The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-25
TAFT SCORES "MUCKRAKERS"
NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR
WORK IN W4SHINETON.
Their Own Excess az DenunciatsOn Has De-
Teated Their Aim 1.-The Too Common to
Rouse Resentment CONGRESSES Power
10 Limit Fortunes Duties Of Courts.

. tOoNNo hhN' fN''
Rouse Nesentm ent- CONGRESSES Power
10 Limit Fortunes Duties Of Courts.
NV HAVEN. April 24.-Secretary Taft
tonight in his address to Yale students and
professors on '..The duty Of the citizen
viewed from the standpoint Of the Judge
on the bench. " ent after the muck rakers
In sharp langla e, discussed the great
Accommodations Of wealth and the lawful
remedies to prevent still greater
tons and called attention TO the newspaper
libels of prominent. citizens. He said;
".Iust at present we have been passing
through "A siege of attacks upon our social
and political system by gentlemen whoin
President Roosevelt has properly denoml-
mated the men with The muck rake, for either
In order that they may sell their articles
or in order that for political purposes they
may stir a spirit Of unrest they ~eNaggerate
the abuses thought to exist in business or
pbhtial life and give a distorted and there
fore false view Of actual conditions.
"They attribute corrupt motives without
proof, and by dwelling only on instances
Of evil they destroy. or seek to destroy,
the serse Of proportion of Their hearers
and readers in a general condemnation of
society at large.
aTbere never was a time in the history
of the world when there was more virtue,
more h arity, more sense Of hrotherly
affection than there il to-day. Could
ANYTHING be more inspiring than the boun-
teous outgiving Of money. provisions and
labor for the benefit of their tellowmen
which has been evoked by the disaster in
California,
THE truth is. that the denunciations of
these muck rakers have reached such a
point that a reaction has set in and they
find that their wares are not as salable
as they were. They have overdone the
picture. Their eyes have become 80 dull
that they have not rea lied that everything
they say now is discounted ny the public
as born not Of a desire 10 present a just
picture but of a desire to be sensational
at the expense Of fact and at the expense Of
justice.
1T is true that there is corruption in
MANY of our municipal corporations. IT Is
true that there are on foot substantial and
most enooura ging movements to stamp out
the evils that we find in municipal govern
ments.
1T is not true that there is great corrup-
ton in the national Government. No one
who has been at all familiar withthe national
capital for the last twenty-five years but
WIFI UIIl llldl llltl ll1iS' 49, 49,
improyement in the Observation-Disclosures of
legislators and the freedom from venallty
and corruption in Congress and the eNecu-
tive departments.
abuses. as undoubtedly there have been F.,
both in the violations of law by great corpo-
rations, railway and others, and IN the eva
sion of snti-monopoly and trust law. What
is the remedy? Is il not in taking meas
ures to secure the maintenance and supre-
macy of the law lie il not III looking to
these Observation-Disclosures by which such viola
tions can be properly suppressed and pun
ished?
and that is what so emphasizes the i'm
portance of an improvement in DIR ludlcls !
procedure in this respect. Any suggestion
that there is any other remedy possible Tor
preventing the violation of law and these
abuses than in the training and character
of the individual on the one hand and in the
strengthening OF the arm of the law by
judicial procedure on the other Is vicious
accumulation of money in the hands Of
individuals has reached such a point that it
would be wiser to discourage its continue
snoe by heavy inheritance tax or other
methods.
Neither at the common law nor, under
the constitution is the right of descent
Of property or Of devising it an lnalienable
right. 1t depends wholly upon the Legs
sees ft to create a tendency To the division
Of fortunes and prevent their greater ac-
cumulation in the second>and third genera
tions, there are ample means under our
present system and without evolutionary
methods to bring this about.
But the point which ! wish most TO
emphasize al present Is the duty of every
one 10 disCountenance Al every point the
suggestion that the people al large are to
take the law into their own hands and
accomplish something by violent and radi-
cal, illegal action against the evilso OF present
society.
government Of Law. Law must he en-
forced through the lawful executive and
through the lawfully constituted courts.
/ fear that we must admit that there is
not as strongly developed among our
people the reverence for law and the de-
mand for its enforcement as there is among
our Anglo-SaXon brethren across the sea.
Personal liberty and the rights of prop
erty are rather more protected under the
English system than under ours.
Newspaper libel is much rarer in Eng
land than here, for Englishmen seem to
regard it az their duty TO carry such a case
into court and the newspaper is usually
mulcted If any license is taken with his
reputation.
I'm this country the abuse Of the pr vi
lege of the press. in holding mp TO uni ,st
criticism and sensational condemnation
many respectable members of the commu-
nitv, has reached such a point that the in,
tured pass it over, accept H. As a burden they
must bear and decline to GO INTO court
NUeD j al q ~ gTTA ~ = - AAAiS
wears on the State bench, and at the age
Of 80 I went on the Federal bench; wher'
on it now, my knowledge of law was de-
cidedly limited; but a term on the bench
Is the best law school know, even If it Is
at the expense Of the public and the Judge
tries his hand on the litlgants. If he car
be kept on the bench, a young man ma
make a better judge than an older man
although I do not favor giving Judicia
teaching on the bench,
The first duty is to serve on the jury
Service is Just as obligatory in this respec
as to shoulder a gun in an emergency
Jury systems are only a success wher
composed Of intellie~n n men and those no
open to venal motives.
"A body of intelligent men taken from
different walks Of life make up p tribuna
force quite as trustworthy as a Judge
There is a dangerous tendency in the South
ern and Western States now to not allow
the Judge to assist the jury by suggestion:
as to what verdict it. should arrive nj anc
30 TO change the constitutional plan, which
was a trial by jury and Court,
In this way corporations are frequently