Omaha daily bee., 1905-06-16
ADDRESS BY SECRETARY TAFT
Refers to National Affairs in Talking to
Graduates Of Ohio School.
CONDITIONS OF NEGROES ARE IMPROVING
Secretary of war Thinks United
States is Not Treating Chinese
Merchants and students
in Proper Manner.

OXFORD. o., June 15.-The feature of
the eighty-hrst commencement of Miami
university here today was the address or
Secretary of War William IL. Taft 1t was
delivered in the commencement tent
erected on the campus among the forest
trees. The unusually large audience made
frequent Interruptions with applause.
In opening his speech Secretary Taft
touched on the racial question in the SOUTH
and in this connection said:
Another encouraging feature of the pres
ent increase OF wealth is that large pro
portion OF this increase has been in the
south, part of our country which hereto
lore has been largely agricultural and poor.
Inc cnange in the material conditions IN
the south, IN spite of the political difficult
ties that certainly are there, Is creating a
better state OF things with reference to the
raclai question. The work of Booker Wash
ington in teaching his people how to use
tools instead OF giving them a superficial
university education, which they cannot
use, added to the industrial demand for
skilled labor, am certain will put the ne
gro population in a better condition ma
terially, and when that is brought about
their spiritual and intellectual uplifting Is
much easier. The southern states are en-
gagged in adopting legislations which seem
intended to exclude the negro from the
ballot in TACT without infringing the tif-
teenth amendment so palpably as to lead
TO their annulment by the supreme court:
l am hoping earnestly that experiments of
this sort VIII fail, but II they will lead to
a result in which the laws shall exclude
ignorant whites and blacks equally from
the ballot, then no one can quarrel with the
procedure, which will be square and honest.
As to Chinese.
Touching the application of the Chinese
exclusion law, the secretary asked: lis it
just that for the purpose of excluding or
preventing perhaps 100 Chinese coolies from
slipping into this country against the law
we should subject an equal number of
Chinese merchants and students of high
character to an examination of such an in
| quistorial, humilating, insulting and
| physically uncomfortable character as to
discourage altogether the coming of mer-
chants and students?" Then he said:
One of the great commercial prizes of the
/ world is the trade with 3OO,UOO,OUO Chinese
| which we have by reason of Chinese nat.
ural friendship for us and continue to en-
! force an unjustlJ severe law, and thus
create in the Chinese mind a disposition &c
| boycott American trade and drive oul
| merchants from Chinese shores simply be-
| cause we are afraid that we may for the
| time lose the approval of certain unreason
! able and extremely popular leaders OF Cali
| fornia and other coast states? Does the
| question not answer itself? Is 1t not the
| duty of members of congress and of the
| executive to disregard the unreasonable de-
mands of portion of the, communitS
| deeply prejudiced on this subject in the
far west and insist on. extending justice
and courtesy to a people from whom We
! ere deriving and are likely to derive suct
immense benefit in the way of internationa
| trade?
The secretary then paid some attention
| to Porto Rico and the Philippines, "th'
burdens which we have assumed due t.
the Spanish war"
1T do not" he said, "for a moment con
tend that now or for years they will Prov
anything but burden to the United
States"
In discussing what he pointed out wer'
the inadequate salaries paid government
officials, the secretary asked the question
| whether 1t is not the irony of inconsist
ency that we who are engaged in praisint
the purity and the simplicity of tn
democracy should adopt policy by whicl
only millionaires can govern u.s.
The honorary degree of l.. l.. D., whicI
had been authorized by the directors 70
Secretary Taft, formally conferred o.
him. He returned to Cincinnati tonight an
will leave that city at noon tomorrow 70
Washington.