Speech 48
FAIR TREATMENT OF THE RICH MAN
FROM AN ADDRESS DELIVERED IN FRONT OF THE ALAMO, IN SAN ANTONIO TEXAS, APRIL J, 1905

IT has always seemed to me that one of the greatest lessons taught by the Civil War was the lesson of brotherhood.  You, my friends, who wore the blue; you, my friends, who wore the gray, what each of you when he went forward to battle was concerned with about the man on his right hand and the man on his left was not what that man's ancestry was, not as to how he worshiped his Maker, not as to what his profession was, or his means; what you wanted to know was whether he would stay put.  If he did you were for him, and if he did not you were against him.
The same thing that was true in the Great War is true in time of peace.  This Government is emphatically a government by the people, for the people, of the people.  Now, besides applauding that sentiment, let us live up to it.  It has two sides to it.  In the first place, it applies in a dozen different directions.  It applies, for instance, in reference to creed.  We have a right to ask that our neighbor do his duty toward God and man; but we have no business to dictate to him how he shall worship his Maker, and no business to discriminate for or against him because of the way in which he does it.  In the same way, if a man is a decent citizen, he is a decent citizen, whether rich or poor.  To judge from some of the talk you occasionally hear, a man can not be a square man if he is rich.  Remember always that you listen at your peril to any man who would seek to inflame you against your fellow citizen because he is better off.  Again, in the Civil War, come back to the consideration about your bunkie.  You did not care whether he was a banker or bricklayer.  If he was a banker he was all right if he was a good fellow, if he did his duty in camp, if he did not straggle on the march, if he did not drop his share of the joint provisions on the march, and then expect you to share yours with him at the end of the day.  You wanted him to do his part, and if he did it you were for him.  Now, apply that in civil life.  If the rich man does not his duty, cinch him, and I will help you just as far as I can.  But don't cinch him because he is a rich man.  If you do you are a mighty mean creature yourself; you are not a good American yourself.  Give him a perfectly fair show.  If he is a poor man and does his duty, help him, stand by him.  If he whines about his poverty and says that he ought to be carried, you may just as well make up your mind to drop him then and there.  Every man of us stumbles at times.  Every man of us at times needs a helping hand stretched out to him; and shame to any man who will not stretch out that helping hand to his brother if that brother needs it.  But if the brother lies down, you can do mighty little in carrying him.  You can help him up; but once up he has got to walk himself.  The only way in which you can ever really help any man is to help him to help himself.