LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 
Addresses and Papers 
 
 of 
 
 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Governor of New York 
 1906-1908 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 
 Jacob Gould Schurman 
 
 President of Cornell University 
 
 
 G. P. Putnam s Sons 
 New York and London 
 Gbe Ikntcfcerbocfcet jprcss 
 
 1908 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1908 
 
 BY 
 G. P. PUTNAM S SONS 
 
 TTbc "Rnicfterbocfter press, flew fflorfc 
 
PREFACE 
 
 There is no more interesting figure before 
 the American public to-day than Charles Evans 
 Hughes, Governor of New York. His sudden 
 rise into political prominence is one of the most 
 hopeful and significant signs of the great 
 moral awakening now in progress in the United 
 States. Three years ago he was almost un 
 known outside of the legal profession of his 
 own State. All over the country people are 
 watching his career with eagerness and hope, 
 and many of them have come to the conclusion 
 that he is worthy of the presidency. But 
 although there is general confidence in his 
 ability and honesty, comparatively little is 
 known of his political views, especially on 
 national issues. He has wished to be judged 
 by his performances and not by his professions, 
 consequently the messages and speeches con 
 taining his opinions on the questions of the 
 day are buried among official documents or 
 lost in the files of the daily papers. Believing 
 that Mr. Hughes s views should be better 
 
 218053 
 
ii Preface 
 
 known, The Independent arranged for the pub 
 lication of the present volume of his letters 
 and speeches. This gives the American people 
 for the first time an opportunity to study his 
 utterances and to form an intelligent opinion 
 of his fitness for the high office for which he 
 has been suggested. President Schurman s 
 introduction is reprinted from The Independent 
 of December 26, 1907. The material has 
 been gathered together by Robert H. Fuller, 
 Secretary to the Governor ; and the proofs 
 have been read by Gardner Richardson of 
 The Independent. 
 
 HAMILTON HOLT, 
 Managing Editor of The Independent. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 INTRODUCTORY vii 
 
 By JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN, LL.D. 
 I. PUBLIC OFFICE AND PARTY PRINCIPLES. 
 
 I. Reply to Committee Appointed to Notify 
 him of his Nomination for Mayor of 
 New York City, October 9, 1905 3 
 
 II. Speech in Response to Formal Notifi 
 cation of his Nomination as the Re 
 publican Candidate for Governor, at 
 the Republican Club, New York City, 
 October 3, 1906 9 
 
 III. Inaugural Address, Albany, N. Y., Jan 
 uary i, 1907 19 
 
 IV. Speech at the Dinner of the Republican 
 Club of the City of New York, October 
 18, 1907 24 
 
 V. Correspondence with James S. Lehmaier 
 
 of New York City 37 
 
 iii 
 
iv Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 VI. Address before the Republican Club of 
 the City of New York, January 31, 
 1908 40 
 
 VII. Address at the Union League Club Meet 
 ing in the Auditorium at Chicago, 
 Saturday, February 22, 1908 62 
 
 II. REGULATION OF PUBLIC-SERVICE CORPORATIONS. 
 
 I. Message to the Legislature, January 2, 
 1907, Recommending the Passage of 
 the Public-Service Commissions Law 89 
 
 II. Speech at the Banquet of the Utica 
 
 Chamber of Commerce, April i, 1907 . 100 
 
 III. Speech at the Glens Falls Club, April 5, 
 
 1907 113 
 
 IV. Speech at the Banquet of the Buffalo 
 
 Chamber of Commerce, April 18, 1907 126 
 
 V. Speech before the Elmira Chamber of 
 
 Commerce, May 3, 1907 133 
 
 VI. Veto of the Two-Cent Fare Bill 147 
 
 III. OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES. 
 
 I. Speech at the Banquet of the Albany 
 Republican Organization, February 
 27, 1907 J 57 
 
 II. Speech at the National Arbitration and 
 Peace Congress, New York City, April 
 
 l6 3 
 
Contents v 
 
 PAGB 
 
 III. Address at the Dedication of the Build 
 ings of the New York State College 
 of Agriculture, at Cornell University, 
 April 27, 1907 171 
 
 IV. Address at the Unveiling of Tablets at 
 the Hall of Fame, New York Uni 
 versity, May 31, 1907 179 
 
 V. Address at the Jamestown Exposition on 
 Jefferson Memorial Day, July 5, 1907, 
 in connection with the Reunion of 
 the Descendants of the Signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence 190 
 
 VI. Address at Chautauqua, August 24, 1907 203 
 
 VII. Speech at the Washington County Fair, 
 
 Sandy Hill, N. Y., August 27, 1907.. 215 
 
 VIII. Speech at the Dedication of the Mc- 
 Kinley Monument in Buffalo, Septem 
 ber 5, 1907 231 
 
 IX. Address at the National Encampment 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 Saratoga, September 10, 1907 235 
 
 X. Address at the Dedication of the Monu 
 ment to General Greene at Gettys 
 burg, September 27, 1907 239 
 
 XL Speech at the Jamestown Exposition on 
 
 New York Day, October 10, 1907 .... 243 
 
vi Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XII. Address at the Dedication of the Monu 
 ment to General Franz Sigel, New 
 York City, October 19, 1907 255 
 
 XIII. Address at the Charity Organization 
 Society, Carnegie Hall, New York 
 City, November 19, 1907 263 
 
 XIV. Speech at the Opening of the Civic Forum 
 at Carnegie Hall, New York City, 
 November 20, 1907 272 
 
 XV. Speech at the Meeting in the Interest 
 of Tuskegee Institute, Held at Carne 
 gie Hall on the Evening of January 
 17, 1908 . 284 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 BY JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN, LL.D. 
 PRESIDENT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 IN complying with the request of the editor 
 of The Independent 1 to write an article on 
 Governor Hughes, I have assumed that what 
 is desired is, not an intimate account of his 
 personality, but an estimate of his attitude and 
 career as a public man. Even for this pur 
 pose, however, a brief sketch of his life will 
 prove a helpful introduction. 
 
 Charles Evans Hughes was born at Glens 
 Falls, New York, on April n, 1862. On the 
 father s side he is of pure Welsh stock, on 
 the mother s side in the maternal line of pure 
 Holland Dutch stock, and in the paternal line 
 of Irish, English, and Scotch blood, with a pre 
 dominance of Irish. At the time of the son s 
 birth the father was a pastor of the Baptist 
 Church at Glens Falls, though he had formerly 
 been a teacher. The mother had also enjoyed 
 
 1 Reprinted from The Independent, December 26, 1907. 
 vii 
 
viii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 a superior education and had an unusual apti 
 tude for mathematics, which was transmitted to 
 her son. During his early years the boy stud 
 ied at home under his parents, and at the age 
 of fourteen he entered Madison now Colgate 
 University. After two years he migrated to 
 Brown University, from which he graduated in 
 1 88 1. His high standing was attested by his 
 election to the Phi Beta Kappa Society ; he 
 received honors in the classics and in English 
 literature; and scholar as he was, he was also 
 known among the students as a good fellow, 
 who not only enjoyed social intercourse but 
 participated in the amusements, pranks, and 
 innocent follies of youth. 
 
 Graduating at nineteen years of age, he 
 taught school for a year to earn the means 
 necessary to begin the systematic study of law, 
 which meanwhile he read out of school hours 
 in the office of a friendly lawyer. Then he 
 entered the Columbia Law School, from which 
 he graduated in 1884 with the highest honors. 
 For the next three years he was clerk in a law 
 office in New York City, while in the evenings 
 he gave some instructions to law students. In 
 1888 he became a member of the firm of 
 Carter, Hughes, & Cravath, from which he 
 withdrew in 1891, to accept a professorship of 
 
Introductory ix 
 
 law in Cornell University, where his extraor 
 dinary abilities and attainments as a scholar, 
 teacher, and lawyer were immediately recog 
 nized. At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Carter 
 he joined him again in 1893, in the practice of 
 law. And until his election as Governor he 
 was continuously engaged in the active practice 
 of his profession. 
 
 I may here record some of the impressions 
 made by Mr. Hughes on those who knew him 
 at Cornell University and have since known 
 him as a lawyer in New York City. In his 
 physical build he was about six feet in height, 
 slender rather than stout, but sturdy, tough, 
 and wiry. Then, as now and always, he was 
 a most indefatigable worker ; in this respect 
 indeed he excels any man I have ever known. 
 His mental outfit is ftet-4ess remarkable. To 
 understand things is a necessity of his nature. 
 Like Lord Bacon he must have the " dry 
 light " of reason on whatever he deals with 
 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
 truth, unaffected by any distorting or discolor 
 ing rays of passion, prejudice, or emotion. He 
 possesses a powerful intellect, which is at once 
 acute in action and comprehensive in range. 
 Analysis is the mark of the great lawyer, and 
 Mr. Hughes has this faculty in its highest 
 
x Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 potency. Not less admirable is his ability to 
 grasp quickly a complicated mass of facts and 
 arrange them in logical order. I have seen 
 him work himself into new questions, feel his 
 way to the heart of them, then gradually 
 marshal the facts with reference to some fun 
 damental principle or some significant cir 
 cumstance until the whole situation became 
 luminous even to the mind of a layman ; and 
 all this time the speaker talked literally " like 
 a book," and what he said might have been 
 printed almost without change in a treatise on 
 law or a commentary on cases. But this gift 
 of intellectual divination and synthesis marks 
 the creative mind. Mr. Hughes is not on4y 
 analytic aacL critical J&gt creative and con 
 structive. His friends, his associates at the 
 bar, and the judges of the courts have long 
 admired this remarkable combination of gifts. 
 And the general public have become aware of 
 them also since Mr. Hughes followed up his 
 wonderful gas and insurance investigations with 
 drafting remedial legislation, and especially 
 since as Governor he framed his Public 
 Utilities Bill as a solution of the gravest 
 question of public policy now before our 
 people. 
 
 Quite as remarkable as his intellectual gifts 
 
Introductory xi 
 
 is his sense of justice and fair play. This was 
 impressively recognized the other day by Mr. 
 Ahearn when, at the close of his examination, 
 he said that, whatever the finding of the Gov 
 ernor, he desired to thank him for the courtesy 
 and fairness of the examination. Similarly, 
 Mr. Hughes s fearlessness and independence 
 have for many years been well understood by 
 those who know him. And his firm attitude 
 toward hostile politicians and legislators since 
 he became Governor has given open proof of 
 these characteristics to the public. Indeed, 
 the moral attributes of the man are quite on a 
 par with his intellect, powerful and capacious 
 as that is, even if they do not surpass it. For 
 Mr. Hughes has always been distinguished by 
 absolute integrity of character and fidelity to 
 duty. It is no accident, but the deepest in 
 stinct and conviction of his nature, that has 
 made him the exponent and champion of the 
 sacredness of fiduciary obligations alike in busi 
 ness and in politics. His own personal life is 
 built on that foundation and his own profes 
 sional practice as a lawyer has been regu 
 lated by that principle. It meant fidelity to 
 all his clients, but subserviency to none. He 
 never accepted general retainers involving 
 his commitment to any and every kind of 
 
xii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 service. Both his integrity and his sense of 
 independence forbade truckling to any client 
 and condoning dubious or crooked ways. 
 
 I have said that Mr. Hughes is a marvellous 
 worker ; he also becomes absorbed in his work 
 so that for the time being nothing outside the 
 range of his duties can greatly interest, much 
 less excite him. It is nQt-j.mere.ly power of 
 voluntary concentration, b-t involuntary ab 
 sorption in the object of his activity. His 
 work literally takes possession of him and has 
 at command the best that is in him. It is con 
 sequently impossible for him to do anything 
 he undertakes in a half-hearted or slipshod 
 manner. Whether teaching law, defending a 
 client, or administering the affairs of the State 
 of New York, he gives himself to the duty in 
 hand with such whole-souled earnestness and 
 devotion that no energy or interest is left for 
 outside matters which do not concern him. 
 And this circumstance, along with a large 
 natural endowment of common sense and ex 
 cellent practical judgment will explain why his 
 course as a public servant has been so sure 
 footed and unerring. Few men have entered 
 on public office surrounded by so many dan 
 gerous pitfalls; I recall no man who has made 
 fewer mistakes. In view of it all one might 
 
Introductory xiii 
 
 say that he is not only safe and sane, but 
 almost infallibly sagacious. 
 
 He has clearly defined to himself the scope 
 and functions of his office as determined by 
 the Constitution and the laws. So much the 
 intellect of the man imperiously demanded. 
 Then, having made clear to himself what ought 
 to be done, he has dedicated all his powers to 
 the service of the State ; at the same time he 
 has rigidly and inexorably drawn the lines 
 which separate the office of Governor from 
 the functions of the Legislature on the one 
 hand and of the Judiciary on the other. And 
 being Governor, he has felt it incompatible 
 with the dignity of the office or the duty he 
 owes to all the people of the State to give any 
 attention whatever to party politics or to party 
 organization and management. While he was 
 nominated by a party, he holds himself since 
 his election the servant of the people and of 
 the people alone. 
 
 Mr. Hughes is under no illusions concern 
 ing his nomination and election to the Gover 
 norship. He knows that the party leaders in 
 general were opposed to him. They accepted 
 him only because it was finally recognized 
 that no other Republican nominee could win 
 victory at the polls. My own personal belief 
 
xiv Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 is that no one contributed more effectively to 
 the enforcement of that view than President 
 Roosevelt. As a most sagacious party leader, 
 the President recognized in the hero of the 
 gas and insurance investigations a name to 
 wrest victory in a critical contest in his own 
 State. I believe that in the interest of the 
 party he urged the nomination, and that this 
 pressure was the deciding influence in the con 
 vention. But all the while Mr. Hughes stood 
 aloof as though the matter were no concern of 
 
 o 
 
 his. And indeed he regarded it as no concern 
 of his. He would not say he desired the 
 office ; he would not authorize any one present 
 to present his claims or herald his availability. 
 It was a matter solely for the people of the 
 State to decide. 
 
 In the Latin language ambition meant a 
 candidate s going about to solicit office. Of 
 such a quality Mr. Hughes is absolutely devoid. 
 It is one thing to fill an office and another thing 
 to get an office. To get an office has never 
 been Mr. Hughes s aim or desire. His oppor 
 tunities of public service have come to him 
 unsought. It is not that he regards himself 
 as superior to other men or that he does not 
 value the good opinion of his fellow citizens. 
 He does appreciate the confidence and es- 
 
Introductory xv 
 
 teem of his fellows. But if they want him 
 for public service he feels that the call should 
 come from them ; and if they do not want 
 him he does not desire the office ; so that in 
 any event there is absolutely nothing for him 
 to do. And he is so far from cherishing any 
 illusions as to his comparative standing with 
 other men that he recognizes very clearly that 
 his nomination to public office was due to a 
 combination of circumstances which made him, 
 in the estimation of his party, the most avail 
 able man. He is the last man in the world to 
 think himself a Moses, he knows he is not 
 essential to the State, he does not pretend to 
 be a leader with a mission, he claims only to 
 be an every-day American citizen, who was 
 selected for the Governorship (out of a number 
 of others any one of whom might have been 
 chosen) because of his prominence in the 
 insurance investigation, which he had under 
 taken, not on his own initiative, but at the 
 request of a legislative committee. As he 
 would have nothing to do with getting the 
 nomination, as the coming of the nomination 
 to him was no concern of his, so there remained 
 open to him only one way of showing his 
 appreciation of the confidence which had been 
 vouchsafed to him by the people of the State, 
 
xvi Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 namely, by discharging the high duties to 
 which they had called him with all the ability, 
 wisdom, and virtue he could command. To 
 thank any person or persons for the nomina 
 tion would have been tantamount to the con 
 fession that these persons had done him a 
 favor. But from Mr. Hughes s way of look 
 ing at a nomination as a call of the people 
 to serve them, with which he had no concern, it 
 will be obvious that such a procedure would 
 have been a stultifying of himself. On the 
 other hand, inclination, duty, pride, and self- 
 respect all conspire to move him to make a 
 record as Chief Executive which shall amply 
 justify the wisdom of the convention and the 
 confidence of the people. 
 
 " A disposition to preserve, and an ability 
 to improve, taken together, would be my 
 standard of a statesman," says Burke. 
 Whether Mr. Hughes is in the habit of read 
 ing Burke I do not know. But his record 
 since he became Governor admirably illustrates 
 Burke s conception of a statesman. Recog 
 nizing that government is a marvellous con 
 trivance of human wisdom to provide for 
 human wants, that it embodies the collective 
 judgment, intellectual, moral, and practical, of 
 many generations, including individuals wiser 
 
Introductory xvii 
 
 and juster than any now alive, and that the 
 government of the United States, in partic 
 ular, is the best and noblest system which the 
 political genius of mankind has yet pro 
 duced, a statesman of the type described by 
 Burke would look with suspicion on all sorts 
 of projectors of innovation that threatened 
 the Constitution and the well-established in 
 stitutions of the country. But he would aieo 
 recognize, (vi ill Burke that "a state without 
 the means of some change is without the 
 means of its conservation." The principle of 
 correction is as essential as the principle of 
 conservation. But changes are not to be 
 made at random, still less for the satisfaction 
 of some abstract theory or dogma. Every 
 change is to be made for the remedy of some 
 definite evil, and it should be confined to the 
 peccant part only and not extended to unof 
 fending members of healthy functions. And 
 as it is circumstances which render every civil 
 and political scheme beneficial or noxious to 
 mankind, every proposal of reform should be 
 considered on its own merits and especially 
 with reference to its suitability and potency to 
 remedy some particular evil in the existing 
 system. 
 
 Now look at Governor Hughes s utterances 
 
xviii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and official acts. " Human Society," he de 
 clared at Chautauqua in August last, " cannot 
 be stable unless it is progressive." The repub 
 lic, like every other living and growing organ 
 ism, must by successive changes adapt itself to 
 its environment. But these affect, as it were, 
 the outer parts of its organization. In itself 
 considered, the republic, the Governor went 
 on to say, " may be likened to a man of excel 
 lent constitution and native vigor who finds 
 there is no evidence of decay in his vital func 
 tions, and that there is every indication of 
 fundamental soundness and of steady improve 
 ment." The analogy will be complete if we 
 suppose this fundamentally sound man " de 
 termined by a proper system of hygiene and 
 suitable rules of conduct to correct some dis 
 orders in his system and come as closely as 
 possible to perfect health." And the first 
 hygienic rule laid down by the Governor is 
 "to avoid undue excitement of the nervous 
 system." A most characteristic precept ! 
 
 Happily we are not concerned with organic 
 evils in the body politic. There are, indeed, 
 functional disorders to be corrected. To 
 diagnose them and to prescribe remedies is 
 the business of reason and judgment. The 
 first step is a knowledge of the facts. But this 
 
Introductory xix 
 
 is not to be found in " scrappy sensationalism 
 or distorted emphasis," still less in shrieking 
 hysteria. It is a work of quiet, careful, and 
 painstaking analysis and reflection. And till 
 the truth regarding both the existing evil and 
 the proposed remedy is accurately and ex 
 haustively known, no healthful or sensible 
 action can be taken. Consequently, the reign 
 of reason in government implies patience. 
 And the need of patience "is the hardest 
 lesson for a democracy to learn." Yet Gov 
 ernor Hughes has no vague fears about the 
 outcome. He has a profound belief in the 
 ability of the American people " to cure exist 
 ing evils without disturbing their prosperity." 
 This is because the vital parts of our political 
 organization are not impaired and retain effi 
 ciency to regenerate any defects. Thus con 
 servation and correction go hand in hand. 
 And the way of salutary correction of reform is 
 always by patience, by deliberation, by wisdom, 
 by truth, by justice and fair play, as Governor 
 Hughes never wearies of proclaiming. 
 
 But we may submit the Governor s theories 
 to the test of actual practice. How has he in 
 his official acts managed to combine reform 
 not merely specious, but thoroughgoing and 
 effective of notorious abuses with a tender 
 
xx Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and reverent conservation of the Constitution 
 and the existing institutions and machinery of 
 government ? 
 
 A test case is found in the Governor s policy 
 of regulating the Public Service Corporations. 
 It was for the State the problem which Presi 
 dent Roosevelt had stamped upon the con 
 sciousness of the nation, and solved in a way 
 that will give him a permanent place in Ameri 
 can history. 
 
 " By his vigorous administration," said Governor 
 Hughes in his speech before the Republican Club of 
 New York City, " his virility, his broad humanity, and 
 his determined opposition to notorious abuses, our fellow 
 citizen, the distinguished President of the republic, has 
 won the hearts of the people. We have not only his 
 example, but we know that he is and has been in cordial 
 sympathy with every effort for efficient administration 
 for the correction of evil and for the improvement of 
 our laws." 
 
 But not only the interests concerned, the 
 legislators of both parties were at first opposed 
 to the Governor s measure of reform. The 
 Governor, on the other hand, was deeply per 
 suaded that it was the duty of statesmanship 
 "to remove the causes of unrest which lie in 
 abuses of public privilege." A fundamental 
 purpose of his measure of reform was to vindi 
 cate the adequacy of our institutions to put an 
 
Introductory xxi 
 
 end to abuses without tumult or disorder, with 
 out injustice or demagoguery." The measure 
 itself provided, to the fullest extent consistent 
 with constitutional requirements, methods of 
 investigation and redress through which the 
 public obligations of reasonable, impartial, and 
 adequate service could be enforced and public 
 safety and convenience be conserved. In a 
 speech delivered at Utica on April i the Gov 
 ernor explained his measure to the public, and 
 four days later he defended it against criticism 
 in a speech at Glens Falls. The proposed bill 
 for the regulation of the public service corpo 
 rations was, I might perhaps not incorrectly 
 say, based on the recognized principle that the 
 tenure of their property was the performance of 
 some duty. The Governor calmly, dispassion 
 ately, but with logical impressiveness, pointed 
 out " that the people, without animosity to 
 ward the rights of property, but with a just 
 insistence upon the performance of public 
 obligations, demand that the State shall exer 
 cise its power over its creatures and compel 
 due regard for the duties which are correlative 
 to the privileges it has granted." Every power 
 which a corporation has is derived from the 
 Legislature, which creates it. A Public Service 
 Commission is an administrative board, which 
 
xxii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 represents the Legislature in the supervision 
 and control of these creatures of the laws, its 
 function being to secure for the public safety 
 impartiality, adequacy of service, and reason 
 able charges. Nor is the existence and exer 
 cise of this power inconsistent with property 
 rights. For " the property of a public service 
 corporation has been acquired subject to this 
 power." And as no person can, under the 
 Constitution, be deprived of his property with 
 out due process of law, the courts will protect 
 the corporations against regulation which has 
 the effect of confiscation. The Governor ob 
 jected to giving the courts power to review all 
 orders of the Commission, first, because this 
 would overwhelm the courts with business of a 
 purely administrative character, and secondly, 
 because it would in effect make the legislative 
 Commissions purely advisory bodies and the 
 courts themselves the final ruling administra 
 tive authority. There were other explanations 
 equally broad and convincing, but I have 
 space to quote only one paragraph from the 
 speeches, which is, however, an example of 
 the Governor s manner of statement, argu 
 ment, and logical appeal : 
 
 " Those who desire to insure the stability of honorable 
 business enterprise ; those who desire to maintain an or- 
 
Introductory xxiii 
 
 derly society, secure against the success of insincere and 
 inflammatory appeal ; those who desire to maintain our 
 institutions, with their guaranties of equality before the 
 law and with their blessings of opportunity, realize that 
 the time has come when the State must assert its power 
 firmly and justly in putting an end to existing abuses, 
 both in -the administration of government and in the 
 management of those concerns which derive their vitality 
 from public franchises. Those who oppose this just 
 sentiment chant their own requiem." 
 
 With those speeches the Governor left the 
 fate of his bill to the people and their repre 
 sentatives in the Legislature. There was no 
 longer doubt of the result. And to-day the 
 people of the State of New York have a model 
 law providing for the just and effective regula 
 tion of their public service corporations. 
 
 The Governor s bill for the regulation of 
 our public service corporations is, so far as I 
 know, the most thoroughgoing and radical 
 measure of the kind that has ever been enacted 
 by any Legislature in America. Its justifica 
 tion is that it rests on sound principles of law, 
 on justice and expediency. It is a real remedy 
 for real evils, and in its operation it cannot but 
 promote public tranquillity and enhance respect 
 for law, order, and just government. I have 
 already spoken of its affiliation to President 
 Roosevelt s measures for the regulation of 
 
xxiv Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 interstate railways. It is interesting to ob 
 serve that Governor Hughes s bill gives the 
 State Commissions power to control the issue 
 of stocks and bonds by public service corpora 
 tions, power which, as the Governor explains, is 
 necessary not merely to protect the investor, 
 but to prevent the crippling of the public ser 
 vice or the demand for extortionate charges. It 
 is a similar power which President Roose 
 velt desires to confer upon the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission. In the fundamental 
 policies of their administrations the public 
 regulation of railways President Roosevelt 
 and Governor Hughes are of identically the 
 same mind. 
 
 But while Governor Hughes can be a 
 thoroughgoing radical in correcting serious 
 evils in the administration of government, 
 nothing could be more foreign to his nature 
 than the arts of the demagogue or the acts of 
 passion, folly, and injustice in which those arts 
 are so constantly exhibited. Governor Hughes 
 is a man who would follow his own sense of 
 truth and justice even at the peril of popular 
 displeasure. The guardian of the interests of 
 the people, he has courage and magnanimity 
 enough to protect those interests by measures 
 which, through the influence of misrepresenta- 
 
Introductory xxv 
 
 tion or the first impulse of uninformed judg 
 ment, the people themselves might hesitate to 
 endorse or actually condemn. But, as Alex 
 ander Hamilton said in defining in The Feder 
 alist the qualifications which are necessary in 
 a national chief executive : 
 
 " The republican principle demands that the deliberate 
 sense of the community should govern the conduct of 
 those to whom they intrust the management of their 
 affairs; but it does not require an unqualified com 
 plaisance to every sudden breeze of passion, or to every 
 transient impulse which the people may receive from the 
 arts of men who flatter their prejudices to betray their 
 interests." 
 
 Governor Hughes s courage was strikingly 
 evinced in his veto of the two-cent railroad 
 fare bill. Other States had passed such meas 
 ures. In this State there was dissatisfaction 
 with existing conditions. A wave of resent 
 ment against the railways was sweeping over 
 the country. The two-cent passenger act had 
 come to be regarded as a test of loyalty to 
 the cause of the people, and no Governor any 
 where, whatever his views, had been strong 
 enough to resist the overwhelming pressure. 
 Under these circumstances Governor Hughes 
 sat down and wrote an able and dispassion 
 ate message in which, on grounds of justice, 
 
xx vi Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 public policy, and practical expediency, he 
 vetoed the bill. Here are some of the grounds 
 on which he based his action : 
 
 True to his character, the Governor first 
 made the point that facts had not been ascer 
 tained before the passage of the bill. There 
 had been no official investigations, no reports, 
 no collecting of statistics. The Legislature 
 had acted without information and without 
 suitable deliberation. It is of the utmost im 
 portance indeed that " the management of our 
 railroad corporations should be subject to 
 strict supervision by the State, and that regu 
 lations compelling the observance of the law 
 and proper and adequate service should be 
 rigidly enforced." Nevertheless, the Governor 
 was convinced that the bill under considera 
 tion represented " a policy seriously mistaken 
 and pregnant with disaster." The railroads 
 have indeed been guilty of treating the public 
 unfairly, 
 
 " but injustice on the part of the railroad corporations 
 toward the public does not justify injustice on the part of 
 the State toward the railroad corporations. The action 
 of government should be fair and impartial, and upon 
 this every citizen, whatever his interest, is entitled to 
 insist. We shall make matters not better, but worse, 
 if to cure one wrong we establish another. ... In 
 
Introductory xxvii 
 
 dealing with these questions democracy must demonstrate 
 its capacity to act upon deliberation and to deal justly." 
 
 The Governor recognized that a maximum 
 two-cent passenger rate might not be unrea 
 sonably low. It might be high enough in 
 many cases possibly in all. The fact was, 
 however, that no one knew, and that the Legis 
 lature, before acting, had not secured the 
 necessary information. And to enact legisla 
 tion involving property rights in ignorance 
 both of the conditions of the business con 
 cerned and of the effect upon it of the policy 
 proposed was something that the just, deliber 
 ate, and law-abiding mind of the Governor 
 could not by any possibility have approved. 
 
 "I deem it most important," the Governor went on to 
 say, " that the policy of dealing with matters of this sort 
 arbitrarily, by legislative rule of general application, 
 without reference to the demands of justice in particular 
 cases, should be condemned. Every workingman, every 
 tradesman, and every citizen believing himself to have 
 aught at stake in the prosperity of the country, should 
 determinedly oppose it. For it not only threatens the 
 stability of business enterprise, which makes our pros 
 perity possible, but it substitutes unreason for sound 
 judgment, the ill-considered demands of resentment for 
 the spirit of fair play, and makes impossible patient and 
 honorable effort to correct abuses." 
 
 The constructive mind of the Governor 
 
xxviii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 could not, however, rest satisfied with the 
 mere negative result which his veto would 
 produce. The evils it was proposed to remedy 
 by this hasty and ill-digested legislation could, 
 he pointed out, be remedied in "a better way." 
 The Legislature had provided agencies for the 
 redress of these evils in the Public Service 
 Commissions it had just created. These Com 
 missions had under law the power, and it 
 would become their duty, to investigate the 
 subject of passenger rates charged by railways 
 in the State of New York. What the Legisla 
 ture had attempted with haste, without in 
 formation, and possibly with injustice, they 
 could undertake with deliberation, with full 
 knowledge, and with perfect impartiality. 
 When their inquiry is complete, " if a pas 
 senger rate of two cents a mile is just and 
 reasonable, it can be fixed ; if it is not just and 
 reasonable, it should not be fixed." True, the 
 work of the Commissions would require time 
 and investigation, but democracy must learn 
 the lessons of patience and deliberate inquiry 
 before action. A right result is of infinitely 
 more importance than a sham remedy. For 
 the rest, it is most dangerous to encourage 
 impatience with the orderly processes of 
 inquiry." 
 
Introductory xxix 
 
 A courageous and honest public servant 
 always meets with his reward. On second 
 thought people approve of what he has done. 
 This is notably the case when the man is sen 
 sible, open-minded, judicial, and statesmanlike, 
 as Mr. Hughes has proved himself since he 
 became Governor. And so even the advo 
 cates of the two-cent passenger bill not only 
 recognized the force and justice of the Gover 
 nor s arguments against that particular meas 
 ure, but suddenly perceived also that the very 
 thing they were contending for as a just and 
 reasonable reform must, if it were actually 
 found on investigation to be just and reason 
 able, come to them through the action of the 
 State Commissions which Governor Hughes 
 himself had induced the Legislature to estab 
 lish for the handling of those very problems. 
 The difference in procedure is an argument in 
 favor of the Governor s method. For, unlike a 
 Legislature, a State Commission can regulate 
 a public service corporation intelligently, delib 
 erately, and with scrupulous justice. And this 
 is what the American people want. " They 
 are," says Governor Hughes, " a thoughtful 
 and canny people, truth-loving, and desirous 
 of getting at the heart of things ; appeals to 
 reason are more cogent than many think." 
 
xxx Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 That eminent lawyer, jurist, and leader of 
 the American bar, the late James C. Carter, 
 has left behind him a work on the Origin, 
 Growth, and Function of Law (which has 
 just been published), in which he deprecates 
 the exaggerated estimate entertained by most 
 people of the possibilities for good which may 
 be realized through the enactment of law. 
 Such a wealth of legislation testifies, indeed, 
 to the " benevolent vanity " of our rulers, but 
 also to their impotence. There is, however, 
 another and more serious aspect of the case. 
 " Among the evils which oppress society" says 
 Mr. Carter, " there are few greater than that 
 caused by legislative expedients undertaken in 
 ignorance of what the true nature and function 
 of law are." The analytic habit of Mr. 
 Hughes s mind, his mastery of the science of 
 law, and his large experience as a practical 
 lawyer would seem to have predisposed him 
 to the same view. At any rate, it is a fact that 
 as Governor the number of measures of new 
 legislation which he has advocated is very 
 small, though it goes without saying that every 
 one of them was well considered and carefully 
 drafted. This moderation in the use of legis 
 lation is a characteristic of all wise constructive 
 reformers. 
 
Introductory xxxi 
 
 In the universal demand for new legislation 
 which Mr. Carter deprecates it is constantly 
 overlooked that the Chief Executive, whether 
 State or National, has, under the Constitution, 
 nothing to do with legislation except to recom 
 mend measures to the Legislature and approve 
 or veto the bills which the Legislature, in the 
 plenitude of its wisdom and discretion, may 
 enact. As Hamilton put it in The Federalist: 
 
 "The essence of the legislative authority is to enact 
 laws or, in other words, to prescribe rules for the 
 regulation of the society; while the execution of the 
 laws and the employment of the common strength, either 
 for this purpose or for the common defence, seem to 
 comprise all the functions of the executive magistrate." 
 
 That the execution of the laws is the princi 
 pal business of the Governor of the State has 
 been clearly apprehended by Mr. Hughes. 
 He not only understands it, he has proclaimed 
 it, and what is more important, he acts upon 
 it. Nay, he goes further. He claims that a 
 perfect administration of every office would 
 dispel almost all the problems which now per 
 plex us. The irrepressible and multitudinous 
 activities of our Legislatures are, in the main, 
 but devices to atone for defects in administra 
 tion. Here is the Governor s own language, 
 taken from his address at the opening of the 
 
xxxii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Civic Forum, in Carnegie Hall, New York 
 City, on the 2Oth of November : 
 
 " Matthew Arnold tells us that conduct is three- 
 fourths of life. Certainly the administration of office is 
 at least three-fourths of political life. And if we could 
 secure the administration of every office in accordance 
 with its obligations and in adequate fulfilment of the 
 fair intent of the Constitution and statutes creating it, 
 we should find almost all our problems solved. That 
 which is right in our system of government would ap 
 pear revealed in the beauty of perfect adaptation, leav 
 ing no excuse for the use of legislative drugs to cure 
 defects caused by lack of administrative exercise; and, 
 on the other hand, such imperfections as existed would 
 stand out in such bold relief as to leave little room 
 for doubt as to the necessary remedy." 
 
 The crowning aim, the supreme effort, of 
 Governor Hughes is to be a good admin 
 istrator of his office and executor of the laws 
 of the State. The Governor is the chief serv 
 ant of the people ; he is not the delegate of a 
 feudal suzerain who permits him to promote 
 personal or directs him to promote party ends ; 
 he is his own master, dedicated to a service 
 which is perfect freedom, because it satisfies 
 his own conscience, fulfils the law, and ad 
 vances the welfare of the people. Disinter 
 ested, devoted, and strenuous service has been 
 rendered by Governor Hughes. Like another 
 
Introductory xxxiii 
 
 Governor I mean Mr. Roosevelt he has 
 faced the bosses and beaten them ; like Mr. 
 Roosevelt, he has made fitness and merit the 
 qualifications for office ; and, like Mr. Roose 
 velt, he has been a terror to evil-doers in 
 office. 
 
 The greater part of administration is local. 
 But the Constitution provides for removal by 
 the Governor, upon charges and after a hear 
 ing, of specified local officers elected by the 
 people. Few of us have any adequate con 
 ception of the amount of work even one of 
 these cases makes for a conscientious and 
 painstaking Governor. In the case of Mr. 
 Ahearn, Governor Hughes spent weeks in go 
 ing over testimony, listening to cross-examina 
 tion of witnesses, studying briefs, and weighing 
 evidence working from early in the morning 
 till late at night though he might have turned 
 the whole matter over to a commissioner, as 
 would have been necessary had not the Gov 
 ernor also been an excellent lawyer. Why 
 did the Governor undertake these herculean 
 labors? The answer is obvious : In the inter 
 est of good administration in every office in 
 the State. Mr. Hughes is the trustee of the 
 people of the State of New York for the main 
 tenance of good administration in his own 
 
xxxiv Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 office and under certain circumstances in 
 other offices in which the Constitution gives 
 him jurisdiction. And as he said before the 
 Civic Forum, " The lesson of to-day, both in 
 business and in politics, is the lesson of fidelity 
 to trust." As his insurance investigations 
 were a moral tonic to the business world, so 
 these investigations into the administration of 
 public office cannot fail to elevate the stand 
 ards and quicken the sense of responsibility 
 of all office-holders in the State. It is for 
 tunate that the Governor, with his usual can 
 dor and justice, is able to compliment the 
 service with the declaration that it would be 
 difficult to point to a time " when a larger 
 proportion of public officers were striving hon 
 estly to do their duty." This is the reward of 
 the people for putting in the highest office in 
 the State a man who preaches, practises, and 
 demands honest, disinterested, efficient, and 
 energetic service for the benefit of the people 
 of the State. 
 
 The Governor summed up his own position 
 in a couple of pregnant sentences in his ad 
 dress before the Republican Club in New 
 York City on the i8th of October : 
 
 " With reference to matters of administration, it has 
 been sought to conduct the public affairs solely in the 
 
Introductory xxxv 
 
 interest of the people, and not in behalf of any special 
 interest or for selfish purposes, and not for partisan ad 
 vantage save as fidelity and efficiency may have their 
 due reward in public confidence. ... If there is one 
 thing more than another for which I desire the present 
 administration to stand, it is for disinterestedness in 
 public service." 
 
 It was in this same speech that the Gov 
 ernor indulged in a personal vein of talk on 
 other matters. " I do not seek any public 
 office," he said, and then added these memora 
 ble words : 
 
 " To me public office means a burden of responsibility 
 a burden of incessant toil at times almost intolerable 
 which, under honorable conditions and at the command 
 of the people, it may be a duty and even a pleasure to 
 assume, but it is far from being an object of ambition. 
 I have not sought nor shall I seek, directly or indirectly, 
 to influence the selection or the vote of any delegate to 
 any convention." 
 
 Here are one or two more intimate con 
 fessions : 
 
 " I want simply to be Governor during my term. 
 
 " I have asked no man for favors, but, on the contrary, 
 I have constantly insisted that the work of the govern 
 ment shall be carried on, not with reference to the selfish 
 advantage of any one, but exclusively in the interest of 
 the people." 
 
 Facing an audience of Republican Club 
 
xxxvi Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 politicians he frankly stated and squarely an 
 swered the charge that he had neglected the 
 party politicians in appointments to office. It 
 had been hinted in a half-serious way that he 
 regarded political activity as a disqualification 
 for public office. Here is the Governor s 
 irrefragable reply : 
 
 " I esteem those who in an honorable manner work for 
 the party. Political activity, by virtue of the experience 
 and knowledge of affairs gained in it, so far from being 
 a disqualification, may be a most important qualification 
 for office. But I want that political activity to be of 
 such a character as to leave a man free and independent 
 in the dignity of his manhood to perform the duties of 
 office, if appointed, unembarrassed by improper influ 
 ences and unaffected by accumulated obligations." 
 
 Again, he tells these politicians that he does 
 " not aim to be a party boss." Nay, such is 
 his conception of the duties of the governor 
 ship that he would not think it proper to 
 indulge even in political management. And, 
 to crown all, he declares that " as a party 
 man he will serve his party best in office 
 by adhering strictly to his duties and main 
 taining the highest standards of impartial 
 administration." 
 
 And yet this efficient servant of the State 
 and trusted popular leader never forgets to 
 
Introductory xxxvii 
 
 pay his tribute to the party to which he 
 belongs : 
 
 " The Republican party has been a party of ideals, of 
 masterful leaders, and of constructive power. We are 
 proud that we are members of it." 
 
 It has been said that Governor Hughes, if 
 not too self-reliant, is too chary of receiving 
 advice. But it must be remembered that when 
 he was elected Governor on the Republican 
 ticket all the other State officials elected were 
 Democrats. Furthermore, the leaders of his 
 own party were in the main either indifferent 
 or hostile to him. Thus he found himself in 
 a new, difficult, and vastly responsible position 
 without natural advisers, and he was compelled 
 " to play a lone hand." The manner he had 
 to assume for self-protection gave rise to the 
 silly report that he was cold and unsympa 
 thetic. His friends know what a caricature 
 this is of a naturally friendly, kind-hearted, 
 and affable gentleman. Even the critics are 
 now discovering their mistake. And the Gov 
 ernor is gradually discovering whom he can 
 trust. Gradually, too, the old leaders have 
 come to him, and he has listened patiently 
 to their recommendations, though reserving to 
 his own judgment and conscience the right 
 
xxxviii Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and duty of final decisions. Of course, his sit 
 uation is different from that of a President of 
 the United States, who has a Cabinet to advise 
 him on all matters, and Senators to make 
 recommendations on appointments that have 
 no force without their consent and approval. 
 Nevertheless, Governor Hughes has made ex 
 cellent appointments, and as a Governor who 
 has been at once a public servant and a public 
 leader he has made amazingly few mistakes. 
 Indeed, I do not hesitate to affirm that, though 
 our State has had illustrious names in the 
 list of its Governors, including the names 
 of Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt, 
 it has never had a greater Governor than 
 Charles Evans Hughes. 
 
 ITHACA, N. Y. 
 
