第89章

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，ininsistin