comes upon a man through no fault of his own while faithfully serving the public Assails Injunction Abuse.' Abuse dt the use of the Injunction In labor cases provided another theme for the executive. He declared there Is some need for action regarding the wrongs of labor from blackrights and to boycotting. Continuing, he listing said: As regards injunctions. I can do little but repeat what I have said in my last message to congress. Even though it it were possible. I should consider most unwise to abolish the use of the process of injunction. It is necessary in order that the courts may maintain their own dignity and in order that may in effective manner check they disorder and violence. Thfe judge who uses it cautiously and conservatively, but who, when the need arises, uses it fearlessly, confers the greatest service upon our people, and his preemias a public servant nent usefulness should be heartily recognized. But there is no question in my mind that it has sometimes been used heedlessly and unjustly, and that some of the injunctions issued inflict grave and ocwrong upon casionally irreparable those enjoined. That the Santa Pe railroad president had guilty knowledge of rebating is an assertion which the executive made with effect. In his message he inclosed letters of correspondence, which he declared point to the truth of his statements His words in this connection are: In enclose herewith a statement issued bv the chief of the bureau of corto certain stateporations in answer ments (which 1 also enclose), made by and on behalf of the agents of the Standard Oil Corporation and a letter of the attorney-genercontaining an answer to certain statements, also inclosed, made by the president of the The Santa Fe Railway Company Standard Oil Corporation and the railway company have both been found guiltv by the courts of criminal misconduct; both have been sentenced to pay heavy fines; and each has issued and published broadcast these statements. asserting their innocence and" denouncing as improper the action of the courts and juries in convicting them of guilt. These statements are very elaborate, are very ingenious, and are untruthful in important particulars. The letter and inclosure from Mr. Henev sufficiently illustrate the methods of the high officials of the Santa Fe and show the utter falsity of their plea of ignorance, the similar plea of the Standard Oil being equally without foundation. Would See Traffic Associations. sagea to congress asked the enactment more al Uniformity of railroad rates was an- other one of the executives themes which is of interest to the general public and President Roosevelt advised a for the purpool of traffic associations pose of conferring on rates. In - that as he followsconnection contiuned I desire to repeat my recommendation that railways be permitted to form traffic associations for the purpose of conferring about and agreeing upon rates, regulations, and practices affectthe ing interstate business in which mumembers of the association are mean This not does tually interested that they should be given the richt to pool their earnings or their traffic. The law requires that rates shall be so adjusted as not to discriminate beor differtween individuals localities ent species of traffic. Ordinarily rates by all competing lines must be the same. As applied to practical conditions, the railway operations of this country can not be conducted according to law without what is equivalent to conference and agreement The articles under which such assoc'ations operate should be approved by the commission; all their operations should be open to public inspection; and the rates, regulations. and practices upon which they agree should he subject to disapproval by the commission." Then followed a roast on the evil rich. The president told of the campaign which the wealthy lawbreakers conducted and set forth remedial legislation. His statement in that regard follows: Under no circumstances would we countenance attacks upon property, or do aught but condemn those who hold up rich men as being evil men because of their riches. On the contrary, our whole effort is to insist upon conduct, and neither wealth nor property nor any other class distinction, as being the proper standard by which to the honjudge the actions of men For est man of great wealth we have a heartv regard, just as we have a hearty honregard for the honest politician andmoveBut part of the est newspaper ment to uphold honestv must be a moveWe atment to frown on dishonesty. tack only corrupt men of wealth, who find in the purchased politician the most efficient instrument of corruption and in the purchased newspaper the most effOur main icient defender of corruption. quarrel is not with these agents-- and the of interests. They representatives derive ther chief power from the great behind stand who sinister offenders them. Thev are but puppets who