Public Office and Party 
 Principles 
 
 " We make our appeal to the common-sense of the Ameri 
 can people which has never failed to express itself decisively 
 in a great crisis. We are pledged to just reforms in the 
 American manner, in accordance with the genius of our 
 institutions, and with love of truth and even-handed jus 
 tice." From Governor Hughes s speech accepting his 
 nomination for Governor, October 3, 1906. 
 
I. 
 
 Reply to Committee Appointed to Notify 
 him of his Nomination for Mayor 
 of New York City, October g, 1905. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Notifica 
 tion Committee: 
 
 You summon me to what you believe to be 
 a public duty, and I shall not answer that 
 summons by referring to considerations merely 
 personal, however important they might be if 
 the question were one of personal preference. 
 
 You and the many others who have urged 
 me to accept the nomination have not rested 
 the request upon the basis of partisan obliga 
 tion, but upon the more secure foundation of 
 duty to the community. It has been impressed 
 upon me that the Republican party is seeking 
 to raise a standard to which, regardless of 
 party, all men may resort who desire to see 
 our city free from the pervasive influence of 
 an organization whose motive is gain and not 
 service. 
 
4 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 I am not insensible to this appeal, and I 
 fully appreciate the responsibility of the posi 
 tion in which, against my will, I have been 
 placed. The letters which I have received 
 and the personal appeals which have been 
 made have shown very clearly that there is a 
 division of sentiment as to the course I shall 
 pursue, and that either action I might 
 take would be viewed with extreme dis 
 favor by men whose judgment I respect 
 and of whose sincerity there can be no 
 question. 
 
 In this dilemma I have simply to do my 
 duty as I see it. In my judgment I have no 
 right to accept the nomination. A paramount 
 public duty forbids it. It is not necessary to 
 enlarge upon the importance of the insurance 
 investigation. That is undisputed. It is deal 
 ing with questions vital to the interests of 
 millions of our fellow citizens throughout the 
 land. It presents an opportunity for public 
 service second to none, and involves a cor 
 relative responsibility. I have devoted myself 
 unreservedly to this work. It commands all 
 my energies. It is imperative that I continue 
 in it. You have frankly recognized that it 
 must continue unembarrassed and with un 
 impaired efficiency. But it is entirely clear 
 
Nomination for Mayor, 1905 5 
 
 to me that this cannot be if I accept the 
 nomination. 
 
 You know how desirous I have been that 
 the investigation should not be colored by any 
 suggestion of political motive. Whatever con 
 fidence it has inspired has been due to absolute 
 independence of political considerations. It is 
 not sufficient to say that an acceptance of this 
 nomination, coming to me unsought and despite 
 an unequivocal statement of my position, would 
 not deflect my course by a hairbreadth, and 
 that I should remain, and that you intend that 
 I should remain, entirely untrammelled. The 
 non-political character of the investigation and 
 its freedom from bias, either of fear or favor, 
 not only must exist, but must be recognized. 
 I cannot permit them by any action of mine to 
 become matters of debate. 
 
 There are abundant opportunities for mis 
 construction. Doubtless many abuses will re 
 main undisclosed, many grievous wrongs to 
 which the evidence points from time to time 
 may be found unsusceptible of proof; many 
 promising clues will be taken up in vain. 
 Were I with the best of intentions to accept 
 the nomination, it is my conviction that the 
 work of the investigation would be largely 
 discredited ; its motives would be impugned 
 
6 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and its integrity assailed. To many it would 
 appear that its course would be shaped and 
 its lines of inquiry would be chosen, developed, 
 or abandoned as political ambition might 
 prompt or political exigency demand. 
 
 Such a situation would be intolerable. There 
 is only one course open. The legislative 
 inquiry must proceed with convincing disin 
 terestedness. Its great opportunities must not 
 be imperilled by alienating the support to 
 which it is entitled or by giving the slight 
 est occasion for questioning the sincer 
 ity and single-mindedness with which it is 
 conducted. 
 
 There is, however, another consideration 
 which is to me conclusive. The work of the 
 investigation is laborious and exacting. It 
 taxes the strength of the counsel of the com 
 mittee to its limit. It is performed under 
 great strain. Whatever success is gained is 
 the result of unremitting toil and undivided 
 attention. There is no wizardry in it. 
 
 It is idle to suppose that, if I accepted your 
 nomination, I could do my part of the work 
 of the investigation efficiently. I may be 
 pardoned for saying that I am a better judge 
 of what that work requires than any one 
 apart from my associates. It requires every 
 
Nomination for Mayor, 1905 7 
 
 moment of available time. It requires endeavor 
 secure from interruption and a mind free from 
 distraction. It has been suggested that it 
 would not be necessary for me to make an 
 active canvass, that I should not be obliged 
 to make a speech, to attend a meeting, or even 
 write a letter. In effect, you ask me to enter 
 upon a campaign in which important questions 
 should be discussed and brought home to the 
 conscience of the people with my mouth closed 
 and my hands tied. Apart from a natural dis 
 inclination to place myself in such a situation, 
 I believe the plan to be wholly impracticable. 
 But, assuming it to be carried out as fully as 
 is contemplated, it would still leave a large 
 demand upon time and nervous energy which 
 would be inexorable and would introduce an 
 element of distraction most injurious to the 
 investigation. I do not believe that the man 
 lives, and certainly I am not the man, who, 
 while a candidate for the mayoralty, could 
 perform with proper efficiency that part of the 
 work which has been devolved upon me in the 
 pending inquiry. If I were to accept the nomi 
 nation for the high office of Mayor of this 
 city, I should be obliged to curtail this work, 
 and this I have no right to do. 
 
 For your expression of confidence I thank 
 
8 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 you. The honor you would confer upon me I 
 most highly esteem. Your generous approval 
 and the unanimity and enthusiasm with which 
 the nomination was made I warmly appreciate. 
 But I have assumed obligations of the first 
 importance which make it impossible for me 
 to meet your wishes. I must therefore re 
 spectfully decline the nomination. 
 
II. 
 
 Speech in Response to Formal Notifica 
 tion of His Nomination as the Repub 
 lican Candidate for Governor, at the 
 Republican Club, New York City, 
 October 3, 1906, 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Notifica 
 tion Committee: 
 
 Highly appreciating the honor you have 
 conferred and realizing keenly the respon 
 sibility to be assumed, I accept the nomina 
 tion. As a life-long Republican, as one loyal 
 to the principles and best traditions of the 
 party, I respond to the unanimous call of the 
 Convention. I especially claim to represent 
 true Republicanism when I promise to ad 
 minister the affairs of the State in the interest 
 of all its citizens. I recognize the exigency 
 which has made us the trustees of the con 
 science and sober sentiment of the people of 
 the State and has charged us with the duty of 
 leadership in a contest for decent government. 
 
 9 
 
io Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 To this contest, humbly conscious of my own 
 limitations but strong in the strength of the 
 cause, I commit myself heart and soul without 
 doubt as to the result. 
 
 We enter upon the campaign inspired by 
 the example and fortified by the achievements 
 of our great leader, Theodore Roosevelt. The 
 National Administration, with its record of 
 established reforms, has strengthened its hold 
 upon the confidence of the people. Govern 
 mental powers for investigation and prosecu 
 tion have been freely used to end the abuses 
 and discriminations which have afflicted inter 
 state commerce, to break up unlawful com 
 binations, and to enforce the provisions of the 
 Anti-Trust Act. The activities of Congress 
 in the interest of all the people have been 
 attested by the passage of the Railroad Rate 
 Act, the Meat Inspection Act, the Pure Food 
 Act, and the Employers Liability Act. 
 
 In referring to this record of the Federal 
 Administration, I should not be understood to 
 imply that this is a campaign of National 
 issues. The paramount issues in this cam 
 paign are State issues. But in the matters 
 which I have mentioned we find a notable 
 record of achievement which presents a striking 
 contrast to the noisy pretensions of the hour. 
 
Nomination for Governor, 1906 n 
 
 Our State Administration has also accom 
 plished many genuine reforms. 
 
 The gas and electric monopoly of New York 
 City has been subjected to impartial investiga 
 tion, and a statute has been passed fixing the 
 rate to private consumers at eighty cents per 
 one thousand cubic feet. While this Act has 
 been attacked and the claim of the companies 
 that the rate is so low as to amount to con 
 fiscation is before the Federal Courts for de 
 termination, the State has done all that it can 
 do constitutionally to give the residents of this 
 city cheaper gas. 
 
 Corporations have been prohibited from 
 contributing to political campaign funds. 
 
 The law as to perjury has been made more 
 stringent. 
 
 Corrupt lobbying has been made more diffi 
 cult, and the honorable presentation of argu 
 ment relating to legislative measures has been 
 promoted by a statute compelling the registra 
 tion of persons and the filing of statements 
 of compensation paid. 
 
 Good roads have been provided for. 
 
 An Act has been passed extending the lia 
 bility of railroads for personal injuries suffered 
 by employees. 
 
 The Liquor License Law has been amended 
 
12 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 so as to abolish the iniquities which had grown 
 up in connection with the so-called Raines 
 Law hotels. 
 
 The business of life insurance, of vital con 
 sequence to the security of our homes, has 
 been purged of its abuses and placed under 
 restrictions conserving the interests of policy- 
 holders. 
 
 Our great life insurance companies which 
 were mutual in theory have been made so in 
 fact and the policyholders have been given 
 free opportunity to elect their representatives. 
 
 And in connection with the proceedings 
 which led to these legislative measures the 
 attention of the country has been directed to 
 correct standards of business morality and 
 the conscience of the people has been aroused 
 to a more insistent demand for the strict dis 
 charge of fiduciary obligation and for honesty 
 in public and private life. 
 
 It is proper that we should rejoice, and 
 we do frankly rejoice, that while these reforms 
 had the support of the sentiment of the State, 
 they were accomplished under the Republican 
 administration. And apart from his official 
 relation to the legislation to which I have 
 referred, it is with special pleasure that I 
 refer to the cordial support of which I was 
 
Nomination for Governor, 1906 13 
 
 constantly made aware during the gas and 
 insurance investigations on the part of Gov 
 ernor Frank W. Higgins. 
 
 What do we find in opposition to us ? 
 
 A masquerade. An Independence League, 
 whose independence has been betrayed, and a 
 so-called but spurious Democratic party which 
 has violated every principle of Democratic 
 government. 
 
 No one can deny us the right to pay just 
 tribute to " Jeffersonian Democrats" or to 
 " Lincoln Republicans." Our contest is not 
 with them and the candidates opposed to us 
 are not of them. Vain is it for our opponents 
 to parade in the livery of virtue. Empty are 
 their professions and hollow their declarations 
 and promises. 
 
 If you would know the sort of administra 
 tion we should have in the event of their suc 
 cess, look at the Buffalo Convention, for there 
 you will find their methods mirrored 
 their motive, selfishness, and their method, 
 intrigue. 
 
 We test the sincerity of their assertion of 
 independence by their efforts to procure the 
 Democratic nomination. 
 
 We test the sincerity of their denunciation 
 of bosses by their deals with bosses. 
 
14 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 We test the sincerity of their appeals to 
 American ideals by their despotic proceedings. 
 
 We test the sincerity of their attacks upon 
 the use of money in politics by their use of 
 money in politics. 
 
 We test the sincerity of their devotion to 
 the interests of the people by their efforts 
 to foment disorder and exploit ignorance in 
 the interest of selfish ambition. 
 
 What, then, is the supreme issue of this 
 campaign ? It is not an issue of the Repub 
 lican record. It is not an issue of Republican 
 principles or of Democratic principles. It is 
 not a partisan issue at all. It is the vital issue 
 of decent government. It is an issue which 
 shall array on one side all lovers of truth, of 
 sobriety, and of honest reform, be they Repub 
 licans, Democrats, or Independents. 
 
 The question is whether the unholy alliance 
 that succeeded at Buffalo shall capture the 
 State of New York. 
 
 Loyal, then, as we are to the Republican 
 party, we stand to-night upon a broader plat 
 form, claiming as a right the support of all 
 good citizens. For while we are Republicans, 
 we are citizens first, and in this campaign we 
 stand for the honor of the State. 
 
 In my message to the Convention I stated 
 
Nomination for Governor, 1906 15 
 
 that if elected it would be my ambition to give 
 the State a " sane, efficient, and honorable 
 administration free from taint of bossism or 
 of servitude to any private interest." 
 
 This is my position in a nut-shell. 
 
 It will be an unbossed administration. I 
 believe in party organization in clean, effi 
 cient organization. I promise all members of 
 the party fair treatment and just consideration. 
 No individual, or group of individuals, and 
 no private interest will be permitted to dictate 
 my policy. I shall decide and act according 
 to my conscience and as I believe the public 
 interest requires. 
 
 I promise an honest administration. 
 
 It will not be necessary for anyone to pay 
 one cent to defeat what is called "strike" 
 legislation. There will be no excuse for the 
 improper expenditure of money upon that 
 ground. 
 
 On the other hand, so far as in me lies every 
 effort to obstruct just and impartial adminis 
 tration, or to procure legislation or depart 
 mental action for the benefit of any individual 
 or corporation in opposition to the public wel 
 fare, or to prevent action or legislation which 
 the people should have, will be exposed and 
 frustrated. 
 
1 6 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 No interest, however prominent , will receive 
 any consideration except that to which upon 
 the merits of the case it may be entitled, when 
 viewed in the light of the supreme interest of 
 the people. 
 
 It will be my aim to make the administration 
 of the government efficient and economical. I 
 am not committed to specific measures. I prom 
 ise an examination, careful and impartial, of all 
 matters within the scope of my authority and 
 such action as my honest judgment shall approve. 
 
 I am deeply interested in all efforts to 
 better the condition of our working men. 
 Every practical measure for the real benefit of 
 labor will have my cordial support. It would 
 be difficult to point to a more important field 
 of legislation than that illustrated by the Acts 
 relating to tenement-houses, to sweat-shops, to 
 child labor, and to hours of labor. These are 
 important contributions to the cause and their 
 provisions should be effectively administered. 
 I believe in the thorough enforcement of the 
 Labor Laws, and shall favor such appropria 
 tions and such equipment as will admit of their 
 proper execution. 
 
 I shall spare no effort to make effective the 
 reforms in the business of life insurance so 
 essential to the interests of policyholders. 
 
Nomination for Governor, 1906 17 
 
 I promise the enforcement of the law with 
 equal severity and equal justice to all, rich 
 and poor, corporations and individuals. 
 
 We are all members of one body politic. 
 We could not separate our interests if we 
 tried. We desire to preserve the opportuni 
 ties for individual initiative and the rewards 
 of ability, industry, and integrity. We desire to 
 protect the government, with its guaranties 
 of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 
 from being used by any person or combination 
 of persons to promote a selfish interest at the 
 expense of the other members of the com 
 munity. We desire to enforce the laws we 
 have and to enact such additional laws as may 
 be required to secure equal privileges and 
 opportunities and to prevent any one person 
 or class of persons from being made the victim 
 of oppression. We believe in open discussion 
 and responsible criticism. But efforts to make 
 discontent serve self-interest, to create class 
 hatred, to distort the good and to exaggerate 
 the evil, are subversive of free institutions 
 and tend to anarchy. 
 
 We make our appeal to the common sense 
 of the American people, which has never failed 
 to express itself decisively in a great crisis. 
 We are pledged to achieve reforms in the 
 
1 8 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 American manner, in accordance with the 
 genius of our institutions, and with love of 
 truth and even-handed justice. 
 
 It is in this spirit and with these pledges 
 alone that I accept the nomination. 
 
III. 
 
 Inaugural Address, Albany, N. Y., Janu 
 ary i, 1907. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : I assume the office of 
 Governor without other ambition than to 
 serve the people of the State. I have not 
 coveted its powers nor do I permit myself to 
 shrink from its responsibilities. Sensible of 
 its magnitude and of my own limitations, I 
 undertake the task of administration without 
 illusion. But you do not require the impos 
 sible. You have bound me to earnest and 
 honest endeavor in the interest of all the 
 people according to the best of my ability 
 and that obligation, with the help of God, 
 I shall discharge. 
 
 We have reason to congratulate ourselves 
 that, coincident with our prosperity, there is 
 an emphatic assertion of popular rights and a 
 keen resentment of public wrongs. There is 
 no panacea in executive or legislative action 
 for all the ills of society which spring from the 
 
 19 
 
20 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 frailties and defects of the human nature of 
 its members. But this furnishes no excuse for 
 complaisant inactivity and no reason for the 
 toleration of wrongs made possible by defective 
 or inadequate legislation or by administrative 
 partiality or inefficiency. 
 
 It is sometimes said that we have laws 
 enough, and that the need is not of more law 
 but of better enforcement of the law. There 
 is abundant occasion for caution against hasty 
 legislation. Whether or not we have laws 
 enough, we certainly have enough of ill-con 
 sidered legislation, and the question is not as 
 to the quantity but as to the quality of our 
 present and of our proposed enactments. 
 
 The proper confines of legislative action are 
 not to be determined by generalities. Slowly 
 but surely the people have narrowed the op 
 portunities for selfish aggression, and the 
 demand of this hour, and of all hours, is not 
 allegiance to phrases, but sympathy with every 
 aspiration for the betterment of conditions 
 and a sincere and patient effort to understand 
 every need and to ascertain in the light of ex 
 perience the means best adapted to meet it. 
 Each measure proposed must ultimately be 
 tested by critical analysis of the particular 
 problem, the precise mischief alleged and the 
 
Inaugural Address, 1907 21 
 
 adequacy of the proffered remedy. It is the 
 capacity for such close examination without 
 heat or disqualifying prejudice which distin 
 guishes the constructive effort from vain en 
 deavors to change human nature by changing 
 the forms of government. 
 
 It must freely be recognized that many of 
 the evils of which we complain have their 
 source in the law itself, in privileges carelessly 
 granted, in opportunities for private aggran 
 dizement at the expense of the people reck 
 lessly created, in failure to safeguard our 
 public interests by providing means for just 
 regulation of those enterprises which depend 
 upon the use of public franchises. Wherever 
 the law gives unjust advantage, wherever it 
 fails by suitable prohibition or regulation to 
 protect the interests of the people, wherever 
 the power derived from the State is turned 
 against the State, there is not only room but 
 urgent necessity for the assertion of the 
 authority of the State to enforce the com 
 mon right. 
 
 The growth of our population and the 
 necessary increase in our charitable and cor 
 rectional work, the great enterprises under 
 State control, our canals, our highways, our 
 forest preserves, the protection of the public 
 
22 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 health, the problems created by the congestion 
 of population in our great cities, lead to a con 
 stant extension of governmental activity from 
 which we cannot have, and we would not seek, 
 escape. 
 
 This extension compels the strictest insist 
 ence upon the highest administrative stand 
 ards. We are a government of laws and not 
 of men. We subordinate individual caprice to 
 defined duty. The essentials of our liberties 
 are expressed in constitutional enactments re 
 moved from the risk of temporary agitation. 
 But the security of our government, despite its 
 constitutional guaranties, is found in the intel 
 ligence and public spirit of its citizens and in 
 its ability to call to the work of administration 
 men of single-minded devotion to the public 
 interests, who make unselfish service to the 
 State a point of knightly honor. 
 
 If in administration we make the standard 
 efficiency and not partisan advantage, if in ex 
 ecuting the laws we deal impartially, if in mak 
 ing the laws there is fair and intelligent action 
 with reference to each exigency, we shall dis 
 arm reckless and selfish agitators and take 
 from the enemies of our peace their vantage 
 ground of attack. 
 
 It is my intention to employ my constitu- 
 
Inaugural Address, 1907 23 
 
 tional powers to this end. I believe in the 
 sincerity and good sense of the people. I be 
 lieve that they are intent on having govern 
 ment which recognizes no favored interests 
 and which is not conducted in any part for 
 selfish ends. They will not be, and they 
 should not be, content with less. 
 
 Relying upon your support and hoping to 
 deserve your continued confidence, with the 
 single desire to safeguard your interests and 
 to secure the honorable administration of the 
 office to which you have called me, I now enter 
 upon the discharge of its duties. 
 
IV. 
 
 Speech at the Dinner of the Republican 
 Club of the City of New York, October 
 18, 1907. 
 
 Nearly twenty years ago I joined this club. 
 It was the first political organization with which 
 I became identified. Many of you have been 
 my personal friends. It was in this building 
 that I accepted the nomination for Governor 
 and stated the issues which were regarded 
 as paramount in the last campaign. It was 
 under your auspices that, after the election, on 
 an occasion which for the warmth of its greet 
 ing and the cordiality of its good wishes will 
 never be forgotten, I attempted to set forth 
 the principles which should govern my admin 
 istration. Related as I am to this club by such 
 intimate and sentimental associations, it is es 
 pecially gratifying to have this opportunity of 
 meeting with you. And I may be pardoned 
 if I speak in a somewhat personal vein. 
 
 I shall not attempt to recount in any detailed 
 
 24 
 
New York, October 18, 1907 25 
 
 or comprehensive manner what was accom 
 plished at the last session of the Legislature. 
 It was a long session, but one remarkable 
 for the importance of the general legislation 
 enacted, and it reflected great credit upon the 
 Legislature. 
 
 One of the fundamental purposes of the ad 
 ministration is to vindicate the adequacy of our 
 institutions, to put an end to abuses without 
 tumult or disorder, without injustice or dema- 
 goguery, and in a patient, deliberate, but none 
 the less vigorous manner to insist upon the 
 recognition and enforcement of public rights 
 by availing ourselves to the utmost of the ex 
 isting machinery of government and by making 
 such new provision as the interests of the 
 people may require. A difficult problem of first 
 importance was presented in connection with 
 our public service corporations. It was our 
 object to remove this from the field of reckless 
 agitation and to provide, to the fullest extent 
 consistent with constitutional requirements, 
 methods of investigation and redress through 
 which the public obligations of reasonable, im 
 partial, and adequate service could be enforced, 
 and public safety and convenience be con 
 served. Our Public Service Commissions Law 
 provides the necessary machinery and powers, 
 
26 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 to the use of which have been called men owing 
 no allegiance to any special interest, unembar 
 rassed by either financial or political obliga 
 tion, who are devoting themselves with a single 
 purpose to the protection of the rights of the 
 people. Means have been provided to prevent 
 the repetition of the wrongs which have been 
 committed in the past, and through the use of 
 the powers governing the issue of bonds and 
 stocks, through insistence upon proper methods 
 of bookkeeping, through the prescribed super 
 vision of the transactions of these corporations, 
 it is believed that necessary publicity will be 
 secured, that the rights of investors will be 
 safeguarded, and that the public will be pro 
 tected from the reckless exploits of the un 
 scrupulous who hitherto have had their way 
 without effective restraint. 
 
 I believe most thoroughly in the efficient 
 regulation of these public service corporations 
 in the interest of the public. I believe that 
 their transactions should be conducted in the 
 light of day and under the public eye, that 
 they should be compelled to furnish the service 
 which they are bound by their charters to ren 
 der, and that all their public obligations should 
 rigorously be enforced. 
 
 I also believe in the reign of justice and in 
 
New York, October 18, 1907 27 
 
 the patient consideration of every question to 
 the end that it may be settled in a spirit of 
 fairness. I have no more confidence in venge 
 ful methods and arbitrary legislation in those 
 political grafters who endeavor to make selfish 
 profit out of public wrongs than I have in 
 the sycophants of corporate power. Nothing 
 is permanent but truth and justice. And to 
 attain it, in view of our human imperfec 
 tions and inherent limitations, we must address 
 ourselves unceasingly to this end, content only 
 with the award of our best judgment after 
 a thorough understanding of the matter with 
 which we attempt to deal. Accordingly I ad 
 vocated a measure containing a full grant 
 of power to secure the right determination of 
 each matter and to compel obedience to the 
 requirements of the law. And at the same 
 time I opposed arbitrary measures framed 
 without consideration and reckless of conse 
 quences. 
 
 It is also important that those who obtain 
 privileges from the State should make due 
 return to the State. In connection with our 
 water powers a precedent has been established 
 and consideration is now being given to the 
 whole question of the development of the 
 water powers of the State, so that what 
 
28 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 belongs to the people may be wisely used for 
 their benefit upon just terms. 
 
 The legislation of the last session had re- 
 
 o 
 
 gard not only to metropolitan problems, to 
 evils afflicting commerce, but also to the needs 
 of our great rural communities. The highway 
 legislation enacted in accordance with the 
 recommendations of the State Grange, and 
 the consideration by the legislative committee 
 now sitting of questions affecting the main 
 tenance and construction of roads, promise to 
 put these important matters upon a better basis 
 than ever before. The Labor Department 
 has been strengthened, and legislation in rela 
 tion to hours of labor, child labor, and condi 
 tions of labor has been enacted. Our Corrupt 
 Practices Act has been improved, and we are 
 looking forward to needed changes in our 
 methods of nomination and election. 
 
 I cannot dwell upon these matters at this 
 time, but I wish to express my appreciation of 
 the labor and the support, in and out of the 
 Legislature, which have had their result in 
 the important enactments to some of which 
 I have briefly referred. 
 
 Now, with reference to matters of adminis 
 tration, it has been sought to conduct the 
 public affairs solely in the interest of the 
 
New York, October 18, 1907 29 
 
 people and not in behalf of any special interest 
 or for selfish purposes, and not for partisan 
 advantage save as fidelity and efficiency may 
 have their due reward in public confidence. 
 This may seem a counsel of perfection, and of 
 course human nature is not changed by official 
 relations. But the welfare of the State de 
 pends upon the maintenance of this standard, 
 and if there is one thing more than another 
 for which I desire the present administration 
 to stand, it is for disinterestedness in public 
 
 service. 
 
 To avoid any possibility of misapprehension 
 regarding my own course, I may say this fur 
 ther word : I do not seek any public office. 
 The majority of people doubtless think that 
 the distinction and power of office are an 
 irresistible attraction. If you had been con 
 stantly in my company during the past nine 
 months you would see that another point of 
 view is quite possible. To me public office 
 means a burden of responsibility a burden of 
 incessant toil at times almost intolerable 
 which under honorable conditions and at the 
 command of the people it may be a duty and 
 even a pleasure to assume, but is far from be 
 ing an object of ambition. I have not sought, 
 nor shall I seek, directly or indirectly, to 
 
30 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 influence the selection or the vote of any dele 
 gate to any convention, and with reference 
 to the action of any delegate to any conven 
 tion there will be no suggestion or thought of 
 influence, protest, or reprisal in the Executive 
 Chamber. 
 
 Those whom I have appointed to office 
 have been counselled to have sole regard to 
 the efficiency of the work of their depart 
 ments. I have asked no man for favors, but 
 on the contrary I have constantly insisted that 
 the work of government shall be carried on 
 not with reference to the selfish advantage of 
 any one but exclusively in the interest of the 
 people. 
 
 It has been stated that I have not paid 
 sufficient attention to those who are politically 
 active and who bear the burden and heat of 
 the day in political campaigns. It has been 
 said that I regard political activity as a dis 
 qualification for public office. Now no cause 
 can be advanced without hard work and it 
 must be the object of zealous devotion. I 
 esteem those who in an honorable manner work 
 for the party. Political activity by virtue of 
 the experience and knowledge of affairs gained 
 in it, so far from being a disqualification, may 
 be a most important qualification for office. 
 
New York, October 18, 1907 31 
 
 But I want that political activity to be of 
 such a character as to leave a man free and 
 independent in the dignity of his manhood 
 to perform the duties of office, if appointed, 
 unembarrassed by improper influences and un 
 affected by accumulated obligations. We want 
 in office men adapted to the office, with the 
 character and the capacity which will enable 
 them to discharge its duties, and if they can 
 call political experience to their aid so much 
 the better, so long as in that experience they 
 have maintained their individuality and self- 
 respect and have remained worthy of the pub 
 lic confidence. This is a question of character 
 and not of environment ; a question of one s 
 conception of and fidelity to duty. 
 
 Talking in this personal vein I may say that 
 I have steadfastly refrained from becoming 
 associated in any manner with factional con 
 troversies. I have no connection with or in 
 terest in the ambitions or efforts of rivals for 
 political preferment or political leadership in 
 any locality or in the State at large. I desire 
 to see party activities conducted honorably, 
 the freest expression of popular choice, and to 
 have party organization represent the untram 
 melled wish of the members of the party 
 without any interference on the part of the 
 
32 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Executive. To this end I have favored the 
 adoption of a plan for direct nominations and 
 have favored a permissive bill so that the 
 plan could have a fair trial in the com 
 munities where it has the support of public 
 sentiment. 
 
 It is of great importance in my judgment 
 that the discharge of the duties of the gov 
 ernorship should not be embarrassed by at 
 tempts at political management. Such is the 
 power of the office that it lends itself easily 
 to efforts at political control, and such a use of 
 the office is, I believe, fraught with danger to 
 the interests of the people of the State. It 
 is far better that the Governor should exercise 
 his office in the interest of the people without 
 being embarrassed by the exigency of main 
 taining control of party machinery. And as a 
 party man he will serve his party best in office 
 by adhering strictly to his duties and main 
 taining the highest standards of impartial ad 
 ministration. It may be well that he should 
 become the exponent of the principles and 
 policies in furtherance of which he may have 
 been elected. But his strength for their ad 
 vancement in popular approval and in the 
 adoption which should rest upon that approval 
 will soon be lost if he permits himself to 
 
New York, October 18, 1907 33 
 
 take part in contests for office or for party 
 representation. 
 
 I am frequently asked to express approval 
 or disapproval of party action or of particular 
 candidacies. Should I do so, it would fairly 
 be incumbent upon me to pronounce upon 
 such action or candidacies in advance and thus 
 to attempt to determine the course to be pur 
 sued. If this were done in one case, it would 
 be inevitable that it should be done in many 
 cases, with consequent responsibility. If such 
 responsibility be assumed, it must be accom 
 panied by action by such attention to mat 
 ters of management as would be commensurate 
 with the responsibility and would justify its 
 assumption. The result is certain. Experi 
 ence shows you cannot stop short of it. If 
 such a course be taken, either the Governor 
 and he cannot separate himself from his office 
 will be in undisputed control of party manage 
 ment and become a party boss, or he will be 
 involved in continual contests for the mainte 
 nance of his political influence and prestige. 
 
 Now I do not aim to be a party boss. I 
 want simply to be Governor during my term. 
 The only alternative to the course that I have 
 criticised is to divorce the governorship from 
 political entanglements, to keep its influence 
 
34 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 free from controversies that do not concern the 
 office. And my conception of the duties, the 
 responsibilities, and the power for good of that 
 office forbids me from throwing its weight or 
 attempting to exercise its power except for 
 the purpose of performing its constitutional 
 functions. 
 
 I have also frequently commented upon the 
 importance of constant practical recognition of 
 the limits assigned under our system of gov 
 ernment to the exercise of legislative, judicial, 
 and executive powers. I have no desire to 
 usurp the function of the Legislature in any 
 degree. It is my privilege and duty to recom 
 mend to the Legislature such matters as I 
 deem expedient. And when a matter is 
 deemed to be expedient it is my duty to urge 
 it as vigorously as I may. It is also my duty 
 to pass upon the bills that come before me, 
 and, when I believe that a measure is contrary 
 to the interests of the State, to express my 
 disapproval in the constitutional manner. But 
 it is not my province to attempt to curtail the 
 privileges of the Legislature or to seek to 
 control its action, except as it may be influ 
 enced by the expression of sound opinion 
 and by recommendations supported by the 
 people of the State. 
 
New York, October 18, 1907 35 
 
 I desire to see our legislative halls filled 
 with men of strength and independence, 
 men yielding to no influence and subject to 
 no control but that of reason and conscience 
 and an honest conception of public duty. 
 Undoubtedly opposition sometimes takes the 
 name of independence when it only expresses 
 servility to interests which cannot be openly 
 espoused. Of such counterfeit independence 
 which attempts in the interest of special privi 
 lege to balk efforts at honest government, I 
 do not speak. There are important measures 
 to be considered by the next Legislature. I 
 do not ask any blind or servile following. 
 I ask simply for honest consideration in the 
 light of reason and for that support which 
 men of rectitude, faithful to their oaths as 
 legislators, true to their duty as representatives 
 of the people, can give with a clear conscience. 
 
 Fellow Republicans : the future is bright 
 with hope. By his vigorous administration, 
 his virility, his broad humanity, and his de 
 termined opposition to notorious abuses, our 
 fellow citizen, the distinguished President of 
 the Republic, has won the hearts of the peo 
 ple. We have not only his example, but we 
 know that he is and has been in cordial sym 
 pathy with every effort for efficient adminis- 
 
36 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 tration, for the correction of evil, and for the 
 improvement of our laws. The Republican 
 party has been a party of ideals, of masterful 
 leaders, and of constructive power. We are 
 proud that we are members of it. It is a 
 national party, but its potency in national 
 affairs inevitably depends in large degree upon 
 its zealous pursuit in State affairs of those 
 ideals of disinterested and capable administra 
 tion which are treasured by the people irre 
 spective of party. In this State our highest 
 duty to the party is to bring to public service 
 men who are resolute, efficient, and single- 
 minded, and to insure the exercise of govern 
 mental powers in the interest of all the people. 
 Discharging this duty, the party cannot fail to 
 enlarge the area of its support, and the suc 
 cesses of the future will far transcend the 
 distinction of its past accomplishments. 
 
V. 
 
 Correspondence with James S. Lehmaier 
 of New York City. 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN CLUB OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
 54 and 56 West 4Oth Street 
 
 NEW YORK, January 18, 1908. 
 
 HON. CHARLES E. HUGHES, 
 ALBANY, N. Y. 
 
 My Dear Governor : 
 
 At a recent meeting of the Republican Club of the 
 City of New York, very largely attended, a resolution 
 was adopted with practical unanimity strongly urging 
 the next Republican National Convention to nominate 
 you for the office of President of the United States, and 
 to that end inviting the co-operation of Republicans 
 generally. 
 
 The president of the Club has appointed a Committee 
 of twenty-five to carry out the purpose of the resolution. 
 
 The Committee has entered upon the duties assigned 
 to it and its efforts have met with a most gratifying 
 public response. 
 
 Under the circumstances, it has seemed to us that 
 some expression from you would be timely. 
 
 As Chairman of this Committee and in the hope that 
 37 
 
38 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 this suggestion may meet with your approval, I write to 
 inquire whether you will meet your fellow members of 
 the Republican Club at its Club-house at such time as 
 may suit your convenience. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 JAMES S. LEHMAIER. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK 
 EXECUTIVE CHAMBER 
 
 ALBANY, January 21, 1908. 
 
 MR. JAMES S. LEHMAIER, 
 
 Chairman of Committee, Republican Club, 
 54 West 4oth Street, New York City. 
 
 My Dear Mr. Lehmaier : 
 
 Your letter of the i8th has been received. I am 
 deeply sensible of the honor conferred upon me by my 
 fellow members of the Republican Club in the passage 
 of the resolution to which you refer, and it will give me 
 pleasure to accept the invitation. In accepting it, it is 
 proper for me to re-state my position : 
 
 It is my desire that the sentiment of the party shall 
 have the freest expression, and that such action shall be 
 taken as will be for its best interests. 
 
 I do not seek office nor shall I attempt to influence the 
 selection or vote of any delegate. The State adminis 
 tration must continue to be impartial and must not be 
 tributary to any candidacy. 
 
 I have no interest in any fractional controversy, and 
 desire above all things that there shall be deliberation, 
 honest expression of the party will, and harmony of 
 effort. 
 
Correspondence with J. S. Lehmaier 39 
 
 I cannot fail to recognize the great honor which the 
 nomination would confer or the obligation of service 
 which it would impose. Nor should I care to be thought 
 lacking in appreciation of the confidence and esteem 
 which prompt the efforts of those who sincerely desire 
 to bring it about. The matter is one for the party to 
 decide, and whatever its decision I shall be content. 
 
 I shall be glad to meet with the members of the 
 Club as you suggest, and to make such further statement 
 as may be appropriate. In view of the engagements 
 already made I do not see how it will be possible to 
 have such a meeting before the evening of January 3151, 
 And if that date suits your convenience, arrangements 
 for the meeting may be made accordingly. 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 CHARLES E. HUGHES. 
 
VI. 
 
 Address before the Republican Club of the 
 City of New York, January 31, 1908. 
 
 Fellow Members of the Republican Club : 
 
 In the adoption of the resolutions which 
 preceded the call of this meeting, you have 
 conferred upon me an honor of which I cannot 
 express adequately my appreciation. It is 
 enhanced by the fact that it comes from old 
 friends and associates the fellow members of 
 an organization with which it has been my 
 privilege to be identified for twenty years, and 
 from a body of loyal and earnest Republicans 
 whose zeal for the welfare of the Republican 
 party and unselfish devotion to its interests 
 are known throughout the country. I cherish 
 your friendship. I esteem your confidence. 
 And in recognition of both, and of the obliga 
 tion imposed upon me by your action, I shall 
 define my position. 
 
 Since I took office I have sought to make 
 
 it clear that I would not become involved in 
 
 40 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 41 
 
 factional strife or use the powers of office to 
 further any personal interest. I am, and have 
 been constantly, solicitous that the administra 
 tion of the affairs of this State shall not be 
 embarrassed by collateral considerations, and 
 that every question shall be presented and 
 decided upon its merits, unaffected by sug 
 gestion of ulterior motives. For this reason I 
 have avoided gratuitous discussion of questions 
 foreign to my official duty. But when, in 
 justice to those who have honored me with 
 their confidence, and to the party which, as we 
 all desire, should act freely and with full in 
 formation, it becomes a duty to speak, I have 
 no desire to remain silent. Nor should I in 
 any event care to preserve availability at the 
 expense of candor. 
 
 The Republican party is the party of sta 
 bility, and the party of progress. Its funda 
 mental policies have determined the course of 
 the Nation s history. Largely, they are now 
 without serious challenge and are removed 
 from any controversy the issue of which might 
 be regarded as doubtful. They include the 
 policy of Union in opposition to every divisive 
 sentiment or disrupting force. They include 
 the policy of establishing the national credit 
 upon a sure foundation, in opposition to those 
 
42 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 financial vagaries which, paraded at one time 
 with solemn argument and fervid appeal as 
 the hope of the people, are now by common 
 consent relegated to our museum of political 
 absurdities, wholly amusing save for our keen 
 appreciation of the peril we narrowly escaped. 
 And they also include the policy of protection 
 to American industry in the interest of the 
 wage-earners of our country and in order to 
 safeguard those higher American standards of 
 living which our people w r ill never permit to 
 be reduced. The Republican party has main 
 tained the national honor, and under its direc 
 tion American diplomacy has attained the 
 highest levels of honorable purpose and dis 
 tinguished achievement. The great names of 
 the party are the priceless possession of the 
 American people, who, irrespective of partisan 
 affiliations, are grateful that the violence of 
 opposition did not deprive the Nation of their 
 leadership. 
 
 The Republican party to-day is charged 
 with weighty responsibility. By reason of its 
 ascendancy in Congress nothing can be accom 
 plished save through its instrumentality. It 
 has been the party of constructive statesman 
 ship, and with its present opportunities its 
 destiny is in its own keeping. 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 43 
 
 We are contemplating a new administration 
 at the close of one which to a degree almost 
 unparalleled has impressed the popular imagi 
 nation and won the confidence of the people. 
 The country is under lasting obligation to 
 President Roosevelt for his vigorous opposition 
 to abuses and for the strong impulse he has 
 given to movements for their correction. Dif 
 ferences of opinion now as always exist with 
 regard to the best means of solving some of 
 the extremely difficult problems that are pre 
 sented. But those who earnestly desire prog 
 ress and the establishment of our security on 
 its necessary foundations of fair dealing and 
 recognition of equal rights, appreciate the 
 great service he has rendered and the funda 
 mental importance of the purposes he has had 
 in view. We shall have in the next campaign 
 a notable vantage ground, gained through the 
 general admiration of his strong personality 
 and the popular appreciation of the intensity 
 of his desire to promote the righteous conduct 
 of affairs and the welfare of his fellow men. 
 
 The most impressive revelation of modern 
 history is the picture it affords of the wide 
 spread struggle against every form of oppres 
 sion and exploitation, and the onward march 
 of the people toward the realization of the 
 
44 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 ideals of self-government. This movement, 
 sometimes checked by arbitrary power, some 
 times impeded by ignorance,sometimes suffering 
 from the perversions of selfish ambition, some 
 times under the urgings of passion running 
 into wanton excesses with their inevitable 
 reactions, nevertheless broadly viewed is an 
 irresistible movement against which in the 
 long run the opposition of class or of privilege 
 will be powerless to prevail. There is no rest 
 in human affairs. The watchword of humanity 
 is progress. And the administration of gov 
 ernment, in proportion to the enlightenment 
 of the people, will reflect in ever-increasing 
 degree their insistence upon the enjoyment of 
 equal civil rights and upon the elimination of 
 all evils which threaten equality of opportunity. 
 In this country of extraordinary resources 
 there are presented to an unprecedented de 
 gree the advantages of a free society. We 
 are blessed with a system of government 
 admirably adapted to maintain the rights 
 and to safeguard the opportunities of all. It 
 has not been designed for the benefit of a 
 few, but for the many. It is not a govern 
 ment for any class; it is not a government 
 for the holders of privilege ; it is not a gov 
 ernment for the talented or for the rich ; it is 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 45 
 
 a government for the people, and it derives 
 its strength and its assurance of permanence 
 from the fundamental conception of equality 
 before the law, and from the appreciation of 
 the common rights of manhood. 
 
