Part 26 (1/2)
”_My dear Judge_:
”I wish the papers had given more prominence to what I said as to the murder part of ree with you in what you say about large fortunes I wish it were in ly difficult to heap them up beyond a certain amount As the difficulties in the way of such a sche bequeathed after death or given during life to any one man in excessive amount
”You and other capitalist friends, on one side, shy off at what I say against theainstpersuasion, on the other side, because of what I said in my speech in reference to those who, in effect, advocate murder?”
On another occasion I was vehemently denounced in certain capitalistic papers because I had a nu miners from butte, lunch with me at the White House; and this at the very time that the Western Federation of Miners was most ferocious in its denunciation of ed to be my unfriendly attitude toward labor To one ofletter:
November 26, 1903
”I have your letter of the 25th instant, with enclosure These men, not all of ere miners, by the way, came here and were at lunch with h, and Secretary Cortelyou They are as decent a set of reed entirely with me in my denunciation of what had been done in the Court d'Alene country; and it appeared that some of them were on the platforo in butte There is not one man as here, who, I believe, was in any way, shape or fores I find that the ultra-Socialistic me here, in a manner as violent--and I may say as irrational--as the denunciation [by the capitalistic writer] in the article you sent eneralto hi to men rite such articles as that you sent me These articles are to be paralleled by the similar articles in the Populist and Socialist papers when two years ago I had at dinner at one tian, and at another time J J Hill, and at another, Harriman, and at another time Schiff Furthermore, they could be paralleled by the articles in the same type of paper which at the ti Office were in a condition of nervous anxiety because I reat misfortune if I had not reaterthem I had yielded to their protests in the matter
”You say in your letter that you know that I a that this seeht way to put the matter, if by 'record' you mean utterance and not action Aside from what happened when I was Governor in connection, for instance with the Croton dam strike riots, all you have to do is to turn back to what took place last June in Arizona--and you can find out about it from [Mr X] of New York The miners struck, violence followed, and the Arizona Territorial authorities notified rapple with the situation Within twenty ram, orders were issued to the nearest available troops, and twenty-four hours afterwards General Baldwin and his regulars were on the ground, and twenty-four hours later every vestige of disorder had disappeared
The Miners' Federation in their , I think at Denver, a short while afterwards, passed resolutions denouncingJournal_ paid any heed to this incident or know of it If the _Journal_ did, I suppose it can hardly have failed to understand that to put an i by the use of the United States army is a fact of i 'labor leaders' to lunch, shrinks into the sanificance as the criticisnates' to lunch While I am President I wish the labor ht of access toopen as easily to the orker as to the head of a big corporation--_and no easier_ Anything else seems to be not only un-Arave trouble if persevered in To discriainst labor men fro has been excited in other districts by certain labor unions, or individuals in labor unions in butte, would be to adopt precisely the attitude of those who desire ainst all capitalists in Wall street because there are plenty of capitalists in Wall Street who have been guilty of bad financial practices and who have endeavored to override or evade the laws of the land In ment, the only safe attitude for a private citizen, and still more for a public servant, to assu against neither corporation nor union as such, nor in favor of either as such, but endeavoring to ht capitalists alike feel that they are bound, not only by self-interest, but by every consideration of principle and duty to stand together on the matters of most moment to the nation”
On another of the various occasions when I had labor leaders to dine at the White House, my critics were rather shocked because I had John Morley to meet them The labor leaders in question included the heads of the various railroad brotherhoods, h standard of citizenshi+p I had peculiar confidence; and I asked Mr Morley to meet them because they represented the exact type of Aht in contact
One of the devices so corporations to break down the laas to treat the passage of laws as an excuse for action on their part which they kneould be resented by the public, it being their purpose to turn this resentainst themselves The heads of the Louisville and Nashville road were bitter opponents of everything done by the Governood treatment for their employees In February, 1908, they and various other railways announced that they intended to reduce the wages of their eeneral strike, with all the attendant disorder and trouble, was threatened in consequence I accordingly sent the following open letter to the Inter-State Commerce Commission:
February 16, 1908
”To the Inter-State Commerce Commission:
”I am informed that a number of railroad coes of their employees One of the the reduction, states that 'the drastic laws inimical to the interests of the railroads that have in the past year or two been enacted by Congress and the State Legislatures'
are largely or chiefly responsible for the conditions requiring the reduction
”Under such circumstances it is possible that the public may soon be confronted by serious industrial disputes, and the law provides that in such case either party may demand the services of your Chairman and of the Commissioner of Labor as a Board of Mediation and Conciliation
