Mr。Wilsonhaspromisedtobreakupalltrusts。Hecandosoonlybyproceedingatlaw。Ifheproceedsatlaw，hecanhopeforsuccessonlybytakingwhatIhavedoneasaprecedent。Infact，whatIdidasPresidentisthebaseofeveryactionnowtakenorthatcanbenowtakenlookingtowardthecontrolofcorporations，orthesuppressionofmonopolies。ThedecisionsrenderedinvariouscasesbroughtbymydirectionconstitutetheauthorityonwhichMr。Wilsonmustbaseanyactionthathemaybringtocurbmonopolisticcontrol。WillMr。Wilsondenythis，orquestionitinanyway？WithwhatgracecanhedescribemyAdministrationassatisfactorytothetrustswhenheknowsthathecannotredeemasinglepromisethathehasmadetowaruponthetrustsunlessheavailshimselfofweaponsofwhichtheFederalGovernmenthadbeendeprivedbeforeIbecamePresident，andwhichwererestoredtoitduringmyAdministrationandthroughproceedingswhichI
directed？WithoutmyactionMr。Wilsoncouldnotnowundertakeorcarryonasinglesuitagainstamonopoly，and，moreover，ifithadnotbeenformyactionandforthejudicialdecisioninconsequenceobtained，Congresswouldbehelplesstopassasinglelawagainstmonopoly。
LetMr。WilsonmarkthatthemenwhoorganizedanddirectedtheNorthernSecuritiesCompanywerealsothecontrollingforcesintheverySteelCorporationwhichMr。Wilsonmakesbelievetothinkwassupportingme。IchallengeMr。Wilsontodenythis，andyethewellknewthatitwasmysuccessfulsuitagainsttheNorthernSecuritiesCompanywhichfirstefficientlyestablishedthepowerofthepeopleoverthetrusts。
AfterreadingMr。Wilson’sbook，Iamstillentirelyinthedarkastowhathemeansbythe“NewFreedom。”Mr。Wilsonisanaccomplishedandscholarlyman，amasterofrhetoric，andthesentencesinthebookarewell-phrasedstatements，usuallyinculcatingamoralitywhichissoundalthoughvagueandilldefined。Therearecertainproposals(alreadylongsetforthandpracticedbymeandbyotherswhohaverecentlyformedtheProgressiveparty)madebyMr。WilsonwithwhichI
cordiallyagree。Thereare，however，certainthingshehassaid，evenasregardsmattersofabstractmorality，withwhichIemphaticallydisagree。Forexample，inarguingforproperbusinesspublicity，astowhichIcordiallyagreewithMr。Wilson，hecommitshimselftothefollowingstatement：
“Youknowthereistemptationinlonelinessandsecrecy。Haven’tyouexperiencedit？Ihave。Weareneversoproperinourconductaswheneverybodycanlookandseeexactlywhatwearedoing。Ifyouareoffinsomedistantpartoftheworldandsupposethatnobodywholiveswithinamileofyourhomeisanywherearound，therearetimeswhenyouadjournyourordinarystandards。Yousaytoyourself，’Well，I’llhaveaflingthistime；nobodywillknowanythingaboutit。’IfyouwereontheDesertofSahara，youwouldfeelthatyoumightpermityourself——well，say，someslightlatitudeofconduct；butifyousawoneofyourimmediateneighborscomingtheotherwayonacamel，youwouldbehaveyourselfuntilhegotoutofsight。Themostdangerousthingintheworldistogetoffwherenobodyknowsyou。Iadviseyoutostayaroundamongtheneighbors，andthenyoumaykeepoutofjail。Thatistheonlywaysomeofuscankeepoutofjail。”
Iemphaticallydisagreewithwhatseemstobethemoralityinculcatedinthisstatement，whichisthatamanisexpectedtodoandistobepardonedfordoingallkindsofimmoralthingsifhedoesthemaloneanddoesnotexpecttobefoundout。Surelyitisnotnecessary，ininsistinguponproperpublicity，topreachamoralityofsobaselymaterialacharacter。