 Our government is based upon the princi 
 ples of individualism and not upon those of 
 socialism. It was not established to substitute 
 one form of despotism for another. It was 
 founded to attain the aims of liberty, of lib 
 erty under law, but wherein each individual 
 for the development and the exercise of his 
 individual powers might have the freest op 
 portunity consistent with the equal rights of 
 all others, and wherein the rewards of industry 
 and thrift, the gains of honest effort, might 
 be secure. 
 
 We do not seek to multiply the activities of 
 government so as to bring about vexatious 
 interference with liberty or to restrict legitimate 
 enterprise. We deprecate all unnecessary gov 
 ernmental action. But our individualism does 
 not justify unbridled license. Its aims may 
 demand, and frequently do demand, the inter 
 vention of government with necessary restric 
 tions and regulations not to curtail the liberty 
 of the people, but to protect it. Wherever, 
 in order to maintain civil rights, to secure the 
 
46 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 public from aggression, or to compel the per 
 formance of public obligation, the action of the 
 government as the organ of the popular will is 
 necessary, there its power should be firmly, 
 adequately, and impartially exercised. 
 
 Now I do not profess to be able to speak 
 the last word with regard to the questions 
 which confront us. Many of them are diffi 
 cult, and in the effort to reach true conclusions 
 mistakes may be inevitable. But before these 
 are dealt with specifically we may properly 
 make closer inquiry as to the principles which 
 should be the guide of our action and to which 
 we should render unquestioned allegiance. 
 
 What are the conditions, so far as govern 
 ment is concerned, of progress in the United 
 States ? 
 
 There must be the freest opportunity for 
 the honest expression of the popular will. To 
 this end every practicable means should be 
 employed to preserve the purity of the ballot. 
 Political contributions from corporations have 
 wisely been prohibited and publicity of cam 
 paign expenses should be enforced. The most 
 stringent measures should be adopted to pre 
 vent corrupt practices. 
 
 This is a representative government and 
 not a pure democracy. The latter would be 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 47 
 
 unworkable in a country of this magnitude. 
 Except with regard to fundamental questions 
 or matters comparatively simple, it is imprac 
 ticable for the electorate directly to express 
 its views. Our system presupposes the fidelity 
 of the chosen representatives of the people. I 
 believe in party government to enforce and 
 apply party principles ; I believe in the re 
 sponsibility of party administration in accord 
 ance with the policies announced in the party 
 platform. These policies are but the described 
 methods of public service and the defined 
 means believed to be conducive to the public 
 welfare. In short, I believe in fidelity to 
 principle, publicly professed, and in honorable 
 obedience to the oath of office. Upon the 
 fulfilment of these paramount fiduciary obli 
 gations, and upon the public intolerance of the 
 perversion of the authority conferred by the 
 people to the service of any private interest, 
 the safety of our institutions depends. 
 
 I also believe in securing the highest pos 
 sible degree of administrative efficiency. Our 
 first object should be to derive from existing 
 laws the maximum of benefit according to 
 their intention. The firmness and the impar 
 tiality of justice in the execution of the laws 
 insure that respect for law and order and that 
 
48 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 stability of government which conditions every 
 honorable enterprise and underlies the pros 
 perity of every man, whatever his work. 
 
 The battle for free institutions has been a 
 struggle against special privilege. It is not 
 won merely by the creation of new forms of 
 government. Against every attempt to make 
 government the instrument of selfish purposes 
 a free people must constantly be on the alert. 
 Every franchise granted by the people is a 
 privilege justified only by considerations of 
 the public welfare, and the conditions of its 
 exercise should be such as to insure the per 
 formance of public obligation. There must 
 be no encroachment on the common right for 
 the purpose of serving the interests of the few 
 at the expense of the many. 
 
 Of fundamental importance also is respect 
 for the rights of property. This is the security 
 of thrift. It is of even greater importance to 
 the poor than to the rich. The unlawful 
 acquisition of property should be prevented or 
 punished. The conditions underlying grants 
 of public franchises should be enforced. But 
 property lawfully acquired must be safe 
 guarded. 
 
 We are a nation of workers. Idlers are 
 comparatively few. Our people are employed 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 49 
 
 in a vast network of activities. We must 
 respect the demands of industry and be solici 
 tous to promote the welfare of those who in 
 agriculture, in manufacture, and in the various 
 enterprises incident to the exchanges of com 
 merce are contributing to the sum of national 
 effort. The prosperity of the nation means 
 the prosperity of its millions of toilers. We 
 are so interdependent that any disturbance or 
 dislocation has a far-reaching effect, and their 
 most injurious consequences are borne by 
 those least able to endure disaster the wage- 
 earners and the men of limited resources. 
 We desire to see the opportunities for labor 
 protected and enlarged ; the conditions of 
 labor improved ; the reasonable adjustment of 
 controversies ; and above all we should seek 
 to maintain stability and confidence, in order 
 that the talent of our people for productive 
 industry may have the widest scope for honor 
 able employment, and that we may enjoy to 
 the greatest possible extent that widely dif 
 fused prosperity and happiness to which we 
 are entitled by virtue of our resources and our 
 energy. 
 
 In this country progress cannot be made 
 save in harmony with our constitutional sys 
 tem. The Constitution in its entirety must 
 
50 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 be observed. The power derived from the 
 people must be exercised upon the conditions 
 which they have laid down. The functions 
 of each department of government executive, 
 legislative, and judicial are defined, and the 
 responsibilities of each department are fixed. 
 The people have not only thus marked out 
 the spheres and limited the powers of their 
 representatives, but the provisions of our Con 
 stitutions are also checks upon the hasty and 
 inconsiderate action of the people themselves. 
 According to our system, the controlling will 
 of the people is found in constitutional pro 
 visions, as interpreted and applied by the 
 courts, and these must remain effective until 
 the people change them by amending the 
 Constitution in the prescribed manner. 
 
 We must also recognize the division of 
 powers between the Federal and the State 
 governments. Through the latter, necessary 
 local autonomy is secured. It is essential to 
 the permanence of free institutions that each 
 community should attend to its particular 
 affairs ; and through the powers and responsi 
 bilities of local administration, independence, 
 public spirit, and capacity for self-government 
 are developed, which not only secure the en 
 forcement of local rights, but make possible 
 
New York, January 31,1 908 5 1 
 
 the just exercise of the powers of the cen 
 tral authority over those matters lying outside 
 the proper limits of local jurisdiction. 
 
 These considerations are more and not less 
 important because of the development of inter 
 state commerce and the powerful forces in the 
 world of business which in their practical oper 
 ation ignore State lines. And the necessary 
 extension of the activities of the Federal 
 Government as to matters inevitably committed 
 to its control should make us the more solici 
 tous that the administration of State govern 
 ments should show the highest degree of 
 efficiency. 
 
 There are two dangers. The one is that 
 serious evils of national scope may go un 
 checked because Federal power is not ex 
 ercised. The other lies in an unnecessary 
 exercise of Federal power, burdening the cen 
 tral authority with an attempted control which 
 would result in the impairment of proper local 
 autonomy, and extending it so widely as to 
 defeat its purpose. It must be remembered 
 that an evil is not the proper subject of Fed 
 eral cognizance merely because it may exist 
 in many States. All sorts of evils exist in 
 many States which should be corrected by the 
 exercise of local power, and they are not evils 
 
52 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 of Federal concern although they may be 
 widespread. 
 
 On the other hand, it cannot be regarded as 
 a policy of unwise centralization that, wherever 
 there is a serious evil demanding govern 
 mental correction which afflicts interstate 
 commerce and hence is beyond the control 
 of the States, the power of Congress should 
 unhesitatingly be exercised. 
 
 But we are not left to the consideration of 
 general principles of governmental action. 
 Congress has the power given to it by the 
 Constitution. It cannot, if it would, invade 
 the rights of the States. It has express 
 authority to regulate commerce among the 
 several States. The scope of the interstate 
 commerce clause and the boundaries of the 
 Federal powers which it authorizes are the 
 subject of determination by the Supreme 
 Court. Congress can act only within the 
 limits so fixed, and in acting within those 
 limits, the question is not one of power 
 but of the nature of the evil and of the appro 
 priate remedy for its cure. 
 
 Having stated these principles I shall define 
 briefly my position with regard to certain par 
 ticular questions. 
 
 There is no matter of greater importance 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 53 
 
 than the conservation and development of our 
 natural resources. It is of the most urgent 
 necessity that our forests should be protected, 
 and that these priceless treasures should be 
 preserved from ruthless destruction. All the 
 property of the people should be safeguarded 
 from spoliation. I am also deeply interested 
 in the development of inland waterways, to 
 provide increased and adequate facilities for 
 our growing commerce. We should further 
 do all in our power to extend the area of 
 productive activity through irrigation and suit 
 able plans of reclamation. The common right 
 in our public lands should be protected from 
 encroachment, and wherever governmental 
 power may properly be exercised the sole ob 
 ject should be the promotion of the general 
 welfare, and all schemes of rapacity should be 
 frustrated. 
 
 I do not believe in governmental ownership 
 of railroads. But regulation of interstate 
 transportation is essential to protect the peo 
 ple from unjust discriminations and to secure 
 safe, adequate, and impartial service upon 
 reasonable terms in accordance with the obli 
 gations of common carriers. In order to have 
 supervision which is both thorough and just 
 an administrative board is necessary. I may 
 
54 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 assume that my attitude with regard to this 
 matter is so well understood through my 
 recommendations in relation to the enact 
 ment of the Public Service Commissions Law 
 in this State that an extended statement is 
 unnecessary. 
 
 I approve the recent extension of the au 
 thority of the Interstate Commerce Commis 
 sion by what is known as the rate bill, and 
 I believe that the Commission should have the 
 most ample powers for purposes of investiga 
 tion and supervision, and for making rules and 
 orders, which will enable it to deal to the full 
 est extent possible, within constitutional limits, 
 with interstate transportation in all its phases. 
 
 This is a just policy. The power of Con 
 gress to fix rates for interstate transportation 
 so as to prevent improper discriminations and 
 to compel carriage upon reasonable terms is 
 undoubted. The sole question is how, and 
 under what circumstances, it shall be exercised. 
 But it is manifestly impossible for the legisla 
 tive body, on account of the conditions under 
 which it works, to make that thorough exami 
 nation of specific cases which in justice must 
 precede action. It may establish general 
 standards of conduct, but the exigencies of 
 particular cases can be met only by the pains- 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 55 
 
 taking consideration of an administrative 
 board. The alternative to this policy is either 
 the abandonment of regulation or sporadic 
 legislative intervention under the influence of 
 agitation and almost necessarily without proper 
 examination of the facts or recognition of the 
 different requirements of varied situations. 
 No one can properly complain because legal 
 machinery is provided for the rectification of 
 abuses. And the aim should be to make the 
 machinery adequate to the purpose of provid 
 ing redress for every grievance and to insist 
 upon standards of administration which will 
 secure intelligent and patient inquiry and 
 impartial enforcement of the law. 
 
 The Sherman Anti-trust Act should be clari 
 fied and made more explicit. The law may be 
 made stronger and more effective by being 
 made more definite. Sweeping condemnations, 
 of uncertain meaning, do not aid but rather 
 embarrass the prosecution of those who are 
 guilty of pernicious practices. Combinations 
 and practices in unreasonable restraint of trade 
 and which menace the freedom of interstate 
 commerce should be condemned in precise 
 terms. At the same time provision may well 
 be made for joint agreements, under proper 
 circumstances, as to railroad rates, which should 
 
56 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 be subject to the approval of the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission. 
 
 Various means have been suggested of 
 doubtful validity and still more doubtful utility 
 to prevent oppression through the conduct 
 of large enterprises, and to secure the enforce 
 ment of the law against illegal attempts to 
 monopolize and the various devices resorted 
 to in unlawful restraint of trade. In my judg 
 ment, the most effective course is explicit 
 definition of what is wrong and adequate 
 punishment of the guilty. Such laws, like laws 
 in general which are definite and supported 
 by public sentiment, are to a very large extent 
 self-executing. That is, they are generally 
 obeyed. 
 
 I am not in favor of punishment in the shape 
 of fines upon corporations, except for minor 
 offences. The burden of fines imposed upon 
 such corporations is either transferred to the 
 public or is borne by stockholders, the innocent 
 as well as the guilty. Nor am I impressed by 
 the argument that American juries will gen 
 erally be indisposed to convict where the evi 
 dence is clear, because the crime is punished 
 by imprisonment of the offenders. But if the 
 law be definite and the evidence warrants the 
 presentation of the case to the jury, it is better, 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 57 
 
 in my judgment, that the responsibility for 
 failure to convict should lie with the jury than 
 that conviction should be followed by penalties 
 which are either inadequate or bear unjustly 
 upon those who have had no complicity in the 
 offence. 
 
 I believe in a protective tariff. It is an es 
 tablished policy. Our opponents would not 
 undertake to present to the voters of the 
 country the issue of free trade. 
 
 A protective tariff is essential to the interests 
 of our wage-earners, in that it makes possible 
 the payment of wages on the scale to which 
 we are accustomed in this country and thus 
 maintains our American standards of living. 
 Hence the difference in the cost of produc 
 tion here and abroad is the fundamental 
 consideration. 
 
 But I do not believe in making this policy 
 a cover for exorbitant rates or for obtaining 
 special privileges from the government which 
 are not based upon consideration of the gen 
 eral welfare. I believe that the tariff should 
 be revised. And in order to effect whatever 
 readjustment may be necessary to make the 
 tariff schedules consistent with the principles 
 underlying the protective policy, I favor the 
 appointment of an expert commission, so that 
 
58 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the facts may be ascertained without delay and 
 that Congress may dispose of the matter in 
 the fairest possible manner. 
 
 So far as the matter is within the power of 
 Congress, the interests of labor should be safe 
 guarded and the conditions of labor improved. 
 I am in favor of the enactment of a law aptly 
 expressed, to apply exclusively to interstate 
 commerce, which would embody the princi 
 ples of the employers liability bill recently 
 declared unconstitutional because too broad. 
 I also approve the laws which have been 
 enacted with regard to safety appliances and 
 hours of labor in railroad service. The matter 
 of railroad accidents deserves special investi 
 gation, and every effort should be made to 
 obtain adequate information which will lead 
 to appropriate measures for the protection of 
 life and limb. 
 
 Wherever the government comes into direct 
 relation to labor, proper conditions with regard 
 to hours, wages, safety, and compensation for 
 accidents should be provided. 
 
 With regard to the Filipinos, we are placed 
 under the most sacred obligations. In justice 
 to them and in justice to ourselves, we must 
 omit no effort to prepare them for self-govern 
 ment. When they are able to govern them- 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 59 
 
 selves and are in a position to maintain their 
 independence, the American people will not 
 deny them the boon which we ourselves have 
 so highly prized. In the meantime, the work of 
 education and training must proceed, and 
 everything that can be done consistently with 
 the interests of our own people must be done 
 to promote their prosperity. 
 
 We are devoted to the interests of peace 
 and we cherish no policy of aggression. The 
 maintenance of our ideals is our surest protec 
 tion. It is our constant aim to live in friend 
 ship with all nations and to realize the aims of 
 a free government secure from the interrup 
 tions of strife and the wastes of war. It is 
 entirely consistent with these aims, and it is 
 our duty, to make adequate provision for our 
 defence and to maintain the efficiency of our 
 Army and Navy. And this I favor. 
 
 Within the limits of this address, it has been 
 possible to touch on only a few subjects which 
 from a National standpoint are worthy of con 
 sideration. But I have endeavored to say 
 enough to give suitable information of my 
 attitude. 
 
 We have no problems that cannot be solved. 
 Our citizens are intelligent and alert. There 
 are fresh evidences daily of quickened public 
 
60 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 spirit. The conscience of the people has been 
 aroused and their common sense is not im 
 paired. Through the lavish provision for 
 education and technical training, the un. 
 exampled opportunities for cultivation and 
 enjoyment, and the varied efforts of philan 
 thropy, we are making steady progress in the 
 improvement of the conditions of our life. 
 
 I do not believe in arbitrary action. We 
 desire prosperity. We are anxious that there 
 should be fair opportunities for all the work 
 ers of the land, for the extension of industry 
 and commerce, and that there should be the 
 widest diffusion of blessings among a con 
 tented people. 
 
 To attain these ends, the rule of the people 
 must be the rule of reason and every effort 
 must be dominated by the sense of justice. 
 We must be patient, impartial, and thorough ; 
 investigation must precede action ; good-will 
 must displace passion ; and the sole motive 
 must be to seek the truth and to do the right. 
 
 Fellow Republicans : I do not come before 
 you in any spirit of rivalry or self-seeking. 
 There are many Republicans who by virtue of 
 their character and distinguished services are 
 worthy of the highest honor the party can be 
 stow. I ask no favor and I make no claim. I 
 
New York, January 31, 1908 61 
 
 desire that the party shall act for its best 
 interest. 
 
 We must not underestimate the labors of 
 the next campaign. It will be a hard-fought 
 battle. We cannot expect victory unless we 
 are united, and nothing should be done to 
 imperil success in this State. I appeal to you, 
 in the name of the party to which you are all 
 loyal, to forget every personal difference and 
 to make the work which precedes the conven 
 tion a fitting preparation for the united effort 
 which later will be essential. 
 
 And let us not forget that the Republican 
 party does not exist for itself. Our efforts on 
 its behalf are justified by our conviction that 
 through the party we may render patriotic 
 service to the nation. Let this thought domi 
 nate our activities and love of country be the 
 inspiration and the motive of every partisan 
 effort. 
 
VII. 
 
 Address at the Union League Club Meet 
 ing in the Auditorium at Chicago, 
 Saturday, February 22, 1908. 
 
 This day has summoned us to render grate 
 ful tribute to supreme patriotic service. With 
 the progress of the years and the development 
 of our National life swells the obligation to 
 him through whose military genius independ 
 ence was won and through whose statesman 
 ship the foundations of the National structure 
 were securely laid. 
 
 But we do not simply commemorate vic 
 tories, even though they advanced a noble 
 cause. We do not gather merely to praise 
 tactics of strategy or daring, however brilliant 
 the exploit or notable the result. Nor is it 
 the skill of statecraft only which commands 
 our homage. These may have their appropri 
 ate recognition. But this day has a deeper 
 import. The victories of war and the leader 
 ship of peace were alike glorified by the 
 
 character of the victor and leader. 
 
 62 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 63 
 
 We venerate Washington because in su 
 preme test he vindicated manhood. The 
 standards of liberty were unsullied in his 
 hands. Whether amid the hardships of long 
 and discouraging campaigns or in the hours 
 of triumph, whether as burden-bearer or idol 
 of the people, he invariably exhibited the 
 same purity of motive, the same patriotic 
 devotion. Against all that is sordid and mean, 
 against all that is petty and unworthy, against 
 the ignoble contrivances and manipulations of 
 the cunning and the artful, against the graspings 
 of avarice and the schemings of selfishness, 
 against every effort to make power and office 
 contribute to personal gain, against all that is 
 or has been hateful and harmful in our politi 
 cal life, stands in majestic contrast the char 
 acter of Washington, an example and a 
 benediction, a treasury of memory and a secur 
 ity of hope, a character, the revelation of 
 which ennobled humanity and enriched the 
 world. 
 
 The lesson of this life may be wholly missed 
 by those who call with pride the battle-roll of 
 the Revolution or who recount his distinctions 
 and offices. It may make but slight impres 
 sion upon those who in the conventional man 
 ner exult in his deeds. It is a lesson we must 
 
64 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 all take to heart if we are to realize American 
 ideals. It is the lesson of the supremacy of 
 duty. It is the lesson of honor, of fidelity 
 to trust. It must be enforced in executive 
 chambers, in legislative halls, in courts of jus 
 tice, in newspaper offices, in banks, in trust 
 and insurance companies, in professional and 
 commercial life, in the marts of trade, in the 
 counting-room, and in the shop, by employer 
 and employed. 
 
 There is no legislative road to character. 
 If the spirit of Washington could permeate 
 our public and private life, we should neither 
 need nor seek governmental panacea. And it 
 is only in so far as in fact this spirit imbues 
 administration that the government of a free 
 people can perform its function. We shall 
 largely lose the value of the celebrations of 
 this day if we give our thought exclusively to 
 questions of governmental policy and omit 
 to emphasize the moral sources from which a 
 just government must derive its strength. 
 
 Washington did not seek power or prefer 
 ment. The sense of responsibility outweighed 
 the appreciation of distinction. When he was 
 appointed to the command of the Continental 
 forces he wrote to the President of Congress : 
 
 " Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 65 
 
 me in this appointment, yet I feel great distress from the 
 consciousness that my abilities and military experience 
 may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. 
 However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the 
 momentous duty and exert every power I possess in the 
 service for the support of the glorious cause. ... As 
 to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress that as 
 no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to 
 accept this arduous employment at the expense of my 
 domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make 
 any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my 
 expenses. Those I doubt not they will discharge, and 
 that is all I desire." 
 
 With tenacity of purpose that has never 
 been excelled, and an unconquerable spirit, he 
 addressed himself to his task ; and when, after 
 years of struggle, victory was won, he scorned 
 the temptations of power and yearned for 
 peaceful retirement. Perils could not terrify 
 him ; defeat could not dishearten him ; exer 
 tion did not exhaust him. Nor could success 
 undermine him or victory disturb his poise. 
 Duty never made her imperious demands upon 
 him in vain. But that he should turn an 
 opportunity for service or the advantages of 
 performance to his personal gain, was to him 
 unthinkable. 
 
 When prompted by the discontent of an 
 army which despite its victories Congress neg 
 lected, the suggestion that his successes and 
 
66 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 prestige might enable him by the exercise of 
 monarchial power to establish a firm and just 
 government, he replied : " Let me conjure you, 
 if you have any regard for your country, con 
 cern for yourself or posterity, or respect for 
 me, to banish these thoughts from your mind 
 and never communicate as from yourself or 
 any one else, a sentiment of the like nature." 
 
 Ending his military labors, he expected, as 
 he told his friends, to " move gently down the 
 stream of life until he slept with his fathers." 
 And when, after the adoption of the Constitu 
 tion, he was called as the head of the new 
 government to the constructive labors of peace, 
 he manifested the same modest dignity and 
 the same patriotic devotion which characterized 
 him when he had taken command of the army. 
 As he said: "When I had judged, upon the 
 best appreciation I was able to form of the 
 circumstances which related to myself, that it 
 was my duty to embark again on the tem 
 pestuous and uncertain ocean of public life, I 
 gave up all expectations of private happiness 
 in this world." And through the two terms 
 of service that followed, but one purpose ran ; 
 and that was firmly to establish the govern 
 ment and to leave nothing undone upon his 
 part which could promote the welfare of his 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 67 
 
 fellow citizens. He bequeathed to his country 
 men the priceless memory of service of ex 
 traordinary beneficence which had in it no 
 alloy of self-seeking or base motive. 
 
 Intelligent comparison of the conditions of 
 this day with those in times past cannot fail 
 to cause gratification and to beget confidence. 
 The evils which we lament should not blind 
 us to the progress which has been made and 
 is being made. 
 
 In the throes of the revolutionary struggle, 
 when it would be supposed that the supreme 
 cause of liberty and the valor and sacrifices of 
 great leaders would inflame all hearts with 
 patriotic ardor, Washington in an outburst of in 
 dignation at the indifference and venality which 
 in fact were exhibited, thus described the times 
 in a letter to Benjamin Harrison in December, 
 1778: 
 
 " If I was to be called upon to draw a picture of the 
 times and of Men, from what I have seen, and heard, 
 and in part know, I should in one word say that idleness, 
 dissipation & extravagance seems to have laid fast hold 
 of most of them. That speculation peculation and 
 an insatiable thirst for riches seems to have got the better 
 of every other consideration and almost of every order 
 of Men." 
 
 And about a year later he exclaimed : 
 
68 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 " But alas, virtue and patriotism are almost kicked out ! 
 Stock jobbing, speculation, engrossing, etc., etc., seems 
 to be the great business of the day & of the multitude, 
 whilst a virtuous few struggle, lament & suffer in silence, 
 though I hope not in vain." 
 
 They did not suffer in vain; and through 
 their labors and under the beneficent working 
 of the institutions which they founded each 
 generation has attained higher levels in char 
 acter and achievement. The " cordial, habit 
 ual, and immovable attachment" for the 
 Union has come to be cherished as Washing 
 ton desired. The name of " American," as 
 he ardently wished, does "exalt the just pride 
 of patriotism more than any appellation de 
 rived from local discriminations." A vast 
 development, an interweaving of interests, and 
 a facility of communication of which he could 
 not even dream, have given rise to a National 
 sentiment which is intense and dominating in 
 every part of the Union. 
 
 The country is morally sound. Its stand 
 ards of business were never higher. In this 
 land of industry with unexampled opportuni 
 ties for production and exchange, with an area 
 and a population enjoying advantages of dis 
 tribution free from artificial barriers of inter 
 course such as the world has never seen, the 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 69 
 
 men of business inevitably represent the intel 
 ligence and moral sentiment of the people. 
 They do not constitute a caste. They come 
 from every walk in life : from the farm, the 
 college, the counting-room, and the shop. 
 They represent every element in the popula 
 tion, native and foreign born, of every degree 
 of advantage and disadvantage in origin and 
 environment. Every stimulus to ambition, 
 every precept of morality, every counsel of 
 experience, every success and every disaster, 
 every lesson of the past, and the multiform 
 warnings of a world where truth and justice 
 alone win lasting victories, have helped to 
 shape their standards and to determine their 
 aims. And making all allowance for the ex 
 tremes of avarice and artifice, for the unwhole 
 some spectacles of exploitation and infidelity 
 to trust, without blinking any evil or glossing 
 over any wrong, the fact remains that the busi 
 ness men of the country are for the most part 
 honest men, representing fairly the moral 
 standards of the people. And never more 
 than to-day have they, taken as a whole, earn 
 estly desired that abuses shall be stopped, that 
 an end be put to corrupt dealings and unfair 
 practices, that gambling shall not parade in 
 business livery, and that American industry 
 
70 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and trade shall have free scope for develop 
 ment and extension along the lines of honor 
 able rivalry and with justice to stockholders, to 
 employees, and to the people at large. 
 
 There is a temporary slowing down of the 
 wheels of industry. Amid uncertainty and 
 hesitation, enterprise waits impatient. Men 
 in large numbers are unemployed who should 
 be employed, and new undertakings and ex 
 tensions of existing plants, which would pro 
 vide further opportunities for labor, are not 
 going forward as they should go forward. The 
 interests of industry are not the interests of a 
 class, but of all of the people. What the rich 
 man feels in the reduction of the value of his 
 securities, what those dependent upon the re 
 turns from investments feel in the impairment 
 of their income, the wage-earner feels still 
 more acutely as business contracts and the loss 
 of employment confronts him with starvation 
 save as charity, hateful to his self-respect, may 
 interpose. It is well to trace the economic 
 causes which have produced this condition, and 
 needed readjustments must be made. 
 
 But it is absolutely essential that we should 
 have the tonic of a wholesome confidence. 
 Not the confidence of ignorance or indiffer 
 ence, blind to wrong and deaf to appeals 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 71 
 
 against injustice, but the confidence which is 
 inspired by the vision of the forces of right and 
 a just appreciation of our material and moral 
 strength. Pessimists and cynics cannot de 
 velop this country. We must have confidence 
 in the stability of our institutions, in the sanity 
 of the people, and in their realization of what 
 underlies our prosperity. We must take ac 
 count of progress in education ; the dissemina 
 tion of information ; the increased capacity for 
 discriminating judgments ; the uplifting power 
 of the myriad efforts which in every community 
 make for better living and higher standards of 
 conduct. We are far from perfect, and it is 
 well that we should be stirred by the daily 
 revelations of weakness and of vice. But there 
 is no occasion for misgiving. To distrust the 
 future in this land of opportunity, of educa 
 tional privileges so eagerly seized, of moral 
 influences so widespread and effective, is to 
 despair of humanity itself. Here, progress 
 is the child of aspiration wedded to common 
 sense. Let us dismiss vague alarms and go 
 forward with calm confidence in the integrity 
 and destiny of the American people. 
 
 We have only begun to develop the com 
 merce of this country. The realization of 
 its possibilities awaits improvements which 
 
72 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 we must undertake in a systematic manner. 
 Washington with his usual farsightedness was 
 deeply interested in the development of facili 
 ties of communication for the purpose of pro 
 moting commercial intercourse and creating 
 community of interest. Repeatedly he out 
 lined schemes of internal improvements and 
 connection of waterways, and the Chesapeake 
 and Ohio Canal had its origin in these projects 
 which were never absent from his thought. 
 My own State has ever appreciated the im 
 portance of work of this description, to which 
 the Erie Canal bears witness. And it is now 
 engaged in a stupendous undertaking of canal 
 improvement, the intelligent and efficient pros 
 ecution of which is of serious consequence to 
 our commercial interests. But while here and 
 there much has been done, there has been 
 wanting a realization of the need of a compre 
 hensive plan for the improvement of inland 
 waterways from the standpoint of National 
 interest. President Roosevelt, with his keen 
 desire to advance the National interests and 
 his usual force, has emphasized this, and we 
 may be said to be entering upon a new era of 
 commercial development. We take just pride 
 in our present enterprise and achievements, 
 but we may believe that the commerce of the 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 73 
 
 future will as far exceed that of the present as 
 the varied production, the vast extent of com 
 mercial exchanges, and the means of communi 
 cation of to-day transcend the hopes and even 
 the dreams of Washington. 
 
 This is no time for discouragement or halt 
 ing, but for appreciation of American oppor 
 tunity, and for that intelligent and united 
 effort by which alone we can avail of it and 
 deserve the blessings of posterity. 
 
 To support this confidence and to gain these 
 ends we must have a settled governmental 
 policy. And it must be a right policy. 
 
 It must be a policy consistent with the 
 genius of our institutions. The people of this 
 country do not desire Socialism even as an 
 experiment. They do not propose to pass 
 through a dreadful " quarter of an hour" of 
 revolutionary changes to satisfy themselves of 
 those imperfections of human nature of which 
 they are already well apprised, and which 
 make impossible the permanent constitution 
 of society in accordance with socialistic theory. 
 We must make progress and it must be steady 
 and consistent, conserving what is good and 
 safeguarding the opportunities for honest 
 effort. Otherwise gains will be offset by un 
 necessary losses and expert accountants may 
 
74 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 search in vain for a credit balance. We may 
 accomplish needed reforms by making our in 
 stitutions work as they were intended to work, 
 and by effecting, in the light of the benefits 
 thus secured, such changes as experience 
 may commend and deliberate judgment may 
 approve. 
 
 It must be a policy consistent with our 
 constitutional limitations and distribution of 
 powers. These are the words of Washington 
 in his Farewell Address : 
 
 " This government, the offspring of our own choice un 
 influenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation 
 and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, 
 in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with 
 energy, and containing within itself a provision for its 
 own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and 
 your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with 
 its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined 
 by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis 
 of our political systems is the right of the people to make 
 and to alter their constitutions of government. But the 
 Constitution which at any time exists till changed by an 
 explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly 
 obligatory upon all." 
 
 There are, of course, borderlands where the 
 line of demarcation between Federal and State 
 authority has not been clearly defined by judi 
 cial decision. The content of grants of power 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 75 
 
 has been better appreciated as the course 
 of experience has revealed the importance of 
 the grants and their application to National 
 exigencies. Differences of opinion undoubt 
 edly exist, as they will continue to exist, 
 influenced by differences of viewpoint and of 
 political and economic theory, with regard to 
 the extent of Federal powers under the great 
 clauses of the Constitution. These differences 
 must be resolved, and for that purpose we 
 have a final arbiter in the Supreme Court. 
 Let such matters be frankly debated with a 
 clear understanding on the part of the people 
 as to the manner in which they must be de 
 cided. We secure our peace and confidence 
 by loyal acceptance of the decisions of our 
 umpires. Wherever constitutional provision is 
 clear in its application or has been construed 
 authoritatively we must avoid confusion by 
 recognizing the fact and direct our plans ac 
 cordingly, unless and until a change be effected 
 in the manner which the Constitution provides. 
 We should not expect from the Nation what 
 the States alone can give ; nor because a 
 National remedy is denied for want of Federal 
 power should we fail to insist upon the exer 
 cise of the power which resides in our State 
 governments. 
 
76 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 By making our institutions work in the way 
 in which they were intended to work, I mean 
 that we should secure the maximum efficiency 
 in both State and Federal administration to 
 the end that every matter of National concern 
 and every matter of local concern shall receive, 
 by the appropriate exercise of the powers of 
 each jurisdiction, that full consideration and 
 necessary remedial action by which wrongs, 
 both National and local, may be completely 
 redressed. 
 
 What then, under these conditions, are some 
 of the important features of the policy which 
 will support our confidence and insure our 
 stability ? 
 
 Special interests must keep their hands off 
 the government in city, State and Nation. The 
 common welfare must be the supreme law. 
 The lobbies which have been maintained in 
 legislative halls, the efforts to pervert ad 
 ministration by securing the service for par 
 ticular interests of those who pose as the 
 servants of the people, the corruption of the 
 sole means by which the people can express 
 their will, have been the effective causes of 
 distrust in government and furnish the most 
 serious pretext for assaults upon our institu 
 tions. Every attempt of this sort which has 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 77 
 
 proved successful has sown the seeds of dis 
 content which argument finds it difficult to 
 allay. The people do not discriminate with 
 ease between the word and the speaker. They 
 will not listen to the voice of reason if it pro 
 ceeds from the mouth of the briber or the 
 bribed. They who would have sanity of judg 
 ment and reasonable solution of difficult ques 
 tions should see to it that they do not stir 
 the people to indignation by the corruption of 
 representative government. They must trust 
 the people and rely upon their good faith and 
 sense of justice. In the long run they will not 
 be disappointed if they themselves keep faith 
 and respect the institutions whose protection 
 they invoke. 
 
 But while we insist upon pure administra 
 tion and the unselfish fidelity of public officers, 
 we must visit deserved contempt upon those 
 who profit by indiscriminate detraction of men 
 in public life. If the people would be served 
 faithfully they must show their esteem of faith 
 ful service. Otherwise the holding of public 
 office becomes a school of cynicism. I am 
 glad to testify to the many whom I have met 
 in public life whose motives and whose actions 
 conform to the best standards. Our public 
 service is far more wholesome than many 
 
78 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 people think. If they are intent upon it 
 and just in criticism, the people can have the 
 representation and the administration that 
 they desire. 
 
 Wherever there are public rights in forests, 
 in lands, in mines, in water powers, they must 
 be safeguarded and protected from spoliation. 
 Wherever the public grants a privilege, it must 
 be upon consideration of the common benefit 
 and under conditions which insure to the pub 
 lic a proper return for the grant. We must 
 guard our ranges, our coal deposits, our public 
 lands, our forest treasures, by suitable restric 
 tions. No selfish interest must be permitted 
 to seize with covetous hand the public domain. 
 
 It must also be taken to be a settled policy 
 that there shall be complete, effective, and 
 just supervision of our railroads. I do not 
 believe in arbitrary action with regard to these 
 important concerns either by Congress or by 
 State legislatures or by commissions. The 
 railroads are not the enemies but the servants 
 of the people. To secure proper service they 
 must be subject to regulation. It must be 
 taken as firmly established that the evils of 
 rebating and of unjust discrimination will not 
 be tolerated, and that adequate and impartial 
 service upon reasonable terms will be insisted 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 79 
 
 upon. There must be machinery through 
 which public obligations as defined by law 
 may be enforced. This can best be obtained 
 through an administrative board such as the 
 Interstate Commerce Commission. The ques 
 tion of rates must be determined after full 
 consideration of all pertinent facts, to the end 
 that the requirements of impartiality and rea 
 sonableness may be complied with, while at 
 the same time a fair return to the owners of 
 the property may be assured. Nothing should 
 be lacking in administrative powers for the 
 attainment of these objects. 
 
 It is most mischievous to permit known 
 abuses to remain the subject of general 
 agitation without providing proper methods 
 for the consideration and redress of specific 
 grievances. And there is no more beneficial 
 exercise of power than to allay distrust by 
 providing administrative means for investiga 
 tion, for necessary publicity, and the even, 
 constant, and just enforcement of the law. 
 
 It is now recognized that this policy is im 
 portant to the railroads as well as to the 
 public. In promoting fair dealing it must 
 prove the security of honorable enterprise 
 
 It is also essential that there should be effi 
 cient supervision of the issue of securities to 
 
8o Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 avoid the evils of inflation and of over-capitaliza 
 tion. The interests of the public and of stock, 
 holders must be guarded against the imposition 
 of unjust burdens and corrupt manipulations. 
 There should be every facility for the pro 
 vision of betterments, for desirable extensions 
 and improvements. The action of government 
 should never be an obstacle in the way of in 
 creasing and perfecting service. But careful 
 investigation and deliberate action under laws 
 aimed to secure impartiality and open dealing 
 provide a guaranty with which neither the 
 railroads nor the public can afford to dispense. 
 Other problems are presented with reference 
 to industrial corporations. There are in exist 
 ence plants which make useful articles of com 
 merce. They employ thousands of workmen. 
 We need the commodities. The workmen 
 need the employment. We wish to see Ameri 
 can industry expand. We desire every ad 
 vantage of economic organization ; every just 
 opportunity for the display of talent and 
 inventive skill ; every possible improvement in 
 the processes of manufacture ; everything in 
 short which enhances the opportunities of 
 labor and its fruitful employment at good 
 wages and which develops and encourages 
 trade. 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 81 
 
 At the same time we desire to put an end 
 to unfair practices, unjustifiable preferences, 
 and oppressive proceedings by which, apart 
 from proper economic advantages or superior 
 skill in industry, rivals are barred from equal 
 opportunities and thrust out of the way or 
 destroyed. This country is full of men with 
 a talent for industry. They are entitled to a 
 fair show. No one can complain if his rival 
 has a larger factory, greater skill in manage 
 ment, more economical processes, or turns out 
 better wares. But in a free country it is in 
 tolerable that one should be denied equal 
 access to markets by discriminating rates or 
 allowances, or that he should be the victim of 
 a conspiracy to deprive him of his business, or 
 that he should be crushed by the misuse of 
 large aggregations of capital in unfair com 
 petition. Nor should a premium be placed 
 upon such practices, or an incentive be given 
 to extortion, by permitting the piling up of 
 securities which do not fairly represent value 
 and upon which returns cannot be earned by 
 fair means. 
 
 To meet these objects, and to prevent op 
 pression and extortion, it is not necessary that 
 business should be involved in uncertainty or 
 that legitimate effort should be handicapped. 
 
82 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 The enforcement of just laws has no terrors 
 for legitimate business. 
 
 But laws, State and Federal, should be as 
 definite as possible, and should apply with be 
 coming precision to the practices sought to be 
 reached. It was seven years after the Sher 
 man Act was passed before it was determined 
 that it applied to railroads. It was nine years 
 before it received illuminating construction in 
 the Addyston case. The courts have been put 
 to unnecessary labor in endeavoring to ascer 
 tain what Congress meant. It has long been 
 found inadvisable to attempt a precise defini 
 tion of fraud, and it is impossible in any statute 
 to describe to the last degree of certitude the 
 cases which should fall within the purview of 
 its clear intent. But it is possible and ad 
 visable in dealing with this subject that there 
 should be a more explicit and appropriate 
 statement than we now have in the Sherman 
 Act ; that fair agreements as to railroad rates 
 which may receive the approval of the Inter 
 state Commerce Commission, and that associ 
 ations and agreements for reasonable and 
 obviously proper purposes should not be in 
 cluded in a sweeping condemnation ; that it 
 should point with a more definite aim at the 
 evils which afflict interstate commerce and for 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 83 
 
 which it is in the power of Congress to provide 
 a remedy. 
 
 The evils in question will not be eradicated 
 by mere changes in forms of organizations. It 
 does not make very great difference whether 
 those engaged in improper enterprise keep its 
 proceeds in one pocket or in three, or whether 
 their transactions are detailed in one or more 
 sets of accounts. The way to get rid of abuses 
 is to attack them directly. And I believe 
 the most efficacious means is definition and 
 proscription, and adequate punishment of 
 offenders. 
 
 The justification of a penalty must be found 
 in either its punitive or its deterrent effect. 
 In their punitive aspect penalties cannot be 
 justified unless their incidence is just. In their 
 deterrent aspect they cannot be justified unless 
 they make unlikely a repetition of the offence. 
 Fines upon corporations, particularly upon 
 large corporations with monopolistic powers, 
 are just from neither point of view. They 
 are easily transferred to the public, and to the 
 extent that they may not be, they are borne 
 by stockholders who in large numbers are 
 without knowledge of the wrong or power to 
 prevent its commission. They do not satis 
 factorily act as a deterrent, because they involve 
 
84 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 merely the payment of money, the loss of 
 which is widely shared or may readily be 
 repaired. 
 
