Vol. 72 President Roosevelt on Trusts Published Weekly September 6, 1902 The President's New England trip reached its culmination of interest in the speech delivered on Monday of last week before an audience of nearly five thousand people at Boston. Like the address at Providence, on which we commented at some length last week, that at Boston was concerned almost solely with trusts and the relation of the Nation and the State to great industrial combinations. These two utterances by the President form an important contribution to the discussion of what seems certain to be for some time to come a foremost issue. In view of this fact The Outlook will, in its next issue, reproduce for careful reading and permanent preservation the text of these two speeches in a revised and complete form. Pending that publication, we need only call attention to a few of the more striking points in Mr. Roosevelt's Boston speech. At the outset he disclaimed all desire to present a patent cure for trusts, and expressed his firm belief in the theory that in the long run the average man will do the right thing, and that, not hysterical excitement, but the average good sense, applied continuously to public questions, will deal rightly with such questions. "It is worse than useless," he said, "for any of us to rail at or regret the great growth in industrial civilization of the last halfcentury. The practical thing to do is to face the conditions as they are and see if we cannot get the best there is in them out of them." And the direct application which followed was equally clear: I am far from being against property when I ask that the question of trusts be taken up. I am acting in the most conservative sense in property's interest. When a great corporation is sued for violating the anti-trust law, it is not a move against property; it is a move in favor of property, because when you can make it evident that all men, big and small No. 1 alike, have to obey the law, you are putting the safeguard of law around all men. The best safeguard, President Roosevelt declared, lies in giving such power to the National Legislature (by Constitutional amendment, if necessary) as will make it possible for Congress to enact good laws about trusts for the whole country-such laws, for instance, as Massachusetts has on its statute-books, applicable only, of course, to that Statewith such additional regulation and supervision as may seem needful, wise, and Constitutional. "Publicity as to the essential facts in which the public has an interest" would cure many evils. The present Attorney-General, Mr. Knox, could be relied on to enforce such laws as Congress has made, but they must be broadened and strengthened; "at present we are going to do the best we can with strawless bricks, but remember they are bound to be strawless." Moreover, added the President impressively, in conclusion: Wise laws can do something, and we are not to be excused if we fail to insist upor those wise laws. Honest administration of the laws can do something more, and still less are we to be excused as a people if we condone or connive at a failure to administer the laws by the public servants of the people. As been enforced it will remain true here in this those laws have been enacted, after they have country, as has been true in every country throughout history, that the fundamental fac tor in each man's success in life must be that man's own character-the total sum of the qualities of truthfulness, earnestness, energy, thrift, and business ability on his part. unfavorable. Almost without exception the London press pays tribute to the President for his courage in speaking on the trust question in a region where he might reasonably expect to find opposition to his ideas. It does not fail to point out that Mr. Roosevelt appeals from what is described in England as "a capitalistic caucus" to "the electorate at large" on the question of bringing vast commercial combinations under National control. The London "Telegraph" considers that "the Presidential pronouncement upon trusts may prove within the next two months to have raised the most epochmaking issue in American politics since Mr. Bryan's schism on silver." The "Standard" declares that "the definition given by Mr. Roosevelt of the position which commercial combinations ought to occupy is precisely what is expected of a man of the President's temperate, logical mind," but adds that "the suggestion of governmental supervision of capitalistic rings is admirable in theory, although it is not easy to surmise how it can be made operative." The "Pall Mall Gazette says: "President Roosevelt's pronouncement leaves no doubt that he intends at least to scotch some of the leviathan enterprises which are deleterious to the general community. At the same time he is too wise to ignore the fact that the tendency of commerce is in the direction of a concentration of forces and that this force needs guidance and not blind opposition." Only two German editorial opinions have been telegraphed. Berlin "Post" declares that " Germany, indeed all Europe, must be on its guard against the American trust danger," while the "Kreuz-Zeitung" foolishly declares that "American arrogance is directed not only against Germany, but against all Europe. This arrogance is the outgrowth of the Puritanical belief in the United States' God-given mission and its own invulnerable position." The A most important developThe Coal Strike ment in the discussion as to the rights of miners, owners, and the public was last week contributed in the utterances of ex-Mayor Hewitt, President John Mitchell, and Justice Shiras. These utterances we quote and comment upon In the in an editorial on another page. actual events of the strike the week saw no decisive gain on either side, while both continue to assert that only the complete surrender of the other can end the struggle, and that such a surrender is near at hand. There has been some increase in the number of men working for the operators in certain mines, some washeries have been reopened, and there has been a little actual mining of coal. It is to be again recorded, unhappily, that violence and bloodshed have followed this activity; the best friends of the striking miners, including their recognized leaders, are the most earnest in denouncing all kinds of violence, while maintaining the right of the strikers to influence strike-breakers by persuasion and argument. In West Virginia, where the disorder has been greatest, an entire regiment of militia is in the field, and it is reported that guards have been fired at and attempts made to derail cars containing soldiers; several men have been injured more or less seriously. General Gobin, of the Pennsylvania militia, has issued orders to the officers in command of the troops in the Panther Creek