ThereismuchmorethatMr。WilsonsaysastowhichIdonotunderstandhimclearly，andwhereIcondemnwhatIdounderstand。Ineconomicmattersthecourseheadvocatesaspartofthe“NewFreedom“
simplymeanstheold，old“freedom“ofleavingtheindividualstrongmanatliberty，uncheckedbycommonaction，topreyontheweakandthehelpless。The“NewFreedom“intheabstractseemstobethefreedomofthebigtodevourthelittle。IntheconcreteImayaddthatMr。Wilson’smisrepresentationsofwhatIhavesaidseemtoindicatethatheregardsthenewfreedomasfreedomfromallobligationtoobeytheNinthCommandment。
But，afterall，myviewsortheprinciplesoftheProgressivepartyareofmuchlessimportancenowthanthepurposesofMr。Wilson。Thesearewrappedinimpenetrablemystery。Hisspeechesandwritingsservebuttomakethemmoreobscure。Iftheseattemptstorefutehismisrepresentationofmyattitudetowardsthetrustsshouldresultinmakinghisownclear，thenthisdiscussionwillhavebornefruitsofsubstantialvaluetothecountry。IfMr。Wilsonhasanyplanofhisownfordealingwiththetrusts，itistosuppressallgreatindustrialorganizations——presumablyontheprincipleproclaimedbyhisSecretaryofStatefouryearsago，thateverycorporationwhichproducedmorethanacertainpercentageofagivencommodity——Ithinktheamountspecifiedwastwenty-fivepercent——nomatterhowvaluableitsservice，shouldbesuppressed。Thesimplefactisthatsuchaplanisfutile。Inoperationitwoulddofarmoredamagethanitcouldremedy。TheProgressiveplanwouldgivethepeoplefullcontrolof，andinmasterfulfashionpreventallwrongdoingby，thetrusts，whileutilizingforthepublicwelfareeveryindustrialenergyandabilitythatoperatestoswellabundance，whileobeyingstrictlythemorallawandthelawoftheland。Mr。Wilson’splanwouldultimatelybenefitthetrustsandwouldpermanentlydamagenobodybutthepeople。Forexample，oneofthesteelcorporationswhichhasbeenguiltyoftheworstpracticestowardsitsemployeesistheColoradoFuelandIronCompany。Mr。WilsonandMr。Bryan’splanwould，ifsuccessful，merelymeanpermittingfoursuchcompanies，absolutelyuncontrolled，tomonopolizeeverybigindustryinthecountry。Totalkofsuchanaccomplishmentasbeing“TheNewFreedom“isenoughtomakethetermoneofcontemptuousderision。
PresidentWilsonhasmadeexplicitpromises，andtheDemocraticplatformhasmadeexplicitpromises。Mr。Wilsonisnowinpower，withaDemocraticCongressinbothbranches。HeandtheDemocraticplatformhavepromisedtodestroythetrusts，toreducethecostofliving，andatthesametimetoincreasethewell-beingofthefarmerandoftheworkingman——whichofcoursemustmeantoincreasetheprofitsofthefarmerandthewagesoftheworkingman。Heandhispartywontheelectiononthispromise。Wehavearighttoexpectthattheywillkeepit。IfMr。Wilson’spromisesmeananythingexcepttheveryemptiestwords，heispledgedtoaccomplishthebeneficentpurposesheavowsbybreakingupallthetrustsandcombinationsandcorporationssoastorestorecompetitionpreciselyasitwasfiftyyearsago。Ifhedoesnotmeanthis，hemeansnothing。Hecannotdoanythingelseunderpenaltyofshowingthathispromiseandhisperformancedonotsquarewitheachother。
Mr。Wilsonsaysthat“thetrustsareourmastersnow，butIforonedonotcaretoliveinacountrycalledfreeevenunderkindmasters。”