move as the stnngs are pulled. It is not the puppets, but the strong cunning men evil and the mighty forces working for with behind and through the puppets, whom we have to deal. We seek to conwealth; in the first place trol to prevent its doing dire evil to the renext place to avoid in and the public, she vindictive and dreadful radicalism law-abidi- law-defvi- which, if left uncontrolled. It is certain in the end to arouse." Big Corporations Are Hit. By easv stages the president drew near tu the Standard Oil trouble of a short time ago. and then he told of alleged methods of the Rockefeller syndieate to overawe common carriers. crush out everv competitor and look down upon the people with a contempt which the public deserves as long as it permits such men to act with impunity It was at that point and in connection with the insurance and Chicago & Alton scandals that Mr. Rooscelt took the heaviest fall out of wealthy corporations which have been held to account bv the government. The message continued. The keynote of all these attacks upon the effort to secure honestv in business and in politics is well expressed In brazen protests aga'nst any effort for the moral regeneration of the business world, on the ground that it is unnatural, unwarranted and injurious, and that business panic is the neeessarv penalty for such effort to secure business honestv. The morality of sue h a plea is precisely as great as if made on behalf of the men caught in a gambling estabiislunent when that gambling establishment is raided by the police If such words mean mean that those they anything nose sentiments . thev represent stand against the effort to bring about a moral regeneration of business which will prevent a repetition of the Insurance, banking and street railroad scandals in New York, a repetition of the Chicago & Alton deal, a repetition of the combination between certain professional politicians, certain professional labor leaders, and certain big financiers, from the disgrace of which San Francisco has just been rescued; a repetition of the successful effort by the Standard Oil people to crush out everv competitor, to overawe the common carriers, and to establish a monopoly which treats the public public with a contempt which themen of deserves so long as it permits ruch principles and such sentiments to avow and act on them with impunity. The hutcrv against stopping dishonest who happractiies among wrongdoers pen to be wealthy is precisely similar to the outcry raised against everv effort for cleanliness and dec. my in city government, because, forsooth, it will hurt business Tells of Criticising Judges. ts funda-entall- nt i jus-fle- s. 1 es wui SOUTH DAKOTA SENATOR law-defvt- 'Our opponents have recently been bitterly criticising the two judges referred to in the accompanying communications from the Standard Oil Company and the Santa Fe Railroad for having imposed heavy fines on these two corporations, and yet these same critics of these two judges exhaust themselves in denouncing the most respectful and cautious discussion of the official action of a judge which results in immunity to wealthy and powerful wrongdoers. Most certainly it behooves us all to treat with the utmost respect the high office of judge; and our judges, as a whole, are brave and upright men. Respect for the law must go hand in hand with respect for the Judges; and, as a whole, it is true now as in the past that the judges stand in character and service above all other of the men among their public. The Judge who does his fulla renders and well stands higher, duty better service to the people, than any other public servant; he is entitledser-to greater respect; andif ifheheis is a true wise vant of the people, upright, and fearless, he will unhesitatingly diswishes of the people regard even the with the eternal prinif they conflict He ciples of right as against wrong. must serve the people, but he must serve his own conscience first. All honor to such a judge; and all honor can not be rendered him If it is rendered equally to his brethren who fall immeasurably below the high ideals for which he stands. Untruthful criticism is wicked ob-at all times, and whoever may be the init is a peculiarly flagrant ject: but iquity when a judge is the aobject. No man should lightly criticise Judge; no man should, even in his own mind, condemn a Judge unless he is sure of the facts. If a judge is assailed for standing against popular folly, and above all for standing against mob violence, all honorable men should rally instantly to Nevertheless if he clearly his support. fails to do his duty bv the public in with lawbreaking corporations, dealing he must exlawbreaking men of wealth, pect to feel the weight of public opin- n ion; and this Is but right, for except in extreme cases this is the only way serwhich he ean be reached at all. No expect vant of the people has a right to to be