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 government 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 conserving the public interest. Favoritism in public service is an iniquity that the people

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 conducted 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 inclination 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 business. The remedy is to provide such regulation of public service as will assure the people that provision has been made for the investigation 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 tolerate any prostitution of public office to selfish purposes. Now I have confidence in the people. And I have no confidence in those makeshifts which result from distrust of the people. But whether you have confidence or not in

popular judgment, let me assure you that in

this country it is idle to You must abide by it.

inveigh against it. And the security

of business is in the provision of adequate means for responsible government, in holding officials strictly to account for their performance 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

I did not come here to-night to join in a debate. It is entirely true that I had purposed to say some things in regard to the very measure about which my friend Mr. Stanchfield has spoken, and I shall not say any less, but perhaps something more. In distinction from my learned friend, I am here under a retainer. 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,

* 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.

against financial scandal, and against everything that goes to corrupt our politics by interference with the freedom of our Legislature 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 intelligence, 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 lifeless, our trade would collapse, we would all be worse than dead, were it not for these opportunities of communication and these facilities of transportation. We honor every just effort to make these possible. We want every opportunity afforded to enable the people to move their produce, and we want fair treatment 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