Good！TheProgressivesareopposedtohavingmasters，kindorunkind，andtheydonotbelievethata“newfreedom“whichinpracticewouldmeanleavingfourFuelandIronCompaniesfreetodowhattheylikeineveryindustrywouldbeofmuchbenefittothecountry。TheProgressiveshaveaclearanddefiniteprogrammebywhichthepeoplewouldbethemastersofthetrustsinsteadofthetrustsbeingtheirmasters，asMr。Wilsonsaystheyare。Withpracticalunanimitythetrustssupportedtheopponentsofthisprogramme，Mr。TaftandMr。
Wilson，andtheyevidentlydreadedourprogrammeinfinitelymorethananythingthatMr。Wilsonthreatened。ThepeoplehaveacceptedMr。
Wilson’sassurances。Nowlethimmakehispromisesgood。Heiscommitted，ifhiswordsmeananything，tothepromisetobreakupeverytrust，everybigcorporation——perhapseverysmallcorporation——
intheUnitedStates——nottogothroughthemotionsofbreakingthemup，butreallytobreakthemup。Heiscommittedagainstthepolicy(ofefficientcontrolandmasteryofthebigcorporationsbothbylawandbyadministrativeactionincooperation)proposedbytheProgressives。Lethimkeepfaithwiththepeople；lethimingoodfaithtrytokeepthepromiseshehasthusrepeatedlymade。Ibelievethathispromiseisfutileandcannotbekept。Ibelievethatanyattemptsincerelytokeepitandingoodfaithtocarryitoutwillendineithernothingatallorindisaster。Butmybeliefsareofnoconsequence。Mr。WilsonisPresident。Itishisactsthatareofconsequence。HeisboundinhonortothepeopleoftheUnitedStatestokeephispromise，andtobreakup，notnominallybutinreality，allbigbusiness，alltrusts，allcombinationsofeverysort，kind，anddescription，andprobablyallcorporations。Whathesaysishenceforthoflittleconsequence。Theimportantthingiswhathedoes，andhowtheresultsofwhathedoessquarewiththepromisesandprophecieshemadewhenallhehadtodowastospeak，nottoact。
In“TheHouseofHarper。”writtenbyJ。HenryHarper，thefollowingpassageoccurs：“CurtisreturnedfromtheconventionincompanywithyoungTheodoreRooseveltandtheydiscussedthesituationthoroughlyontheirtriptoNewYorkandcametotheconclusionthatitwouldbeverydifficulttoconsistentlysupportBlaine。Roosevelt，however，hadaconferenceafterwardwithSenatorLodgeandeventuallyfellinlinebehindBlaine。CurtiscametoourofficeandfoundthatwewereunanimouslyopposedtothesupportofBlaine，andwithaheartygood-
willhetrainedhiseditorialgunsonthe’PlumedKnight’ofMulliganletterfame。Hisworkwasaseffectiveanddeadlyasanyfightheeverconductedinthe/Weekly/。”Thisstatementhasnofoundationwhateverinfact。IdidnotreturnfromtheconventionincompanywithMr。
Curtis。HewentbacktoNewYorkfromtheconvention，whereasIwenttomyranchinNorthDakota。NosuchconversationasthatevertookplacebetweenmeandMr。Curtis。Inmypresence，inspeakingtoanumberofmenatthetimeinChicago，Mr。Curtissaid：“Youyoungermencan，ifyouthinkright，refusetosupportMr。Blaine，butIamtoooldaRepublican，andhavetoolongbeenassociatedwiththeparty，tobreakwithitnow。”NotonlydidIneverentertainaftertheconvention，butIneverduringtheconventionoratanyothertime，entertainedtheintentionallegedinthequotationinquestion。I
discussedthewholesituationwithMr。Lodgebeforegoingtotheconvention，andwehadmadeupourmindsthatifthenominationofMr。
Blainewasfairlymadewewouldwithequalgoodfaithsupporthim。
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