 The punishment is most salutary when 
 visited upon the guilty individuals. Few men 
 can be hired to go to jail. And if offences 
 which public sentiment recognizes to be of a 
 grave character are punished by imprison 
 ment, the law is more likely to be obeyed and 
 the punishment to have its intended effect. 
 
 The security of business depends upon just 
 and definite laws and their impartial enforce 
 ment. It depends upon the possibility of pre 
 vision and of a reasonable degree of certainty 
 in the operations of trade. The business men 
 of the country in large majority desire fair 
 dealing and the maintenance of the standards 
 of honorable business conduct. And in every 
 just endeavor to obtain these ends we may be 
 assured that we shall have their co-operation. 
 
 We cannot on this day afford to ignore the 
 sentiments which must be the mainspring of 
 every effort of democracy. 
 
 We do not exist for the sake of National 
 power or to confer upon a favored few the 
 blessings of fortune. Paltry would be our suc 
 cess if we could simply rival in National great 
 ness the despotisms of the past or could prove 
 
Chicago, February 22, 1908 85 
 
 only by the prosperity of a few the benefits of 
 a free government. We exist that there may 
 be the widest possible diffusion of opportunity 
 and prosperity. In our legislation and admin 
 istration we must favor no class, but protect 
 the interests of all our citizens. While the 
 Nation may devote its powers to this end so 
 far as matters are within Federal control, our 
 State governments and local communities must 
 not miss their great opportunities. In the use 
 of all these powers, according to the consti 
 tutional distribution, for the development of 
 our resources, the encouragement of agricul 
 ture, the improvement of the conditions of 
 labor, and the safeguarding of the freedom 
 of commerce, we shall progress toward the 
 attainment of the aims of liberty. 
 
 Let us realize our mutual dependence and 
 rejoice with Washington, not in power, but in 
 service ; not in distinction, but in duty well 
 performed ; not in what we have gained, but in 
 what we have given. And as with him may 
 " the benign influence of good laws under a 
 free government" be the "ever favorite object 
 of our hearts and the public reward of our 
 mutual cares, labors, and dangers." 
 

II. 
 
 Regulation of Public Service 
 Corporations 
 
 / am here retained by the people of the State of New 
 York to see that justice is done and with no disposition to 
 injure any investment, but with every desire to give the 
 fullest opportunity to enterprise and with every purpose to 
 shield and protect every just property interest. I stand for 
 the people of the State of New York against extortion, 
 against favoritism, against financial scandal, and against 
 everything that goes to corrupt our politics, by interference 
 with the freedom of our Legislature and administration. 1 
 stand for honest government and effective regulation by the 
 State of public -service corporations." From Governor 
 Hughes s Speech before the Elmira Chamber of Com 
 merce, May 3, 1907. 
 
I. 
 
 Message to the Legislature, January 2, 
 1907, Recommending the Passage of 
 a Public-Service Commissions Law. 
 
 Proper means for the regulation of the 
 operations of railroad corporations should be 
 supplied. For want of it, pernicious favoritism 
 has been practised. Secret rebates have been 
 allowed, and there have been unjust discrimi 
 nations in rates and in furnishing facilities for 
 transportation. Those who have sought to 
 monopolize trade have thus been enabled to 
 crush competition and to grow in wealth and 
 power by crowding out their rivals who have 
 been deprived of access to markets upon equal 
 terms. These abuses are not to be tolerated. 
 Congress has legislated upon the subject with 
 reference to interstate commerce, where natu 
 rally the evil has been most prominent. But 
 domestic commerce must be regulated by the 
 State, and the State should exercise its power 
 to secure impartial treatment to shippers and 
 the maintenance of reasonable rates. There 
 
90 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 is also need of regulation and strict supervision 
 to ensure adequate service and due regard for 
 the convenience and safety of the public. The 
 most practicable way of attaining these ends 
 is for the Legislature to confer proper power 
 upon a subordinate administrative body. 
 
 We have now a Board of Railroad Com 
 missioners of five members. It is charged 
 specifically with important duties. The exe 
 cution of mortgages and the increase or reduc 
 tion of capital stock are subject to its approval, 
 its certificate that public convenience and 
 necessity require the construction of a pro 
 jected railroad is required before construction 
 can be begun, and it deals with changes in 
 highway grade crossings, and various other 
 matters in a definitive way. 
 
 The law also provides that the board " shall 
 have general supervision of all railroads and 
 shall examine the same and keep informed as 
 to their condition and the manner in which 
 they are operated for the security and accom 
 modation of the public and their compliance 
 with the provisions of their charters and of 
 law." If in the judgment of the board it ap 
 pears " that any change of the rates of fare 
 for transporting freight or passengers or in 
 the mode of operating the road or conducting 
 
Public-Service Commissions 91 
 
 its business is reasonable and expedient in 
 order to promote the security, convenience, 
 and accommodation of the public," it may 
 after notice and hearing fix a time within 
 which the changes shall be made. 
 
 But the action of the board in the exercise 
 of this general power of supervision amounts 
 to a recommendation. If its direction is not 
 complied with, the law provides that the mat 
 ter shall be presented to the Attorney-General 
 for his consideration and action, and shall be 
 reported to the Legislature. So, if it appears 
 that any railroad corporation has violated the 
 law or unjustly discriminates in its charges, 
 and the wrongful conduct is continued after 
 notice, the matter is to be brought to the 
 attention of the Attorney-General, " who shall 
 take such proceedings thereon as may be 
 necessary for the protection of the public 
 interests." 
 
 The present scheme of regulation is inade 
 quate. There is a lack of precision in the 
 definition of the powers of the board and an 
 absence of suitable means to compel compli 
 ance with its decisions. No penalties are 
 provided for disobedience to orders of the 
 board made within its proper authority. 
 Nor is the board authorized to institute and 
 
92 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 conduct legal proceedings for the purpose of 
 enforcing its requirements. 
 
 It is also provided that the expenses of the 
 commission shall be borne by the railroad 
 corporations upon the apportionment of the 
 Comptroller. This plan of reimbursing the 
 State is wholly indefensible. The supervision 
 of railroads is in the interest of all the people 
 and should be borne by the people as any 
 other expense of administration. Such a board 
 should be established in public confidence as 
 an independent governmental body receiving 
 no support from the railroads save as they 
 are duly taxed for the general support of the 
 government. 
 
 We have also a Commission of Gas and 
 Electricity with broad powers with reference 
 to corporations engaged in supplying gas and 
 electric current. 
 
 It is my judgment that there is no need of 
 two separate commissions to deal with these 
 subjects. There are now corporations which 
 are subject to the jurisdiction of both commis 
 sions and in some cases the same questions 
 are presented for the decision of both. Simi 
 lar principles are applicable to the decision 
 in many cases within the jurisdiction of each 
 and harmony of administration would be 
 
Public-Service Commissions 93 
 
 promoted by having a single body. It is plainly 
 in the interest of economic adminstration, in 
 order to avoid the unnecessary multiplication 
 of officers and clerical force, that there should 
 be but one commission. In the two boards 
 we have now eight commissioners. A board 
 of less than this number would answer both 
 purposes. 
 
 I therefore recommend that the present 
 Board of Railroad Commissioners and the 
 Commission of Gas and Electricity be abol 
 ished and that a new commission be con 
 stituted, with powers of regulation and 
 supervision, within constitutional limits, of the 
 corporations now subject to the existing com 
 missions. The commission should have all 
 the powers possessed by the present commis 
 sions and such additional powers as may be 
 needed to insure proper management and 
 operation. Its powers should be clearly de 
 fined and should embrace the power to act 
 upon its own initiative as well as upon com 
 plaint ; to pass upon the issue of stocks and 
 bonds ; to examine properties, books, and 
 accounts ; to require detailed reports in pre 
 scribed form ; to prescribe reasonable rates ; 
 to require adequate and impartial service ; to 
 provide for the safety of employees and for 
 
94 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the protection of the public ; and generally to 
 direct whatever may be necessary or proper to 
 safeguard the public interests and to secure 
 the fulfilment of the public obligations of the 
 corporations under its supervision. Provision 
 should be made for suitable inspection so that 
 the commission may be advised as to all mat 
 ters within its purview and be in a position to 
 take action on behalf of the people without 
 the formal institution of proceedings by com 
 plainants. A prescribed quorum should be 
 entitled to decide all questions, and any one 
 commissioner should be empowered to make 
 examinations and investigations, and the pro 
 ceedings and decisions of one, when approved 
 by the board, should stand as its proceedings 
 and decisions. 
 
 The corporation guilty of disobedience to 
 its orders, and all officers and other persons 
 responsible for such disobedience, should be 
 visited with appropriate penalties. The com 
 mission should also be entitled to institute 
 legal proceedings for the enforcement of its 
 orders, and all such proceedings should be 
 expedited by suitable preference in all the 
 courts of the State. The Legislature should 
 thus provide, within its constitutional power, 
 adequate means for the entirely just and 
 
Public-Service Commissions 95 
 
 impartial regulation of these important public 
 enterprises. 
 
 The problem of transportation in the terri 
 tory of Greater New York demands special, 
 prompt, and comprehensive treatment The 
 configuration of Manhattan Island and the 
 concentration of business at its lower end, 
 together with the rapid growth of population, 
 have produced an extraordinary congestion. 
 All the existing lines, surface, elevated, and 
 subway, are overburdened and the people suf 
 fer in mind, body, and estate. The worst con 
 gestion is at the Brooklyn Bridge, due to the 
 convergence at that point of the Brooklyn 
 traffic. The people of Brooklyn who do busi 
 ness in Manhattan are subjected morning and 
 night, not only to exasperating inconvenience, 
 but to such maltreatment and indignities inci- 
 
 o 
 
 dent to their disgraceful herding that relief in 
 the most practicable manner should be afforded 
 them at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 Not only are new facilities needed, which 
 should be planned with reference both to im 
 mediate and future needs, but there is urgent 
 necessity for more strict supervision to secure 
 better service on existing lines. In some por 
 tions of the city antiquated horse-cars may 
 still be seen, giving picturesque emphasis to 
 
96 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the disregard of the public convenience. Over 
 capitalization and the improvident creation of 
 guaranties and fixed charges to suit the exi 
 gencies of successive combinations entered 
 into for the purpose of monopolizing the traf 
 fic have produced their natural results. There 
 are such unjust burdens upon earnings and the 
 tendency constantly to effect economies at the 
 expense of proper service is so strong that it 
 is imperative that the people shall have vigil 
 ant representatives clothed with ample author 
 ity to compel the corporations to perform 
 their public duty. 
 
 In 1891, the Legislature, for the purpose of 
 providing for the development of additional 
 transit facilities, passed the so-called Rapid 
 Transit Act. It constituted a Board of Rapid 
 Transit Commissioners, who were named in 
 the statute. Numerous amendments have 
 been made and additional powers conferred. 
 The statute contains important provisions 
 with reference to construction by the city. 
 Through the accretions of years it has become 
 cumbersome and extremely complicated. It 
 needs revision. Pursuant to the provisions of 
 this act the present subways have been con 
 structed and plans have been made for further 
 construction. By a recent amendment the 
 
Public-Service Commissions 97 
 
 board is authorized, with the consent of 
 the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 of the city, to grant rights and franchises and 
 to make contracts with reference to the con 
 struction and operation of the parts within the 
 city of interstate trunk lines. 
 
 We have thus in the city of New York an 
 anomalous condition. Two boards created 
 by the Legislature are exercising powers of 
 the greatest importance with reference to 
 transportation. The Board of Rapid Transit 
 Commissioners is dealing with the question of 
 new facilities and is empowered to make con 
 tracts for construction and operation. It is 
 also dealing with the question of the construc 
 tion of trunk lines into or across the city. 
 The State Board of Railroad Commissioners 
 has general jurisdiction over the railroads of 
 the State and has supervisory powers over the 
 surface lines and the elevated roads in the 
 city. It does not exercise jurisdiction over 
 the subways, as these were constructed under 
 the Rapid Transit Act. But while the powers 
 of supervision are divided, the interests in 
 control of the surface, elevated, and subway 
 lines are now united in a single corporation. 
 
 This situation should be met by a compre 
 hensive plan. All the operations of railroad 
 
98 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 companies in the territory of Greater New 
 York should be under the supervision of one 
 board. And the board that is to have the 
 power to supervise generally these operations 
 should have the power of initiating plans and 
 of making contracts for the construction and 
 operation of new lines. Instead of two boards 
 dealing with different phases of the same 
 problem, there should be one board empow 
 ered to deal with it in its entirety. As such a 
 board would exercise important State powers 
 of control and regulation, it should be a 
 State board, and should be composed of 
 men familiar with conditions in the territory 
 affected. In my judgment it would not be 
 advisable to put all these matters under 
 the control either of the present Board of 
 Railroad Commissioners or of the new com 
 mission which I have proposed to take its 
 place. The urgent need of an increase in 
 transportation facilities, and the unique con 
 ditions existing in Greater New York, justify 
 the creation of a separate board to deal with 
 the entire matter of transportation in that part 
 of the State. 
 
 I recommend that the Board of Rapid 
 Transit Commissioners be abolished and that 
 a new board be created, to have all the powers 
 
Public-Service Commissions 99 
 
 now exercised by the Rapid Transit Board, 
 and also to have powers with reference to 
 operations within the territory of Greater 
 New York, or if deemed advisable, within a 
 wider district embracing the adjoining coun 
 ties into which certain lines of the surface 
 railroads extend, similar to the powers which 
 I have suggested should be conferred upon the 
 new commission for the rest of the State. 
 There would thus be included the regulation 
 of gas and electric corporations. Provision 
 should be made for the retention, by the Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment of the city, of 
 all the powers, including powers of approval, 
 which it now enjoys. The commission pro 
 posed for the State generally should have 
 jurisdiction over all traffic between points 
 within the city of New York (or within the 
 district as created) and points elsewhere in 
 the State. It is believed that in this manner 
 the whole question of transportation, and of 
 gas and electric service, in the territory of 
 Greater New York can be dealt with in an 
 intelligent and efficient manner, and that to the 
 fullest extent possible the just requirements 
 of that great community may be satisfied. 
 
II. 
 
 Speech at the Banquet of the Utica Cham 
 ber of Commerce, April i, 1907. 
 
 The importance of providing effective State 
 supervision of public-service corporations seems 
 to be generally conceded. I shall not recount 
 the grievances which have made the subject 
 one of paramount public interest. It is suffi 
 cient to say that the people, without animosity 
 toward rights of property, but with a just in 
 sistence upon the performance of public obliga 
 tions, demand that the State shall exercise its 
 power over its creatures and compel due re 
 gard for the duties which are correlative to the 
 privileges it has granted. 
 
 Federal regulation is not a substitute for 
 State regulation. Federal powers and State 
 powers are exercised in different spheres. 
 Congress has complete authority over inter 
 state commerce and the State cannot interfere 
 with the exercise of its prerogatives ; and it is 
 desirable that the Federal authority shall be 
 fully exercised until every abuse incident to 
 
 100 
 
Utica Chamber of Commerce, 1907 101 
 
 interstate commerce is ended. But however 
 broadly interstate commerce may be defined, 
 there will remain the problem of transporta 
 tion wholly within the State and of other 
 local public service. Over local or domestic 
 commerce as distinguished from interstate 
 commerce, Congress has no power to exert 
 control, and if the citizens of the State are 
 to be protected against abuses of corporate 
 privileges, in connection with such local or 
 domestic commerce, they must look for their 
 remedy to the State and to the State alone. 
 It has been suggested that it is a grievous 
 thing that a railroad corporation, for example, 
 should be subjected to the laws of many dif 
 ferent jurisdictions. Undoubtedly annoyances 
 may be caused by a variety of laws and regu 
 lations. But so far as interstate commerce is 
 concerned the Federal authority is supreme, 
 and as to all matters of through transporta 
 tion there is no room for conflict. We may 
 be sure that if the act of any State Legislature, 
 or the order of any State commission operates 
 as a regulation of interstate commerce, it will 
 instantly be challenged by the watchful and 
 astute representatives of the corporations af 
 fected, the Federal courts will take jurisdiction, 
 and the supremacy of the Federal authority 
 
102 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 under the Constitution will be vindicated. It 
 is proper of course that the State in the exer 
 cise of its authority should take account of 
 wise legislation of Congress. Useful efforts 
 may also be made to promote harmony in 
 State legislation. And any State that sets a 
 high standard in its legislative scheme of State 
 supervision, and in its efficient administration 
 of the law, will contribute powerfully toward 
 similar action in other jurisdictions and to the 
 establishment throughout the country of proper 
 administrative standards. But there is no 
 reason why the State of New York should fail 
 to enact a just law in the interest of its citizens 
 because of the action or inaction of other States. 
 The first question presented is : Why should 
 there be a Railroad or Public-Service Commis 
 sion ? Every power that a corporation has is 
 derived from the Legislature which created it. 
 The Legislature defines what powers it shall 
 exercise and the conditions upon which it shall 
 conduct its operations. As a public service 
 corporation it is constantly subject to legisla 
 tive control to the end that it may be re 
 quired to perform in a proper manner the 
 service it was chartered to render. So that 
 every question of rate or fare, of safety appli 
 ance, or of suitable equipment and facilities is 
 
Utica Chamber of Commerce, 1907 103 
 
 a question primarily for the Legislature, which, 
 within constitutional limits, has a right to de 
 fine the obligations of the corporation. But 
 the questions which thus arise are of extra 
 ordinary number and variety ; they call for 
 investigation and for the consideration of a 
 multitude of details. Special conditions must 
 be examined and suitable flexibility of action 
 must be provided. To-day the Legislatures of 
 our States are flooded with special bills aimed 
 at this or that grievance in management. But 
 the Legislatures sit only a portion of the year 
 and cannot deal with these matters satisfac 
 torily. Experience has shown the advisability 
 of creating a subordinate body or commission 
 with appropriate powers for this purpose. 
 
 Now what is the function of such a com 
 mission ? It is an administrative board. The 
 object of its creation is to secure the perform 
 ance of public obligation. The Legislature 
 may, within its constitutional powers, establish 
 standards of service. A railroad corporation, 
 for example, is bound to give safe, impar 
 tial, and adequate service for a reasonable 
 charge. It is the function of the commis 
 sion to secure safety, impartiality, adequacy 
 of service, and reasonable charges that is, 
 compliance with the requirements of the law. 
 
104 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 For this purpose it should have full power to 
 conduct investigations and to make whatever 
 orders in relation to operation that may be 
 necessary to secure proper service upon fair 
 terms and without unlawful discriminations. 
 Undoubtedly very broad powers are required, 
 reaching the various departments of manage 
 ment. But it should be remembered they are 
 designed to secure the safety and convenience 
 of the public. It is no answer to say that 
 these powers may be abused. Every officer 
 of government who has power adequate for 
 any purpose may abuse his power. The safe 
 guard is found in official responsibility and 
 accountability. But the possibility of abuse is 
 no reason why powers which, in their proper 
 exercise are needed for the protection of the 
 public, should not be conferred. 
 
 It has been urged that the granting of such 
 broad powers is incompatible with the main 
 tenance of the freedom of management said to 
 be incident to the property rights of the cor 
 porations. Such an objection has a certain 
 plausibility, but will not stand critical examina 
 tion. The Legislature in safeguarding the 
 public interest has the power to require such 
 equipment and facilities, and such manner of 
 operation, as will secure good service. It will 
 
Utica Chamber of Commerce, 1907 105 
 
 hardly be claimed that the existence of this 
 power is inconsistent with property rights. 
 The property of a public-service corporation 
 has been acquired subject to this power. And 
 the power conferred upon the commission is 
 conferred for the purpose of securing the per 
 formance of obligations to which the right of 
 property is subordinate. 
 
 Another question is : What is the relation 
 of the courts to such a commission ? As has 
 been said, the commission is an administrative 
 body. It would not be proper for the Legis 
 lature to confer these powers upon the Appel 
 late Division of the Supreme Court. It is not 
 in accordance with the theory of our govern 
 ment that an attempt should be made to con 
 vert the court into an administrative board. 
 It is not the proper function of the courts to 
 fix rates or to make orders as to the facilities 
 which should be supplied, or the safety ap 
 pliances which should be used. This is the 
 function of the Legislature or of the adminis 
 trative board which it may create to aid in 
 securing the performance of the duties it has 
 imposed. It would be most unfortunate if, 
 with the necessary extension of State super 
 vision of public service, our courts should have 
 cast upon them such burdens of administration. 
 
io6 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 The power of the Legislature and of the 
 commission it creates is not, however, without 
 limits. And where the Legislature goes be 
 yond its constitutional powers, or where the 
 administrative board exceeds its authority or 
 passes its constitutional limits, the matter falls 
 within the jurisdiction of the courts, who will 
 declare such action null and void and prevent 
 any attempt to enforce the provisions of the 
 obnoxious statute or order. 
 
 Both the State and Federal Constitutions 
 prohibit the depriving of any person of prop 
 erty without due process of law, and the taking 
 of private property for public use without just 
 compensation. Nor can a State deny to any 
 person within its jurisdiction the equal pro 
 tection of the laws. Neither the Legislature 
 nor the commission can escape these salutary 
 checks upon their authority. So that if it be 
 claimed that the action of the Legislature or 
 of a commission in fixing a rate operates as 
 such a deprivation of property, a judicial ques 
 tion is presented, and the courts will take 
 jurisdiction and determine that question. They 
 will determine it in the light of all the circum 
 stances, seeking to ascertain whether the Legis 
 lature or the commission has exceeded that 
 power which the Legislature may properly 
 
Utica Chamber of Commerce, 1907 107 
 
 exercise in its discretion, or which it may prop 
 erly confer upon an administrative board, or 
 whether under the guise of regulation there 
 has been confiscation. So, if the claim is 
 made that the action of the Legislature or 
 the commission in professing to provide for 
 safe and adequate service lies outside the field 
 of legislation in defence of the public interest, 
 or of administrative power under legislative 
 authority, the claim presents a matter for judi 
 cial consideration, and if the courts find it to 
 be sustained they will invalidate the statute or 
 order assailed. 
 
 It thus appears that there is of necessity a 
 court review where such questions are pre 
 sented. And the distinction between the 
 function of the courts and the function of the 
 Legislature or of the commission it creates is 
 clearly indicated by the fact that the question 
 for the courts is whether under the Constitu 
 tion the matter under consideration is one 
 that falls within the scope of the authority of 
 the Legislature or of the administrative board. 
 If the courts decide that it falls within the 
 limits of that authority they decline to in 
 terfere ; if they decide that it does not, they 
 declare the statute or order void. 
 
 This court review the Legislature cannot 
 
io8 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 curtail. The courts proceed by virtue of their 
 inherent powers under the Constitution. It is 
 idle to attempt, and no good citizen desires 
 to attempt, to fetter their action. Frequently 
 the courts have set aside rates established by 
 Legislatures and commissions, and they do not 
 hesitate to grant an injunction prohibiting the 
 enforcement of the rate pending the suit. 
 
 Property rights are thus abundantly safe 
 guarded, and it is futile to claim that either 
 through the establishment of the commission 
 or through the exercise of its broad powers 
 the invasion of any property right will be 
 threatened without adequate redress. 
 
 A different question is presented when it is 
 urged that all orders of the commission should 
 be reviewable by the courts regardless of the 
 question whether the commission has exceeded 
 its authority or any constitutional privilege has 
 been ignored. There is no occasion for such a 
 broad provision for court review unless it is 
 desired to commit to the courts those matters 
 which do not involve the question of depriva 
 tion of property without due process of law 
 or without just compensation, but are matters 
 which might appropriately be decided by the 
 Legislature or by an administrative commis 
 sion. To provide a right of appeal to the 
 
Utica Chamber of Commerce, 1907 109 
 
 courts from every order of the commission 
 not only invites delay and an unnecessary mul 
 tiplicity of proceedings, but has for its object 
 the substitution of the judgment of the court 
 for the action of the commission. To give 
 the court power to hear such appeals, to take 
 evidence, and to reverse or to modify the 
 orders of the commission comes simply to 
 this : that the court becomes in effect the rul 
 ing commission, and the commission created 
 by the Legislature is simply a board to take 
 evidence and make what are, in effect, recom 
 mendations. It may be said that the corpora 
 tions would not necessarily avail themselves 
 of the right of review in all cases. But it is 
 not sound public policy for the Legislature to 
 create a board whose effectiveness will depend 
 on the option of the corporations. 
 
 The delays that are incident to proceedings 
 attacking the action of the commission as un 
 constitutional are inevitable. But there is no 
 good reason why delays should be multiplied 
 by allowing court review in all cases. There 
 is a broad field of supervision which admittedly 
 lies within constitutional authority, and in this 
 field it is of the greatest public importance 
 that the commission within its own proper 
 province should act with reasonable despatch, 
 
no Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 that its orders should be promptly obeyed, and 
 that the public patience should not be vexed 
 by dilatory proceedings. 
 
 It is vital to the interests of the community 
 that in dealing with these matters we should 
 deal both justly and effectively. Merely be 
 cause there are questions which, as we have 
 seen, must inevitably be passed upon by the 
 courts, we should not run the risk of making 
 the scheme of State supervision abortive by 
 committing to the courts the decision of other 
 matters with which properly they have no con 
 cern. Proper regulation of corporations is a 
 matter so important and the attitude of the 
 public toward our public-service operations 
 presents so serious a question that we should 
 provide the most efficient means of regulation 
 that is consistent with the constitutional powers 
 of the Legislature. 
 
 Let us understand that no fundamental 
 right of the corporations can be taken away ; 
 that the corporations commanding the best 
 talent of the country, well advised as to their 
 legal rights and equipped with the most per 
 fect machinery for the presentation of their 
 claims, will not suffer any deprivation of 
 their just rights of property. These will be 
 protected by the Constitution and the courts. 
 
Utica Chamber of Commerce, 1907 
 
 in 
 
 If they entertain any serious fear of effective 
 regulation, it is not that they will be deprived 
 of what rightfully belongs to them. 
 
 What is needed is a commission of dignity, 
 of force, of ability ; representing the best 
 intelligence of the State available for the pur 
 pose and proceeding in a responsible man 
 ner. It should have such an equipment and 
 such technical assistance as will enable it to 
 deal with the matters before it thoroughly and 
 expertly. With the highest respect for the 
 courts, I believe that such a commission can 
 best deal with the matters which properly fall 
 within its province, and we may be sure, as 
 has already been stated, that in cases where 
 any doubt can exist as to whether there is an 
 invasion of property rights or whether the 
 matter does not lie within the province of the 
 commission, the courts will be called upon 
 to exercise their admitted jurisdiction. 
 
 There are many other phases of the subject 
 to which I should be glad to call attention. 
 The power to issue stock and bonds and to 
 invest in the securities of other corporations is 
 a power derived from the Legislature and sub 
 ject to such conditions as it may impose. No 
 consolidation or merger of interests can take 
 place except pursuant to legislative authority. 
 
ii2 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Evils that have resulted from an abuse of the 
 freedom which has been enjoyed under our cor 
 porate laws are patent to all. It is not simply or 
 primarily the question of protection to the in 
 vestor. The paramount demand is that through 
 the improper issue of securities there shall not 
 be provided a motive for crippling the public 
 service or a basis for demanding extortionate re 
 turns. The power of the State should be exer 
 cised to compel respect for the public interest. 
 
 I cannot at this time discuss these questions 
 or other matters, such as the selection and 
 removal of commissioners, which are involved 
 in the proposed scheme of regulation. As I 
 have said, these questions are of grave public 
 consequence. There is no greater mistake 
 than to suppose that the will of the people can 
 be permanently disregarded, and it is the duty 
 of patriotism to provide for the just expres 
 sion of that will and to remove the causes of 
 unrest which lie in abuses of public privilege. 
 And in attempting to provide remedies for the 
 correction of known evils, let them be real 
 remedies, not mere makeshifts which will 
 bring the law and its administrators into con 
 tempt, but effective measures which in their 
 just operation will promote our tranquillity and 
 enhance respect for law and order. 
 
III. 
 
 Speech at the Glens Falls Club, 
 April 5, 1907, 
 
 As citizens you are all interested in having 
 the government well administered. On this 
 question there is no division along party lines. 
 The people appreciate the importance of in 
 sisting upon efficiency and of improving the 
 standards of administration. They are willing 
 to give generous support to those who stand 
 for their interests, and they will not fail to call 
 strictly to account those who seek, on one 
 pretext or another, to block efforts to accom 
 plish this result. They are also aside from 
 the relatively few whose personal interests and 
 ambitions are involved practically united in 
 the demand that the powers of government 
 shall not be prostituted to selfish ends, and 
 that public privilege, under public control, 
 shall be exercised for public benefit. 
 
 Those who desire to insure the stability of 
 honorable business enterprise, those who de 
 sire to maintain an orderly society, secure 
 
ii4 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 against the success of insincere and inflamma 
 tory appeal, those who desire to maintain our 
 institutions with their guaranties of equality 
 before the law and with their blessings of 
 opportunity, realize that the time has come 
 when the State must assert its power firmly 
 and justly in putting an end to existing abuses 
 both in the administration of government and 
 in the management of those concerns which 
 derive their vitality from public franchises. 
 Those who oppose this just sentiment chant 
 their own requiem. 
 
 The paramount need in the administration 
 of the government of this State is to make it 
 a more largely responsible government. The 
 effort should be to fix responsibility so that 
 accountability to the people cannot be escaped. 
 Some assert that for this purpose all adminis 
 trative heads of departments and members of 
 administrative commissions should be elected. 
 I do not assent to this proposition. I believe 
 that on the one hand it is destructive of neces 
 sary unity in administration, and on the other 
 increases the opportunities for manipulation 
 and intrigue. Experience shows that in a poli 
 tical campaign it is difficult to concentrate the 
 attention of the people upon a large number 
 of offices. The election of all administrative 
 
Glens Falls Club, April 5, 1907 115 
 
 heads and members of commissions would 
 tend, in my judgment, greatly to increase the 
 difficulty of securing responsible government. 
 
 On the other hand, the people take a deep 
 interest in the selection of the Chief Execu 
 tive. In connection with this office, public 
 opinion to the largest degree asserts itself 
 with reference to the selection of candidates. 
 A system which fixes upon the Governor 
 responsibility for the administration of the 
 government and clothes him with corre 
 sponding power, is the system which in the 
 long run will insure to the people the best 
 administration. 
 
 The Constitution provides that the execu 
 tive power shall be vested in the Governor, 
 who " shall take care that the laws are faith 
 fully executed." In the popular imagination 
 the office is invested with those powers which 
 the people instinctively associate with the first 
 office in the State. But in reality, while the 
 administrative powers and responsibilities of 
 the Federal Executive have increased, those 
 of the State Executive have diminished. This 
 is a mistaken State policy. As Governor 
 Hoffman said : 
 
 " To bestow on the Governor of this State the power 
 necessary to enforce the laws of the State and on the 
 
ii 6 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Mayor of the city all necessary executive power in the 
 administration of the affairs in the city, that is concentra 
 tion of power in the proper hands ; power adequate to 
 the duties and responsibilities imposed. Without this 
 concentration there is no real responsibility ; without it 
 we cannot justly hold the Chief Executive accountable 
 for his due administration of the government ; we fail 
 to enjoy what the English-speaking race prides itself 
 upon responsible government." 
 
 We have now an anomalous condition. In 
 the Constitution the people in regard to several 
 important offices, have given to the Governor 
 appropriate power. Thus it is provided that 
 the Superintendent of Public Works shall be 
 appointed by the Governor by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate. But he 
 "may be suspended and removed from office 
 by the Governor whenever in his judgment 
 the public interest shall so require." The 
 Superintendent of State Prisons is to be simi 
 larly appointed ; but the Governor " may re 
 move the superintendent for cause at any time, 
 giving to him a copy of the charges against 
 him and an opportunity to be heard in his de 
 fence." The members of the State Board of 
 Charities, and of the State Commission in 
 Lunacy are similarly appointed by the Gov 
 ernor with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate ; but any member " may be removed 
 
Glens Falls Club, April 5, 1907 117 
 
 from office by the Governor for cause, an op 
 portunity having been given him to be heard 
 in his defence." 
 
 The Constitution also gives the Governor 
 power to remove important elective officers. 
 Thus sheriffs, clerks of counties, district at 
 torneys, and registers of counties are remov 
 able by the Governor, subject to the provision 
 that the officer shall receive a copy of the 
 charges against him and an opportunity of be 
 ing heard. Statutes have also conferred upon 
 the Governor the power to remove other im 
 portant elective officers. Thus by the Greater 
 New York charter the Governor may remove 
 the Mayor of New York upon charges, and he 
 may remove the Police Commissioner of that 
 city whenever, in his judgment, " the public 
 interest shall so require." 
 
 But in connection with the important admin 
 istrative offices created by the Legislature, the 
 Governor s power of removal has been fettered. 
 So that, while in public opinion he is charge 
 able with the administration of the govern 
 ment, he has not the power of removal, through 
 the right to exercise which correct adminis 
 tration may be secured. For example, the 
 Superintendent of Banks, the Superintendent 
 of Insurance, and members of the Railroad 
 
n8 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Commission are removable only by the Senate 
 upon the recommendation of the Governor. 
 Now it is not sound policy to create administra 
 tive positions which are " under cover " so as to 
 speak, without appropriate means for enforcing 
 accountability. If these offices are not to be 
 elective then those that hold them should 
 be directly responsible to the Executive, who 
 must account to the people. There should be 
 no distribution of responsibility between the 
 Executive and the Senate. As a recent writer 
 has said : 
 
 " It frequently happens that the law organizing the com 
 mission is so expressed as to give the Governor, after 
 making the appointment of its members, no further con 
 trol over the actions of that body. The power of re 
 moval either is denied him, or is hedged about in such a 
 way as to make its exercise practically impossible except 
 for the grossest malfeasance. . . . After appoint 
 ment by the Governor, they are launched in their orbit 
 with practically no one to restrain or limit their action 
 within the law. The Governor s reputation may suffer 
 by their action, yet, as he has practically no power of 
 removal, he is helpless except so far as he may direct 
 public attention to the wrongdoing." 
 
 In effect, as has been said, "the commission 
 system establishes a fourth department of 
 government " without suitable responsibility. 
 This matter has particular importance in 
 
Glens Falls Club, April 5, 1907 119 
 
 connection with the proposal to reorganize the 
 system of State supervision of public-service 
 corporations. In the bill now pending before 
 the Legislature, the power of removal of the 
 members of these commissions is lodged with 
 the Governor. This has been strongly attacked 
 upon the ground that it gives the Governor 
 too much power. It is insisted that the power 
 of removal should be lodged with the Senate. 
 
 Now, so far as I am personally concerned, 
 the matter is not of grave consequence. It is 
 very unlikely that I should have occasion to 
 remove an officer whom I had nominated, and 
 whose qualifications I had had an opportunity 
 carefully to examine before the nomination 
 was made. I may therefore refer to the mat 
 ter in an impersonal way, and simply for the 
 purpose of stating my view as to correct 
 political principle. 
 
 The vesting of the power of removal in the 
 Governor is objected to on several grounds. 
 First it is said that men of self-respect would 
 not take the office on such terms. This is 
 absurd. No one yet has declined the office 
 of Mayor of New York or of Police Commis 
 sioner, or of Sheriff, District Attorney, or 
 Superintendent of Public Works because the 
 Governor has the power of removal. The 
 
120 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 President has a broad power to remove ad 
 ministrative officers and this has not interfered 
 in his calling to his aid the best talent in the 
 land. Any Interstate Commerce Commis 
 sioner may be removed by the President for 
 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in 
 office. 
 
 It is also said that if the Senate confirms the 
 appointment its concurrence in the removal 
 should be required. Neither in logic nor in 
 precedent is there a satisfactory basis for 
 such a claim. Where the people have spoken 
 through the Constitution they have made the 
 Superintendent of Public Works, the Superin 
 tendent of Prisons, the members of the State 
 Board of Charities and of the Lunacy Com 
 mission removable by the Governor alone, 
 although the appointment is with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate. 
 
 But the objection that is most seriously 
 urged is, that it increases the political power 
 of the Governor, and that this may be used 
 for political purposes. I believe that to fix 
 the responsibility with the Governor, thus 
 making him directly accountable to the people 
 for the administration of important depart 
 ments, will do much to free administrative 
 offices from improper political control, and 
 
Glens Falls Club, April 5, 1907 121 
 
 will create a powerful incentive toward efficient 
 administration. 
 
 The point is that the Governor cannot 
 escape accounting to the people for the mis 
 use of his power. His term of office is only 
 two years. The broader his powers, the more 
 careful the people will be in his selection. To 
 the public mind he is, or should be, responsi 
 ble for administration, and it is not wholesome 
 that he should be induced to attempt to ac 
 complish results by indirection. Undoubtedly 
 an unscrupulous Governor may abuse his 
 powers. As the case stands at present an 
 unscrupulous Governor may use unscrupulous 
 means to attain the object of his ambition. 
 The statutes intended to restrain, operate but 
 slightly to the disadvantage of those who are 
 impelled by bad motives. The situation now 
 is, that an unscrupulous Governor may attain 
 his end by a misuse of power, while a scru 
 pulous Governor is blocked in his efforts to 
 achieve results. It is a great mistake to be so 
 intent on preventing bad administration as 
 to make difficult a good one. It is also a 
 mistake to distrust the people. 
 
 The true remedy, as I have said, is to unify 
 administration, to concentrate administrative 
 power, and thus sharply define administrative 
 
122 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 responsibility. Those who have studied the 
 problems of municipal administration are 
 practically unanimous with reference to the 
 importance of this policy. It is equally im 
 portant in connection with State administra 
 tion. In this way only can proper correctives 
 be supplied for administrative abuses. 
 
 This is the more important as the activities 
 of the State increase. If we are to protect our 
 administrative wards and departments from 
 improper influences, if we are to secure admin 
 istration for the benefit of the people without 
 favoritism, we must see to it that administra 
 tive offices are not created which are practi 
 cally immune from accountability, and that the 
 people, through officers of their choice, are 
 able to express their will. 
 
 In this country, with its constitutional safe 
 guards, the interests of property will not be 
 endangered. This is the people s country ; 
 they have established constitutional limits 
 within which administrative powers must be 
 exercised. They are entitled to have these 
 powers exercised in a responsible manner. 
 And they will run no serious risk if the powers 
 essential to secure faithful performance of 
 administrative duty are centred in the Chief 
 Executive of their choice. 
 
Glens Falls Club, April 5, 1907 123 
 
 I may say a word in regard to another mat 
 ter affecting the pending legislation. It has 
 been pretended by some that it interferes with 
 the freedom of employees to work or not to 
 work as they choose. Such a contention is 
 absurd. No commission, under this law or 
 any other law, would have the right to compel 
 men to work against their will. This is a free 
 country, and, under our Constitution, slavery 
 and involuntary servitude are impossible. A 
 law which undertook to compel men to work 
 for a corporation who did not wish to work for 
 that corporation would not be worth the paper 
 that it was written on, and no one can find 
 any such intention within the four corners of 
 the proposed law. 
 
 It has also been said that the bill legalizes 
 mergers which have already taken place. It 
 does nothing of the sort. Past transactions 
 are either lawful or unlawful. If they were 
 lawful, it is important that the new legislation 
 should not be construed as intended to affect 
 any right which is safeguarded by the Con 
 stitution. If they were unlawful, the proposed 
 bill does not legalize them. The provision of 
 the bill simply is that it shall not affect what 
 has been lawfully done, and every right which 
 exists, with every reference to any illegal 
 
124 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 transaction in the past, will continue to exist 
 without impairment by anything in the pro 
 posed law. 
 
 Something has also been said regarding the 
 penalties provided for by the law, but it will 
 be noticed that the penalties stated are merely 
 maximum penalties. There is no provision 
 in the bill, for example, that a corporation vio 
 lating the act shall be mulcted in a penalty of 
 $5000 for every day that the violation con 
 tinues. The penalty is a sum not to exceed 
 $5000 for each offence or for each day s con 
 tinuance. The penalty is not required to be a 
 particular sum, but within the limit stated will 
 be fixed at such sum as the court may find 
 just in view of all the circumstances of the 
 case. If the company ought to pay $5000 a 
 day, it will have to pay that sum. If this would 
 be unjust and result in the extreme penalties 
 described by the opponents of the bill, a sum 
 will be fixed that is both adequate and just. 
 The court has the necessary latitude so that 
 proper punishment may be meted out. Nor is 
 any one in danger of a penalty unless he vio 
 lates the law. And of course there will be no 
 penalty at all unless the order is valid and 
 should be obeyed. 
 
 As I have said before, the law in its operation 
 
Glens Falls Club, April 5, 1907 125 
 
 should not be unfair or oppressive, but it 
 should be effectual. 
 
 Property rights are not threatened, freedom 
 of management consistent with just recognition 
 of public obligations is not interfered with. I 
 need not repeat what I have recently said in 
 regard to the proper function of the courts 
 and the importance of avoiding dilatory pro 
 ceedings to secure a court review of matters 
 which are purely administrative. 
 
 Let me say in conclusion that I believe 
 there is general recognition of the importance 
 of providing for suitable State supervision of 
 public-service corporations as is now proposed ; 
 that I believe the people of this State indorse 
 the effort to place an adequate measure of 
 relief upon the statute books ; and I believe 
 that a majority of the members of the Legis 
 lature are alive to the importance of the ques 
 tion presented and will be found to be in accord 
 with the public sentiment upon this question. 
 
