who acquire wealth by honest means should be crushed at the
outset by the weight of a sensible public opinion.' [Tremendous
applause.] Thank you. Now I'll go on."


Roosevelt's incessant emphasis was placed upon conduct as the
proper standard by which to judge the actions of men. "We are,"
he once said, "no respecters of persons. If a labor union does
wrong, we oppose it as firmly as we oppose a corporation which
does wrong; and we stand equally stoutly for the rights of the
man of wealth and for the rights of the wage-worker. We seek to
protect the property of every man who acts honestly, of every
corporation that represents wealth honestly accumulated and
honestly used. We seek to stop wrongdoing, and we desire to
punish the wrongdoer only so far as is necessary to achieve this
end."

At another time he sounded the same note--sounded it indeed with
a "damnable iteration" that only proved how deeply it was
imbedded in his conviction

Let us strive steadily to secure justice as between man and man
without regard to the man's position, social or otherwise. Let us
remember that justice can never be justice unless it is equal. Do
justice to the rich man and exact justice from him; do justice to
the poor man and exact justice from him--justice to the
capitalist and justice to the wage-worker . . . . I have an
equally hearty aversion for the reactionary and the demagogue;
but I am not going to be driven out of fealty to my principles
because certain of them are championed by the reactionary and