At the same time he proposed that "evil trusts"should be prevented from "wrongdoing of any kind";that is,punished for plain swindling,for ****** agreements to limit output,for refusing to sell to customers who dealt with rival firms,and for conspiracies with railways to ruin competitors by charging high freight rates and for similar abuses.Accordingly,he proposed,not the destruction of the trusts,but their regulation by the government.This,he contended,would preserve the advantages of business on a national scale while preventing the evils that accompanied it.The railway company he declared to be a public servant."Its rates should be just to and open to all shippers alike."So he answered those who thought that trusts and railway combinations were private concerns to be managed solely by their owners without let or hindrance and also those who thought trusts and railway combinations could be abolished by tariff reduction or criminal prosecution.
The Labor Question.On the labor question,then pressing to the front in public interest,President Roosevelt took advanced ground for his time.He declared that the workingman,singlehanded and emptyhanded,threatened with starvation if unemployed,was no match for the employer who was able to bargain and wait.This led him,accordingly,to accept the principle of the trade union;namely,that only by collective bargaining can labor be put on a footing to measure its strength equally with capital.While he severely arraigned labor leaders who advocated violence and destructive doctrines,he held that "the organization of labor into trade unions and federations is necessary,is beneficent,and is one of the greatest possible agencies in the attainment of a true industrial,as well as a true political,democracy in the United States."The last resort of trade unions in labor disputes,the strike,he approved in case negotiations failed to secure "a fair deal."
He thought,however,that labor organizations,even if wisely managed,could not solve all the pressing social questions of the time.The aid of the government at many points he believed to be necessary to eliminate undeserved poverty,industrial diseases,unemployment,and the unfortunate consequences of industrial accidents.In his first message of 1901,for instance,he urged that workers injured in industry should have certain and ample compensation.From time to time he advocated other legislation to obtain what he called "a larger measure of social and industrial justice."
Great Riches and Taxation.Even the challenge of the radicals,such as the Populists,who alleged that "the toil of millions is boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a few"challenges which his predecessors did not consider worthy of noticePresident Roosevelt refused to let pass without an answer.In his first message he denied the truth of the common saying that the rich were growing richer and the poor were growing poorer.He asserted that,on the contrary,the average man,wage worker,farmer,and small business man,was better off than ever before in the history of our country.That there had been abuses in the accumulation of wealth he did not pretend to ignore,but he believed that even immense fortunes,on the whole,represented positive benefits conferred upon the country.Nevertheless he felt that grave dangers to the safety and the happiness of the people lurked in great inequalities of wealth.In 1906he wrote that he wished it were in his power to prevent the heaping up of enormous fortunes.The next year,to the astonishment of many leaders in his own party,he boldly announced in a message to Congress that he approved both income and inheritance taxes,then generally viewed as Populist or Democratic measures.He even took the stand that such taxes should be laid in order to bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth and greater equality of opportunity among citizens.
Legislative and Executive Activities
Economic Legislation.When President Roosevelt turned from the field of opinion he found himself in a different sphere.Many of his views were too advanced for the members of his party in Congress,and where results depended upon the ****** of new laws,his progress was slow.Nevertheless,in his administrations several measures were enacted that bore the stamp of his theories,though it could hardly be said that he dominated Congress to the same degree as did some other Presidents.The Hepburn Railway Act of 1906enlargedThe Roosevelt Dam,Phoenix,Arizonathe interstate commerce commission;it extended the commission's power over oil pipe lines,express companies,and other interstate carriers;it gave the commission the right to reduce rates found to be unreasonable and discriminatory;it forbade "midnight tariffs,"that is,sudden changes in rates favoring certain shippers;and it prohibited common carriers from transporting goods owned by themselves,especially coal,except for their own proper use.Two important pure food and drug laws,enacted during the same year,were designed to protect the public against diseased meats and deleterious foods and drugs.A significant piece of labor legislation was an act of the same Congress ****** interstate railways liable to damages for injuries sustained by their employees.When this measure was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court it was re?nacted with the objectionable clauses removed.A second installment of labor legislation was offered in the law of 1908limiting the hours of railway employees engaged as trainmen or telegraph operators.