Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1907 — PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT GIVES WARNING TO RICH CRIMINALS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT GIVES WARNING TO RICH CRIMINALS.

Once for all, let me say that, as far as I am concerned, and for" the eighteen months of my administration that remain, there will be no change In the policy we have steadily pursued. 0' ; ■ * * • There will be no let-up in the effort to , secure the honest observance of the law, for I regard this contest as one to determine who shall rule this government—the people through their governmental agents pr a few ruthless'and determined men whose wealth makes them particularly formidable, because they are .behind the breastworks of corporate organization. * * * ' No individual, no corporation obeying the law, has anything to fear from this administration. * * * It is idle to ask me not to prosecute criminals, rich or poor. * * *

The determination of the government to punish certain malefactors of great wealth has been responsible for something of the financial troubles, at_ least to the extent of having caused these men to combine to bring about as much financial stress as they possibly can, in order to discredit the policy of the government and thereby to secure a reversal of that policy so that they may enjoy the fruits of their own evil doings. *** . Our aim Is to help every honest man, every honest corporation; and our policy means In its ultimate analysis a healthy and prosperous expansion of business activities, of honest business men and honest corporations. - | —;•* —'• —w -.7 - It will be highly disastrous if we permit ourselves to he misled by the pleas of those who see m an unrestricted individualism the all-sufficient panacea for social evils; hut It will be even more disastrous to adopt the opposite panacea of any socialistic system which would destroy all Individualism, which would root out the fiber of our whole citizenship. * * * Where the power of the law can be wisely used to prevent or to minimize, the acquisition or business employment of such wealth and to make it pay by income or inheritance tax its proper share of the burden of government, I would Invoke that power without a moment’s hesitation. • • • Those professed friends of .liberty who champion license are the worst foes of liberty and tend by the reaction their violence causes to throw the government back Into the hands of the men who champion corruption and tyranny in the name of order. _ * * * There is unfortunately a certain number of our fellowcountrymen who seem to accept the view that unless a man can be proved guilty of some particular crime he shall be counted a good citizen, no matter how infamous the life he has led, no matter how pernicious his doctrines or his practices. g ** * " We should all of us work heart and soul for the real and permanent betterment which will lift our democratic civilization to a higher level Of safety and usefulness.