We will not have it so, we who are Americans by birth or adoption. We
reject these impudent pretensions. Changes the American people will make
as their need becomes apparent, improvements they welcome, the greatest
attainable well-being for all those under our national roof-tree is
their aim; but they will do all that in the American way of sane and
orderly progress—and in none other.
Against foes within no less than against enemies without they will know
how to preserve and protect the splendid structure of light and order
which is the great and treasured inheritance of all those who rightly
bear the name Americans, of which the stewardship is entrusted to them
and which, God willing, they will hand on to their children sound and
wholesome, unshaken and undefiled.
The time is ripe and over-ripe to call a halt upon these spreaders of
outlandish and pernicious doctrines. The American is indulgent to a
fault and slow to wrath. But he is now passing through a time of tension
and strain. His teeth are set and his nerves on edge. He sees more
closely approaching every day the dark valley through which his sons and
brothers must pass and from which too many, alas, will not return. It is
an evil time to cross him. He is not in the temper to be trifled with.
He is apt very suddenly to bring down the indignant fist of his might
upon those who would presume on his habitual mood of easy-going good
nature.
When I speak of the militant Bolsheviki in our midst as foes of national
unity I mean to include those of American stock who are their allies,
comrades or followers—those who put a narrow class interest and a sloppy
internationalism above patriotism, with whom class hatred and envy have
become a consuming passion, whom visionary obsessions and a false
conception of equality have inflamed to the point of irresponsibility.
But I am far from meaning to reflect upon those who, while determined
Socialists, are patriotic Americans.
I believe the Socialistic state to be an impracticable conception, a
utopian dream, human nature being what it is, and the immutable laws of
nature being what they are. But there is not a little in Socialistic
doctrine and aspirations that is high and noble; there are things, too,
that are achievable and desirable.
And to the extent that Socialism is an antidote to and a check upon
excessive individualism and holds up to a busy and self-centered and far
from perfect world, grievances to be remedied, wrongs to be righted,
ideals to be striven for, it is a force distinctly for good.
Still less do I mean to reflect upon the labor union movement, which I
regard as an absolutely necessary element in the scheme of our economic
life. Its leaders have acted with admirable patriotism in this crisis of
the Nation, and on the whole have been a factor against extreme
tendencies and irrational aspirations.
Trades unions have not only come to stay, but they are bound, I think,
to become an increasingly potent factor in our industrial life. I
believe that the most effective preventive against extreme State
Socialism is frank, free and far-reaching co-operation between business
and trades unions sobered and broadened increasingly by enhanced
opportunities, rights and responsibilities.
V
Business must not deal grudgingly with labor. We business men must not
look upon labor unrest and aspirations as temporary “troubles,” as a
passing phase, but we must give to labor willing and liberal recognition
as partner with capital. We must under all circumstances pay as a
minimum a decent living wage to everyone who works for a living. We must
devise means to cope with the problem of unemployment and to meet the
dread advent of sickness, incapacity and old age in the case of those
whose means do not permit them to provide for a rainy day.
We must bridge the gulf which now separates the employer and the
employee, the business man and the farmer, if the existing order of
civilization is to persist. We must welcome progress and seek to further
social justice. We must translate into effective action our sympathy for
and our recognition of the rights of those whose life, in too many
cases, is now a hard and weary struggle to make both ends meet, and who
too often are oppressed by the gnawing care of how to find the
wherewithal to provide for themselves and their families. We must, by
deeds, demonstrate convincingly the genuineness of our desire to see
their burden lightened.
We must all join in a sincere and sustained effort towards procuring for
the masses of the people more of ease and comfort, more of the rewards
and joys of life than they now possess. I believe this is not only our
duty but our interest, because if we wish to preserve the fundamental
lines of our present social system we must leave nothing practicable
undone to make it more satisfactory and more inviting than it is now to
the vast majority of those who toil. And I do not mean those only who
toil with their hands, but also the professional men, the men and women
in modest salaried positions, in short, the workers in every occupation.
Even before the war, a great stirring and ferment was going on in the
land. The people were groping, seeking for a new and better condition of
things. The war has intensified that movement. It has torn great
fissures in the ancient structure of our civilization. To restore it
will require the co-operation of all patriotic men of sane and temperate
views, whatever may be their occupation or calling or political
affiliations. It cannot be restored just as it was before.
The building must be rendered more habitable and attractive to those
whose claim for adequate houseroom cannot be left unheeded, either
justly or safely. Some changes, essential changes, must be made.
I have no fear of the outcome and of the readjustment which must come. I
have no fear of the forces of freedom unless they be ignored, repressed
or falsely and selfishly led.
But this is not the time for settling complex social questions. When
your house is being invaded by burglars you do not discuss family
questions. Let us win the war first. Nothing else must now be permitted
to occupy our thoughts and divert our aims.
When we shall have attained victory and peace, then will be the time for
us to sit down and reason together and make such changes in political
and social conditions as, after full and fair discussion, free from heat
and passion, the enlightened public opinion of the country deems
requisite.
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