IV. 
 
 Speech at the Banquet of the Buffalo 
 Chamber of Commerce, April 18, 1907, 
 
 We have met to-night to commemorate 
 commercial enterprise and industrial achieve 
 ment. You unroll the record of the successes 
 of fifty years to find inspiration and promise 
 for the future. And in the building you have 
 set apart to-day for your Chamber of Com 
 merce you have at once a monument and a 
 prophecy. The half century that has passed 
 since your organization has witnessed the 
 development, of the national consciousness 
 which has rendered the Union secure against 
 dismemberment, and has prepared the way 
 for the realization, upon the largest scale the 
 world has ever known, of the ideals of dem 
 ocracy and of the blessings which through 
 equality of opportunity under a free govern 
 ment may come to a united and industri 
 ous people. 
 
 For government and free government is 
 
 not an end but a means. And its object is to 
 
 126 
 
Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, 1907 127 
 
 secure the broadest diffusion of prosperity and 
 the widest scope of individual opportunity con 
 sistent with the welfare of all. 
 
 We sometimes hear voiced a feeling of re 
 sentment against the assertion of public rights 
 upon the ground that it is an attack upon the 
 business interests of the country. A sullen 
 and defiant attitude toward public opinion ill 
 becomes an American citizen. Both unprin 
 cipled attempts to corrupt it and despotic 
 efforts to defy it must, in this land of sound 
 common-sense, inevitably fail. 
 
 One of the dangers of the rapidity of our 
 development is overstrain. Brain and nerve 
 have never been subjected to such tests as are 
 now imposed upon those who are charged with 
 the responsibilities of success, either in com 
 mercial, industrial, or professional life. A 
 railroad man told me the other day that for 
 the purpose of securing necessary assistants in 
 the enlargement of his railroad facilities he had 
 sent to one of the largest railroad corporations 
 in the country for a list of available men. He 
 had received the names of a considerable num 
 ber between thirty-five and forty-five years of 
 age, among whom he recognized many who 
 had won distinction for their abilities, and 
 against all was the note broken down." That 
 
128 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 I suppose was the reason why they were 
 "available." 
 
 Now in a situation like this, where executive 
 ability is crowded to the utmost, and the de 
 mands of the day are multiplied, while the 
 hours of the day remain inexorably fixed, there 
 is danger of an undue tenseness and of a 
 tendency to disorganization. If I were to put 
 in a phrase the special demand of the hour 
 upon all those engaged in the discussion of 
 public and economic questions affecting the 
 business interests of the country, I should say: 
 Let these questions be upon your conscience 
 and upon your heart, but not upon your 
 " nerves." 
 
 The prevailing sentiment in this country is 
 wholesome and just; it is idealistic; it rejoices 
 in the extension of commerce and the develop 
 ment of industry ; it takes pride in the ability 
 that invents, in the talent that can organize 
 effort and make co-operation productive ; it 
 honors honest toil of hand or brain ; it prizes 
 sagacity and thrift; it extols prudence ; it rev 
 erences achievement. But it also demands 
 honesty. It also exacts fidelity, both to private 
 and to public obligation. It believes in free 
 dom of opportunity, not that a few may exploit 
 the many, but that each, working according to 
 
Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, 1907 129 
 
 his talent, may receive a just return, and that 
 the rights of all in their community relations 
 shall be paramount to the selfish interest of 
 any one. 
 
 The people draw a clear distinction between 
 the builders and the destroyers of our Com 
 monwealth. Work is honorable and no true 
 American begrudges the workman his well- 
 earned reward. For the rank and file who are 
 toiling to develop the resources of our country 
 and to facilitate the exchanges of commerce ; 
 for the great army of workers in their varied 
 fields of effort who are giving their lives to 
 industry and making possible our commercial 
 development, the people have naught but 
 praise. They are not against business, but 
 against abuses ; and to preserve the interests 
 of the former the latter must be stopped. 
 
 Who are the enemies of the Republic ? 
 They are not those who are doing an honest 
 day s work and who seek to do their work 
 under fair and decent conditions. 
 
 They are not those who manage industry 
 and commerce with just regard for those who 
 are under their direction and with proper 
 recognition of public rights. 
 
 They are not those who, husbanding the 
 resources they have lawfully acquired, seek to 
 
130 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 enlarge the field of enterprise and to afford 
 opportunity for new and useful employments. 
 
 They are not those who, taking account of 
 the evils that afflict society, attempt to provide 
 adequate remedies. 
 
 There are two classes of enemies to the 
 prosperity of this country. 
 
 The first consists of the unscrupulous who 
 have no sympathy with democratic ideals, and 
 who, by their abuse of the privileges obtained 
 from the State and their cynical indifference 
 to public obligations, bring law and govern 
 ment into contempt. 
 
 The second class consists of those who seek 
 profit in unprincipled agitation. 
 
 The second thrives upon the evils created 
 by the first. 
 
 Now the great progress of the country, so 
 strikingly exemplified in this favored city, 
 must give us pause. Business and commerce 
 must have stability, but they cannot find it 
 unless the public confidence is maintained. 
 This means efficient government and adequate 
 public regulation of public service. There is 
 no measure more truly conservative than that 
 which commands the public respect, as con 
 serving the public interest. Favoritism in 
 public service is an iniquity that the people 
 
Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, 1907 131 
 
 will not and should not tolerate ; it is an evil 
 which the business men of the country are 
 determined to end. The public are entitled 
 to be assured that the business which is con 
 ducted by virtue of the franchises they grant, 
 is conducted as the public interest requires. 
 They desire extensions of facilities ; they wish 
 to encourage betterments ; they have no in 
 clination to hamper industry ; but they are 
 tired of financial jugglery, and they demand 
 proper service. There is no reason why those 
 who are endeavoring to meet fairly public 
 obligations should suffer by the improper 
 practices of others engaged in the same busi 
 ness. The remedy is to provide such regula 
 tion of public service as will assure the people 
 that provision has been made for the investiga 
 tion of every question and that each matter 
 will be decided according to its merits in the 
 light of day. 
 
 But equally important is it to insist upon 
 the maintenance of the highest standards of 
 administration in government and not to tol 
 erate any prostitution of public office to selfish 
 purposes. Now I have confidence in the peo 
 ple. And I have no confidence in those make 
 shifts which result from distrust of the people. 
 But whether you have confidence or not in 
 
132 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 popular judgment, let me assure you that in 
 this country it is idle to inveigh against it. 
 You must abide by it. And the security 
 of business is in the provision of adequate 
 means for responsible government, in holding 
 officials strictly to account for their perform 
 ance of duty, and in a compliance on the 
 part of those in charge of our great business 
 enterprises with the obvious demands of 
 justice. 
 
V. 
 
 Speech before the Elmira Chamber of 
 Commerce, May 3, 1907.* 
 
 I did not come here to-night to join in a de 
 bate. It is entirely true that I had purposed 
 to say some things in regard to the very meas 
 ure about which my friend Mr. Stanchfield has 
 spoken, and I shall not say any less, but per 
 haps something more. In distinction from my 
 learned friend, I am here under a retainer. I 
 am here retained by the people of the State of 
 New York, to see that justice is done, and 
 with no disposition to injure any investment, 
 but with every desire to give the fullest oppor 
 tunity to enterprise, and with every purpose 
 to shield and protect every just property in 
 terest. I stand for the people of the State of 
 New York against extortion, against favoritism, 
 
 * Governor Hughes had prepared a speech for this occasion but 
 Mr. John B. Stanchfield, who spoke before he did, made an attack 
 upon the Public-Service Commissions bill, saying as he did so that 
 he was " under no retainer from the railroads," and the Governor 
 abandoned his prepared speech to make an extemporaneous reply to 
 Mr. Stanchfield s arguments. 
 
 133 
 
134 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 against financial scandal, and against every 
 thing that goes to corrupt our politics by 
 interference with the freedom of our Legis 
 lature and administration. I stand for honest 
 government and effective regulation by the 
 State of public-service corporations. 
 
 Now, I am fully conscious, as is every one 
 who professes to have a modicum of intelli 
 gence, of the tremendous advantages which 
 the country and every community in it have 
 derived from the extension of our railroad 
 facilities. Our communities would be life 
 less, our trade would collapse, we would all be 
 worse than dead, were it not for these oppor 
 tunities of communication and these facilities 
 of transportation. We honor every just ef 
 fort to make these possible. We want every 
 opportunity afforded to enable the people to 
 move their produce, and we want fair treat 
 ment to those who are engaged in this very 
 necessary activity. Yet it is said that, despite 
 the prosperity of the country and the great 
 benefits that have been derived from the 
 extension of our transportation facilities, 
 there is a state of unrest; that there is a 
 general condition of discontent throughout the 
 country. Why? Is it because of extension 
 of means of communication ? Will any one 
 
Elmira Chamber of Commerce, 1907 135 
 
 suggest to an intelligent audience that Ameri 
 can citizens are in revolt against their own 
 prosperity ? What they revolt against is dis 
 honest finance. What they are in rebellion 
 against is favoritism which gives a chance to 
 one man to move his goods and not to another ; 
 which gives to one man one set of terms and 
 another set to his rival ; which makes one man 
 rich and drives another man into bankruptcy 
 or into combination with his more successful 
 competitor. It is a revolt against all the in 
 fluences which have grown out of an unlicensed 
 freedom, and of a failure to recognize that 
 these great privileges, so necessary for public 
 welfare, have been created by the public for 
 the public benefit and not primarily for private 
 advantage. 
 
 There has been a determined effort through 
 the State to make it appear that the Chambers 
 of Commerce in New York and the business 
 men composing those Chambers of Commerce 
 are opposed to an effective scheme of State 
 regulation of public-service corporations and 
 opposed to the specific measure now pending 
 in the Legislature having that object in view. 
 
 I do not believe that the resolutions that 
 have been passed reflect the sentiment of the 
 business men of the State of New York. It 
 
136 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 would be most unfortunate were it so. There 
 are undoubtedly many whose interests are 
 directly affected, and who desire to maintain 
 existing conditions and to enjoy unrestricted 
 freedom in order that they may give rein to 
 their own selfish purposes, who undoubtedly 
 are frankly and consistently against the propo 
 sition. There are others who throw a sop 
 to public opinion by saying that they believe 
 in regulation and who then will contest with 
 you any provision that promises effective 
 regulation. 
 
 I heard a distinguished railway man the 
 other night speak of the great difficulties 
 under which railroads are now suffering, en 
 deavoring to keep up with the extraordinary 
 demands that are incident to our very rapid 
 improvement and development in commerce. 
 I sympathize with those difficulties. I sympa 
 thize with the operating man who lies awake 
 nights trying to devise means by which he can 
 improve traffic facilities. I sympathize with 
 the great army of active railroad men who, 
 under severe conditions, are trying to perform 
 their duty. There is nothing antagonistic to 
 them, or to anybody who desires to deal 
 squarely with the public, within the four 
 corners of that bill. This gentleman said, 
 
Elmira Chamber of Commerce, 1907 137 
 
 speaking for the railroads : " We want friendly 
 co-operation ; we want protection against ag 
 gression and injustice." And I speak for the 
 people by saying : " So do we." That is 
 what we want on both sides friendly co 
 operation for just ends and protection against 
 aggression and injustice. 
 
 I am amused at times at the phantoms that 
 are conjured up by practical men whose ex 
 perience should have taught them better. It 
 is said that a commission with such broad 
 powers would take active management of rail 
 road corporations and practically oust their 
 boards of directors. Imagine the situation of 
 any such commission taking into consider 
 ation the vast variety of questions relating 
 to the management of any one railroad cor 
 poration. Think of the great number of prob 
 lems and complaints necessarily committed 
 to any such commission, and then tell an 
 intelligent American audience that any such 
 commission could, if it wanted to, manage any 
 railroad ! 
 
 But what is important and vital to any 
 scheme of regulation is this : That wherever 
 there is an abuse the commission can put its 
 finger on it and hear the evidence and deter 
 mine whether or not the abuse exists, and if 
 
138 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 it does exist stop it, no matter in what depart 
 ment of management it may be. Why, you 
 cannot do that unless you give power which 
 in an emergency will reach any department of 
 management, so that wherever an evil exists 
 which the State ought to control and correct, 
 the power delegated by the State to such 
 a body can be exercised for its correction. 
 That does not mean that any commission 
 should displace the operating management of 
 any particular property. It does mean that 
 they should have the power to exercise con 
 trol sufficient to correct abuses that might 
 exist. Now, when we consider these matters 
 in detail, you will find, and I have found, the 
 railroad men sitting quietly down with you 
 and talking it over. You take up one thing 
 after another and they will say : " Yes, they 
 ought to have power to do so." Suppose so 
 and so ? Yes, they ought to have power to 
 do it, assuming that they start with the prem 
 ise that the business of the public-service cor 
 poration is a public business. There are many 
 who lay down that premise very glibly, never 
 to remember it again ; and who, having admit 
 ted to you that the management of the rail 
 road is public business, forthwith will argue 
 with you that it is their own private concern. 
 
Elmira Chamber of Commerce, 1907 139 
 
 But when you deal with a railroad man who 
 fairly and squarely meets you, you will find 
 that he will agree that these powers are needed, 
 supposing that abuses exist which would call 
 them into action. The other night I was talk 
 ing to such a gentleman, and when we got 
 through, the practical result of all was this : 
 I said to him : " What you really want is 
 a chance to go to the courts ? " And he said : 
 "Yes, that is all there is about it." That 
 seemed to be the main point. A chance to go 
 from the commission to the courts. 
 
 I have the highest regard for the courts. 
 My whole life has been spent in work con 
 ditioned upon respect for the courts. I reckon 
 him one of the worst enemies of the commu 
 nity who will talk lightly of the dignity of the 
 bench. We are under a Constitution, but the 
 Constitution is what the judges say it is, and 
 the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty 
 and of our property under the Constitution. 
 I do not want to see any direct assault upon 
 the courts, nor do I want to see any indirect 
 assault upon the courts. And I tell you, ladies 
 and gentlemen, no more insidious assault could 
 be made upon the independence and esteem 
 of the judiciary than to burden it with these 
 questions of administration, questions which 
 
140 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 lie close to the public impatience, and in re 
 gard to which the people are going to insist 
 on having administration by officers directly 
 accountable to them. 
 
 Let us keep the courts for the questions 
 they were intended to consider. When ques 
 tions of property rights are involved, the 
 constitutional right to hold property and not 
 to be deprived of it without due process of 
 law is involved ; when, under the guise of 
 regulation or authority to supervise railroad 
 management, there is an assumption of arbi 
 trary power not related to public convenience ; 
 when there is a real judicial question let the 
 courts have it and every good citizen will 
 stand aside and hope to see it decided fairly 
 and with even-handed justice. 
 
 When you deal with matters of this sort 
 you may be sure that there will be a variety of 
 questions, which, whatever the fact may ultim 
 ately be proved to be, can by astute lawyers be 
 said to involve such judicial matters, and there 
 will be abundant opportunity for review of 
 everything that should be reviewed. But to 
 say that all these matters of detail which 
 will be brought before the commission, mat 
 ters requiring men to give their entire atten 
 tion to the subject, to get their information 
 
Elmira Chamber of Commerce, 1907 141 
 
 in a variety of ways, to have hearings of 
 those interested, and to deal with questions 
 from a practical standpoint, should, at the 
 option of the corporations, be taken into 
 court, is to make a mockery of your regula 
 tion. And, on the other hand, if that policy 
 should succeed, it would swamp your courts 
 with administrative burdens and expose them 
 to the fire of public criticism in connection 
 with matters of this description, from which I 
 hope they will be safeguarded. 
 
 You must have administration, and you must 
 have administration by administrative officers. 
 You cannot afford to have it otherwise. Under 
 the proper maintenance of your system of gov 
 ernment and in view of the wide extension of 
 regulating schemes which the future is destined 
 to see, you cannot afford to have that ad 
 ministration by your courts. With the courts 
 giving a series of decisions in these administra 
 tive matters hostile to what the public believes, 
 and free from that direct accounting to which 
 administrative officers are subject, you will 
 soon find a propaganda advocating a short- 
 term judiciary, and you will turn upon our 
 courts the final safeguard of our liberties 
 that hostile and perhaps violent criticism from 
 which they should be shielded and will be 
 
142 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 shielded if left with the jurisdictions which it 
 was intended they should exercise. 
 
 Now it seems to be regarded as a very serious 
 thing that my successor might remove the com 
 missioners I appoint. I do not share the fears 
 of my friend, because the experience of the past 
 has taught us that the only safety of democratic 
 government is responsible government. If you 
 put men in a position where they cannot be 
 reached and are not compelled to be account 
 able, you put a premium upon incompetency, 
 you put a premium upon political interference 
 and set the people at bay. Do you want these 
 commissioners elected ? Some might say "Yes." 
 I say that is not the way to get really responsi 
 ble government, but rather diffused responsi 
 bility ; to prevent unity of administration, to 
 break up a system of accountability which 
 would be found to answer the purpose. If you 
 apply it in that case, why not through the 
 whole administrative field ? Voters would not 
 know the qualifications of the men for whom 
 they were voting, and they would have no op 
 portunity to test their qualifications for this 
 administrative position or that. There is one 
 safety for the voters, and that is to say to 
 the man who is elected Governor, just as the 
 owner of a business would say to a man he 
 
Elmira Chamber of Commerce, 1907 143 
 
 puts in control of that business : " You run 
 this business and I will hold you accountable 
 for it." Pick your man and get the right man, 
 and hold him directly accountable to the peo 
 ple. Say to him : " You whom we can watch 
 you with reference to whose selection public 
 sentiment in the first instance has the largest 
 play under our system, you run the business 
 and we will see how you run it." 
 
 We have had a recent illustration. Eigh 
 teen months ago the whole country, and you 
 might say the whole world, was shocked by 
 the revelation of corruption in those insti 
 tutions which we deemed strongest and which 
 we supposed to be officered by the most 
 honorable and efficient managers. It was a 
 business that constituted a sacred trust, and 
 affected the savings and securities of thousands 
 of homes throughout our State. And when 
 it appeared that those who were trusted 
 were faithless ; when it appeared that these 
 funds had been used for extravagant, corrupt 
 purposes, that book-keeping had been decep 
 tive, that vouchers had been improper, that all 
 the safeguards which go to maintain proper 
 administration had been neglected, a great 
 outcry went up from the people of the State 
 and the people of the United States. They 
 
144 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 said : " This thing must stop ! " And that was 
 in a business under governmental control. 
 That was in a business under a control 
 designed by statutes which pried into the 
 very life of every department of activity. 
 It was a State department in the hands of 
 those who could walk into offices, take ac 
 counts, examine books, put officers on oath, 
 and make reports. It was a business put under 
 severe regulations because of its high impor 
 tance, and these things happened. What 
 a farce it all was ! And the people of the 
 State knew it. 
 
 When I went into office some eight months 
 or so after the laws had been enacted which 
 resulted from that investigation, there was 
 practically the same condition of affairs that 
 had existed in the course of the insurance in 
 vestigation, and the very men through whose 
 negligence and connivance all these things had 
 taken place were there as the trusted and con 
 fidential advisers of the Superintendent. It 
 was an intolerable situation. No business 
 manager would have stood it. There was no 
 personal question involved. It would have 
 been much more agreeable to me to leave it 
 alone. But it was there, and it was my duty 
 to endeavor to put the department upon the 
 
Elmira Chamber of Commerce, 1907 145 
 
 best possible basis of efficiency to protect the 
 interests of the policyholders, and I sought 
 to do it. 
 
 Now, that is an illustration of the situation 
 where places are created which are removed 
 from any direct accounting. No removability 
 except by the Senate means incompetent and 
 inefficient administration, and in the long run 
 political administration. I do not care who is 
 Governor, in the long run the one safeguard 
 of the American people is responsible govern 
 ment with power adequate to meet the re 
 sponsibility and accountability to the people 
 for the exercise of that power. 
 
 Now we want in these measures, as in other 
 measures, to be just ; but we want to be effec 
 tive. We cannot have any power that is not 
 susceptible of abuse. There is not a single 
 State officer who has power enough to do his 
 duty but could be guilty of a serious abuse if 
 he neglected his duty. 
 
 In your Mayor and in your Governor, and 
 in others entrusted with administrative powers, 
 you must repose confidence. And if these 
 men really stand, not in some secluded nook, 
 protected by some statute passed without due 
 regard to the public interest, but directly be 
 fore the bar of public opinion, in the long run 
 
146 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the people will get their due. And my policy 
 in this measure, as in every other measure, is 
 simply to see to the best of my ability during 
 my short term that the people get what they 
 are entitled to receive. 
 
VI. 
 Veto of the Two- Cent Fare Bill. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER. 
 
 ALBANY, June n, 1907. 
 
 To the Assembly : 
 
 I return herewith, without my approval, 
 Assembly Bill No. 2269, entitled, " An Act to 
 amend the railroad law, in relation to rates of 
 fare." 
 
 This bill, with specified exceptions, provides 
 for a maximum passenger fare of two cents 
 per mile upon the railroads in this State. 
 Steam railroads less than 150 miles in length, 
 which are not within the counties of New 
 York and Kings (or within the limits of an in 
 corporated city), are permitted a higher maxi 
 mum charge of three, four, and five cents a 
 mile according to length of line, unless through 
 consolidation, lease, or control they form part 
 of a system whose combined lines exceed 
 150 miles, in which case the provision for a 
 maximum rate of two cents a mile is applicable. 
 
 147 
 
148 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 The passage of the bill was not preceded 
 by legislative investigation or suitable inquiry 
 under the authority of the State. Nor is the 
 fixing of this rate predicated on reports or 
 statistics officially collated which would permit 
 a fair conclusion as to the justice of its opera 
 tion with reference to the railroads within its 
 purview. It plainly reflects dissatisfaction 
 with existing conditions and an effort to pro 
 vide a remedy through arbitrary action. It 
 seems largely to have been the result of an 
 noying requirements and discriminations in 
 connection with the sale of mileage books 
 on certain roads. 
 
 The bill represents a policy seriously mis 
 taken and pregnant with disaster. It is of the 
 utmost importance that the management of 
 our railroad corporations should be subject 
 to strict supervision by the State and that 
 regulations compelling the observance of the 
 law and proper and adequate service should 
 be rigidly enforced. It is the duty of these 
 corporations to provide transportation of pas 
 sengers and goods at reasonable rates, and the 
 State should compel the performance of this 
 obligation. 
 
 But injustice on the part of railroad cor 
 porations toward the public does not justify 
 
Two-Cent Fare Bill, 1907 149 
 
 injustice on the part of the State toward the 
 railroad corporations. The action of govern 
 ment should be fair and impartial, and upon 
 this every citizen, whatever his interest, is 
 entitled to insist. We shall make matters not 
 better but worse if to cure one wrong we 
 establish another. The fact that those in con 
 trol of railroad corporations have been guilty 
 of grossly improper financiering and of illegal 
 and injurious discriminations in charges points 
 clearly to the necessity of effective State ac 
 tion, but does not require or warrant arbitrary 
 reprisals. In dealing with these questions 
 democracy must demonstrate its capacity to 
 act upon deliberation and to deal justly. 
 
 It is of the greatest importance not only 
 that railroad corporations should be compelled 
 to respect their public obligations, but also 
 that they should be permitted to operate un 
 der conditions which will give a fair return for 
 their service. Upon this depend not simply 
 the security of investors, but the security of 
 their employees and the protection of every 
 form of industry and commerce through the 
 maintenance and extension of necessary trans 
 portation facilities. Nothing could be more 
 opposed to the interests of the community as 
 a whole than to cripple transportation corpora- 
 
150 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 tions by arbitrary reduction of earnings. It 
 may be said that a two-cent passenger rate is 
 not so extreme as to have a very injurious 
 result. But this is a debatable question. 
 Large and prosperous suburban communities 
 have been built up through the offer of com 
 mutation rates much less than the proposed 
 maximum. Upon the maintenance of these 
 rates many thousands of our citizens rely. 
 Considerable differences exist between the 
 railroad corporations with respect to the ter 
 ritory they serve and the cost of service, and 
 it is manifest that what would be fair for one 
 might be far from fair for another. An arbi 
 trary dislocation of tariffs by the fiat of the 
 Legislature without investigation is a matter 
 of serious concern. The best that could be 
 said for such legislation would be that it should 
 be regarded as an isolated case and not as a 
 precedent. For if flat freight rates, either for 
 all commodities or for different kinds of com 
 modities, were similarly to be fixed by the 
 Legislature without investigation or proper 
 ascertainment of their justice, our railroad 
 business and our industrial and commercial 
 interests would be thrown into confusion. 
 
 I do not mean to be understood as saying 
 that a maximum two-cent passenger rate would 
 
Two-Cent Fare Bill, 1907 151 
 
 be unreasonably low. It might be high enough 
 in many cases. Possibly it would be high 
 enough in all cases. I fully appreciate the 
 fact that those who have promoted this bill 
 believe that such a rate would be fair. But I 
 deem it most important that the policy of deal 
 ing with matters of this sort arbitrarily, by 
 legislative rule of general application without 
 reference to the demands of justice in particu 
 lar cases, should be condemned. Every work- 
 ingman, every tradesman, and every citizen 
 believing himself to have aught at stake in the 
 prosperity of the country, should determinedly 
 oppose it. For it not only threatens the sta 
 bility of business enterprise which makes our 
 prosperity possible, but it substitutes unreason 
 for sound judgment, the ill-considered demands 
 of resentment for the spirit of fair play, and 
 makes impossible patient and honorable effort 
 to correct abuses. 
 
 There is a better way. It has already been 
 pointed out in the legislation of this State. It 
 is practically impossible, in view of the nature 
 of the problems and the many questions re 
 quiring consideration, for the Legislature to 
 deal directly with railroad rates in a satisfac 
 tory manner. Where a matter requires in 
 vestigation in order that a just result may be 
 
152 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 reached, the obvious course is to create a body 
 which can investigate, with expert assistance, 
 as summarily as possible, and which shall have 
 adequate power to make appropriate orders. 
 Such a body has been created in this State 
 through the Public-Service Commissions Law 
 recently enacted. 
 
 Provision is made for inquiry into matters 
 of freight rates and passenger fares, and for 
 the fixing of such rates as shall be found just 
 and reasonable. If a passenger rate of two 
 cents a mile is just and reasonable, it can be 
 fixed. If it is not just and reasonable, it 
 should not be fixed. 
 
 It will be said that this requires time and 
 investigation. But it will not require any 
 longer time or any more protracted investiga 
 tion than are necessary to reach a right result. 
 The interests of the country are so great 
 and our individual interests are so closely 
 interwoven that it is to the highest degree 
 dangerous to give encouragement to the 
 spirit of impatience with the orderly proc 
 esses of inquiry. 
 
 It may also be said that many other States 
 have adopted similar legislation. If the prin 
 ciple of that legislation be sound we could 
 readily follow the precedent ; but if it be 
 
Two-Cent Fare Bill, 1907 153 
 
 unsound there is the greater reason why it should 
 not be followed. The State of New York has 
 provided machinery to settle these questions 
 justly to all with as much despatch as possible. 
 It is to the interest of all that this machinery 
 should be made as perfect and efficient as pos 
 sible. It is to the interest of none that it 
 should be discarded because of preference for 
 arbitrary legislative action. 
 
 If this bill were to become a law it would 
 most probably lead in many cases on account 
 of pretended or real necessity to economies 
 in service and to readjustment of rates now 
 lower, to the annoyance and injury of consid 
 erable numbers of the travelling public for 
 which the gain to others would not necessarily 
 compensate. Again, the validity of such a 
 statute would almost certainly be contested in 
 protracted litigation, the result of which, to 
 say the least, would be in doubt. At a critical 
 time, when the interests of all demand that 
 reason and judgment should control in dealing 
 with such matters, we should have abandoned 
 our true line of action and facilitated still 
 wider departures. 
 
 I therefore disapprove this bill. 
 
 (Signed) CHARLES E. HUGHES. 
 
III. 
 
 Occasional Addresses, 
 
 " If in administration we make the standard efficiency 
 and not partisan advantage, if in executing the laws we 
 deal impartially, if in making the laws there is fair and 
 intelligent action with reference to each exigency, we shall 
 disarm reckless and selfish agitators and take from the ene 
 mies of our peace their vantage ground of attack. It is my 
 intention to employ my constitutional powers to this end." 
 From Governor Hughes s Inaugural Address, January 
 I 1907. 
 
 155 
 
I. 
 
 Speech at the Banquet of the Albany 
 Republican Organization, February 
 27, 1907. 
 
 We are all interested in the success of the 
 Republican party. I have been a Republican 
 from the time I came of age. I am grateful 
 for the splendid services it has rendered to the 
 country and for the memories of the noble men 
 under whose leadership in repeated crises the 
 party has proved itself equal to the task of 
 preserving and administering the government. 
 There is no political organization in this coun 
 try which at this time has such an opportunity 
 of serving the people by efficient administra 
 tion and by wise constructive effort in the cor 
 rection of known evils. The party has its 
 future in its own keeping, and if it will measure 
 up to its traditions and meet its opportunities 
 it will for many years be invincible both in 
 State and Nation. 
 
 I do not condone any public wrong because 
 
 it is committed by a Republican any more than 
 
 157 
 
158 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 I would were it committed by a Democrat. 
 Nor do I think that loyalty to party requires 
 support of anything wrong either in policy 
 or in administration which we would feel 
 free to condemn if the wrongdoing could 
 be charged to those of a different political 
 faith. No one can convince me that he is a 
 loyal Republican, with the interests of the 
 party at heart, who will misuse official position 
 or will be content with anything short of the 
 best service of the people. I count it the high 
 est loyalty to the party to insist that the work 
 done under Republican auspices shall be hon 
 estly done and well done, and that our record 
 of administration shall not be smirched by 
 either corruption or inefficiency. 
 
 Organization is essential to successful effort, 
 and no sane man would expect any political 
 undertaking to be successful which is not skil 
 fully organized and wisely managed. But the 
 success of political organization, important as 
 is practical management, will depend upon its 
 ideals. No matter how skilfully constructed 
 or astutely led, the people will smash any or 
 ganization that is devoted to selfish interests. 
 Give the people the idea that the main purpose 
 of organization is to secure control for personal 
 advantage or for favored interests, and sooner 
 
Albany, February 27, 1907 159 
 
 or later they will bring to grief the best-laid 
 plans of the most astute leaders. But, on the 
 other hand, convince them that organization 
 is directed to the purpose of maintaining an 
 honorable party policy and of promoting an 
 administration of government in the interest 
 of the people, and they will rally to its support. 
 The lessons of the day to the Republican 
 party in this State are not hard to learn. In 
 1894, as a rebuke to an organization that 
 had overreached itself, Governor Morton was 
 elected by over 150,000 majority. This suc 
 ceeded many years of Democratic rule and 
 Democratic opportunity. In the last three pre 
 sidential elections the State has given remark 
 able pluralities for the Republican candidate. 
 McKinley had 268,000 in 1896 and 143,000 
 in 1900; and Theodore Roosevelt received 
 over 175,000 in 1904. The Republican 
 candidate for Governor in these years, while 
 having the advantage of the sentiment created 
 in favor of the candidates of the national party, 
 fell conspicuously behind the national candi 
 date. While McKinley had 268,000 in 1896, 
 Governor Black received 212,000. Where 
 McKinley had 143,000 in 1900, Governor 
 Odell received 111,000. While Mr. Roosevelt 
 had 175,000 in 1904, Governor Higgins had 
 
160 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 80,000. But we have a far more striking 
 divergence when we compare the votes cast in 
 the intermediate years when there was no presi 
 dential campaign. Thus, while Governor 
 Black received 212,000 in 1896, Governor 
 Roosevelt was elected in 1898 by a little 
 under 18,000. While Governor Odell received 
 111,000 in 1900, his plurality in 1902 was 
 short of 9000. While Governor Higgins was 
 elected by 80,000 in 1904, in the last election 
 all the Republican candidates for State offices, 
 save one, were defeated. 
 
 The Republican who fails to realize the sig 
 nificance of these figures is paying little atten 
 tion to the demands of the people of the State 
 and the relation of these demands to party suc 
 cess. Undoubtedly there were special circum 
 stances in the case of each election. But it is 
 clearly evident that on State issues the Re 
 publican party will be doomed to defeat unless 
 it gives new assurances to the people of its 
 capacity to govern in their interest. 
 
 Now, I do not profess to be versed in the 
 wisdom of politics, and I make no claim to 
 knowledge of political strategy. But I do 
 know this : That if the Republican party 
 expects to succeed in this State it must support 
 every effort to give efficient administration. 
 
Albany, February 27, 1907 161 
 
 No man is a friend of the Republican party 
 who asks me or any one in authority to ap 
 point a man or to retain a man who is not 
 equal to his job. If you want a strong party 
 organization, then let it be insisted upon that 
 no man can expect the support of the organi 
 zation who does not make good. Make it a 
 point of honor to demand the best service for 
 the State. Let us devote ourselves to meeting 
 the need of the hour by providing just and 
 effective measures for the correction of abuses. 
 The Republican party has the vantage ground; 
 it has the opportunity ; there is no reason why 
 it should yield it to its opponents. 
 
 I make no request for personal support. So 
 far as I am personally concerned my interests 
 lie in a profession to which I would be glad 
 to devote myself. But I am desirous that the 
 Republican party should take advantage of its 
 opportunity to convince the people that it can 
 be trusted to meet their demand in furnishing 
 competent administration of every department 
 of government, and in the enforcement of the 
 laws, and in the enactment of the legislation 
 that is required to protect the people against 
 the misuse of the privileges they have bestowed. 
 
 For that policy I do desire support. I de 
 sire the support of the Republican organization. 
 
1 62 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 I am grateful for the assurances that have been 
 received. Let there be a demonstration that 
 we are a party of the people and that the 
 interest of all citizens is safe in our keeping. 
 
 Let us put an end to graft and to favors to 
 special interests. Let organization be skilful 
 and leaders be masterful, but let all seek to 
 secure an administration of which all the 
 people may be proud, and the party which has 
 given the nation Lincoln, Grant, McKinley, 
 and Roosevelt need not fear defeat. 
 
II. 
 
 Speech at the National Arbitration and 
 Peace Congress, New York City, 
 April 15, 1907. 
 
 It is not my function to deliver a formal 
 address upon any of the topics which will en 
 gage your attention, but rather in the name of 
 the State of New York to bid you a hearty 
 welcome. It is my pleasant duty to express 
 the gratification of our citizens at the meeting 
 of this Congress and their appreciation of the 
 important influences which must radiate from 
 such a representative assemblage. 
 
 It is fitting that this meeting should be held 
 in a State representing in so conspicuous a 
 degree the varied activities of peace, and in 
 a metropolis which focusses the energies of a 
 people who, in beneficent concord, without 
 desire of conquest or lust of power, are work 
 ing out their destiny inspired by national ideals 
 of equality and justice. As a New Yorker, 
 and as one representing the State in an official 
 
 capacity, I find it agreeable to recall the names 
 
 163 
 
1 64 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 of its distinguished sons who have contributed 
 in a marked manner to achievements in the 
 interest of the peace of the world. You will 
 not think it amiss if I claim for this r6le of 
 honor the foremost citizen of the Nation, 
 whose Federal activities have not obscured his 
 relationship to his native State, and the lustre 
 of whose fame as President of the Republic 
 has been heightened by his service as pacifi 
 cator. And New York has also given to the 
 Nation the eminent public servant who has 
 addressed you, the keeper of our foreign inter 
 ests, in whose wise diplomacy every citizen is 
 assured of the astute and jealous defence of 
 our peaceful policies. We may also claim 
 by right of his adoption the presiding genius 
 of this Congress, whose personal interest 
 and generous benefactions have contributed 
 so notably to the progress of this world- 
 movement. 
 
 When the first Peace Congress met at The 
 Hague, three of the six representatives of the 
 United States were New Yorkers, Andrew 
 D. White, the scholar and veteran diplomatist ; 
 that eminent citizen of this metropolis, Seth 
 Low ; and the lamented Frederick William 
 Holls, the versatile secretary of the American 
 Commission and the historian of the work of 
 
National Arbitration, 1907 165 
 
 the conference. New York also should take 
 special pride in the intelligent service in the 
 cause of international arbitration which, long 
 in advance of the meeting of that conference, 
 was rendered by the lawyers of this State. 
 
 In January, 1896, following an address de 
 livered before it by the Honorable Chauncey 
 M. Depew, the New York State Bar Associa 
 tion appointed a committee to consider the 
 subject of international arbitration, and to 
 devise and submit to it a plan for the organi 
 zation of a tribunal to which international 
 questions might be submitted. In April of 
 the same year, after careful deliberation, the 
 committee made its report, recommending 
 the establishment of an International Court of 
 Arbitration, to be composed of members 
 selected by the agreeing nations and to be 
 open at all times for the submission of contro 
 versies. The plan was laid before the Presi 
 dent of the United States, and later, as 
 Secretary Foster states in his recent work, it 
 became the basis of the instructions of the 
 American delegates to The Hague Conference, 
 and in accordance with this plan are found to be 
 the essential features of the Permanent Court 
 now in existence at The Hague. It is gratify 
 ing to trace this preliminary and influential 
 
1 66 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 activity of our public-spirited fellow citizens, 
 and we of the State of New York welcome 
 the members of this Congress with a cordiality 
 emphasized by our long and sincere interest in 
 the questions you are to consider. 
 
 There are few, if any, to plead the cause of 
 war in general, however it may be defended in 
 particular. Statesmen and soldiers alike con 
 demn it, and against its monstrous cruelties 
 and wastefulness, commerce and sentiment are 
 allied. The necessity of war as a last defence 
 of liberty and honor is admitted only to be 
 deprecated, and in the desire to prevent armed 
 strife there is almost complete unanimity. There 
 may still be those who believe in the benefi 
 cent effects of the discipline of war, and who 
 shrink from contemplating a society enervated 
 by exclusive devotion to the pursuits of peace. 
 Undoubtedly benefits have been conferred by 
 war. Against the dark background of ruin, 
 desolation, and death, the elemental virtues of 
 humanity have stood out in bold relief. And 
 aside from the important and beneficial results 
 of certain wars, the world has largely learned 
 its lessons of courage and fortitude, of the 
 supremacy of duty and the sacred obligations 
 of honor from those who, in fierce but heroic 
 
 struggle, have revealed the noblest qualities of 
 13 
 
National Arbitration, 1907 167 
 
 humanity. " He maketh the wrath of man to 
 praise Him." 
 
 But while we justly appraise these conse 
 quences of past conflicts, we also know well 
 their cost, and we keenly appreciate the fright 
 ful evils and the enormous wastes which have 
 been incident to the evolution of the race 
 through strife. We rejoice that the currents 
 of progress lead to peace and that the time is 
 sure to come when war will be unthinkable. 
 
 We can no longer look to war for the 
 development of either national or individual 
 character. The heroics of war have been 
 replaced by mathematical calculations. If it 
 was ever anything else, it is now unmitigated 
 horror exhibiting chiefly fiendish aspects of 
 ingenuity and scientific skill in destruction. 
 Under our modern conditions of civilization, 
 the supposed beneficent results of war in the 
 development of courage and stamina must in 
 any conceivable event be shared by so few of 
 our teeming populations that even the most 
 sanguinary must realize that the time has gone 
 by when by any stretch of imagination it can 
 be regarded as a general disciplinary agent. 
 And in the controversies of peace and in the 
 bloodless struggles for the maintenance of 
 truth and justice in our personal and civic 
 
1 68 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 relations, must be found the arena of the 
 future in which character may find severer 
 tests than ever were afforded by historic 
 battlefield. 
 
 We note with satisfaction the fact that war 
 can now be waged only under onerous condi 
 tions, and the increasing pressure of economic 
 considerations for the recognition of the funda 
 mental doctrines of the Christian faith. The 
 growth of representative government with its 
 restraints upon the ambitions of despotism 
 in a just appreciation of the general welfare, 
 our complex commercial relations ignoring 
 national boundaries, and our growing intima 
 cies tending to make the world one society 
 instead of a series of hostile camps, are re 
 ducing the possible causes of armed conflict 
 and powerfully promoting the peaceful settle 
 ment of controversies. 
 
 Much can undoubtedly be accomplished by 
 the meeting of the representatives of the 
 nations in the direction of perfecting inter 
 national law and in providing suitable con 
 ventions for the regulation of war. No doubt 
 much that is of value can be secured in the 
 more adequate protection of commerce and of 
 property in time of war. 
 
 But important as are these objects, the great 
 
National Arbitration, 1907 169 
 
 purpose to be achieved is the prevention of 
 war, and not its regulation. 
 
 Among nations as among men, the require 
 ments of the sentiment of honor are subject 
 to revision as conscience becomes more en 
 lightened and truer conceptions of personal 
 dignity gain place. And it may be reasonably 
 expected that public opinion, taken in connec 
 tion with the serious economic aspects of war, 
 will gradually reduce the possible area of strife 
 over questions thought to involve the national 
 honor. The controversies which are incident 
 to international business and exchanges, and 
 those which relate to alleged violations of 
 international agreements, may be composed 
 without resort to arms. And without minimiz 
 ing the conditions which still exist, threaten 
 ing the peace of the world, we have reason to 
 congratulate ourselves that the reign of war is 
 nearly over. 
 