free from Just and honest criticism. An Ethical Movement. we "The opponents of the measures now lampion single out now one and and for measure attack, especial lother leak as if the movement in which we :e engaged was purely economic. It has y side, but it is large economic an ethical movement. It is not mmement to be completed in one year, two vears or three years: it is a ovement which must be persevered in ntil the spirit which lies behind it sinks ep into the heart and the conscience the whole people It is always to thoose the right means to rhieve our purpose, but It is even lore important to keep this purpose before us; and this purpose is early secure national honestv in .business ad in politics. We do not subscribe to le cynical belief that dishonesty and nfair dealing are essential to business are to be condoned when the lccess, andmoderate and applauded when iccess is The methods by te success is great Oil people and those hich the Standard combinations of other in the igaged have hich I have spoken above can only he ofd hieved great fortunes a of system the advocacy by loralitv which would also justify every rm of criminality on the part of a ibor union, and every form of violence, and fraud, from murder to irruption, in pnli-crlbery and ballot-bo- x to stuffing secure equality We are trying and the f for all; struggle opportunity it Is ir honesty is the same whether lade on behalf of one set of men. or of small of the Interest the In nother. ttlers and landowners, and against the mbittered opposition of wealthy owners f huge wandering flocks of sheep, or of people orporations desiring weto rob the strive to put an f coal and timber, nd to the theft of public land in the rest. When we do this, and protest of all men. whether gainst the action in life or i public private life, who off refuse to try to in ither take part engaged lop such theft, we are really as when we endeavor the same policy to or rebates to prevent a stop i put monopolies te upgrowth of uncontrolled prln-Iplenforce the to is itir effort smpiv common of common honesty and ill the for be. Indeed It wouldtViora pnse. h flnv halt in- our fellow-servan- justice may continue to be, what it now is. in very fact the iepartment of Jus- -, perties, where so far as our ability even mits justice is meted out with an hand to great and small, rich and pool, Moreover there weak and strong should be no delay in supplementing the laws now on the statute books by the as enactment of further legislation outlined in the message 1 sent to the Under the congress on its assembling laws much, very much, has existing been actually accomplished during the past six years. and it has been siiown bv actual experience that thev can be enforced against the wealthiest corpowporation and theorrichest and most erful manager manipulator of that as rigorouslv and fearlesscorporation, ly as against the humblest offender. been enforced Above all, they huv and against the verv wrongdoers of agents wrongdoers who have for so many years gone scot-fre- e and with laws flouted the impunity, corporaagainst great tions of immense wealth, which, until within the last half dozen years have treated themselves and have expectiAl others to treat them as being beyond and above all possible check from law. It is especially necessary to secure to the representatives of the national government full podrer to deal with the great corporations engaged in interstate comerce. and above all with the great interstate common carriers. Our people should clearly recognize that while there are difficulties in any course of conduct to be followed in dealing with these great corporations, these difficulties must he faced and one of three eourses followed. The first course is to abandon all effort to oversee and control their actions in the interest of the general public and to permit a return to the utter lack of control which would obtain if they were left to the common law. I do not for one moment believe that our people would tolerate this position The exindusgrowth of modern traordinary trialism has rendered the common law, was and which grew up under adapted to deal with totally different conditions, in many respects inadequate to deal with the new conditions. These new conditions make it necessary to shackle cunning as in the past we have The vast individual shackled force and corporate fortunes, the vast combinations of capital, which have marked the development of our industrial system, create new conditions, and necessitate a change from the old attitude of the state and the nation toward the rules regulating the acquisition and untrammeled business use of property, in order both that property may he adequately protected, and that at the same time those who hold it may be prevented from wrongdoing. Talks of Financial Stress. two We have Just pased through At months of acute financial stress. any such time it is a sad