These reductions in wages may be warranted, or they may not As to this the public, which is a vitally interested party, can fore of the essential facts and real merits of the case than it now has or than it can possibly obtain fros, certain to be put forth by each side in case their dispute should bring about serious interruption to traffic If the reduction in wages is due to natural causes, the loss of business being such that the burden should be and is, equitably distributed between capitalist and orker, the public should know it If it is caused by legislation, the public, and Congress, should know it; and if it is caused by misconduct in the past financial or other operations of any railroad, then everybody should know it, especially if the excuse of unfriendly legislation is advanced as aup past business ers, or as a justification for failure to treat fairly the wage-earning employees of the company
”Moreover, an industrial conflict between a railroad corporation and its employees offers peculiar opportunities to any small number of evil-disposed persons to destroy life and property and foment public disorder Of course, if life, property, and public order are endangered, prompt and drastic measures for their protection become the first plain duty All other issues then become subordinate to the preservation of the public peace, and the real inal controversy are necessarily lost from view This vital consideration should be ever kept in anizations
”It is sincerely to be hoped, therefore, that any wage controversy that may arise between the railroads and their eh the methods of conciliation and arbitration already provided by Congress, which have proven so effective during the past year To this end the Commission should be in a position to have available for any Board of Conciliation or Arbitration relevant data pertaining to such carriers as may become involved in industrial disputes Should conciliation fail to effect a settlement and arbitration be rejected, accurate information should be available in order to develop a properly informed public opinion
”I therefore ask you to ation, both of your records and by any other means at your co such conditions obtaining on the Louisville and Nashville and any other roads, as may relate, directly or indirectly, to the realcontroversy
”THEODORE ROOSEVELT”
This letter achieved its purpose, and the threatened reduction of wages was not overnmental action Let me add, however, with all the emphasis I possess, that this does not overnmental action places too heavy burdens on railways, it will be i injustice to soes and render proper service unless they et a reasonable profit or they will not invest, and the public cannot be well served unless the investors arereasonable profits There is every reason why rates should not be too high, but they ood wages Moreover, when laws like workmen's compensation laws, and the like are passed, it islature that the purpose is to distribute over the whole community a burden that should not be borne only by those least able to bear it--that is, by the injured man or theand orphans of the deada disproportionate return from the public, then the burden may, with propriety, bear purely on the railway; but if it is not earning a disproportionate return, then the public must bear its share of the burden of the increased service the railway is rendering Dividends and wages should go up together; and the relation of rates to theotten This of course does not apply to dividends based on water; nor does it mean that if foolish people have built a road that renders no service, the public uarantee a return on the investment; but it does mean that the interests of the honest investor are entitled to the saer, the honest shi+pper and the honest wage-earner All these conflicting considerations should be carefully considered by Legislatures before passing laws One of the great objects in creating commissions should be the provision of disinterested, fair-minded experts ill really and wisely consider all these ly This is one reason why such ulation of rates, the provision for full crews on roads and the like should be left for treatment by railway coislative action
APPENDIX
SOCIALISM
As regards what I have said in this chapter concerning Socialism, I wish to call especial attention to the admirable book on ”Marxism versus Socialism,” which has just been published by Vladimir D Simkhovitch
What I have, here and elsewhere, h and ready fashi+on from actual observation of the facts of life around me, Professor Siht, with profundity of learning, and with a wealth of applied philosophy Crude thinkers in the United States, and ent men who are not crude thinkers, but who are oppressed by the sight of the misery around them and have not deeply studied what has been done elsewhere, are very apt to adopt as their own the theories of European Marxian Socialists of half a century ago, ignorant that the course of events has so completely falsified the prophecies contained in these theories that they have been abandoned even by the authors themselves With quiet humor Professor Simkhovitch now and then makes an allusion which shows that he appreciates to perfection this rather curious quality of some of our fellow countrymen; as for example when he says that ”A Socialist State with the farmer outside of it is a conception that can rest comfortably only in the head of an Aels as n tradition” Toolibly repeat and accept--much as ma in their day--various assumptions and speculations by Marx and others which by the lapse of time and by actual experiment have been shown to possess not one shred of value Professor Siift of clear and logical stateive in brief any idea of his admirable work Every social reformer who desires to face facts should study it--just as social reformers should study John Graham Brooks's ”American Syndicalism” From Professor Simkhovitch's book we A; second, to realize that the orthodox or so-called scientific or purely economic or materialistic socialism of the type preached by Marx is an exploded theory; and, third, that many of the men who call themselves Socialists to-day are in reality ood citizens can and ought to work in hearty general agreeood citizens well afford to follow