 In working for the interests of peace, regard 
 may well be had to the influences which have 
 thus far proved so successful. The end is not 
 to be sought through coercion, or by the vain 
 attempt to compel peace by force, but by ex 
 tending to the utmost provisions for delibera 
 tion and for conciliatory measures. 
 
 The security of peace lies in the desire of the 
 
170 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 people for peace. Protection against war can 
 best be found in the reiterated expression of 
 that desire throughout the nations of the 
 earth, and by convening their representatives 
 in frequent assemblies. Provision for stated 
 meetings of the Peace Conference, with their 
 opportunities for interchanges of official opin 
 ion, the perfecting of plans for submission 
 to arbitration, and the improvement of the 
 machinery of the International Court indicate 
 the lines along which substantial progress may 
 be made. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, 
 cordial in their welcome to the delegates to 
 this Congress, will watch its deliberations 
 with sympathetic interest, earnestly desirous 
 that through these meetings the united senti 
 ment of the United States may find effective 
 expression. 
 
III. 
 
 Address at the Dedication of the Buildings 
 of the New York State College of 
 Agriculture, at Cornell University, 
 April 27, 1907. 
 
 You have celebrated with fitting ceremony 
 the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Ezra 
 Cornell. Nothing could more suitably embody 
 the spirit which animated him in the founding 
 of Cornell University than this provision for 
 instruction and experiment, for the spread of 
 useful information, and for intelligent leader 
 ship in order to promote the agricultural 
 interests of this State. 
 
 The progress of civilization is perhaps most 
 strongly marked by the widening of the area 
 of instruction and the diminution of failures 
 due to untutored and unrelated effort, through 
 the establishment of schools for proper train 
 ing and for the communication under skilled 
 direction of the lessons of experience. And 
 the modern breadth of view with reference to 
 
 scholastic purpose, and the rapid growth in 
 
 171 
 
172 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 appreciation by the people of the benefit of 
 scientific instruction, could have no more strik 
 ing illustration than the establishment, under 
 the auspices of the State, in contact with 
 schools of liberal arts, of politics, and of law, 
 of this school of agriculture. 
 
 I am reminded of the occasion when, fifteen 
 years ago, as a member of the staff of instruc 
 tion of this University, I listened to the 
 inaugural address of its new president. I 
 remember well the mingled expressions of con 
 cern as to the wisdom of his policy and admi 
 ration of his courage not to say audacity in 
 announcing it. Rarely has there been vouch 
 safed to any prophet a clearer vision or a more 
 complete fulfilment of his prophecy. Among 
 other things President Schurman then said : 
 "From the very beginning Cornell University 
 has paid special attention to the two subjects 
 which more than any other vitally affect the 
 interests of the majority of our people I mean 
 agriculture and veterinary science . . . We 
 need an appropriation for a college of veteri 
 nary knowledge of at least $40,000 a year . . . 
 and at the same time liberal provision should 
 be made for agriculture, including horticulture. 
 The first and imperative need is that of a 
 building large enough to house, along with the 
 
State College of Agriculture, 1907 173 
 
 Department of Agriculture, those of horticul 
 ture, entomology, and dairy husbandry . . . 
 The home of teachers and investigators, it 
 should be made the living centre of all the 
 agricultural interests of the State. Students 
 would come for the regular courses or for 
 short winter courses ; and those who could not 
 leave their homes might receive instruction by 
 correspondence. Bulletins would be published 
 giving results of investigations. We should 
 need at least $200,000 for the building and then 
 such appropriations as would make the work 
 in it worthy of the vast agricultural resources 
 and wealth of this imperial State." 
 
 All those who heard marvelled at his dream. 
 But in 1894 a State Veterinary College was 
 established, and an appropriation was made by 
 the State for the construction and equipment 
 of suitable buildings for its purposes. It has 
 also received appropriations for its maintenance 
 amounting to $25,000 a year. 
 
 In 1904 the Legislature passed an act 
 establishing a State College of Agriculture 
 at Cornell University, and appropriated for 
 the construction and equipment of its build 
 ings the sum of $250,000, and at the last 
 session of the Legislature it received for 
 its maintenance and for the promotion of 
 
174 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 agricultural knowledge through the State an 
 appropriation of $100,000. 
 
 We may pause to congratulate President 
 Schurman, not only upon his foresight, but 
 upon the sagacity and vigor which has enabled 
 him to accomplish his purpose. 
 
 There are many engrossed in the great 
 industrial activities of the State who fail to 
 realize the importance of its agricultural in 
 terests. According to the last census, New 
 York led the States in the value of its dairy 
 products, of its hay crop, of its vegetables, of 
 its flowers and plants, and of its apple crop, 
 while in the value of its fruit and orchard pro 
 ducts it was second only to California. The 
 value of its farm property is exceeded only in 
 the case of three States. The State has no 
 more important duty than to husband its 
 agricultural interests. 
 
 Much has been done in recent years to im 
 prove the condition of the farmer. The rural 
 free delivery has brought him in closer contact 
 with his fellow citizens and with the forces 
 which make for progress in the State. The 
 improvement of the roads of the State will 
 greatly facilitate his access to markets. While 
 he has the advantages of these external im 
 provements, he has the opportunity of taking 
 
State College of Agriculture, 1907 175 
 
 part in the important and efficient organization 
 of the State Grange for the protection and 
 advancement of his interests. The State De 
 partment of Agriculture has a most important 
 function, and among its other activities is now 
 addressing itself to the very serious problem 
 of farm labor. Its efforts have also facilitated 
 the sale of abandoned farms. 
 
 But much remains to be accomplished. In 
 the press of the questions incident to the con 
 gestion of population in our great cities we 
 must not forget the demands of rural com 
 munities, and must not fail to take advantage 
 of every opportunity to promote the welfare 
 of that important portion of our population 
 which, although not urban, has its own serious 
 social and economic problems. 
 
 We need scientific instruction in matters 
 pertaining to farming instruction with refer 
 ence to suitable farm machinery with regard 
 to the various matters which Director Bailey 
 has aptly called " rural engineering," and in 
 the various subjects which relate to rural life. 
 We need not only instruction and experimenta 
 tion at this school, but the dissemination of its 
 influence and the carrying to the people, 
 through the various forms of extension work, 
 of the information and the practical assistance 
 
1 76 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and guidance which will help them in solving 
 the problems of existence and in developing 
 the agricultural resources of the State. 
 
 It is for these purposes that this school has 
 been established. The statute provides : "The 
 object of said College of Agriculture shall be 
 to improve the agricultural methods of the 
 State ; to develop the agricultural resources of 
 the State in the production of crops of all 
 kinds ; in the rearing and breeding of live 
 stock ; in the manufacture of dairy and other 
 products ; in determining better methods of 
 marketing and handling such products and in 
 other ways ; and to increase intelligence and 
 elevate the standards of living in the rural 
 districts." 
 
 Under the Act of Administration, while 
 these buildings and equipment are to remain 
 the property of the State, Cornell University 
 is entrusted with their custody and control, 
 and is authorized to administer this college, 
 with authority to appoint investigators, teach 
 ers, and other employees, to lay out lines of 
 investigation, to prescribe the requirements of 
 admission and the course of study, and other 
 wise to exercise such power as may be needed 
 for due administration. 
 
 This is a sacred trust. To your administration 
 
State College of Agriculture, 1907 177 
 
 the State has committed one of the most 
 important interests of the people, represented 
 in the establishment of this school. It is not 
 a school to be administered for the benefit of 
 Cornell University, but it is a school to be 
 administered by Cornell University for the 
 benefit of the people. We may view its future 
 with confidence as we recall the services ren 
 dered in the past by those connected with the 
 agricultural work of this University, and I am 
 sure it is gratifying to the people to know that 
 the work is to continue under the immediate 
 supervision of that accomplished director, Lib 
 erty Hyde Bailey, to whose ability and energy 
 this institution owes so much. And through 
 wise administration and through the benefits 
 which will result from the knowledge this 
 school will disseminate, and the fruitful ex 
 perience it will record and communicate, Cor 
 nell University will be entitled to the respect 
 and the gratitude which are the just due of the 
 faithful execution of a public trust. 
 
 President Schurman : On behalf of the State 
 of New York, it is now my privilege and my 
 agreeable duty to commit through you to 
 Cornell University the custody and control of 
 these buildings and property, constructed and 
 
178 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 set apart by the State for the New York State 
 College of Agriculture, and through you to 
 commit to Cornell University the administra 
 tion of this college for the benefit of the people 
 of the State. And in doing this I take pleasure 
 in expressing my confidence in the administra 
 tion of this trust by Cornell University and 
 my expectation that through this foundation 
 the agricultural interests of the State will be 
 notably advanced. 
 
IV. 
 
 Address at the Unveiling of Tablets at the 
 Hall of Fame, New York University, 
 May 31, 1907. 
 
 On this day, with grateful appreciation, we 
 commemorate the valor and the sacrifices of 
 those who, as representatives of the people, 
 took part in the struggle for the preservation of 
 the Union. With the passing of the years, the 
 wounds caused by civil strife have been healed, 
 and old animosities and sectional rivalries have 
 given place to a common realization of our Na 
 tional destiny and to a common congratulation 
 that we have remained a united people. And 
 to-day we render the tribute of honor as well as 
 of affection to the memory not merely of those 
 who fell fighting for a victorious cause, but for 
 all who in their unselfish zeal, following what 
 they believed to be the right, revealed the 
 heroic qualities of American manhood. 
 
 While the ceremonies of this hour have no 
 direct relation to the general observance of 
 the day, it is fitting that among those who are 
 
 179 
 
i8o Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 esteemed worthy of a place in this temple of 
 illustrious Americans, and whose tablets are 
 unveiled at this time, should be the great 
 general of the Civil War, William Tecumseh 
 Sherman. 
 
 He hated war, but brought to its prosecu 
 tion the highest military genius. He ap 
 praised its horrors so justly that he had no 
 patience with temporizing policy. But, by 
 daring and original plans, carried out with 
 mathematical precision and unrelenting de 
 termination to succeed, he hurried the advent 
 of peace, which he sincerely desired. To him 
 war was war unrelieved, cruel war, a terri 
 ble means to a righteous end. And he played 
 his part heroically, brilliantly, and unflinchingly 
 for the sake of the end he so clearly saw. 
 And by reason of his originality, foresight, 
 exactness, intrepidity, and success he placed 
 himself in the first rank of military men. 
 
 The soldier has so largely monopolized the 
 plaudits and affection of mankind, not because 
 of, but in spite of, the barbarities of war. 
 Largely, of course, it has been due to the 
 momentous political consequences of the suc 
 cess of arms, either in the defence of liberty or 
 in the maintenance of national life, with which 
 the people have felt their interests identified, 
 
Hall of Fame, May 30, 1907 181 
 
 or in the increase of National glory which they 
 proudly shared. But more largely the soldier 
 has been honored, paradoxical as it may seem, 
 because of love of humanity, and because 
 through his work the noblest qualities of man 
 have been placed in conspicuous relief. Endur 
 ance, poise, fortitude, unselfishness, disregard 
 of personal danger, sagacity, discernment, swift 
 and unerring analysis, exact calculation, the 
 capacity for leadership and the mastery of 
 men, single-mindedness and love of truth and 
 honor, shining forth in a sincere and noble 
 character at a time of greatest stress and peril, 
 these are the qualities which dignify humanity 
 and, represented in the soldier under circum 
 stances fixing the attention of the nation and 
 the world, call forth a universal tribute. And 
 by the manner in which these severe tests have 
 been met, we test the quality of a nation s 
 citizenship. It is not the havoc wrought, the 
 lives sacrificed, the disaster and the ruin caused 
 by the victory, that win the admiration of man 
 kind, but the inflexible purpose, the intelligent 
 plan, the undaunted courage, and the heroic 
 self-abandonment, whether of victor or van 
 quished, which exercise the perennial charm 
 and in their justification of humanity form the 
 spell of ballad and of story. 
 
1 82 Charles livans Hughes 
 
 We are rich in such memories. To-day two 
 such heroes have their appropriate recognition 
 in this temple of the illustrious. The one, who 
 exhibited his extraordinary military capacity in 
 the war that saved the nation ; the other, who 
 dazzled the world with daring exploits in the 
 war which made the nation possible. When 
 John Paul Jones lashed the jib-boom of the 
 Serapis to the mizzen-mast of the Bon Homme 
 Richard, and with his motley crew engaged 
 the disciplined British in one of the most 
 deadly conflicts recorded in naval annals, he 
 magnificently exhibited the spirit which won 
 the War of Independence. It was not the 
 physical results, but the moral effect of a 
 victory achieved under extraordinary conditions 
 and through rare personal valor, which gave 
 it historical significance. 
 
 But more and more clearly do we under 
 stand that what we should prize most is not 
 the occasional revelation of noble qualities of 
 manhood in bloody warfare, but in their culti 
 vation for purposes of peace, and their mani 
 festation in the every-day activities of an 
 industrious people. Our attention is fixed 
 upon the ideals of a peaceful society. And 
 to-day we honor, not alone the heroes of 
 conquest, but also the framers of our govern- 
 
Hall of Fame, May 30, 1907 183 
 
 mental edifice, and the scientist, the author, 
 and the teacher, men and women, notably 
 influential in the development of our National 
 life viewed in its broadest aspect. Among 
 these are three men in the front rank of Amer 
 ican statesmanship. It is impossible in the 
 brief word now permitted to attempt a just 
 appreciation of their character and services. 
 Two of them, Alexander Hamilton and James 
 Madison, are identified with that initial period 
 of our National history when the Constitution 
 was in the making. It has been well said that 
 the years immediately following the successful 
 ending of the War of Independence were the 
 most critical in our history. The struggle 
 which, for want of effective union, had been 
 unnecessarily prolonged, left thirteen inde 
 pendent republics with mutual jealousies and 
 aversions and with discordant views and an 
 tagonistic ambitions. There was wanting a 
 National consciousness. And the great victory 
 won in the War of Independence seemed to 
 promise little more than the establishment of 
 a number of petty governments arrayed against 
 each other. But powerful as were the appar 
 ent forces driving the States apart, still more 
 powerful was the pressure of common interests, 
 too long imperfectly recognized, which were 
 
1 84 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 destined to bring them into an indissoluble 
 Union. 
 
 Finally, in 1787, the Federal Convention 
 met at Philadelphia. Among the men of dis 
 tinguished merit who composed it, Washing 
 ton, Franklin, Hamilton, and Madison were 
 pre-eminent. Perhaps no assembly ever sat 
 to deliberate upon the problems of govern 
 ment with four men who could be called their 
 equals. Hamilton and Madison were young, 
 the one thirty and the other thirty-six. To 
 these two more than to others we owe our 
 Federal Constitution. The one has been 
 justly described as its " principal author," and 
 the other as its " most brilliant advocate." 
 
 Hamilton was full of National spirit. He 
 was the apostle of centralization and of National 
 strength. Years before, when only twenty- 
 three, he had set forth with rare lucidity and 
 force the need of a " stronger government " 
 with " an administration distinct from Con 
 gress." His was a master mind, acute in 
 analysis, ready in construction, powerful in 
 reasoning, capable in execution. But he lacked 
 confidence in the people and in popular govern 
 ment. Nevertheless as a true statesman, he 
 sprang to the defence of the work of the Con 
 vention, which had failed in large measure to 
 
Hall of Fame, May 30, 1907 185 
 
 meet his views, and by the lucidity, force, and 
 persuasiveness of his arguments broke down 
 the opposition and prepared the way for the 
 triumph of the Constitution. 
 
 But great as was this service, even greater 
 were his labors in establishing a system of 
 government under the Constitution and in the 
 constructive work of administration. As the 
 first head of the Treasury Department, through 
 his luminous reports and constructive financial 
 measures, he insured at a critical time govern 
 mental stability and gave vigor to the National 
 life. Under forms different from those which 
 he preferred, the supreme objects of National 
 strength and adequacy for which he mightily 
 strove have been secured, and no one has more 
 deeply impressed himself upon our National 
 thought or infused into the workings of our 
 Constitution a larger measure of his spirit and 
 purpose. 
 
 James Madison, the Virginian, took the 
 leading part in the work of the Convention of 
 1787. When Edmund Randolph presented 
 to the Federal Convention the Virginia plan, it 
 was no secret that the work was largely that 
 of Madison. He was a profound student of 
 political history, and by his leadership in the 
 Convention won the title of the " Father of 
 
Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the Constitution." It is to this work and to 
 the papers which he contributed to the Feder 
 alist that he owes his transcendent fame. 
 Later he served the country in Congress, as 
 Secretary of State, and as President. But in 
 his long career he never showed to the same 
 advantage as when he brought his rare talents 
 and the constructive skill of the student of 
 government to the task of framing our funda 
 mental law. The statesman was largely lost 
 in party politics, and as President he was 
 called to tasks foreign to his abilities. But 
 his service to the Nation in connection with 
 the work of formulating its scheme of govern 
 ment will keep his fame imperishable. 
 
 It was this feeling which prompted the senti 
 ment uttered by John Quincy Adams, the third 
 American statesman whose tablet is unveiled 
 to-day, on the death of Madison in 1836 : 
 
 "Of the band of benefactors of the human race, the 
 founders of the Constitution of the United States, James 
 Madison is the last who has gone to his reward. They 
 have transmitted the precious bond of union to us, now 
 entirely a succeeding generation to them. May it never 
 cease to be a voice of admonition to us, of our duty to 
 transmit the inheritance unimpaired to our children of 
 the rising age." 
 
 Few careers in our history have been so 
 
Hall of Fame, May 30, 1907 187 
 
 distinguished for variety of important public 
 service as that of John Quincy Adams. 
 
 Only ten years the junior of Hamilton, he 
 lived until 1848. Under Washington he was 
 Minister to The Hague, to Portugal, and to 
 Prussia. Later he was State Senator and 
 United States Senator. After an eventful 
 mission abroad as Minister to Russia, and as 
 one of the commissioners in the negotiations 
 which led to the Treaty of Ghent, he became 
 Secretary of State under President Monroe, 
 whom he succeeded as Chief Magistrate. Re 
 tiring at the age of sixty-two, he subsequently 
 entered upon the most important part of his 
 career as Member of Congress, serving for 
 about sixteen years, until he received the 
 death stroke on the floor of the House. 
 
 To Mr. Adams must be attributed the first 
 suggestions of what has come to be known as 
 the Monroe Doctrine. In 1823 he informed 
 the Russian Minister " that we should contest 
 the rights of Russia to any territorial establish 
 ments on this continent, and that we should 
 assume distinctly the principle that the Ameri 
 can continents are no longer subjects for any 
 new European colonial establishments." This 
 was the precursor of the famous declaration 
 in President Monroe s message. 
 
1 88 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Ever characterized by independence and de 
 votion to what he believed to be the right, his 
 old age was devoted in no small part to the 
 contest against slavery. With an indomitable 
 spirit and extraordinary power in debate, strong 
 in his absolute conviction of the righteousness 
 of his cause, he was willing to stand alone, un- 
 terrified and unconquerable. His chief title to 
 fame rests not upon official honors nor upon 
 his holding the highest office in the Nation s 
 gift, but upon his service as the well-equipped 
 and dauntless champion of human rights in 
 our national assembly. 
 
 On an occasion like this we are vividly im 
 pressed with the fact that monuments may 
 perpetuate names and form imperishable rec 
 ords, but they cannot confer fame or make 
 enduring the respect of mankind. To serve 
 their appropriate purpose they must record 
 what is already written in the hearts of the 
 people and stand as tribute to the continued 
 esteem which alone they are powerless to per 
 petuate. In the review of our Nation s history, 
 short as it is, the petty schemes of political 
 manipulators, the unconsequential victories in 
 conflicts for the spoils of office, and ignoble 
 efforts of selfishness appear in their true pro 
 portions. The Nation is a sound critic and it 
 
Hall of Fame, May 30, 1907 189 
 
 pays its final homage to those who with inflexi 
 ble purpose and fidelity to conscience have 
 devoted their talents unreservedly to the serv 
 ice of the people. The trickster, the intriguer, 
 and those who seek to win by strategy what 
 public confidence will not bestow, quickly pass 
 out of the notoriety which they may tempo 
 rarily achieve, unless by reason of exceptional 
 ability they may live to point a contrast. The 
 Nation is jealous of its ideals, and it never has 
 been more insistent upon the straightforward 
 conduct of public affairs than it is to-day. It 
 demands of its representatives single-minded 
 devotion to public duty and a knightly sense of 
 honor in the administration of public office. 
 We should lose no opportunity to enforce the 
 lessons which may be drawn from the lives of 
 those illustrious Americans by whom we as a 
 people have been so richly served. And from 
 their labors, of which these exercises are a 
 fitting recognition, we may draw inspiration 
 which will enable us to go forward undismayed 
 to meet the problems thrust upon us by our 
 rapidly extending activities. 
 
V. 
 
 Address at the Jamestown Exposition on 
 Jefferson Memorial Day, July 5, 1907, 
 in Connection with the Reunion of the 
 Descendants of the Signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence. 
 
 * We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created 
 equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien 
 able rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted 
 among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
 governed" Declaration of Independence. 
 
 The immortal words of the preamble of the 
 Declaration of Independence recorded more 
 than a protest against exactions of the British 
 crown. They were more than an assertion of 
 the right of the Colonies to be independent 
 States. They passed beyond the necessities of 
 the moment and transcended perhaps in their 
 broad import the sentiment of many who, ex 
 asperated by tyrannical demands, were ready 
 
 190 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 191 
 
 to renounce their former allegiance. They 
 have the perennial value of a political creed 
 voicing in terms of conviction the aspirations 
 of humanity. They suggest to us the long 
 struggle against the usurpations of power and 
 the impositions of avarice and cunning. They 
 have been ridiculed as fallacious ; they have 
 sustained the assault of those who, descanting 
 upon obvious physical, mental, and moral in 
 equalities, have sought to obscure the profound 
 truth of equality before the law and the inalien 
 able rights of manhood, To-day, as always, 
 they present to us the standard by which we 
 may judge the successful working of our insti 
 tutions. And gathered upon this historic spot 
 in the Commonwealth which nurtured him, we 
 may fittingly pay our tribute to the author 
 of these words, in the language of Lincoln : 
 
 "All honor to Jefferson to the man who in the concrete 
 pressure of a national struggle for independence by a 
 single people had the coolness, forecast, and sagacity to 
 introduce into a merely revolutionary document an ab 
 stract truth applicable to all men and all time, and so 
 embalmed it there that to-day and in all coming days 
 it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very 
 harbingers of re-appearing tyranny and oppression." 
 
 The attitude of men toward government by 
 the people is not determined by party lines. 
 
Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 The man who would ignore the rights of his 
 fellow citizens, who would establish himself in 
 a fortress of special privilege and exercise his 
 power, small or great, in opposition to the 
 welfare of others, may be found in all parties 
 and in every walk of life. It is an attitude 
 sometimes explained by training and environ 
 ment, but in general merely exhibits the rule 
 of selfishness. There are many who have no 
 sympathy with the principles of the Declara 
 tion and who look with alarm upon every 
 emphatic assertion of popular rights. There 
 are many others who will join in an appeal to 
 democratic principles when it serves self- 
 interest, but are ready to use every vantage 
 point that may be gained in the struggle for 
 existence to deprive their fellows of equal op 
 portunity. But we may be assured that the 
 progress of the people will not be halted. The 
 long contest with " divine right," with usurped 
 power however obtained, against every attempt 
 under any form to control and exploit the many 
 for the benefit of the few, can have but one 
 result. Slowly and surely the people have won 
 their way, and no final settlement will be 
 reached until the administration of government 
 squares with the principles of the Declaration 
 and an end has been put to every conversion 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 193 
 
 of governmental powers to selfish purposes. 
 
 We may properly congratulate ourselves 
 upon the marvellous record of the Nation s 
 progress. With resistless energy the vast do 
 main between the oceans has been developed 
 and its remotest parts have been knit together 
 by mutual needs and the multifarious activi 
 ties of an ever-increasing commerce. The 
 skill of a people rich in invention, endowed 
 with boundless ambition and rare capacity for 
 organization, has made available our natural 
 wealth and has made our industrial achieve 
 ments the marvel of mankind. Our develop 
 ment has intensified the sentiment of national 
 unity, and despite our wide extent of territory 
 and notwithstanding the many differences 
 exhibited in our population, we are a people 
 united not merely in form or by convention, 
 but in interest and sentiment. An unparal 
 leled prosperity has blessed our efforts. And 
 never has the sun shone upon a more indus 
 trious and happy people, enjoying to a larger 
 degree equal rights and equal opportunities 
 than those who gather to-day under the Stars 
 and Stripes to commemorate the birth of 
 American liberty. 
 
 Once more we extol the heroism and states 
 manship of those who laid the foundations of 
 
194 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the Republic but dimly conscious of its des 
 tiny. We bless the soil that gave them birth 
 and the traditions under which they were nur 
 tured. We come in a reverential spirit to the 
 Old Dominion, the mother of statesmen, where 
 within the space of a few years were given to 
 the world George Washington, Patrick Henry, 
 Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Randolph, James 
 Madison, John Marshall, and James Monroe. 
 But we would draw little inspiration from their 
 lives and from the fascinating record of their 
 formative days, if we gave ourselves over to 
 mere jubilation. We are a progressive people. 
 We are loyal to our ideals. We refuse to be 
 content with mere material achievements. Nor 
 are we satisfied with comparison with other 
 nations or with earlier times. We desire that 
 this Nation shall realize its highest possibilities. 
 We contemplate the future with serious deter 
 mination and a solemn sense of obligation. 
 
 The lesson of to-day is that every patriotic 
 American should look upon his country s his 
 tory and destiny in the light of the principles 
 of the Declaration of Independence and with 
 sincere sympathy with democratic ideals. In 
 stead of looking askance at every expression 
 of determination to vindicate popular rights, it 
 should be welcomed. So long as the spirit of 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 195 
 
 1776 is abroad in the land there will be no con 
 donation of abuses, and material prosperity 
 will not be permitted to serve as a cover for 
 public wrongs. 
 
 Jefferson had no patience with the doc 
 trine of Montesquieu that a republic can 
 be preserved only in a small territory. "The 
 reverse," he said, " is the truth." We are for 
 tunate in having a distribution of powers and 
 in the maintenance of local autonomy through 
 units conserved by historical and sentimental 
 associations. We live under a Constitution 
 wisely guaranteeing a division of powers be 
 tween the Federal and the State governments 
 so that each may exercise its appropriate au 
 thority. We have no need to look with con 
 cern upon increasing activities of the Federal 
 Government so long as they are pertinent to 
 the accomplishment of Federal objects and do 
 not interfere with the exercise of the powers 
 of the States in the conduct of their local af 
 fairs. But we may properly become alarmed 
 when State governments lack vigor and effi 
 ciency in the protection of their own citizens 
 and in the control of the exercise of the 
 franchises they have granted. There is no 
 incompatibility between vigorous State ad 
 ministration looking after its own affairs and 
 
196 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 strong National administration dealing with 
 National questions and supervising by strict 
 and adequate regulation interstate commerce. 
 Both are essential ; and in the proportion that 
 the people insist upon efficient and responsible 
 administration of local affairs are they likely 
 to secure a proper and responsible exercise of 
 Federal authority, whatever its necessary ex 
 tent within its constitutional sphere. 
 
 Ours is not and was not intended to be a 
 pure democracy. It is impracticable that the 
 people should administer the government di 
 rectly. They govern through representatives. 
 For their protection they have by direct legis 
 lation created constitutions fettering the power 
 of their representatives and establishing safe 
 guards by which they are secure in their per 
 sonal liberty and in the results of their thrift. 
 
 We note with satisfaction the increasing 
 sense of responsibility to the people on the 
 part of those who represent them. Efforts to 
 dominate legislation for selfish purposes and 
 attempts through the forms of popular election 
 to place in office those who, in the guise of 
 executing public trusts, serve private interests 
 are less successful than heretofore. The peo 
 ple have become intolerant of such traitorous 
 representation. And it is entirely within their 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 197 
 
 power to put a stop to it altogether. Political 
 leaders who have performed the function of 
 clearing-houses for legislation and who, while 
 posing as party workers, have served under a 
 retainer of special interests, careless alike of 
 party principles or of public justice, are passing 
 from the stage. The people demand leader 
 ship, and parties need effective organization 
 to advance their principles. But the time is 
 rapidly passing when any one can long main 
 tain a position of wide political influence who 
 is under suspicion of maintaining a double 
 allegiance. 
 
 But we need more than escape from such 
 prostitution of political power. The people 
 are entitled to have unselfish leadership and 
 unselfish representation. Popular government 
 will not attain its ideal until it becomes a point 
 of honor for political leaders not to make their 
 political fortunes the test of their action. This 
 in the light of human nature may seem a coun 
 sel of perfection. But the people are rapidly 
 becoming more conscious of its necessity 
 and more critical of its absence. And as we 
 advance it will become more obvious to the 
 active political worker that disinterestedness is 
 essential to successful leadership. 
 
 We are also encouraged by the insistence 
 
Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 upon the performance of public obligations. 
 The indignation that has been felt with refer 
 ence to the conduct of large public enterprises, 
 notably in the case of our transportation cor 
 porations, has been due on the one hand to 
 the efforts they have made to attain their ends 
 by debauching the administration of govern 
 ment, and on the other hand to their failure to 
 perform their obligation in giving fair and im 
 partial service. Their misuse of the privileges 
 which the people have bestowed, their manip 
 ulation of securities, their malign influence in 
 legislative halls, have had their natural result in 
 creating a deep feeling of public resentment. 
 This feeling is most wholesome. It would 
 indeed be cause for alarm if at a time of 
 great prosperity the people were servile in 
 the presence of financial power and remained 
 supine under abuses of public rights. 
 
 Coincident with the insistence upon more 
 faithful representation in the administration of 
 government, upon the performance of public 
 obligation by our great corporations, we find 
 throughout the business world a more general 
 recognition of the responsibilities of fiduciary 
 relation. This is but another phase of the 
 general public attitude toward all who hold 
 relations of trust and confidence, whether in 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 199 
 
 politics or in business. It is but an aspect of 
 a wholesome demand which is being voiced 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific for the honor 
 able conduct of affairs. 
 
 There is also cause for gratification in finding 
 the standards of administration raised. It is 
 inevitable with an alert and intelligent people 
 that as the business of government increases 
 greater attention should be paid to the manner 
 in which it is discharged. We may look for a 
 steady improvement in the public service, and 
 on its civil side, in the sentiment of honor 
 and of disinterested fidelity that may attach to 
 it, it may rival what has long been conspicu 
 ous in connection with our military and naval 
 organizations. The State is entitled to the 
 best, and this we may hope the enlightened 
 patriotism of peace will ultimately secure. 
 
 There may be those who think that to attain 
 the ideals of popular government changes in 
 our organic law are necessary. But there is 
 no warrant for change until conscience and 
 public spirit obtain from our existing institu 
 tions what they are able to confer. An honest 
 and intelligent electorate can secure the repre 
 sentation to which it is entitled. Public 
 opinion formed after full discussion of pend 
 ing questions exerts a force wellnigh irre- 
 
200 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 sistible. As Jefferson said : " Responsibility is 
 a tremendous engine in a free government." 
 
 It has been the fear of those who distrust 
 popular government that it would lead to ex 
 cesses and that sound judgment would from 
 time to time be displaced by the fury of an 
 excited populace. The safeguards of democ 
 racy are education and public discussion. Our 
 country is safe so long as our schools are full. 
 
 There are those who speak the language of 
 conservatism but whose underlying purpose, 
 only thinly veiled, is to protect those who 
 have betrayed the public and to prevent neces 
 sary remedial action. There are others who 
 resort to inflammatory appeal, careless of the 
 interests which would be sacrificed by the arbi 
 trary and ill-considered action they propose, 
 or defend. We may believe that the people 
 will not be deceived by either. With extra 
 ordinary unanimity they have supported Presi 
 dent Roosevelt in his courageous and vigorous 
 administration because they have believed that 
 he voiced the sentiment of fair play. It is this 
 sentiment more than any other that dominates 
 American life. 
 
 Our interests are inseparably connected. 
 We cannot by arbitrary legislation afford to 
 disturb our industrial enterprises. There are 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 201 
 
 millions of wage-earners who depend for their 
 daily bread upon the stability of our business 
 interests. 
 
 But there is no reason why rapacity should not 
 be restrained and public obligation enforced. 
 
 Those who are loyal to the ideals of popular 
 government are anxious that the people should 
 vindicate their supremacy, and in so doing 
 should safeguard their essential interests. 
 This may be done if they use the powers of 
 government deliberately and justly. The 
 people of this country are not at war with 
 business or with honorable business organi 
 zations. They have no desire to fetter lawful 
 enterprises or to impair the confidence which 
 is essential to the maintenance of our pros 
 perity. They do desire to thwart every 
 attempt to secure or retain an improper ad 
 vantage through unjust discriminations or 
 governmental favoritism. If those who are 
 sympathetic with this desire will encourage 
 the just and reasonable disposition of each 
 question upon its merits and promote the rule 
 of common sense, we shall attain the desired 
 end and prevent democracy from suffering at 
 its own hands. 
 
 We stand in the presence of those related 
 by blood to the illustrious signers of the 
 
202 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Declaration of Independence. They rejoice in 
 their distinguished lineage. But we are all 
 the spiritual sons of these fathers of our liber 
 ties. We have a priceless heritage. This 
 great country, populated with an intelligent 
 people animated by the loftiest ideals, presents 
 unexampled opportunity. May we be worthy 
 of our birthright and so deal with the prob 
 lems confronting this generation that we may 
 transmit to our children a still larger boon, 
 and that they, enjoying even to a greater de 
 gree equality of opportunity, may find still 
 better secured the inalienable rights of life, 
 liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
 
VI. 
 
 Address at Chautauqua, August 24, 1907. 
 
 These meetings furnish evidence of the 
 alertness, earnestness, and zeal for mental and 
 moral betterment which characterize the Ameri 
 can people. Their restlessness, their eagerness 
 to know and to do something worth while are 
 symptoms of health. The multiplying courses 
 of our universities having relation to social and 
 political subjects, our institutes of research, 
 our voluntary assemblies for mutual improve 
 ment, our varied philanthropic associations, 
 our organizations in every line of commercial 
 and intellectual effort, reflect the intense desire 
 for progress. 
 
 There are a few, fortunately only a few rela 
 tively, who devote themselves to ease and 
 self-indulgence, awakening passionate remon 
 strance by the spectacular incongruity of their 
 lives as contrasted with American ideals. But 
 the attitude of many of these, conscious of 
 their lack of popular esteem, is apologetic. 
 
 The typical American does not seek idleness, 
 
 203 
 
204 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 but work. He wants to justify himself by 
 proved capacity in useful effort. Under dif 
 ferent conditions, he still has the spirit of those 
 who faced the wilderness, advanced the out 
 posts of civilization, and settled a continent of 
 matchless resources, where has been laid the 
 basis for a wider diffusion of prosperity among 
 a great population than the world has ever 
 known. To whatever department of activity 
 we turn, after making all necessary allowances 
 for ignorance, shiftlessness, and vice, we still 
 find throughout the country, dominant and 
 pervasive, the note of energy and resistless 
 ambition. The vitality of the people has not 
 been sapped by prosperity. The increase of 
 comfort has not impaired their virility. We 
 are still a hardy people, equal to our task, 
 and pressing forward vigorous and determined 
 in every direction to enlarge the record of 
 achievement. 
 
 It is easy, looking at phases of our life in 
 an absolute way, for one who is pessimistically 
 inclined to gather statistics which superficially 
 considered are discouraging. Congestion in 
 our great cities, the widened opportunities for 
 the play of selfishness, and the increase of 
 temptations following in the wake of prosper 
 ity give rise to an appalling number and variety 
 
Chautauqua, August 24, 1907 205 
 
 of private and public wrongs whose thousands 
 of victims voice an undying appeal to humanity 
 and patriotism. But one would form a very 
 inaccurate judgment of our moral condition 
 by considering these wrongs alone. They must 
 be considered in their relation to other phases 
 of our life. We must not fail to take note of 
 the increasing intensity of the desire to find 
 remedies and the earnestness with which all 
 forms of evil and oppression are attacked. 
 
 The ethical sentiment of our country is not 
 to be judged by statistics of formal relations 
 to particular institutions. It must be deter 
 mined by the general ethical standards of the 
 people and their vital regard for sobriety, 
 virtue, and fiduciary responsibility. It may 
 largely be judged, not by what they approve 
 in conventional phrase, but by what they 
 sharply condemn and refuse to tolerate in con 
 crete cases. I believe that the moral stand 
 ards of the American people were never more 
 sound than they are to-day. Considering the 
 tremendous increase in the opportunities for 
 wrongdoing, the seductive and refined tempta 
 tions, and the materialistic appeals that are 
 incident to our present mode of life, and the 
 material comforts which invention and com 
 merce have made possible, I believe that the 
 
206 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 manner in which the ethical development of 
 the people has kept pace with their progress in 
 other directions may fairly be called extraor 
 dinary. It is really because our ethical stand 
 ards are so high that we fail more frequently 
 to take to account this fact. 
 
 In saying this I am not at all unmindful of 
 how far short we come of an ideal state of 
 society. On the contrary, existing evils are 
 the more noticeable because they stand out in 
 strong contrast to the desires and aspirations 
 of the people. We have had disclosures of 
 shocking infidelity to trust and to public obli 
 gation, but more important than the evil dis 
 closed was the attitude of the people toward 
 it. Cynics have no audience in this country. 
 Devotion to duty and strict discharge of honor 
 able obligation to both individual and public 
 are not hypocritically preached, but are the sin 
 cere and insistent demand of the American 
 people from one end of the land to the other. 
 Individual shortcomings are many, but the 
 moral judgment of the community is keen 
 and severe. In this we find just cause for 
 satisfaction. 
 
 For years there have been many prophets 
 of civic right-doing, who have been preaching 
 good government and insisting that citizens 
 
Chautauqua, August 24, 1907 207 
 
 should take a more active interest in public 
 affairs. To-day the American people are more 
 alive to the importance of impartial and honor 
 able administration than ever before. They 
 do not simply discuss it ; they demand it. 
 While in many communities administration is 
 controlled in the selfish interest of a few to 
 the detriment of the people, that which is 
 most characteristic of our present political life is 
 the determination that selfish abuse of govern 
 mental machinery shall stop. 
 
 Our country may be likened to a man of 
 excellent constitution and native vigor who is 
 determined by a proper system of hygiene and 
 suitable rules of conduct to correct disorders 
 in his system and come as closely as possible 
 to perfect health. And in taking account of 
 his condition he may have a pardonable pride 
 in finding that there is no evidence of decay 
 in his vital functions, and that there is every 
 indication of fundamental soundness and of 
 steady improvement. It may be added that 
 the improvement will be much more rapid if he 
 aims to avoid undue excitement of his nervous 
 system. 
 
 When the public conscience is awake and 
 the people are no longer insensible to their 
 social and political needs, what is most 
 
208 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 required is careful analysis of existing evils, a 
 true diagnosis, and skilful treatment. Social 
 and political affairs are the affairs of men and 
 women, of human beings with their variety of 
 good qualities and many imperfections. They 
 cannot be dealt with after the manner of chem 
 ical reactions in a laboratory. Despite all the 
 advantages of democracy, perfect scientific 
 treatment of political conditions cannot be 
 expected, for that would imply perfect human 
 nature. With that, it would be easy to realize 
 happiness either with a minimum or maximum 
 of government. We necessarily deal with ap 
 proximations. And we Americans, endeavor 
 ing to make a true appreciation of present 
 conditions, may justly be proud of the high 
 character of our citizenship and of the advance 
 which has been made ; and with a new realiza 
 tion of the preciousness of our birthright and 
 the serious importance of our obligation, we 
 should set ourselves determinedly to the work 
 of all necessary correction. 
 
 We are a good-natured people and we wish 
 no harm to any one who does right. We are 
 simply set upon procuring the doing of the 
 right thing in the right way in all our public 
 relations. 
 
 Our prosperity has its source in our agri- 
 
Chautauqua, August 24, 1907 209 
 
 cultural and mineral resources, in our industry, 
 in our talent for effective effort, and in our 
 moral strength and mutual confidence. All 
 these are essential, and the last as well as the 
 first. 
 
 Confidence depends upon the assurance of 
 stability. By stability is not meant fixity of 
 things or relations, but steadiness. It may be 
 steadiness in motion. Paradoxical as it may 
 seem, human society cannot be stable unless it 
 is progressive. That is because growth and 
 progress are the law of our nature. 
 
 Under certain forms of government, stability 
 has been maintained by force exercised for the 
 benefit of a privileged few and without regard 
 to the necessities of the great masses of the 
 people. In a democracy stability depends 
 upon the reign of reason, and it is the fact 
 that we are a common-sense people that gives 
 us assurance for the future. 
 