fact that en-no from tirely Innocent people suffer one must fault of their own; and every feel the keenest sympathy for the men. of large body of honest business honest investors, of honest wageworkers. who suffer because Involved In a crash for which they are in no way At such a time there is responsible. a natural tendency on the part of many men to feel gloomy and frightened at the outlook; but there Is no justification for this feeling. There Is no nation so absolutely sure of ultimate success as ours. Of course we shall succeed Ours is a nation of masterful energy, with a continent for its domain, and it feels within its veins the thrill which comes to those who know that they possess the future. We are not cast down by the fear of failure. We are upheld by the confident hope of ultimate triumph. The wrongs that exist are to be corrected; but they in no way justify doubt as to the final outcome. doubt as to the great material prosperity of the future, or of the lofty spiritual life which is to be built upon No that prosperity as a foundation. misdeeds done In the present must be permitted to shroud from our eyes the glorious future of the nation; but because of this very fact it behooves us never to swerve from our resolute pur pose to cut out wrongdoing and uphold what is right. I do not for a moment believe that the actions of this administration have brought on business disso far as this is due to local and tress;world-wide not causes, and to the actions of any particular individuals, it is due to the speculative folly and flaof a few men of great grant dishonesty wealth, who seek to shield themselves from the effects of their own wrongdoing by ascribing its results to the actions of those who have sought to Hut if put a stop to the wrongdoing it were true that to cut out rottenness from the body politic meant a moan mentary check to unhealthy seeming prosperity, I should not for one moment hesitate to put the knife to the corruption. On behalf of all our people, on behalf no less of the honest man of means than of the honest man who earns each days livelihood by the days sweat of his brow, it is necessary to insist upon honesty in business and in politics alike, in all walks of life, in big things and in little things; upon Just and fair dealing as between man and man. Those who demand this are striving for the right in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, said the president in conclusion. i. State Government Must Aid. govEitl - the state or national ernment must undertake the regulation, of which the president spoke, and the executive asked the common-of wealths to share the responsibility are corporations,Of which curbing those course in accused of state and anv event both the national part, , governments must each dos its message said President Roosevelt amount a certain do and' each can cannot do, while the that the other only really, satisfactory results must be obtained by the representatives of the national and state governments within their working heartily together But in mv judar-mespheres rspectlvg and satisfactory thorough-goin- g control can in the end only be obtained national of governthe action the by ment. for almost all the corporations of enormous wealth that is. the corpodesirable rations which it is especially to control are engaged in Interstate commerce, and derive their power and their importance not from that portion of their business which is intrastate, but from the interstate business. It Is not easv always to decide just where the line of demarcation between the two kinds of business falls. This line must ultimately be drawn by the federal courts. Much of the effort to secure of the great corporaadequate control tions by state action has been wise and effective, but much of It has been neither: for when the effort is made to accomplish by the action of the state what can only be accomplished by the action of the nation the result can only be disappointment and in the end the law will probably be declared unconSo likewise in the national stitutional arena, we who believe in the measure herein advocated are hampered and not aided by the extremists who advocate action so violent that It would either be useless or else would cause more mischief than it would remedy. Points to the Future. The laws must hi the future be administered as they are now being administered, so that the department of evil-doi- nt FEW FREAKS IN ARCHITECTURE. Ecpefitricity on the Part of Those Building and Furnishing Houses. Instances of eccentricity on the part of those building and furnishing houses are common enough in every The following Instances community. of freakishness in that regard may be cited in illustration of certain phases. A Russian gentleman has erected at a cost of 8,000 rubles on his country estate at Savinowka, in Podolia, a house made entirely of paper. This house, which was constructed in New