Milford chronicle., 1904-09-30


IN abstract questions which had been pre-
sented for settlement by his own court.
His exposition of the general principles
OF the Constitution was not bad from \
legal standpoint, but when he came to
deal with the question of trusts he seen.
ed to have forgotten that he was respond.
ing to a nomination from national con
ventiOn which had selected him 10 oct os
President of the United States. in which
| capacity he would have to execute Init
ed States laws only, and would have alb
solutely nothing to do with the common
law This allusion Of Parker To the
| common law, as a means Of attacking
the trusts, has been source of surprise
and amazement 70 the profession all over
/ the country. Judge Parker's decisions in
New York State have always taken high
rank, and it was this which made the
amazement all the greater. We could
not understand how it could possibly be
| that any good lawyer could have made
such blunder, and we have been forced
to the conclusion that Judge Parker alb
solutely forgot that he was writing on
a national topic. This is only an in
stance going to show the unwisdom of
taking man off the bench for a political
position, especially such a position as
that of President Of the United States.
Experience Necessary.
ITO administer the affairs of the gov
ernment successfully, experience is Just
as necessary as it is to run a hotel or a
railroad. A lawyer in active practice is
necessarily thrown in to a large extent
with the ordinary business affairs of the
country, but with a judge on the bench
i is entirely different lie deals with
matters of abstract right and wrong.
and all his training goes to remove him
from business problems. In point OF
fact, the successful judge in court of
last resort should be as far removed
from the influences Of daily life as posi-
bic. The ideal judge is a legal machine.
settling abstract principles of law. where
as the ideal President is exactly the oppo-
site. He executes the laws as he finds
them, suggests new ones to meet new
conditions and acts as the personal rep
resentatiye of the people who make the
laws 1t is not his business to interpret,
but to do, and the things which make a
man a good judge make him a bad Presi-
dent, and vice versa Parker would new
er have made that awful blunder if he
had had any recent experience in Con
gress or in an executive position at
Washington, where lie would have been |
in touch with current opinion on this !
subject. don't wonder that Roose- |
welt picked him mp on this, and. in my |
opinion, the Presidents paragraph about |
the common law as applied to the federal |
control of trusts is Il most luminous eX- |
position of the powers and the limitations
of the federal government. But it's GER
tainly knockout blow for Parker
Tho Tariff Issue.
Il was glad to see" said a successful !
looking man, who explained ater on that
he was manufacturer in northern Yer
mont, Il was glad to see that the Pres-
dent made such Il point Of the tariff
issue. We had dose Of Democratic free
trade theories up our way about ten
years ago. which we will never forget
We are so near the Canadian border
that we get the worst Of every reduction
in the tariff rates. We have to enter
into competition with the cheap labor
Of Canada. When the Wilson tariff bill
went into operation, just ten years ago,
it shut up my factory inside of six
months, and tell you, gentlemen. l
lidn't open again until after Mckinley
was elected and the Dngley tariff law
went into operation. 1t was time of
panic, as You know, thousands of labor
ng men were glad to work for any
wages, and yet, at the same time, ] could
lot run my factory and compete with the
Canadians. who flooded our part of the
-ountry with goods made by the cheapest
ab0r. such as | could not secure even
Il those times Of starvation. There are
ome places far in the interior where
reight rates protect them from foreign
competition in times of free trade but
hose of us who are near the border are +;
he FIRST to feel this competition. / got ]
in the neck ten years ago, and got it
God and hard. If there weren't any |
ther issue between the two parties.
,onld vote for Roosevelt because he and g
he Republicans generally stand for the
rejection of American manufactures !
ganst the competition Of the cheap Ia
or. not only Of Canada but Of the
-orld at large. We all believe in reci-
rocity which is reciprocal, and not in IL
rec trade under the guise Of reciprocity.
.ooseyelts story of the disastrous effects l.
{ the Wilson tariff Of 1894 is not over |.
rawn in the slightest particular. and Il
m glad to see that he has kept the r.
.rif issue to the front. because in all
lis talk of Imperialism and eXtraya ;
lnce and the trusts. and one thing and Is
mother. people seem to forget that the =.
epublican party is pledged to proter- u
on. and that the Democratic party is y
edged to free trade. We haven't for W
,tten that up our way. however, aud | "
II you. gentlemen. that the big Repub- d
,an vote in Vermont was largely, if not
ltirely. produced by the determination IT,
our people to put themselves on rec ~
d against the free trade principles and =,
atform of the Democrats"
'It's frank, it's honest, and it's fair" n
id the clergyman to a seat-neighbor in hi
e interior of the car. when they were re
scussing the same letter of accept \
ice. "Im not much of a politician my ~
II. but l have been very much Impress IA
with the extraordinary honesty and r
g tenacity of purpose shown by the h,
resident IN his letter Of acceptance. m
,mparing it with the speech of Judge n
rker, in accepting his nomination, l or
H.. r,oon1a CON 70