 Reason demands the facts. By the require 
 ment of publicity is not meant scrappy sensa 
 tionalism or distorted emphasis. It is the 
 demand that public affairs and business which 
 is of a public nature because of its relation to 
 the public interest shall be conducted in the 
 light of day, and that the public shall have 
 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 
 
210 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the truth in regard to the matters that concern 
 them. The emotions, in proper control, sup 
 ply the power necessary to accomplish results, 
 but the judgment must not be displaced by 
 passion. 
 
 Reason implies patience. This is the hard 
 est lesson for democracy to learn. It is not 
 meant that unnecessary delays should be tol 
 erated, or that obstacles should not be sur 
 mounted by determined effort. It does not 
 mean weakness or paltering ; it simply means 
 a desire to bring about good order by orderly 
 processes ; it means recognition of our mutual 
 dependence, of our complex relations in so 
 ciety, and of the necessity that our efforts in 
 social progress should not be haphazard nor 
 spasmodic, but steady, sober, and persistent. 
 Reason fights evil with the drill and precision 
 of regular troops. 
 
 Reason in its rule of governmental activities 
 demands even, impartial, and consistent en 
 forcement of the law. Stability and confi 
 dence can never be assured save by strength 
 and firmness. Nothing so quickly undermines 
 society as a failure to enforce its laws. No 
 one is secure in his life, in his liberty, or in his 
 daily wage, save as this is a government of 
 law whose strong arm compels obedience to 
 
Chautauqua, August 24, 1907 211 
 
 its mandates, the expression of the people s 
 will. It is an egregious blunder to suppose 
 that to make the administration of government 
 and the enforcement of law a matter of caprice 
 involves danger only as to the subject directly 
 concerned. The evil cannot be so confined, 
 but poisons the whole governmental system. 
 
 Care in making laws and firmness and im 
 partiality in executing them are the securities of 
 our peace. Lax, corrupt, unintelligent, or vacil 
 lating administration not only causes dissatis 
 faction but inevitably leads to ignorant and 
 extravagant demands. Strong, even-tempered, 
 and dignified administration, relentless and im 
 partial, favoring neither rich nor poor, know 
 ing no motive but its manifest duty, compels 
 respect, and by the very certainty of its opera 
 tions conserves the public confidence. In this 
 way alone can we secure intelligent considera 
 tion of existing defects or of needed remedial 
 measures. Pure and efficient administration 
 is the foundation of social progress. 
 
 Whatever natural causes may account for 
 the development of any particular form of 
 government at any time or place, the object of 
 government, philosophically considered, is to 
 secure the happiness of the individual who 
 so conducts himself as to permit the equal 
 
212 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 happiness of others. Democracy has con 
 stantly to struggle against three abuses. 
 
 The first is the abuse of the freedom allowed 
 for individual effort. This is illustrated by 
 concerted attempts on the part of those who 
 find themselves in a strong position to put 
 others at disadvantage by unfair means. It is 
 the business of a free government, desiring so 
 far as possible to give each individual a fair 
 chance, to put a stop to improper practices de 
 signed to restrict the area of opportunity. 
 
 Then there is the abuse of privileges received 
 from the government itself, the misuse of pub- 
 1 ic franchises granted upon condition that they 
 shall be used to benefit the public. It is the 
 business of a free government to secure the 
 just use of such franchises for the public 
 benefit. 
 
 There is also the abuse of the system of gov 
 ernment itself by prostituting representative 
 powers to selfish advantage. 
 
 To guard against these abuses and put an 
 end to them where they exist, the people must 
 be constantly alert. Faithful representation of 
 the people is of the essence of the matter. 
 Democracy upon a large scale would inevitably 
 fail were not the people able to act through 
 their chosen representatives. It is only upon 
 
Chautauqua, August 24, 1907 213 
 
 simple and broad propositions of policy that 
 the people can act directly. It is difficult to 
 procure a complete understanding, even by 
 those charged with its consideration, of any 
 complicated measure. 
 
 We have a republic only in name if those 
 chosen to represent the people serve other 
 interests. In their insistence upon singlemind- 
 edness in the public service, the people will 
 have no compromise. They demand a greater 
 voice in the selection of candidates for office. 
 They insist that those whom they choose shall 
 recognize their representative responsibility. 
 We have had too many men posing as the 
 people s choice who were simply the repre 
 sentatives of particular business interests or 
 the appointees of a political leader put in office 
 to do his bidding. Party organization must 
 find its bond of union in devotion to certain 
 common principles. There are relatively few 
 communities in which it can longer hope to 
 win public support if its political power is 
 devoted to the advancement of the selfish 
 interests of its members. 
 
 We shall always need political leadership. 
 The work of analysis, of careful study of ex 
 isting problems, of devising necessary remedies 
 for admitted abuses, of representing to the 
 
214 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 people the course to be taken for their pro 
 tection, must be done. There must be organ 
 ization in order that measures conceived to be 
 in the public interest may have proper sup 
 port. But leadership and organization to 
 recommend themselves to public confidence 
 must be purged of the vice of self-service. 
 
 Let there be no vague fears about the out 
 come. I place full confidence in the sobriety 
 and integrity of motive of the American peo 
 ple. I have profound belief in their ability to 
 cure existing evils without disturbing their 
 prosperity. I am convinced that we shall 
 have more and more intelligent and unselfish 
 representation of the people s interests ; that 
 political leadership will be tested more and 
 more by the soundness of its counsel and the 
 disinterestedness of its ambition. I believe 
 that with an increasing proportion of true 
 representation, with increasing discriminating 
 public discussion, with the patient application 
 of sound judgment to the consideration of 
 public measures, and with the inflexible deter 
 mination to end abuses and to purify the ad 
 ministration of government of self-interest, we 
 shall realize a greater prosperity and a wider 
 diffusion of the blessings of free government 
 than we have ever hitherto been able to enjoy. 
 
VII. 
 
 Speech at the Washington County Fair, 
 Sandy Hill, N. Y,, August 27, 1907. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : 
 
 I am very glad that the first County Fair 
 that it is my good fortune to visit should be 
 held in Washington County, the home of my 
 early childhood. When I came down the 
 streets a few minutes ago on the way to these 
 grounds forty years were obliterated, and in 
 front of the old barn I saw a little child being 
 lifted by his father, to sit upon the cream- 
 colored family horse, and I saw a little chair 
 upon a small stoop in which that little child 
 used to sit. I heard, dimly, but memory could 
 almost reconstruct the scene perfectly, the 
 strains of martial music, and saw in my mind s 
 eye the brave men gathered together, and not 
 for show, solemnly surrounded by tearful friends 
 in the awful hour of the Nation s peril. Men 
 gathered to say good-by, and the pastor, my 
 father, close at hand saying a word of comfort 
 as those men were ready to march to the front 
 
 215 
 
216 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 in the defence of the Union, dimly, and yet 
 I can see it. And I remember in a faint way, 
 but still the agony of it impressed my childish 
 heart, the awful strain, the cry of anguish 
 when the news came of the death of our 
 martyred President. 
 
 Though we may travel widely through the 
 world, and life may bring to us many changes 
 of scene and vicissitudes of fortune, yet we 
 never grow old in our hearts. And nothing can 
 take away from us the memories of our early 
 years or destroy the affection that we hold, 
 whatever changes of population or changes in 
 external conditions may affect the scenes of 
 our early life, for that which, as a child, 
 we learned to call home. And to me, the 
 world in those days was bounded by Glens 
 Falls and Fort Edward, and the centre of it 
 was Sandy Hill. 
 
 Now, I did n t come here to-day to tell you 
 how to run your industries, or to manage your 
 farms. You know a great deal more about 
 that than I do, and because I have been 
 chosen Governor of the State, I don t assume 
 suddenly to have acquired a great deal of in 
 formation about your business. You know 
 what is good for you in your daily vocation ; 
 you know what you need, and I don t assume 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 217 
 
 to appear here as an instructor. I do come 
 here simply to show my pleasure at the 
 opportunity of greeting my fellow citizens, 
 and to talk over with you in an informal 
 and direct way some of the matters that 
 immediately concern you and me in con 
 nection with the administration of our 
 government. 
 
 We do not properly consider government 
 as something aloof from us. We constitute 
 the people of the State, and there is no one 
 who is not affected by good or bad adminis 
 tration. I hope the time will come when 
 every one engaged in industrial employment 
 will have closely at his heart the needs of 
 those engaged in agriculture, and those who 
 are devoted to the cultivation of the soil 
 should have consideration and concern for 
 the lot of those who are sweating in the fac 
 tory and shop. We are necessary to each 
 other. We are one people, and we should 
 learn to know that in connection with matters 
 of government there can be no division into 
 classes, either according to fortune, or accord 
 ing to lot and vocation. But we shall be 
 successful or the reverse, according to the 
 realization of our common citizenship and our 
 determination all to pull together to make this 
 
218 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the greatest and most prosperous country the 
 world has ever known. 
 
 Now, the principles of government are very 
 simple. The principles of government may 
 be difficult in their application, but they are 
 obvious to any student, to anyone who pauses 
 for a moment to consider the affairs of his 
 State. Fundamentally, the great thing is local 
 government. When we think of administra 
 tion, we are accustomed to look far away from 
 home, to Albany, to a remote place where sit 
 the leaders of the State. The place to look 
 primarily in order to secure good government 
 and good administration is at your own home. 
 We have great need to emphasize the im 
 portance of local government and the sense 
 of accountability to each locality or community 
 of those who in that locality or community 
 have immediate charge of local affairs. Now 
 it is a principle of administration that you 
 want to have done locally all that you can get 
 done locally, and as little done away from 
 home as may be necessary to the maintenance 
 of free institutions. That is the way to have 
 good government, and therefore, to the extent 
 of my ability, during the legislative session, I 
 aimed to refer to local communities the matters 
 which should be within their exclusive control. 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 219 
 
 It is not the proper thing to run to Albany 
 to see whether the salary of some local official 
 should be increased. It is not the proper thing 
 to run to Albany to get a special bill relating 
 to this or that matter, which properly should be 
 committed to the discretion of the local board. 
 The true rule of government is to have the 
 local board attend to the things that affect the 
 locality, and to have the people of the com 
 munity hold that local board responsible for 
 the way it does business. 
 
 It has been said to me again and again, not 
 by representatives of this county I will say, 
 but by representatives of other counties : 
 " Why, that will never do. You don t know 
 our condition. If the local board is to attend 
 to this matter, what will become of us ? We 
 can t get anything done ! " My friends, that 
 means that you have no confidence in free in 
 stitutions. You can t expect good republican 
 government, unless in each locality there is 
 good citizenship enough to hold men account 
 able for the performance of a public duty in 
 connection with those matters which every 
 citizen knows affect him and his business in 
 the running of the community in which he has 
 his home. 
 
 And therefore I say the first principle of 
 
220 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 administration is to keep things in connection 
 with local government locally administered so 
 far as possible. But of course, as I said, the 
 best thing we can do is to make an approxi 
 mation. We can t ^et everything perfect in 
 this world and the less so because the Legisla 
 ture from time immemorial has been passing 
 special bills affecting particular localities, and 
 you are hidebound in many respects, and can t 
 adjust things without other special bills. And 
 the result is that one special bill becomes the 
 parent of a progeny of special bills increasing 
 in geometrical ratio with the generations. I 
 have been sitting there in Albany trying to 
 maintain a few obvious principles of our dem 
 ocratic government and I have been appalled 
 at the enormous mass of local special legisla 
 tion that I had to sign, simply because of the 
 other special legislation which had preceded 
 it. But that does n t mean that we can t do 
 our best and somewhere draw the line which 
 it seems practicable to draw ; and wherever I 
 could draw it without doing injustice and 
 occasioning injury to local communities, I 
 have drawn it, and I have said : " Settle your 
 own affairs." 
 
 But, of course, every local government, prop 
 erly considered, is an arm of the State, and 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 221 
 
 however great the importance of its local ad 
 ministration it is the State that is the organism 
 of the people and is responsible for administra 
 tion everywhere. It was a great question 
 many years ago as to how this division should 
 be properly maintained how the State should 
 do its duty. It has been practically guaran 
 teed by reserving to the Governor of the State 
 the power of removal of certain local officers 
 upon the presentation of charges after they 
 have been sustained by proper evidence and 
 after hearing has been afforded. 
 
 That was intended, on the one hand, to en 
 force local accountability through the process 
 of election and appealing to the people of the 
 community ; and, on the other hand, in case of 
 a breakdown, to give the State an opportunity 
 to guarantee, perhaps to a minority, a properly 
 administered government and to give its repre 
 sentative the chance for necessary correction. 
 But while the Governor must do his duty, 
 he is charged with the enforcement of the law 
 and he must not hesitate, if a case is made, 
 to act in accordance with his responsibility, 
 it is the greatest mistake in the world to run 
 to Albany to hold the men whom you elect 
 accountable for the discharge of their duties 
 when you can attend to the matter at home. 
 
222 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 And then, when we go a step farther, we 
 find, not simply with reference to these matters 
 of local administration but generally, the im 
 portant principle that we should settle these 
 things by general legislation, and not by laws 
 for special instances. You would be surprised 
 at the number of people there are in this 
 State trying to get something special for them 
 selves from the State Government. There 
 seems to be an idea on the part of a good 
 many that the State is a fair mark whether it 
 is an " easy mark" or not ; and that does not 
 apply simply to individuals, it applies to com 
 munities. A great cry for something special- 
 something for me, something for my town, 
 something for this, an advantage over some 
 body what do we care for the rest, if we can 
 only get it through the Legislature and get 
 the Governor to sign it ? 
 
 That is not the true way of running the 
 State Government. Why should we have 
 special claim bills, for example, in favor of A., 
 B., C., and D. as to this and that matter? If 
 a member does not have large influence in the 
 Legislature, his particular constituents, how 
 ever praiseworthy their demands, have no 
 chance. But if, on the other hand, the member 
 is an influential man : if he is a man of great 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 223 
 
 importance not simply locally but in the Legis 
 lature and in the councils of its chief commit 
 tees, why then it goes. And it comes up to 
 the Governor, and Mr. A., fortunate as a con 
 stituent of this distinguished member, gets his 
 claim, and B., C., and D., who have not had an 
 equal influence, are left out. Now I don t call 
 that proper and decent government. 
 
 So I say this : If we have n t got rules, 
 general rules that are fair and square as to 
 claims, let us make them fair and square ; let 
 us amend them. If the jurisdiction of our 
 Court of Claims is not broad enough to cover 
 all classes that should be brought within it, let 
 us make it so. But let us no more pass one of 
 these bills than we would pass a bill enlarging 
 the jurisdiction of one of our general courts to 
 let in a particular case. The only difference is 
 that the people have not been fully educated 
 to it. Tremendous pressure is brought upon 
 a man in the case of a claim of apparently 
 great justice. If he says : "In consideration 
 of its equities I will sign that," he must sign a 
 lot of others by reason of those he has signed 
 before, until finally he says : " It is all over. 
 I will sign anything you give me." 
 
 Now the only way to do is to have some 
 principles of administration and stand by them, 
 
224 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 and so far as possible stand by general laws 
 because they are fair, because they are impar 
 tial, because they don t depend upon what this 
 particular man is able to do by reason of his 
 acquaintance with another particular man, and 
 because they depend upon fundamental prin 
 ciples of reason applicable to all men in each 
 particular case. That is free government. Free 
 government and proper representation are not 
 a matter of " pull " at all ; they are matters of 
 fairness and justice. 
 
 And now that comes home to all of you, 
 good friends, in your particular community. 
 If you want that medicine for others, take it 
 yourself ; and don t ! don t ! bombard your 
 representatives who go to Albany trying to 
 do the square thing and not only to represent 
 their community but to represent fairly the 
 entire State, by trying to have them get some 
 thing for you which you know if they were try 
 ing to get for somebody over in Essex County 
 you would say was not right. We have got to 
 deal with these things impartially and with re 
 gard to all the general operations of the govern 
 ment of the State. While of course once in a 
 while we can, as I say, have absolute rules, 
 exceptions will occur; but in the main let 
 us try to have general principles of govern- 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 225 
 
 ment, adhere to them, and make them work 
 uniformly. 
 
 The great need with regard to government 
 in this country is that the people shall feel 
 that it works impartially and squarely and no 
 one gets the advantage over his fellows. 
 
 Now, we have had legislation of great impor 
 tance during the last session touching the vital 
 interests of the people of the State. I believe 
 that it would be hard to find a session of the 
 Legislature in which so much general legislation 
 of great importance has been enacted. We 
 have, for example, the question of the control 
 of the operation of our public-service corpora 
 tions. It is a question of great importance to 
 all the people ; to the farmers, to those engaged 
 in industry, to those engaged in commerce, 
 one of the great questions of the day. There 
 are some people who would have this pass 
 upon the general view that you don t under 
 stand it and the quicker you do something, 
 the better. That would be like a man pro 
 fessing to be a surgeon who would jab his 
 knife in here and jab his knife in there to see 
 how the patient stood it and then gradually, 
 after these repeated jabs, make up his diagnosis 
 and see what the proper surgical treatment 
 should be. 
 
226 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 I believe that the way to deal with these 
 matters is to understand them; is to have the 
 government and its administration supreme; is 
 to show the people of the State that there is no 
 corporate power or financial power that has 
 any strength to defy the will of the people; 
 that they are going to have a fair understand 
 ing of the facts and compel a just exercise of 
 public franchises. That is what we stand for. 
 We want to see great extension of our trans 
 portation facilities ; we want better stations ; 
 we want more cars; we want better power; we 
 want to see our goods moved; we want more 
 comfort and convenience in our travel; we want 
 good service. We are bound to get it. We 
 are not going to be fooled by the people who 
 tell us that they can t do these things and live, 
 under fair regulation. On the other hand, we 
 are not going to prevent them from doing these 
 things, by absurd and impossible rules. The 
 people of this country are perfectly fair and 
 square in this matter. The great difficulty is 
 that the problem is so intricate in many of its 
 phases that some say : " What is the use? You 
 can never understand it." 
 
 I say that the government is perfectly com 
 petent to find out the facts, to secure good 
 treatment, to enforce the regulations under 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 227 
 
 which these franchises should be conducted, and 
 to see that every citizen of the State gets good 
 service at reasonable rates ; and that is what 
 we have been trying to provide governmental 
 machinery for in this State. I believe that we 
 have accomplished a great deal in this direc 
 tion. We have men devoting themselves 
 exclusively to the understanding of these prob 
 lems. We are going to have things done right, 
 thoroughly, fairly, and as the people want 
 them done, in recognition of the obligations of 
 these corporations to the State. 
 
 And in these matters, as I have said, the 
 great thing is to provide machinery so that the 
 people will feel that they are represented ; 
 that they are not held down ; that they can 
 get at things ; that there is someone with the 
 original power of investigation ; that there is a 
 board representing the government that can 
 act, with adequate power to enforce a fair rule 
 when the justice of it has been shown. Now 
 we have looked at the matter squarely and 
 with the approval of the people of the State 
 from one end to the other have got that 
 machinery ; and now we are going to see that 
 it works well and that everything that can be 
 done is done to protect the people. 
 
 We have a great variety of questions. Of 
 
228 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 course, fundamentally, the thing is for every 
 individual to have a fair show to do his work. 
 Fundamentally, the thing is to have the greatest 
 freedom of opportunity and not to interfere 
 with individual exertion. But, on the other 
 hand, the State, representing being, in fact 
 all the individuals of the State together, must 
 see that no one individual gets an opportunity 
 at the unjust expense of his neighbor, and that 
 those matters that can be taken care of only by 
 concerted action will be taken care of in a way 
 that will defend the interests of all. 
 
 For example, the State has entered upon a 
 great undertaking for the development of our 
 roads, a matter of the greatest advantage to 
 the agricultural communities of the State, in 
 order that they may get to market and the 
 exchanges and that their intercourse may be 
 facilitated. But in connection with that, while 
 I am going to say nothing about it in detail 
 to-day, let me suggest this, that it is perfectly 
 idle to have new roads unless we have a proper 
 means of maintaining and keeping roads fit. 
 
 With regard to the adulteration of foods ; in 
 all matters affecting the public health ; in the 
 operations of commerce; in all those things 
 which are essential to the public good, the State 
 must interfere and by a strong hand protect 
 
Washington County Fair, 1907 229 
 
 the people. I shall not attempt to go over the 
 various steps taken at the last session in this 
 direction, but we have made great progress in 
 connection with the Agricultural Department; 
 in connection with the Labor Department ; in 
 connection with our public-service regulation ; 
 in connection with a great many subjects in 
 which you are all interested. 
 
 Let me say this in conclusion : You can t 
 do anything by multiplying these efforts of the 
 administration unless you can get the men 
 to run the machinery ; unless you can get men 
 with a sense of honor and fidelity to duty who 
 can be depended upon to take the State view, 
 not against your view, but against their own 
 interests. That is the test. To take the State 
 view, the high view of citizenship, the sense 
 of honorable obligation to all the people which 
 would make a man rather cut off his and than 
 cheat a man who does n t see him when he 
 does it. 
 
 The great point is to have that self-respect 
 which will make it the greatest service that a 
 man can render, in his own opinion, to be true 
 to a sense of duty when he has a chance to 
 serve the people ; to take up the work with the 
 proper sense of responsibility and devote him 
 self to it, not because he wants a re-election ; 
 
230 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 not because he wants another office ; not be 
 cause the people will shout their applause, but 
 because it is right and his own conscience will 
 not let him do anything else. 
 
 We can t do anything in regulating corporate 
 business ; we can t do anything in attempting 
 to protect public health; to encourage agricul 
 ture ; to make industry safe and prosperous, 
 we can t do anything unless human character 
 which enters into all administration is the 
 character upon which you can depend, as 
 citizens, for fidelity and honesty. And the 
 development of that character depends in turn 
 upon the standards of the communities just like 
 this. What will you tolerate in public life ? 
 Whom do you allow to represent the people ? 
 Let us have it thoroughly understood that a 
 man walks to his political doom who thinks of 
 anything else but the public welfare in connec 
 tion with public office. 
 
VIII. 
 
 Speech at the Dedication of the McKinley 
 Monument in Buffalo, September 5, 
 1907. 
 
 The memorials of a free people are erected 
 to commemorate public service and the dis 
 tinction of noble character. The conqueror, 
 lustful of power, and the seeker after self- 
 aggrandizement are not counted among the 
 heroes of democracy. The people honor those 
 who, in their service to their fellow men, honor 
 humanity. 
 
 Here was marked the tragic termination of 
 a great career. Here in an awful moment 
 there were revealed in sudden lurid flash the 
 opposing forces whose conflict is the history 
 of mankind. At a time of rare prosperity ? 
 when American industry and commerce were 
 celebrating their triumphs with every circum 
 stance of proud display in a city of almost 
 unprecedented progress, the powers of dark 
 ness moved to their attack and, in an infernal 
 frenzy of hate, an abject creature struck down 
 
 231 
 
232 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the foremost and best-loved of American citi 
 zens. Never did evil commit a more dastardly 
 deed. The victim was the chosen representa 
 tive of the American people, no less repre 
 sentative in his death than in his life. The 
 assassin s blow was aimed at American institu 
 tions, represented in the head of the Nation, and 
 McKinley fell because he was our President. 
 
 In memory of his martyrdom, in memory of 
 an heroic death, in testimony to the futility 
 of insensate envy and the lasting supremacy of 
 law and order, in memory of a worthy life 
 crowned by its sad sacrifice, this monument 
 has been erected. 
 
 The vitality of democracy may be measured 
 by the generosity of its tributes to fidelity and 
 its appreciation of honorable motive and public 
 spirit. The people must have faith in them 
 selves, and the zeal which makes progress pos 
 sible is not only intolerant of treachery to the 
 public interest, but expresses itself in fine en 
 thusiasm for the leaders who have justified the 
 people s confidence. Cynicism is a destroying 
 canker. And in proportion as we revere those 
 who in the past have borne the burdens of the 
 Republic, gratefully recognize our indebted 
 ness to their service, and profit by the lessons 
 of their experience, shall we prove our capacity 
 
McKinley Monument, 1907 233 
 
 to meet the demands and solve the problems 
 of a later day. In our warm affection and our 
 tender reverence for those great spirits who in 
 the providence of God have led us as a people 
 we find the surest basis for our present trust. 
 An ungrateful republic cannot endure. 
 
 It is not my purpose in this brief exercise 
 to attempt to recount the services of him in 
 whose honor we meet. They are an imperish 
 able part of the Nation s history. Soldier, 
 Representative, Governor, President these 
 were the stages of his distinguished career. 
 Having fought gallantly in his youth, through 
 out the period of civil strife, to preserve the 
 Union, it was his high privilege in his last 
 years to preside over the destinies of the 
 Nation when, with a revived and intensified 
 National consciousness we assumed the en 
 larged and unexpected responsibilities which 
 followed upon a war carried to notable victory 
 under his leadership and supported by the 
 people in an unselfish enthusiasm for the cause 
 of humanity. It was his happy lot to be 
 chosen the Chief Executive of the Nation 
 after a contest which vindicated the sanity of 
 the public judgment and established new con 
 fidence in the working of our popular institu 
 tions. With restored credit, the country under 
 
234 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 his administration, quickly recovering from the 
 depression of trade, entered upon a period of 
 extraordinary expansion and prosperity. Wil 
 liam McKinley sought patiently to learn the 
 people s will and faithfully to execute it. 
 
 It is a significant and gratifying characteris 
 tic of the American people that, more than the 
 particular benefit conferred by service, they 
 prize the virtues of character which in the 
 course of service are exemplified. Fidelity to 
 friendship, the exquisite grace of a husband s 
 devotion, the honor of manhood, the beauty 
 of the forbearance of unwearied patience, en 
 deared William McKinley to the hearts of his 
 fellow citizens, and in their memory eclipse 
 the glories of an administration flattering to 
 American pride. 
 
 We may see but dimly into the future. We 
 may be confused by the perplexities of our 
 modern life, made the more difficult by the 
 very riches of our inheritance, but as we set 
 our course by the pole-star of truth and justice 
 and conserve the ideals of character which our 
 fathers have taught us to revere we shall not 
 fail. 
 
IX. 
 
 Address at the National Encampment of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 Saratoga, September 10, 1907. 
 
 The State of New York welcomes you to 
 this encampment. And on behalf of the citi 
 zens of the State it is my privilege to express 
 their greeting, their felicitations, and their af 
 fectionate regard. Your meeting is at once a 
 memorial, a contrast, and an inspiration. 
 
 Ineffaceable is the memory of the days of 
 national peril and of fratricidal war. Once 
 more in this tender comradeship you live 
 through the period of civil strife days of 
 separation and of sorrow, of privation and of 
 danger but days hallowed by friendship ce 
 mented by a common sacrifice and made the 
 more sacred by the losses of the years. It is 
 not for me to portray the scenes which are so 
 vivid in your minds, or to recount the heroic 
 deeds which are your title to enduring fame. 
 It would be almost an impiety for me to attempt 
 to essay the r6le of your comrades who need 
 
 235 
 
236 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 neither the narrative of history nor the poetry 
 of imagination to make eloquent the memories 
 of their own experience. But I should utterly 
 fail adequately to represent the citizens of 
 New York or to voice the gratitude of the 
 generation whese active life began after the 
 Civil War had closed, if I did not testify to 
 their appreciation of the rich inheritance the 
 Nation has received at your hands. 
 
 The service of heroic sacrifice transcends 
 even the vast importance of a restored Union 
 and a preserved National life. The Union is 
 but an opportunity. The Nation exists not 
 for the sake of political relations or of forms of 
 government, but to confer the blessings of 
 freedom and in order that the people, in the 
 diffusion of happiness and in the development 
 of character, may realize the ideals of liberty. 
 However perfect the Constitution, however 
 symmetrical the political edifice, the end is at 
 tained only to the extent to which we rise 
 above what is sordid and in our achievements 
 illustrate the virtues of sacrifice and honor. 
 We are blessed with riches of soil and mines ; 
 our natural resources are the envy of the world. 
 But more important than these are the re 
 sources of moral strength and the inheritances 
 of memories which inspire us to work zealously 
 
Grand Army of the Republic 237 
 
 for the common good and inculcate lessons of 
 patriotic devotion to the cause of liberty. 
 
 I congratulate you upon your share of this 
 great contribution, upon the lasting affection 
 of a united people, upon the blessed memory 
 of painful and consecrated effort and of highest 
 duty well performed. By your courage and 
 endurance, by your patient fortitude, by your 
 unwearied persistence, by your steadfastness 
 in defeat, and magnanimity in victory, by the 
 heroic service of your leaders, by the noble 
 humanity of our martyred President, by the 
 work of all who at home or in the field, in 
 humble station or in great place, toiled and 
 sacrificed for the life of the Nation, our 
 people have been pricelessly endowed. The 
 Nation so preserved and so enriched can never 
 forget its mission. 
 
 o 
 
 Your meeting points a contrast. We are to 
 day a united people rejoicing in undissolved 
 and indissoluble union. The heroism displayed 
 on both sides of that great conflict has be 
 come a common heritage. Past animosities are 
 buried without forgetting past services. No 
 line north or south, east or west, divides us in 
 our devotion to National ideals. Year by year 
 we more highly appreciate the necessity and 
 value of this unity, and North and South join 
 
238 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 to-day in thanksgiving to God that we are 
 marshalled under one flag, enjoying the peace 
 and prosperity which union only can secure. 
 
 Your meeting, with its imposing reminder 
 of patriotic sacrifice, cannot but serve as an 
 inspiration to fidelity in public service. The 
 same flag which floated over the armies in the 
 field floats over the public buildings in which 
 are gathered the chosen servants of the people. 
 That flag for whose honor you were ready to 
 give your lives demands the same loyalty in 
 time of peace. Patriotism is not limited to 
 times of National conflict, but is equally ex 
 pressed in every form of service where love of 
 country rises above love of self. If the same 
 generous ardor, if the same readiness to put 
 the cause of the Union above all personal con 
 siderations, which characterized your service on 
 the field of battle, is displayed in the administra 
 tion of every department of our government 
 and in the maintenance of the cause of the 
 people against every form of corruption and 
 oppression, we may look forward to victories 
 of peace no less significant and notable than 
 those in which you won and conferred a lasting 
 glory. 
 
X. 
 
 Address at the Dedication of the Monu 
 ment to General Greene at Gettys 
 burg, September 27, 1907. 
 
 We have come to this field of eloquent 
 memorials to pay a deserved tribute to one 
 who in supreme test vindicated his manhood 
 and his leadership. We are here as New 
 Yorkers to commemorate the fidelity and 
 valor of a son of New York. We have met 
 as citizens on consecrated soil where in se 
 verest conflict the heroism of two armies 
 glorified the American name, and in the victory 
 of one was found the sure promise of a re 
 stored Union and of the happiness of these 
 later years, 
 
 In diminished ranks, mourning their de 
 parted comrades, yet rejoicing in the mem 
 ories of those heroic days, the survivors of 
 battle have gathered in honor of the brave 
 leader under whose command the desperate 
 engagement on this hill was fought. 
 
 Veterans : To you these stones are quick 
 239 
 
240 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 with life. You live again in the comradeship 
 of war, and those who fell and those who lived 
 to fall elsewhere are once more by your side. 
 Each bit of ground has its story of daring, of 
 resolute defence, of suffering, of death. Here 
 in patriotic devotion you offered your lives, 
 and the memory of your steadfastness in 
 that dark hour is one of the choicest of our 
 National treasures. 
 
 The Civil War was not more notable for its 
 political consequences than for its revelation 
 of the quality of our citizenship. Priceless as 
 is the National unity gained through that strug 
 gle, its value rests upon that sterling character 
 and capacity for heroic effort which in both 
 North and South found abundant illustration. 
 The virtues displayed on either side of that 
 fierce contest are the common heritage of a 
 united people. And alike in heroism upon 
 battlefield and in the fortitude and untold 
 sacrifices of those who remained at home, in 
 the skill, the discernment, and the energy of 
 leaders, in the discipline, readiness, and valor 
 of the troops they led, stood revealed the 
 splendid pertinacity, the inflexible determina 
 tion, and the moral forcefulness of American 
 manhood. 
 
 New York is prouder of the manner in 
 
General Greene, Sept. 27, 1907 241 
 
 which it met that test than of its broad do 
 main and wealth of resources. It sent to the 
 Northern Army 400,000 of its sons one-fifth 
 of its male population. In every part of this 
 battlefield will be found the records of New 
 York troops records of fidelity and honorable 
 achievement. On this spot, at a critical mo 
 ment, when darkness added to the terror of 
 sudden attack by superior numbers, our New 
 York boys of Greene s Brigade held firm and 
 by heroic defence protected the safety of the 
 Army. To their sagacious, alert, and coura 
 geous General, we, the sons of the Empire 
 State, erect this monument, expressive of our 
 love, our pride, our lasting obligation. 
 
 The generation which fought here has al 
 most passed away. The distinguished leaders 
 still with us, and in whose presence we rejoice 
 to-day, recall to us the more vividly the many 
 who have departed. Their sacrifices were not 
 in vain. The same National character which 
 accounted for the fierceness of that strife in 
 whose devouring flames were displayed the 
 indestructible riches of moral strength, is ours 
 to-day. The same patriotic ardor fills the 
 breasts of American youth as when they 
 rushed from field and factory and college in 
 obedience to their country s summons. The 
 
 16 
 
242 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 wives and mothers of America are as loving, 
 as devoted, as ready to sacrifice and to suffer 
 as were those of forty odd years ago. The 
 men of the United States are as quick to re 
 spond to the call of duty, as keen, as resource 
 ful, as valiant as those of our heroic past. 
 They are blessed with the memory of your 
 labors ; they are enriched with the lessons of 
 your zeal ; they are inspired by the example 
 of your patriotism. 
 
 We are engrossed in the pursuits of peace. 
 Mind and nerve are strained to the utmost in 
 the varied activities which promise opportunity 
 for individual achievement. But the American 
 heart thrills at the sight of the flag, the Ameri 
 can conscience points unwaveringly to the path 
 of honor, the American sense of justice was 
 never more supreme in its sway, and united by 
 a common appreciation of the ideals of a free 
 government, by a common perception of our 
 National destiny, by a common recognition of 
 the riches of our inheritance, the American 
 people should, and we believe will, go steadily 
 forward, a happy, resourceful, and triumphant 
 people, enjoying in ever greater degree the 
 blessings of liberty and union. 
 
XI. 
 
 Speech at the Jamestown Exposition on 
 New York Day, October 10, 1907. 
 
 New York gratefully accepts the invitation 
 of Virginia to join in this feast of origins. 
 We turn from our eager searching of the 
 future to gather confidence and to learn wis 
 dom from the record of the past, and once 
 more we scan the ever fascinating pages of 
 the wonder-book of American history. In 
 contrast to an old world ravaged by greed and 
 unprincipled ambition, where for centuries the 
 toil and blood of the people had been given to 
 the service of privilege and of the rivalries of 
 despotic rulers, lay this broad land of match 
 less resources, enshrouded by its vast and 
 silent forests, awaiting the fulness of time 
 when it should become the domain of a Nation 
 dedicated to freedom, and the scene of the 
 greatest triumphs of humanity. 
 
 Widely separated, distinct in purpose, vary 
 ing markedly in the character and equipment 
 of the settlers were the first efforts at coloniza- 
 
 243 
 
244 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 tion. How apparently unrelated were the 
 entrance of the little company of Englishmen 
 between the Capes in 1607, the voyage of 
 Henry Hudson up the river which bears his 
 name in 1609, and, a few years later, the 
 landing of the Pilgrims on the northeastern 
 coast. We marvel that these feeble and ap 
 parently insignificant efforts should have re 
 sulted in flourishing colonies ; that these 
 colonies with forms of organization originally 
 so diverse, with interests distinct and often in 
 conflict, jealous of each other and widely scat 
 tered, should have ever become confederated 
 Commonwealths and able to oppose a united 
 front to tyranny ; that these Commonwealths, 
 drawn together for one supreme struggle and 
 then relapsing into bitter disagreement, should 
 have found it possible at a time of disorder bor 
 dering upon anarchy to have formed a Nation ; 
 and that the Nation so formed and so com 
 posed should have been able to resist all tend 
 encies to disintegration, and should now present 
 to the world the spectacle of a people firmly 
 bound by mutual interest and affection and 
 welded together in an indestructible Union. 
 
 With the advantage of a truer perspective 
 we see the irresistible progress of the senti 
 ment of unity until to-day the National con- 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 245 
 
 sciousness is dominant from the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf. 
 With the rapid extension of commerce and 
 facility of communication, aided by the mo 
 bility of our population, the interests that we 
 have in common have exceeded in ever greater 
 degree those which are separate and distinct. 
 And the people of all parts of the Union 
 come to the scene of this early English settle 
 ment not as visitors to a strange Common 
 wealth but as fellow citizens of their brothers 
 in Virginia. They feel by virtue of their 
 National relationship a direct interest in the 
 events which led to the settlement of the Old 
 Dominion, and rejoice in their inheritance of 
 the benefits of the services which Washington 
 and Jefferson, Madison and Marshall gave to 
 our common country. 
 
 While this is so, it is fortunate that we 
 retain a just pride in the history, achieve 
 ments, and prosperity of our respective States. 
 It is well that this should be fostered, for upon 
 this sentiment to a large degree will depend 
 the efficiency of State administration. As the 
 range of community of interest widens, it is 
 inevitable that the burden of National adminis 
 tration should increase and that the cares 
 necessarily committed to the National Govern- 
 
246 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 ment should multiply. But we cannot expect 
 to have that competent and vigorous adminis 
 tration in National concerns which is essential 
 to our continued peace and prosperity if our 
 citizenship is indifferent to the problems of 
 administration which confront them in their 
 several communities. State and National 
 citizenship reside in the same persons, and they 
 cannot be effective as sources of National power 
 and at the same time be lax or corrupt in local 
 administration. Fortunate it is that we are 
 not compelled to create arbitrary divisions for 
 the purpose of appropriate local government, 
 but that we have autonomous communities 
 which have been developed naturally, and the 
 citizens of which enjoy the advantages of his 
 torical and sentimental associations. In State 
 interest and State pride we find the hope of 
 the proper conduct on the affairs appropriate 
 to the States, and in the development of the 
 sense of civic obligation which demands good 
 local government we shall make sure of that 
 quality of citizenship which will secure the inter 
 ests of National administration and National 
 progress. 
 
 I am proud to be a citizen of New York 
 and I rejoice in its wealth and its resources, 
 material and moral. I shall not attempt an 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 247 
 
 inventory of its possessions, nor shall I re 
 count to you the munificence of its provisions 
 for education, the extent of its charitable 
 foundations, the wide scope of its large public 
 undertakings. With these you are familiar. 
 And at the mention of the State of New York 
 you, the sons of that State, gathered here in its 
 honor, at once have presented to your minds 
 an imposing Commonwealth comprising one- 
 tenth of the population of the United States, 
 justly termed by reason of its riches and its 
 power, the " Empire State." 
 
 It has been my good fortune to become 
 closely acquainted with its citizenship and to 
 attest the high standards and noble qualities 
 of its people. To every line of activity it has 
 contributed leaders of thought and action ; its 
 citizens are alert and energetic; and in no 
 community in the land may be found a higher 
 level of civilization, more moral power, more 
 strength of character, more happiness and 
 prosperity. 
 
 But it is a world in itself. It presents the 
 most complex problems of our modern times. 
 It exhibits striking contrasts. It has the 
 greatest wealth and the most abject poverty. 
 Side by side with thrift and education and 
 virtue may be found the depths of squalor, 
 
248 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 ignorance, and vice. While in rural communi 
 ties and small cities may be found American 
 life at its best, in the congested quarters of the 
 great metropolis humanity huddles in poverty, 
 distress, and shame. Government, State and 
 municipal, is put to the severest tests. And to 
 the thoughtful mind the emotions of just pride 
 and the thrill of pleasure at our material and 
 moral advances must stimulate the sense of 
 obligation and of the most serious responsi 
 bility. It is in New York, where in so large a 
 degree is found the clearing-house of the Na 
 tion s commerce and where riches have been 
 accumulated beyond the dreams of a genera 
 tion past, that we must devote ourselves most 
 sedulously to the realization of the ideals of 
 democracy, and set ourselves most determinedly 
 to overcome the subtle temptations and nar 
 rowing influences of prosperity. 
 
 First of all, we must overcome the tempta 
 tion to indifference as to the condition and 
 standards of our less favored brothers in the 
 community. The fool who said that his barns 
 were full and that he might take his ease has 
 his counterpart in those who through material 
 success would erect little citadels of indepen 
 dent strength where they may entrench them 
 selves in calm indifference to the needs of their 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 249 
 
 less fortunate brethren. In this country no 
 one is independent of his fellows and the 
 security of every man must ultimately depend 
 on the opportunities and well-being of others. 
 Intelligent and sympathetic consideration of 
 conditions in our great cities is the duty of 
 every good citizen. The condition of those 
 who enter our State, forming virtually foreign 
 communities in our cities, is a problem to which 
 as citizens of the State we must give heed. 
 We must endeavor to determine what can be 
 done to improve standards of living, to protect 
 these newcomers, largely helpless, from being 
 victimized, to acquaint them as rapidly as pos 
 sible with the meaning of American institutions, 
 to utilize their economic value, to protect the 
 State by promoting the diffusion of the Am 
 erican spirit and reverence for law and order 
 through fair and impartial administration. 
 