York, is calculated by its architect to last longer than would a stone building. The whole of the furniture, too, is made from the same material. In County Westmeath, Ireland, a house has beeu built whereof all the windows are made to resemble in outline the backs of of easy chairs, being thus constructed by its eccentric own-ee- r to match the backs of a set of chairs in the dining-room- . In Connecticut a certain land owner, thinking that the view from his house lacked a church, proceeded to supply its place by erecting a row of cottages so designed as to resemble, from his side, the edifice required. Approached from the other direction, however, the sham is at once manifest. Some years ago a man of scientific attainments, as well as of considerable means, elected to live in a tree in a suburb of Washington hat is, he enjoyed his leisure - moments in the branches of the tree itself, where he had caused to be built a platform large enough to accommodate easy chairs and such other furniture as he desired to make use of during the day. At the base of the tree, however, and surrounding it was ouilt a structure of brick and stone inclosing the sleeping apartments of this eccentric individual. For many' years this unique residence was one of the sights of the national capital. One of the oddest houses ever constructed was the fruit of a Frenchmans inventive fancy. This was the revolving house, a structure actually built upon casters, so to speak, in order that the occupant might by means of an Ingenious mechanism at any time roll it about, obtaining whatever light and air his fancy dictated. Copyright by aklon Fawcett Senator, Robert Jackson Gamble has served his state in the upper house of congress since 1901, having been elected to succeed R. F. Pettigrew. His home is at Yankton, where before going to Washington he had a successful law practice and was prominent in state politics. He was a member of the Fifty-'ourt- h and Fifty-sixtcongresses. PLAN WAR ON RATS CRUSADE TO EXTERMINATE THE which the support of Lord Avebury, Sir Lauder Brunton, Sir J. Crichton-Browne- , PESTS STARTED IN ENGLAND. and Sir Harry Johnston has been promised. It is estimated that in Great Britain Damage of More Than $50,000,000 a Year Caused by Rodents Spread the damage done in one year by rats exceeds $50,000,000. At the docks, of Epidemics and Plagues where they have come to be regarded Traced i to Vermin. as a terrible though ineradicable evil,-theLondon. An effort is to be made at hdve been known to consume last to deal with the plague of rats in whole carcasses of bullocks, and England on a serious and compre- scarcely a ship comes into dock which hensive basis. A meeting is to be held is not overrun with them. for this purpose, with the object of They have been known to destroy establishing a society for the exter- whole crops of corn, and Innumerable mination of rats and other vermin, to fowls and pheasants have been killed SMOOTH y and destroyed. Butchers, bakers grocers shops, granaries, and factories theio is scarcely a house or store in the country that does not suffer soma loss ftoru their depredations. But the chief danger is in the hygienic aspect of the rats. Trichinosis has been traced to the rats, who infect the pigs, and subsequently the people who eat pok. The vapid rise of epidemics ard plagues has also been traced to these rodents. Ajany attempts have been made ta solve the problem of extermination, the difficulty of which can be appreciated from the fact that they multiply at the rate of 800 a year from one pair. The rat catcher has been abandoned in some docks for .poison and cats, but though these have been found to keep down the numbers and lessen the damage, they can do little toward exterminating the pest. An experiment has been tried in Denmark of setting a price of about a penny on the head of each rat brought in, and by this means more than 100,000 lata were destroyed. The cost of the experiment was ab iut $3,GS0, an I it is reckoned that the rats could have done $195,000 worth of damage. To oiganie some scheme on these lines and, if possible, to get government aid, will be the atm of the soIt is esticiety if it is constituted. mated that rat skins In largo quantities would have a considerable commercial value. In the report of tho port xf London sanitary committee, issued to the court of common council, the total destruction of rats for four weeks of November is given as 4,756. Tim manager of the London and India Docks Company said that their bill for ratcatchers and food for a large staff of cats was a matter of thousands of dollars every year, ami they still received complaints of damage in the sheds and warehouses. "I do not believe we shall ever be able to exterminate them, said he; "at tho most we shall be able to limit the numbers and the damage. Take Tilbury docks, for instance, with its acres of marsh land in the vicinity. Aa