Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 4 (of 7)Roosevelt, Theodore
History
Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 4 (of 7)
Roosevelt, Theodore
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; United States -- Politics and government -- 1901-1909
It is the almost universal policy of the several States, provided
by statute, that foreign corporations may lawfully conduct business
within their boundaries only when they produce certificates that they
have complied with the requirements of their respective States; in
other words, that corporations shall not enjoy the privileges and
immunities afforded by the State governments without first complying
with the policy of their laws. Now the benefits which corporations
engaged in interstate trade enjoy under the United States Government
are incalculable; and in respect of such trade the jurisdiction of the
Federal Government is supreme when it chooses to exercise it.
When, as is now the case, many of the great corporations consistently
strain the last resources of legal technicality to avoid obedience
to a law for the reasonable regulation of their business, the only
way effectively to meet this attitude on their part is to give to the
Executive Department of the Government a more direct and therefore more
efficient supervision and control of their management.
In speaking against the abuses committed by certain very wealthy
corporations or individuals, and of the necessity of seeking so far as
it can safely be done to remedy these abuses, there is always danger
lest what is said may be misinterpreted as an attack upon men of means
generally. Now it can not too often be repeated in a Republic like ours
that the only way by which it is possible permanently to benefit the
condition of the less able and less fortunate is so to shape our policy
that all industrious and efficient people who act decently may be
benefited; and this means, of course, that the benefit will come even
more to the more able and more fortunate. If, under such circumstances,
the less fortunate man is moved by envy of his more fortunate brother
to strike at the conditions under which they have both, though
unequally, prospered, he may rest assured that while the result may be
damaging to the other man, it will be even more damaging to himself.
Of course, I am now speaking of prosperity that comes under normal and
proper conditions.
In our industrial and social system the interests of all men are
so closely intertwined that in the immense majority of cases the
straight-dealing man who by ingenuity and industry benefits himself
must also benefit others. The man of great productive capacity who gets
rich through guiding the labor of hundreds or thousands of other men
does so, as a rule, by enabling their labor to produce more than it
would without his guidance, and both he and they share in the benefit,
so that even if the share be unequal it must never be forgotten that
they too are really benefited by his success.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account