 We rejoice in the numerous efforts of philan 
 thropy, in the large contributions that are made 
 in personal service ; but what has been done 
 and is being done covers but a small fraction 
 of the need. We must have a quickening of 
 the sense of obligation and a keener recognition 
 of the fact that Union is more than a name, 
 that it is not a union of theoretical entities, but 
 a union of human beings, a union of lives, 
 
250 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 that for better or worse we are bound together 
 by indissoluble bonds and that indifference to 
 the condition of our fellow man is indifference 
 to the safety of the State. 
 
 As prosperity increases we must be the 
 more zealous to maintain our early ideals of 
 work and of service. It is of the essence of 
 democracy that a man should have oppor 
 tunity for the exercise of his talent, that he 
 should have a fair opportunity to display his 
 ability and to win the just rewards of his 
 efforts, that he should be secure in the re 
 sults of his labors, won almost invariably 
 through sacrifice and self-denial. 
 
 It is also of the essence of democracy that 
 no man should construe his opportunity to 
 mean license to exploit his fellow men and 
 unjustly profit himself at the expense of their 
 equal chance. It is of the essence of democ 
 racy that community rights should be safe 
 guarded and that to which the public is 
 entitled should be rigorously compelled. The 
 ambition which knows no law but that of 
 selfish achievement must be bound by the 
 inexorable demands of public service and 
 the limits necessarily imposed for the equal 
 protection of all citizens. 
 
 He most surely attains the highest success 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 251 
 
 and the greatest happiness who in the zealous 
 exercise of his talents finds the path of service, 
 and whose achievements are a benediction to 
 mankind. 
 
 But what is most needed, in a particular 
 sense in the interest of good administration of 
 government and of the welfare of the com 
 munity, is a stricter insistence upon fiduciary 
 responsibility. This can be obtained in part 
 by the enforcement of law and in part must 
 be gained through public sentiment and the 
 cultivation of higher standards of conduct. 
 It is an extraordinary perversion to suppose 
 that the owner of fifty-one per cent, of the 
 capital stock of a corporation is free to wreak 
 his pleasure in its management. The officer 
 or director occupies a position of trust not for 
 the majority, but for the entire body of stock 
 holders. And while he may execute the policy 
 which the majority desire, it must be a policy 
 consistent with good faith and fair dealing 
 with all. Nothing is more reprehensible than 
 the abuse of power on the part of those who 
 act in a representative capacity. 
 
 The test of character may be found in the 
 faithful discharge of trust where it may be 
 abused in secret and with seeming impunity. 
 Every man has his sphere of fiduciary obliga- 
 
252 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 tion. I speak of it not in the narrow sense 
 in which the term is employed in courts of 
 law, but in the broader sense recognized by 
 every man of self-respect. The lawyer owes 
 it to his profession to maintain the dignity 
 of independence, and is false to the trust 
 conferred upon him when he is admitted to 
 practice as an officer of justice, if he permits 
 himself to become the tool of unprincipled 
 manipulators. The editor shamelessly ignores 
 his obligation when he hides or distorts the 
 facts or uses his columns to pervert the public 
 judgment. 
 
 Of highest importance is the sentiment of 
 honor and the sense of fiduciary obligation 
 in connection with public service. The people 
 will tolerate no cynicism here. Parties may 
 dispute as they will over principles and poli 
 cies, but there can be no dispute with refer 
 ence to the demand that public privileges 
 shall be granted only in the public interest, 
 and that public officers shall regard only 
 the public interest in the administration of 
 government. 
 
 The cry "Every man for himself" is out 
 of date. The demand of the future will be 
 " Every man for the people." No one can be 
 permitted to put private interest above the 
 
Jamestown Exposition, 1907 253 
 
 public advantage. And thus in recognizing 
 the necessity of giving fair opportunity for 
 individual success, of protecting thrift and the 
 rewards of industry, and at the same time in 
 insisting upon fidelity to trust, upon the rights 
 of the community and upon the supremacy 
 of law representing the will of the people, in 
 endeavoring to call the most efficient to the 
 service of the State, and in discharging the 
 duties of public office with sole regard to pub 
 lic interests, shall we diffuse the blessings of 
 prosperity, making it servant to the happiness 
 of all. 
 
 We in New York should rejoice in the op 
 portunity which is afforded us by the very 
 difficulty of the problems with which we are 
 confronted. In tracing the history of the past 
 we find abundant reason for encouragement. 
 The capacity of American manhood in each 
 generation to deal successfully with the con 
 spicuous evils of its day has been abundantly 
 demonstrated. 
 
 We are far better off in the Empire State 
 than we have ever been before. A resistless 
 force of public opinion is directed against well- 
 nigh every abuse. There is not a New 
 Yorker here who from his own experience 
 cannot recount the tale of progress. We are 
 
254 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 a well-disposed and a genial people. We 
 are not given over to bitterness or censorious- 
 ness. Scurrilous denunciation has but a limi 
 ted vogue. In every department of official 
 life there are men endeavoring to serve the 
 State to the best of their ability, and the peo 
 ple are ready to give credit to faithful service. 
 But they are also intolerant of faithlessness. 
 Throughout the State are manifold evidences 
 of determination that the just rights of prop 
 erty shall be protected, that the public rights 
 shall be conserved, and that those who repre 
 sent the people shall be held strictly to ac 
 count for the manner in which they discharge 
 their trusts. 
 
 The State of New York is equal to its task. 
 It daily gathers strength from all the Union. 
 In its success all the States may justly claim a 
 share. Steadily it gains in population, in 
 wealth, in the diffusion of happiness, and, 
 attaining and still seeking to attain, aiming 
 always at higher levels of achievement, its 
 watchword will ever be " Excelsior." 
 
XII. 
 
 Address at the Dedication of the Monu 
 ment to General Franz Sigel, New 
 York City, October 19, 1907. 
 
 It is our privilege to assemble here in honor 
 of a brave soldier who rendered distinguished 
 service to his adopted country. In the dedica 
 tion of this monument we pay a fitting tribute 
 to his memory. But it is more than a memo 
 rial to courage or to military skill ; it is more 
 than a tribute to individual worth. It speaks 
 not simply of the service of the accomplished 
 officer whose name it bears, but is eloquent of 
 the patriotic ardor which has characterized the 
 sons of the Fatherland he so worthily repre 
 sented, and of their important contribution to 
 our National life. 
 
 General Franz Sigel was born in Baden in 
 1824; he received his military education at 
 Carlsruhe and served with distinction in the 
 Revolution in 1849. Leaving the land which 
 he loved and for whose liberties he had fought, 
 he came, an exile, to this country, and after a 
 
 255 
 
256 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 few years settled in Missouri. We should en 
 tirely miss the significance of this occasion if 
 we did not emphasize the spirit which ani 
 mated this newcomer on American soil. He 
 came defeated but not disheartened ; he was 
 torn away from the fond associations of his 
 youth, but he was not cynical or morose ; he 
 did not give himself over to discontent, nor 
 was his vitality sapped by vain regrets ; he 
 came true to the cause of liberty, with gener 
 ous heart, with vigor and zeal to give the best 
 he could bestow to the country which hence 
 forth, by virtue of his manhood s choice, was 
 to be not a mere asylum, but a home. And at 
 the outbreak of the Civil War, with no less 
 zeal for his adopted land than he had shown 
 on his native soil, he offered his services to 
 the National cause, and in large degree through 
 his vigor and efficiency Missouri was saved to 
 the Union. 
 
 It is not my purpose to tell the story of his 
 career, which may more fittingly be narrated 
 by him who is about to address you. His 
 military service was extensive and distin 
 guished. He took part in many important 
 engagements, and his courage, his military 
 ability, and the value of his services to the 
 Union cause not only won distinction in the 
 
General Franz Sigel, 1907 257 
 
 Army but have made his fame secure. Gladly 
 we recognize his service, and by this just 
 tribute we memorialize the kindliness, the 
 courage, and the patriotism of a gallant com 
 mander. 
 
 It is gratifying that the passing of the years 
 has not lessened our appreciation of the heroic 
 service which preserved our National unity. 
 The generation which since the Civil War has 
 come upon the scene studies the history of 
 that terrific conflict without bitterness, but 
 with no lack of reverence for those to whose 
 self-denying service we owe the blessing of our 
 vigorous National life. The memory of the 
 founders and of the saviors of the Republic 
 will never fade. As time heals the wounds of 
 strife, and as with the extension of our activi 
 ties all parts of our land are more closely knit 
 together, we rejoice, in North and South alike, 
 with a common pride of country in the splendid 
 qualities of manhood which on both sides of 
 that struggle were so lavishly displayed. The 
 beneficent influence of the heroic and sacrific 
 ing spirit permeates the Nation and is not 
 limited by sectional lines. 
 
 Fortunate also is it that we are becoming 
 more and more free from racial and provincial 
 prejudices, and are able to make a truer esti- 
 
258 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 mate of the many sources from which we have 
 derived our National strength and the virtues 
 of our citizenship. It is a pleasant thought, 
 which frequently has been expressed, that 
 the ancestors of most of those who settled the 
 country in Colonial days once lived in the 
 German forests ; and we witness here on a 
 large scale, and after centuries of varied ex 
 perience, what is virtually a reuniting of the 
 descendants of a common stock. But how 
 ever pleasing this may be to the historical 
 imagination, our unity in fact is not racial and 
 does not depend upon blood relationship, 
 whether near or remote. It is the unity of a 
 common National ideal ; it is the unity of a 
 common conception of the dignity of manhood ; 
 it is the unity of a common recognition of equal 
 civil rights ; it is unity in devotion to liberty 
 expressed in institutions designed to give 
 every man a fair opportunity for the exercise 
 of his talents and to make the activities of 
 each subordinate to the welfare of all. To 
 the maintenance of this ideal and to the ful 
 filment of the purposes of our National organ 
 ization, each race has made its contribution. 
 And we are not truly Americans if we do not 
 greatly rejoice in the fact that here is more 
 than the work of any one people, and more 
 
General Franz Sigel, 1907 259 
 
 than the product of any one experience ; that 
 to the making and to the prosperity of this Com 
 monwealth humanity has given of its best ; 
 and that its vigor and unprecedented strength 
 are due in no small degree to the fusion of its 
 diverse elements. 
 
 There is recalled to us to-day the notable 
 influence that our citizens of German birth 
 and extraction have had upon our growth 
 and development. In Colonial times there 
 was a great movement of German immigra 
 tion, largely from the lower Palatinate, which 
 resulted in settlements in North Carolina, in 
 Maryland, in Virginia, in Pennsylvania, and in 
 New York. In our own State the names of 
 Herkimer and Palatine recall this early move 
 ment. These settlers were characterized by 
 industry, piety, and thrift. Zealous were they 
 in defence of the commonwealths to which 
 they had joined their fortunes. Notable was 
 the service of Germans in the War of the 
 Revolution. The names of Steuben, Herki 
 mer, De Kalb, Von Weissenfels, bring freshly 
 to our minds our lasting obligation to the sons 
 of the Fatherland who fought valiantly in de 
 fence of liberty. Steuben s regulations long 
 remained the manual of the United States 
 Army and its Militia. De Kalb falling at 
 
260 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Camden voiced the patriotic sentiment which 
 dominated the service of these German pa 
 triots. Dying, he said to a British officer : " I 
 thank you for your generous sympathy, but 
 I die the death of a soldier fighting for the 
 rights of man." 
 
 After the Revolution of 1848 there was a 
 notable influx from Germany of men of dis 
 tinguished talent and noble character whose 
 lives have made a permanent impression upon 
 the Nation. I could not without risk of unin 
 tentional omission, which might be construed 
 as showing lack of appreciation, attempt to 
 mention all whose advent at this time enriched 
 the country. But I may refer to one, the 
 soldier and the statesman, the journalist and 
 the author, ever true to the cause which he 
 espoused in his youth, a leader whose civic 
 courage never failed him, and who through a 
 long life was conspicuous even more for his 
 purity of purpose than for his distinguished 
 achievements, whose name will ever be hon 
 ored among us Carl Schurz. German immi 
 gration during the middle of the last century 
 spready largely through the Middle West. 
 Those who had struggled for liberty at home 
 gave themselves freely to the service of the 
 Nation. Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, 
 
General Franz Sigel, 1907 261 
 
 Wisconsin, and Kansas have special reason 
 to be proud of the patriotism of their German 
 citizens. Schurz, Sigel, Bohlen, Hartranft, 
 Koltes, Wagner, and Korner may be men 
 tioned as among those whose efforts added 
 honor to the German name. 
 
 But we honor to-day not merely German va 
 lor, but the spirit which made that valor possi 
 ble, and those qualities which in peace as well 
 as in war have aided in the development of our 
 National greatness. In education, in journal 
 ism, in the professions of medicine and law, in 
 trade and commerce, in every department of 
 activity, and every sphere of philanthropy, our 
 citizens of German birth or descent furnish 
 constant examples of notable effort and of the 
 highest achievement. We can not write any 
 chapter of the history of American endeavor 
 without doing them honor. But on this 
 occasion when we are gathered to set apart a 
 memorial of a soldier s service, I would empha 
 size our appreciation of the patriotism of our 
 citizens of German origin and their unreserved 
 devotion to our National ideals. 
 
 This is our common country. Whatever the 
 abode of our ancestors, this is our home and 
 will be the home of our children, and in our 
 love for our institutions, and in our desire to 
 
262 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 maintain the standards of civic conduct which 
 are essential to their perpetuity, we recognize 
 no difference in race or creed we stand 
 united, a contented people rejoicing in the 
 privileges and determined to meet the re 
 sponsibilities of American citizenship. 
 
XIII. 
 
 Address at the Charity Organization So 
 ciety, Carnegie Hall, New York City, 
 November 19, 1907. 
 
 It is a great pleasure to join in the well- 
 deserved congratulations that are appropriate 
 to this occasion. In the extraordinary devel 
 opment of our country during the past twenty- 
 five years, nothing has been more marked 
 than the growth, in extent and intelligence, 
 of philanthropic endeavor. And in taking 
 account of these efforts there is probably no 
 one agency to which higher praise should be 
 accorded than to the Charity Organization 
 Society. 
 
 Its ministry of relief has had a wide scope. 
 It would be difficult indeed to measure the 
 value of its direct beneficence. Upon a large 
 scale it has been a distributor of alms. In 
 countless cases it has brought succor to the 
 distressed. It has helped men to help them 
 selves. It has been unremitting in its work of 
 
 263 
 
264 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 investigating cases of need and of providing 
 suitable measures of relief. 
 
 But in a larger view, its greater service has 
 consisted in its organization of effort and its 
 employment for philanthropic purposes of the 
 scientific method. It has sought to minimize 
 the waste incident to indiscriminate alms 
 giving, and to correlate the forces of benevo 
 lence so as to secure the maximum results. 
 How much good purpose fails of important 
 result through lack of relation ! And if we 
 are to accomplish anything of permanent value 
 in our efforts to uplift our fellow men it must 
 be wrought through such organized, system 
 atic, and well-directed effort as has characterized 
 this Society. 
 
 It is significant that this anniversary should 
 be made the occasion of a conference on The 
 Betterment of Living Conditions. This im 
 plies no departure from the Society s aim. 
 We have too long dealt with effects, leaving 
 baleful causes to operate unchecked. This 
 Society is a thorough agent of democracy, 
 seeking not merely to apply balm to the 
 bruises of life, but to eliminate the causes of 
 unnecessary injury. 
 
 For we have but little of the true demo 
 cratic spirit if we seek merely freedom of 
 
Charity Organization, 1907 265 
 
 opportunity that we may aggrandize ourselves, 
 and are not keenly zealous for the welfare of 
 all, in which indeed lies the true interest of 
 each one. They who think they may dwell 
 secure in citadels fortified by the gains of 
 selfish effort, live in a fool s paradise. Our 
 ultimate security must be found in the well- 
 being of the people as a whole, and patriotic 
 sentiment will not tolerate the continuance 
 of unnecessary and remediable conditions to 
 which may be traced poverty, vice, and crime. 
 
 We can not but realize that a large portion 
 of our brethren are the helpless victims of an 
 environment from which they cannot escape, 
 and through which they are destined to physi 
 cal misery, moral impoverishment, and econo 
 mic inefficiency. It is our duty patiently 
 to consider what can be done not merely to 
 afford temporary relief to immediate sufferers, 
 but to change the improper environment and 
 promote a healthier life. 
 
 Nor do we ask for the impossible or cher 
 ish any Utopian dream of altering, through 
 changes in externals, our human nature, with 
 its mingled elements of strength and weakness. 
 
 We desire that men should work under 
 conditions which will permit a man to do a 
 normal man s work. We desire the abatement 
 
266 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 of nuisances and such housing of men, women, 
 and children that they may live in decency 
 and with proper sanitary safeguards against 
 the spread of communicable disease. We do 
 not wish to see productive energy sapped by 
 excessive toil or by labor under improper con 
 ditions. We want men protected from avoid 
 able danger to life and limb, and to see a 
 diminution in the shocking number of pre 
 ventable casualities in our industrial employ 
 ments which, it is not too much to say, in the 
 light of comparative statistics, constitute a 
 disgrace to the country. We want to see the 
 lives and health of our children protected, and 
 by suitable restrictions upon child labor to 
 prevent vitality from being weakened dur 
 ing the period of growth, and an opportunity 
 afforded for proper education and prepara 
 tion for the work of life. We seek the 
 dissemination of information with regard 
 to the practical conduct of life, so as to 
 remove the ills which are due to simple 
 ignorance. 
 
 We wish to brighten and to purify the social 
 side of life, to provide means for recreation, 
 and to diffuse the opportunities for the refresh 
 ment of those who are bearing heavy burdens 
 of daily toil. 
 
Charity Organization, 1907 267 
 
 We are grateful for the unexampled oppor 
 tunities for individual achievement which our 
 country affords. And we desire to remove 
 the obstacles in the way of so many of our 
 fellow citizens for which they are in no 
 manner responsible to the enjoyment of 
 these opportunities, so that with manhood and 
 womanhood unimpaired by preventable evils 
 they may really have a chance to make the 
 most of themselves. 
 
 This incompletely stated to be sure is the 
 object of this Society ; and standing for this, it 
 claims the gratitude and the support of all the 
 people of the State. 
 
 This organization has also very sharply 
 drawn the line between what government 
 should do and should not do in order to attain 
 these ends. It has not attempted to drag the 
 State into fanciful schemes for the abolish 
 ment of poverty by act of the Legislature; nor 
 has it been guilty of providing opportunities 
 for extravagance, favoritism, and corruption 
 through governmental almsgiving. It has 
 created machinery for organized and effective 
 effort through private agencies, and thus les 
 sened the appeals to the State for the exercise 
 of novel functions. And on the other hand 
 it has been a potent influence in securing 
 
268 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 governmental action where such action was 
 appropriate and necessary. 
 
 It has opposed the municipal distribution of 
 supplies. The Society could itself far better 
 ascertain the wants of the really destitute and 
 supply them through private means. It could 
 give relief where relief was needed, impartially 
 and without pauperizing. And in the success 
 of its endeavors to promote and systematize 
 private philanthropy, we find it clearly indicat 
 ing the wide scope of the work which is and 
 should be undertaken by our citizens without 
 recourse to the government. 
 
 What the State can properly do, and has 
 done, is shown in the Tenement House Law, 
 the passage of which was the result of the active 
 work of this organization. I am informed that 
 decent and reasonably comfortable homes, with 
 proper light and ventilation, have been secured, 
 under the working of this law, for one million 
 people. The activity of the State may also be 
 illustrated in the beneficent work of the Labor 
 Department, and in the provisions which have 
 been enacted for the purpose of securing safe and 
 decent places of work, protection from injury, 
 and restricting child labor and hours of labor. 
 The agency of the municipality is most import 
 ant in providing clean and well-paved streets, 
 
Charity Organization, 1907 269 
 
 public baths, suitable parks and play-grounds, 
 attractive open spaces and recreation piers. 
 These in turn are supplemented by the un 
 ceasing work of a large number of our public- 
 spirited citizens, who are seeking, through the 
 touch of human sympathy and the provision 
 of educational and sociable centres of influence, 
 to improve the conditions of life. 
 
 The proper regulation and control of public 
 service and the provision so far as possible of 
 additional transit facilities are of the greatest 
 importance in order to relieve congestion and 
 to permit men and women to go to and from 
 their work in decency and with reasonable 
 comfort and convenience. 
 
 This Society has engaged in patient investi 
 gation. It believes that want and misery may 
 not only be alleviated in individual cases, but 
 that their causes may be diminished. As it 
 proceeds in the research it will point out where 
 the State has failed to perform its duty, and in 
 its intelligent and careful way will not fail to 
 be an important factor in securing necessary 
 governmental action. Where organized pri 
 vate effort can meet the case, it will endeavor to 
 supply it. Of special importance is its work 
 in disseminating information and practical in 
 struction. Its work in combating the great 
 
270 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 plague of tuberculosis has been most note 
 worthy. Through cards, circulars, and lectures 
 it is diffusing the knowledge of preventive 
 measures. But with respect to this much re 
 mains to be done ; and it is gratifying to note 
 that the people are awakening to an apprecia 
 tion of the extent of this dreadful scourge and 
 of the importance of systematic action with 
 reference to it. 
 
 I was informed the other day that perhaps 
 thirty per cent, of the cases of blindness in 
 this State are preventable by the use of simple 
 and harmless means ; and by the spread of 
 necessary information and the insistence upon 
 proper regulations we should greatly diminish 
 the numbers of this unfortunate class. 
 
 I have no illusions with reference to the 
 future. Laziness, thriftlessness, evil passions, 
 and inordinate appetite will continue to wreck 
 human lives. But we can replace ignorance 
 with knowledge ; we can give access to air and 
 light ; we can build barriers against infection ; 
 we can keep our city clean, wholesome, and 
 attractive ; we can see to it that human beings 
 may labor under decent conditions with proper 
 consideration for life and health and efficiency ; 
 and we can make our work for social uplifting 
 fruitful and progressive, because each step will 
 
Charity Organization, 1907 271 
 
 be taken with accurate knowledge based on 
 careful investigation, and through harmony of 
 effort there will be a minimum of losses. 
 
 But it is of the highest importance that in 
 this work of scientific philanthropy our hearts 
 should be enlisted. The forces of sentiment 
 should not be exhausted in the creation of 
 machinery. After all, the most powerful re 
 generating influence is human love, and to 
 attain the highest success all our efforts must 
 be charged with genuine sympathy and broth 
 erly kindness. It will be a sad day when, to 
 prevent the waste of indiscriminate charity, 
 the fountains of human generosity are dried 
 up and our philanthropy shall consist simply 
 of gifts inspired by intellectual considerations. 
 Nor should any contemplate the poor as a 
 separate class, upon whom alms may be be 
 stowed with lordly condescension and with the 
 unction of self-righteousness. Rather, in all 
 our organizing work, must we have not only 
 discriminating judgment and careful study of 
 complex problems, but also true democratic 
 fellow-feeling and hearts full of love for those 
 whom we desire to help in the best way, even as 
 they are in truth our brothers, of like passions 
 with ourselves, and our fellow citizens in this Re 
 public of opportunity and mutual obligation. 
 
XIV. 
 
 Speech at the Opening of the Civic Forum 
 at Carnegie Hall, New York City, 
 November 20, 1907. 
 
 We have gathered here to install a new 
 station for the distribution of currents of in 
 fluential opinion. If we were to ask what is 
 most needed to attain the ideals of democ 
 racy, apart from those moral virtues which 
 must condition all else, we probably should 
 desire for its citizens the highest capacity for 
 accurate judgment and the freest opportunity 
 for the discussion of public questions. For the 
 former we look to education, not forgetting 
 the great school of experience to whose dis 
 cipline and variety of instruction in this land of 
 opportunity we owe perhaps in largest degree 
 what is called the common sense of the Ameri 
 can people. For the discussion of public ques 
 tions we rely chiefly upon the press and the 
 platform. 
 
 It is unfortunate, however, that public discus 
 sion is so frequently perverted by self-interest, 
 
 272 
 
Civic Forum, Nov. 20, 1907 273 
 
 by the temptations of popular agitation, and by 
 the exigencies of heated political campaigns. 
 It is a delightful thing to give truth the chance 
 to emerge in sober discussion where only truth 
 is sought. The American people are poorly 
 represented by large type and flaming head 
 lines. Their mood is not reflected by the 
 shrieking appeals of orators upon the hustings. 
 In the main they are a thoughtful and canny 
 people, truth-loving and desirous to get at the 
 heart of things. Appeals to reason are more 
 cogent than many think, and nothing is more 
 encouraging than the indications everywhere 
 of an intense desire to secure accurate informa 
 tion and to form correct opinions. It is sig 
 nificant that conferences for the interchange 
 of opinion and the debate of public questions 
 are constantly multiplying ; and I congratulate 
 this city upon the opportunities which will 
 be afforded by the new lyceum which is now 
 opened. 
 
 It has been suggested that in these few 
 introductory remarks which will be far from 
 disputatious, for the principles in the applica 
 tion of which I am most interested are so 
 simple and obvious that they admit of no dis 
 pute I should say something regarding the 
 idea of public office. 
 
 18 
 
274 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 Matthew Arnold tells us that conduct is 
 three-fourths of life. Certainly the administra 
 tion of office is at least three-fourths of political 
 life. And if we could secure the administration 
 of every office in accordance with its obliga 
 tions and in adequate fulfilment of the fair 
 intent of the Constitution and statutes creating 
 it, we should find almost all our problems 
 solved. That which is right in our system of 
 government would appear revealed in the 
 beauty of perfect adaptation, leaving no ex 
 cuse for the use of legislative drugs to cure 
 defects caused by lack of administrative exer 
 cise, and on the other hand such imperfec 
 tions as existed would stand out in such bold 
 relief as to leave little room for doubt as to 
 the necessary remedy. 
 
 But it is to be expected that the frailties of 
 human nature should be exhibited not less but 
 rather more in our political relations in view 
 of the many temptations to which they give 
 rise than in other activities in which they are 
 made so familiar. We are only men, and 
 nothing human is alien to the public officer. 
 He may be somewhat steadied by responsi 
 bility and safeguarded by precedent ; he may 
 be to some extent sanctified by some worthy 
 tradition or inspired by some noble example. 
 
Civic Forum, Nov. 20, 1907 275 
 
 But in general the administration of office will 
 reflect the average virtues and failings of the 
 community. 
 
 We must, therefore, constantly emphasize 
 official obligation and ever hold up to view 
 the true democratic ideal of office. We suffer 
 to no slight extent from the survivals of no 
 tions of office which are entirely foreign to our 
 governmental system. For example, there con 
 tinually persists the notion of power drawn 
 from ancient despotism converting in a small 
 way, and as opportunity may offer, the servants 
 of the people with defined duties into their 
 would-be masters acting with arbitrary dis 
 regard of obligation. More common, how 
 ever, is the feudal notion of allegiance to some 
 chance lord or sub-lord by whose grace the 
 office is believed, and frequently truly believed, 
 to be held. From this point of view the people 
 are recognized only to the extent necessary to 
 capture the requisite majority of votes. But 
 for all other purposes the conduct of office is 
 determined by the will of some individual or 
 group of individuals to whom the incumbent 
 owes his temporary distinction. 
 
 But most mischievous of all perhaps is the 
 idea derived from the American love of achieve 
 ment and individual success. It is so commonly 
 
276 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 expected that every opportunity will be availed 
 of to the utmost to promote the success of the 
 individual who has the opportunity. It is 
 American to get on in the world and to let 
 no chance escape ; and so it is not regarded as 
 a matter for surprise but rather the action is 
 too readily condoned, that a man will make 
 use of office, not of course in the manner 
 usually called corrupt and which would bring 
 him within the observations of the penal code, 
 but in every other way to further his individual 
 fortunes. 
 
 Now, against the notion of arbitrary power, 
 against that of subservience to any authority 
 other than his constituency, against every use 
 of official opportunity for personal ends, the 
 American people must set the democratic ideal 
 of office, and for their own protection must 
 hold their representatives strictly accountable 
 for every departure from it. The democratic 
 idea of office is that it is a place of designated 
 service ; that the officer is not chosen to give 
 him opportunity for personal advantage, but 
 to do certain things defined in the Constitution 
 and statutes to the best of his ability because 
 it is necessary that those things should be done 
 and well done for the benefit of the people. 
 
 In connection with the larger part of ad- 
 
Civic Forum, Nov. 20, 1907 277 
 
 ministrative work there is no room for the 
 controversies of political platforms. There 
 are simply specified tasks. These tasks 
 may be created and defined with reference 
 to political policy, but once created and 
 defined there is little room for disagreement 
 as to the manner in which they should be 
 performed. 
 
 We shall never attain the full measure of 
 our opportunity in this country until the mean 
 ing of trusteeship sinks deep into the Ameri 
 can consciousness and its realization controls 
 our activities both in business and in political 
 affairs. It must seize the conscience of the 
 directors of corporations, working conviction 
 of the disgraceful perfidy of abusing their op 
 portunities as trustees for stockholders in order 
 to make personal fortunes. Few indeed are 
 they who in any large enterprise deal ex 
 clusively with their own. What we call the 
 " world of modern business " is simply a gigan 
 tic series of sacred fiduciary obligations. The 
 lesson of to-day, both in business and in politics, 
 is the lesson of fidelity to trust. 
 
 No system of government is complete which 
 does not provide some method of calling public 
 officers to account for the manner in which 
 they discharge their duties. Varied provision 
 
278 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 is made for this purpose, from the trial of 
 impeachments to summary removal. 
 
 Of the highest importance are the provisions 
 for enforcing the accountability of local officers. 
 The greater part of administration is local. It 
 is that which most closely affects our immediate 
 interests. If local administration in our various 
 communities is pure and capable, there will be 
 no difficulty in securing the proper conduct of 
 higher office, for vigilant citizenship begins its 
 work at home. 
 
 The local officer is elected by the majority 
 of the local community, but he is not the of 
 ficer of that majority. He owes to all the 
 citizens faithful service according to his duty. 
 The minority cannot quarrel with the choice 
 of the majority, but the man selected by the 
 majority must do his duty. The majority 
 have no right to keep in office a faithless 
 official. Governor Tilden stated it as one of 
 the essential conditions of self-government : 
 
 " That while the responsibility of public officers to the 
 voting citizens be made effective, and they be made 
 amenable to the taxpayers of the locality through the 
 courts, accountability to the State be preserved through 
 regular methods, so that the existence of such appeal of 
 the minority and of individuals against the wrongs of 
 governing officials will render unnecessary and inex 
 cusable the frequent legislative interventions which have 
 
Civic Forum, Nov. 20, 1907 279 
 
 practically destroyed all self-government, created more 
 local mischief than they have remedied, and have grown 
 to be prolific of abuse and corruption in the legislative 
 bodies." 
 
 In accordance with the plan adopted in this 
 State, the Constitution provides for the re 
 moval by the Governor, upon charges and after 
 a hearing, of specified local officers elected by 
 the people. And statutes have provided simi 
 lar methods of accountability in connection 
 with various local officers not mentioned in 
 the Constitution. 
 
 In acting in such matters the Governor ex 
 ercises an extraordinary power, and his exercise 
 of it is not reviewable; but it was felt that 
 the power to require accountability should be 
 lodged somewhere; and while in this State, in 
 the cases of certain minor judicial officers, the 
 power of removal is lodged with designated 
 courts, and in the case of higher judicial officers 
 with the Legislature, and in the case of most 
 officers appointed by the Governor, with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate, it is lodged 
 with the Senate, on the recommendation of the 
 Governor, in the case of important local offi 
 cers charged with the enforcement of the law 
 it is placed solely with the Governor. And this 
 power, as has been said, is to be exercised by 
 
280 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 the Governor upon charges and after a hearing. 
 That is to say, it is the intent of the constitu 
 tional provision, and of the statutory provisions 
 modelled upon it, that charges shall be pre 
 sented against a local officer which specify in 
 a suitable manner dereliction of duty warrant 
 ing removal, that due hearing be had, and that, 
 in order to justify the removal, the charges 
 shall be found to be sustained. While the 
 action of the Governor, under the decision of 
 our Court of Appeals, is not reviewable by the 
 courts, he necessarily acts not arbitrarily, but 
 under the gravest responsibility. 
 
 Thus the quality of the administration of 
 local officers lies with the citizens of the com 
 munity. They will have good or bad adminis 
 tration as they insist on the former or are 
 content with the latter. If the laws are violated, 
 or if administrative duties are not performed, 
 it may be brought to the attention of the 
 local officer concerned. If he fails to do 
 his duty, charges may be laid before the 
 Governor, as provided in the Constitution 
 and statutes. 
 
 This is the manner in which, with reference 
 to local administration, the Chief Executive is 
 able to secure enforcement of the laws. The 
 duty of direct enforcement lies with the local 
 
Civic Forum, Nov. 20, 1907 281 
 
 officers responsible to the people who elected 
 them. They are scattered through the sixty- 
 one counties of the State, and it is manifestly 
 impossible for the Executive to supervise 
 these numerous administrations directly save 
 as dereliction is presented in the constitu 
 tional manner. But by availing themselves 
 of the remedies afforded, our citizens may hold 
 their officers to proper accountability and se 
 cure the conduct of office in reasonable fulfil 
 ment of its obligations. 
 
 I find no cause for discouragement. I be 
 lieve that our citizenship was never more alert 
 and insistent upon maintaining proper stand 
 ards of efficient administration than to-day. 
 And I believe it would be difficult to point to 
 a time when a larger proportion of public 
 officers were striving honestly to do their 
 duty. In demanding justice we must not for 
 get to do justice. Nothing is gained by mak 
 ing suspicion do duty for facts. The tendency 
 to a cynical and censorious spirit in our citizen 
 ship should be checked. Especially unworthy 
 is such a spirit in those who pose as the 
 prophets of reform. The first qualification of 
 any one who would seek to secure better ad 
 ministration is entire candor and the spirit of 
 fair play. I want no more to do with the man 
 
282 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 who will spread false accusation or without 
 good just-basis of fact will endeavor to give 
 currency to aspersions upon public officers, 
 than with those who are faithless to their trust. 
 There is no health in either. If you have the 
 facts which show that a public officer is dere 
 lict, you have no need for innuendo and you 
 may, and should, press your case relentlessly 
 albeit with pity in your heart. But if you 
 have not the facts, then be fair, and let your 
 suspicions justify your search and your rigid 
 inquiry, but nothing more until the facts, and 
 all the facts, are found. 
 
 In estimating the duties of officers we in 
 sist, and must increasingly insist, upon work 
 proportioned to the exigency ; upon admin 
 istration suited to the responsibilities of the 
 office. We must have efficiency ; that is to 
 say, we must insist that those things which are 
 comprehended within the duty of the office, 
 and upon attention to which the welfare of the 
 people depends, shall be done, and that the 
 community shall not be mocked by counterfeit 
 administrations. To this end we must con 
 stantly labor, and by seeking to enlarge the 
 interest of the people in the workings of the 
 government, by popularizing methods of selec 
 tion of candidates, by aiming in all depart- 
 
Civic Forum, Nov. 20, 1907 283 
 
 ments to secure the best service for the State, 
 and by holding all officers to strict accounta 
 bility, we may hope to come more closely to 
 the realization in practical administration of 
 the democratic idea of an office. 
 
XV. 
 
 Speech at the Meeting in the Interest of 
 Tuskegee Institute, Held at Carnegie 
 Hall on the Evening of January 17, 
 1908. 
 
 We are here to-night to emphasize our in 
 terest in the work that is being done for the 
 benefit of our fellow citizens of the black race. 
 From a proper viewpoint it is a work for our 
 own benefit as well. It is essential to the in 
 terests of the people as a whole. 
 
 We can never afford to lose sight of the 
 fundamental objects alike of enlightened self- 
 interest, of philanthropy, and of patriotism. 
 These are first, to give opportunity and stim 
 ulus so that each man may make the most of 
 himself ; further, to stimulate that wholesome 
 interest in the welfare of our fellows which will 
 make usefulness and service the standards of 
 our activities, and without which talent and 
 trained skill are prostituted to ignoble and cor 
 rupt purposes ; and still further, to see that our 
 laws and our administration of laws shall secure 
 
 284 
 
Tuskegee Institute, Jan. 17, 1908 285 
 
 equality of civil rights, shall protect the gains 
 of honest effort, and shall make the field of our 
 labors a fair one in which talent and industry 
 shall have a chance on their merits free from 
 all preventable oppression. 
 
 These aims are not sectional nor do they 
 concern exclusively any race or any portion of 
 our population. They are the aims of a free 
 people and they must be constantly emphasized 
 with regard to all, white and black, whatever 
 their occupation or antecedents. He is a bold 
 man who would attempt to forecast the destiny 
 of any people. A few centuries ago the an 
 cestors of most of us were living a savage life 
 in the forests of northern Europe. We have 
 been fortunate in opportunities for free and 
 independent effort and have attained a high 
 degree of civilization, which at a time not long 
 remote, if we consider the period of recorded 
 human history, would have been beyond the 
 bounds of prophecy. We have reason for 
 pride in what has been accomplished. But we 
 take little account of the past if we do not con 
 stantly strive to widen the area of opportunity 
 and to do all in our power to promote the de 
 velopment, raise the standards, and to increase 
 the efficiency of those who have been denied 
 our own advantages. 
 
286 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 The black man is entitled to his chance. He 
 is entitled to the advantages of training and 
 education. He is entitled, under the stimulus 
 of free institutions, to an opportunity to prove 
 by his works what is in him, and to make his 
 contribution, according to his talent and apti 
 tude, to the sum of our productive labors and 
 of our National life ; and he is entitled to the 
 rewards which his character and industry may 
 deserve. There is no color line in good work, 
 whether of hand or brain. Good work, trained 
 skill, and sterling integrity are the same irre 
 spective of race, color, or previous condition of 
 servitude. The effort should be likewise irre 
 spective of race, to increase the efficiency, to 
 produce the skill, and to develop the charac 
 ter. For this purpose there is guaranteed 
 the equality of civil rights, and nothing should 
 be left undone to make provision for education, 
 and for training of mind and character. It has 
 well been said that whatever problem the pro 
 gress of the negro may present, it is not com 
 parable with that which will be presented by 
 stagnation or retrogression. In this land the 
 door of opportunity must be wide open to our 
 citizens. We want neither slaves nor serfs, nor 
 any body of citizens permanently below the 
 standards which must be maintained for the 
 
Tuskegee Institute, Jan. 17, 1908 287 
 
 preservation of the Republic. We cannot 
 maintain our democratic ideals as to one set of 
 our people and ignore them as to others. 
 
 One of the most characteristic features of 
 recent progress is that preparation for active 
 life becomes more definite and less haphazard. 
 On every hand new opportunities are being 
 provided to fit men for some useful work. 
 These are made necessary by the conditions 
 of modern life and the necessity of special 
 preparation with regard to a constantly in 
 creasing number of tasks. The best stimulus 
 to industry is the ability to do something 
 well ; and the greatest temptation to shift- 
 lessness is the lack of any apparent opportunity 
 for usefulness. 
 
 The widening of the sphere of educational 
 work is shown not simply in provision for 
 technical training, but notably in connection 
 with agriculture. There is a widespread de 
 mand for elementary and practical instruction 
 in farming and kindred subjects, a demand 
 which is likely in time to affect profoundly our 
 system of public instruction. As a leading 
 educator said to me yesterday : " It is proba 
 ble that in the future our boys will be prepared 
 not simply for the office, but will be taught 
 how to live in the country." 
 
288 Charles Evans Hughes 
 
 In this provision for necessary instruction 
 to enable men to make the most of themselves 
 in every field of activity, the negro must have 
 a generous share. It must be a share propor 
 tioned to his need. It is because that at Tus- 
 kegee such important work has been done for 
 the training of the negro, work, the accom 
 plishment of which puts us under lasting obli 
 gation to the distinguished founder and director 
 of the institution, that we are here to-night. 
 We desire that this work shall be continued ; 
 that those who have been there trained for 
 leadership shall have abundant opportunity in 
 other schools to follow this example. The 
 record of the institution is eloquent of the 
 results which may be reached by intelligent 
 effort. And in wishing Godspeed to this 
 work we express our interest in the work of all 
 other institutions which are honestly striving 
 to provide these much-needed opportunities. 
 
 In providing them we do not desire simply 
 to get the products of labor, simply to increase 
 the wealth of the country, by adding to the sum 
 of effort. Economic motives are well enough. 
 But this country is not a mere wealth-produc 
 ing machine. None of its problems can be 
 solved if its people are treated merely as parts 
 of an industrial mechanism. It is a country of 
 
Tuskegee Institute, Jan. 17, 1908 289 
 
 men, with the aspirations and the dignity of 
 manhood. The fundamental requirement is 
 self-respect, upon which character and the 
 highest efficiency necessarily depend. And 
 with respect to white and black, conditions 
 which promote the wholesome feeling of per 
 sonal honor and individual worth are alone the 
 conditions which will secure lasting benefits 
 for our society and the solution of the grave 
 problems which confront it. 
 
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