region, where there have been serious disturbances, no longer to permit insults or assaults on the soldiers to pass without arrest, and to fire to hit if necessary. Navy vs. Coast Defense The great war game which is now going on at the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound is not simply or chiefly a spectacular performance. In no other way could officers and men of both army and navy become acquainted practically with some of the conditions and emergencies that might occur in a real war. Nothing of this kind has before been undertaken in this country, and the annual maneuvers of the British navy, although conducted on an extensive and imposing scale, have not, we believe, been combined with simultaneous movements on the part of the army. The problem which is now being worked out is, in its essential points, the determination of the question whether it is possible for Admiral Higginson's fleet to pass, by surprise or force, through the defenses which guard Long Island Sound, the land forces being under command of Major-General his administration last January Mayor MacArthur. If the attempt is successful, the road to New York City would be open, although, when the vicinity of the city is reached, there are of course very important defenses to be considered. Both the War Department and the Navy Depart ment have been engaged in unremitting labor for months preparing for this mimic contest. An elaborate and complicated system of rules and directions has been adopted which will govern the judges in determining what points have been won or lost by each of the contending parties. Broadly speaking, a strong enemy's fleet, without torpedo-boats, is supposed to make a sudden dash upon the eastern end of Long Island, with the hope of securing a naval base by making a landing. It is expected that day attacks and night attacks will take place. It is possible that Newport or New Bedford may be a point of attack, although the more probable course will be to force a passage between two of the islands--Fisher's Island, Plum Island, and the other fortified islands or sand-bars which form a chain between the northeast end of Long Island and the southwest coast of Rhode Island. Here there are only two safe channels, and these are guarded by Fort Wright and Fort Michie, both of which are furnished with the finest possible searchlights and coast-defense artillery, while they have lately been crowded with military reinforcements. An interesting part in the operations will be played by the Signal Service, which has established a marvelously complete network of telegraph and telephone wires, heliographs, and other visible signals for night and day, wireless telegraphic instruments, and even balloons. The actual maneuvers began on Monday, and the time set for their completion is ten days. Inasmuch as New York City spends as much for charities as all the other cities in the United States combined-five million dollars a year, out of a total of ten millions for all places with more than four thousand people the manner in which its charities are administered is of more than ordinary interest. At the beginning of The Reform Administration and New York Charities Low put this important department in charge of Mr. Homer Folks, who had for several years been the Secretary of the State Charities Aid Association, and had won a National reputation among experts in this field. Mr. Folks was, however, something more than an expert, and he has avoided the besetting sin of this class-contempt for popular criticism by giving personal attention to every suggestion or complaint that has come to the department from any quarter, provided it was not made anonymously. Many of the complaints, the Commissioner reports, have proven groundless; but their investigation has thrown new light upon conditions and led to improvements. But these changes have been merely incidental to much larger ones that have been inaugurated. The most important of these, perhaps, is the improvement in the food supplied. In Tammany's efforts to economize, this had been reduced in quantity and quality below the standard required for the proper nourishment of the sick and aged. Commissioner Folks has increased by one-fourth the amount of beef furnished, and has added butter, prunes, oatmeal, and several other articles to the dietaries of the city's dependents. The claim that the "reformers are less "good to the poor" than Boss Tweed and his successors will have little to stand upon at the close of this administration. A second change of hardly less importance to the health of the city's dependents has been the rapid concentration of all consumptives in a special hospital. A third change of the same order has been the extension of the plan of boarding tiny children in private families instead of attempting to care for them in great institutions. The appalling death-rate among the foundlings, which reached nearly one hundred per cent. at Randall's Island a few years ago, has been reduced to about fourteen per cent. This change from institutional to family care, however, it is only fair to say, was inaugurated under the old régime. To reduce the expenditures of the depart ment, more carefully drawn bids have been required, more efficient management has been introduced in the almshouse bakery, women nurses have been sub stituted for men, servants on public payrolls but assigned to duty in officers' houses have been dropped, able-bodied epileptics have been required to do farm work or accept discharge, the rolls of children cared for at public expense in private institutions have been overhauled, and in general the responsibility of ablebodied parents for the care of their children has been enforced as it has not been before. This principle of parental responsibility, it may be said, is less regarded in New York City than anywhere else in the United States. Indeed, New York is in this respect more like a European city than an American one. In English cities, according to Professor Fairlies's new book on "Municipal Administration," poor relief costs more than the schools; in New York it costs between one-third and one-half as much. In the rest of America it costs less than one-sixth as much. The American ideal is that educational opportunities should, so far as possible, be distributed upon the Socialistic basis, "To each according to his need," but that material support should, so far as possible, be distributed upon the individualistic basis, "To each according to his deed." Mr. Hill on the Mississippi River So many newspaper interviews with eminent persons have been printed that to fastidious people interviews nowadays have become slightly monotonous reading. There are two men, however, who rarely grant an interview to a newspaper reporter which does not elicit attention from all