soon as the rats fail to find enough to eat outside they will come Into the docks and search for it there. The dock proprietors of the country and steamship companies spend large sums to clear their ships of rats. The damage done among the car- go in the closed hold during a long voyage, if the rats become numerous, or among stores of grain, said a dock official, "it Is quite impossible to esti- mate. Sometimes a whole bale of cloth or cotton will be ruined by their gnawing at the ends, Though the docks are the happy hunting ground of rats, many warehouses and old buildings in Lond in are plagued with them. CHUM OF THE PRESIDENT AND FRUGAL RURALITE. Balts Automobilists with Calf, and Collects $5C0 with Gun. , New York. Aaron Banks, a Pine-broo(N. J.) farmer, near whose home many automobiles passed, stationed his two sons, James and Jethro, in a clump of bushes at the roadside with a calf; across the highway the calfs mother was tethered in full view. He told his two sons to turn the calf loose at the moment an automobile k d Banks, with a double-barrele- d shot- gun, hid himself road. James was further down the the lookout, the calf struggling to rach its bawling mother nearly pulled Jethros arms from their sockets. Finally James yelled: Here comes one coming like the dickens; let er loose! Jethro dropped the rope and the calf rushed toward its mooing ma. The trap was timed to the fraction of a second; the chauffeur had not time to avoid a collision, the big car hurling the calf in the air; it fell - : lifeless. The chauffeur halted, only to learn if the car had been hurt Banks stepped from behind the tree and covered the two men and two women in the car with his shotgun. That was a Guernsey calf; none better bred in the state, yelled Banks in affected fury. ' "You killed It; hand over $500 or Vi t j1 Jfte I shoot! He got the $500. When the automobilists had passed on Banks called his boys with the reCopyright by Waldou Fawcett, mark: Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Labor Lawrence O. Murray is one Well, kids, we'll skin the calf and eat it ourselves. I intended selling of the government commission recently sent by the president to Goldfield, the strike of goto miners there. Before entering tho it to the butcher for five dollars if I Nev., to Investigate in 1204, Mr. Murray was connected with a prominent government service, hadnt thought of this scheme. Chicago financial institution.1 He is an intimate friend of the president. BOY HAS WIRELESS Projects Waves LIGHT. Around House and Incandescents Result. FINDS MICHIGAN DIVORCE VOID igan, where Olmstead secured a from his New York wife by deComplicated Suit. the summons having been fault, M. Mass. an Spencer, Grout, Harry served by publication. of court The 18 year-ol- d New York. disappeals schoolboy, says he has All the principals died and the four covered the secret of transmitting has decided, in a somewhat compli-electrical waves through the air with- cated suit, that a decree of divorce New York children began a suit to out the aid of wires. He has been given in Michigan when one party is have the two Michigan children excluded from participation in the esstudying electricity for five years and a resident of New York and is served tate on the ground they were not lawi3 in not legal already has become an expert operator only by publication, The amount at stake is New York state. The case, it is said, ful issue with the wireless. $1,000. only suUnited the to States will He now lights a dozen incandesgo ,up cent bulbs in different rooms in his preme court Skater Sets Lake Afire. Silas Olmstead, who lived in Tarry-town- , house by merely pressing a small Worcester, Mass. By striking a died- and left an estate of lever in his room and projecting the to be divided between his two stone near a large crack in the ice electric waves. There are no conmill One of while skating on the Spencer necting wires between these different sons or their lawful heirs. Alfred caused young marpond, Chagnon F. Olmstead, the sons, machines which Benjamin and the he lights operates. Each light is merely con- ried in 1850 Mary Jane Olmstead and the spark to fly and set fire to the icy In 1870 pond. nected with a small battery of his by her had four children. The spark ignited the gas with Olmstead went to New Jersey. h'-- , ovra. Just how the electric power which wife remaining in New York. In 1874 which the pond is charged as the rethe hundred odd batteries in the op- without obtaining a divorce, he went sult of refuse from the plant of the Worcester County Gas company. The erating room produce is made to through a marriage ceremony with travel through the air young Grout as Sarah Louise Welch. Two sons were sparks was followed by a sheet of born to her. Later they went to Mich flame which extended all over the ice. yet refuses to disclose. New Yck Court of Appeals Decides- a 1 - $8,-00- ' ' |