The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1904-10-11
SECRETARY OF WAR
TURNS GUNS ON
PARKER
RIPS HIM UP THE BACK AND
DOWN THE SIDE.
Boosted the Administration, Knocked
the Democrats, and Had Great
Time With Himself.

Quincy, ILL.,, oct. THE first big
gun of the Republican campaign was
fired in this section this evening when
Secretary of War William II. Taft
spoke before an immense and enthusi-
astic audience which overfiowed the
capacity of the big Turner hall.
A delegation of prominent citizens
met Secretary Taft en- route and ac
companied him to Quincy where he
was met by a number of marching
clubs and large concourse of people
who formed in line and marched to the
hall amid salvos of cheers.
The distinguished guest of the even.
ing seemed greatly pleased at the re-
ception accorded him. His speech was
In part as follows:
Secretary Taft's speech was a re-
ply, paragraph for paragraph, to
Judge Parkers letter of acceptance.
He devoted a good deal Of time to re-
futation of the charges that President
Roosevelt had usurped the powers Of
other branches Of the government and
violated the constitution, claiming that
the Democrats had made the charge
but failed to prove it. He raped the
Parker constitutional club for it's fail
ure to produce proofs or furnish a
snaci6ed hill Of cnunr1 n M on6 tba,, &C
serted that Judge Parker, in his claim
that the common law sufficed for the
prosecution of monopolies in restraint
of trade, was apparently mistaken. If
the Sherman law were repealed today,
the secretary asked, could any trust
be prosecuted under the comman law?
Mr.. Taft then turned his attention
to Judge Parler's unequivocal declara
tion in favor OF Filipino independence.
He desired to know, he said, If the
judge thought that the Filipinos were
ready for self government now and if
he were willing to redeem the pledge
during his term, If elected. Was the
declaration to mean that the Filipinos
will have reached q stage Of civiliZa-
ton inside of three or four years to
entitle them to self government then,
or was the judge speaking for gen.
erations to come. whose course Of ac-
ton was to be determined during the
present campaign. The Democrats,
the secretary said, made it harder
through their agitation to educate the
Filipinos, and just as the Democratic
party was directly responsible for two
years of the war of insurrection in
1901 and 1902, by obstructing the gov
ernmental policy ard encouraging the
extremists, so is the attitude of Judge
Parker and the attitude OF the Demo-
Gratis behind him exactly in accord
with their previous pernicious policy
of stirring up the Filipino people
against the present government" The
worst of it was, the secretary contin-
ued, that in the event of Republican
success, the Filipinos will have been
made dissatisfied by Democratic prom
ises, and If the Democrats win, the
Filipinos will be doomed to disap-
pointment as the campaign pledges
of the Democrats could under no cir
cumstances be fulfilled.
Relative to the attitude of the Dem
ocrats towards the acquisition of the
canal zone, Mr.. Taft said that the
Democrats, condemning the mode of
acquisition but being perfectly willing
to share in the benefits of 1t, would
be in the position of receivers of stolen
goods. If Judge Parker did not think
that the zone came rightfuIly into the
possession of the country. why does he
not advocate its return to the Colon
bians.
The pension order next received the
secretary's attention. He said that the
assumption that a man had lost half
his ability to make a livelihood at the
age of 62 was so true that the order,
enabling the department to give quick
and thereby give doubly, was a bless
ing, as many needy veterans would
otherwise be compelled to wait long
time to have their applications con-
sidered. During the first three months
the order was in effect, the sum paid
out under it amounted to only 100000.
II, on the other hand, service pen
sion as advocated by Judge Parker, was
inaugurated, the cost would be about
$50 100000. He did not see how this
pledge could be reconciled with the
Democratic promise of retrenchment.
The larger portion of the rest of the
secretary's speech was devoted to a
refutation of the charge of extraya-
gance. He made his case with the aid
of a host of figures and statistics,