readers. These men are Mr. Abram S. Hewitt and Mr. James J. Hill. Interviews with both were published in last week's papers. Mr. Hewitt's interesting statements we chronicle else where. Mr. Hill's had reference to the opportunities and needs of American trade with Asia. As we have to send our products across but one ocean, whereas England and Germany must needs cross two in order to reach Asiatic ports, Mr. Hill predicts that the lion's share of Pacific Ocean commerce will come to us, first, because of our natural advantages, and, second, by reason of our Yankee acuteness and enterprise. The population of the Orient with which we might trade constitutes, he declares, about half of the he, "the shortest and cheapest route from our cotton-fields to the Orient is by the way of Puget Sound." In this Mr. Hill does not speak altogether as a philanthropist he is naturally influenced to advertise the advantages of his transcontinental railways with their Western termini on Puget Sound, where the great steamers of his Pacific line receive their cargoes. Again, as Mr. Hill's personal interests would not seem to be furthered by the building of an Isthmian Canal, we are not surprised to learn that, while he would not oppose the canal's construction, even at the cost of half a billion dollars, in his opinion, as reported, the sum of forty million dollars spent in deepening the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis would yield better ultimate results. It must be borne in mind that the vast system of railways which he now controls has St. Louis as its southernmost terminal. Mr. Hill's individual benefit aside, it is true that the South is of all the regions of this country the one most needing commercial advantages. Even with the present inadequate transportation facilities the Oriental markets alone are absorbing every year ten million dollars' worth of our cotton goods. These markets have counted for much in the increase from a six-million-bale crop twenty years ago to the present ten-million-bale crop. We may reasonably expect at least an equal increase in the decades to come, and very likely the increase may be as prodigious as is predicted by optimists. In any event it will need greater water and railway transportation advantages. While the piercing of an Isthmian Canal will mean incalculably much and is a vital necessity, a comprehensive scheme of Mississippi River improvement would greatly benefit not only our principal Southern industry, but many others. by the radical element in Congress. He was generally regarded as one of the most energetic and capable members of the Cabinet, and his withdrawal undoubtedly weakens President Palma's political position. Critics of Cuban affairs intimate that the basic trouble in the relations between the President and the Congress lies in the fact that Señor Palma, having been supported as a candidate for the Presidency by both of the important political parties, belongs to neither, while his Ministry is a combination of members of both parties. It is affirmed by these critics that for this reason the parties in Congress divide only on personal and not on political and legislative questions, and that it would be better if what one paper calls Señor Palma's "almost angelical independence" were abandoned and he were openly to stand with one or the other. It must be recognized, however, that the position of the first President of a new Republic is an anomalous one. It would be a matter for wonder if no political difficulties were to appear, and we see nothing in the facts as so far developed to indicate that the tact and patriotism of President Palma will not prove equal to the task before him. Last week King Victor Victor Emanuel III. Emanuel III. of Italy arrived at Potsdam and Berlin on a visit to the German Emperor. The King has been promoting closer commercial relations with France, and, as regards Russia, has both improved dynastic relations and has made his first visit as monarch to the Czar. William II. finds himself, therefore, compelled to take special notice of Victor Emanuel's visit to Berlin; he met the King at the station, and repeatedly embraced him; the Imperial princes, the Chancellor of the Empire, and others were present; at the royal table the King sat between the Emperor and the Empress; the decorations of Potsdam and Berlin were on a magnificent scale; there was a splendid military pageant, and the Kaiser, in his speech, called attention to the fact that friendship between Germany and Italy had now endured for three generations. The young King may well be proud of such recognition, due largely to himself. He has shown both inde pendence of judgment and force in action since he came to the throne. He understands perfectly that Germany's relations with Italy are, first of all, commercial; and he has insisted that the Triple Alliance should be renewed without an obligation to special military burden on the part of any one of the signatory Powers. Moreover, between Germany and Italy there are no hereditary resentments such as still exist between Austria and Italy. It is in these latter relations that the Triple Alliance has been a power for peace; but for it, interruptions of peace might have taken place, and in spite of it Italy may ere long peacefully regain the Trentino province, now belonging to Austria. In truth, the King of Italy is a kind of balance between the Triple and Dual Alliances. Belonging to one, his relations with the partners of the other are so increasingly close that he occupies an enviable position, and may regard himself as a kind of arbiter between the two rival trusts of the European continent. That he does so regard himself is indicated in his praiseworthy desire to introduce economies in the direction of disarmament. has been persistently reported, and not denied, that, aside from his wish to pay visits of courtesy to the Emperors of Russia and Germany, he also wished to see them in order to propose a reduction in Continental armaments. It is understood that from the Czar he has received every encouragement, and that he visits William II. with Russia's support in this special matter. Furthermore, the young King has taken this step on his own initiative; it is his personal act, and not his Government's; but in it he has the undoubted sympathy of the Italian Parliament, which realizes perfectly that the maintenance of a huge army is a more crushing burden for Italy than for the four other Powers represented in the two alliances. In his mission, therefore, Victor Emanuel is serving at once his own country and all Europe. The Italian Mafia It Mr. Sedgwick's article in The Outlook for August 30 on the Musolino trial at Lucca, Italy, calls attention to another and in some ways more important trial just concluded at Bologna. In 1876 Emanuele Notar |