The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-30
.FORAKER IN RACE
 AGAINST TAFT Ohio Senator Defends His Course In Politics
HEPBURN LAW CONDEMNED
Foraker Declares That the Railroad Rate Law Is Responsible More Than Anything Else For the
 Present Financial Crisis.

with MT. Taft. This information is con- tained in a letter to Conrad J. Mattern, vice president of the Ohio republican league, who forwarded MT. Foraker copy of the resolutions adopted by the advisory and executive committee of the league indorsing MT. Foraker for the sen atorship and for the Presidential nominal tion. In Senator Foraker's letter. made public today, he defends his course in re- laton to the passage of the railroad rate bill, and insists that the necessity of the railroads of the country to spend millions of dollars annually in increasing their fla elites makes this bad time to hamper the roads in any unnecessary way by leg islation.
 Senator Foraker says he is gratified by the indorsement of the committee at this time. because 1t is a flat rebuke to the suggestion that the office of the United States Senator is to be stripped of all tho real honor attached to it by making it's incumbent pere agent to register the desires Of somebody else.
 Appreciates Esteems
 Referring to the recent meeting of the league. which indorsed him for Senator and President, Senator Foraker said
 q would not be ilsensible to such a mark of confidence and esteem if l could be, and I could not be if I would.
 But I do not want to even appear to be a candidate for two offices at the same time, and, therefore, forego the dou- ble honor proposed, and with heartfelt appreciation accept tho support for the Presidential candidacy which the commit tees have so generously tendered.H
 Turning to the merits of recent public questions. and his attitude thereon, the Senator says:
 My action on the question of joint statehood and in the Brownsville matter
 your committees have approved, as | be- lieve the great majority of republicans do everywhere.
 There are doubtless yet many who criticise my vote on the rate bill, but
 if the assurances with which my mail
 iS filled. yrnining as thew do rom every section of the country. arc not mis- leading the numbers of these critics in reply are diminishing.
 Rate Making Laws. "In the debates on that measure, I took pains to point out that if the
 government took upon itself the duty
 and responsibility of making rates it
 would of necessity have to determine
 not only how much a railroad sh ould
 be allowed to make, but also how much
 it should be allowed to spend for every
 
 which it is impossible for a govern
 ment to do successfully and satsfac-
 torily, and that the result would in-
 evtably be that just at the time when a rapidly increasing business for the roads was making it necessary for them to raise hundreds of millions an- nually for increasing their tracks, cars and general facilities, we would impair the confidence of investors in til cir
 {. .lx..x ,I.r make it impossible for the roads to sell
 the additional securities necessary for such purposes, but lead many of the holders of them, both at home and abroad, to dispose of what were al- ready outstanding and that in conse- quence the market would be so largely oversupplied that their values would
 sh rink, dragging down all kinds of se- curities with them until panic and dis aster would take the place Sf con-
 fdence and prosperity.
 Cause of Disaster
 "To say I told you SO is always un- gracious, but 1t is, trust, permissible
 to point out that from the day the rate
 bill passed, the trend has been in the direction predicted, and while other things have contributed that measure has a full share of responsibility for
 
 condition with which we have been overtaken.
 "While there should be efficient su- pervision and regulation of interstate commerce and the carriers and cor porations of every kind engaged there in. 1t will become more and more man fest as time passes and results are developed that this supervision must be safe and nservative--consistent with | nd urff mon sense.
 "The moral standing of the business men of this country has always been high. It was never so high as It IS
 now. There is consequently less occa-
 sion than ever before to restrict com
 merclal freedom by statutory demands
 of management and surveillance that are
 apparently framed on the theory that all
 men are criminals
 Wise Constitution. "From the beginning of our government our constitution has been recognized by all the world as one of the wisest and most nearly perfect organic laws ever framed Under 1t we have grown and prospered as no other people ever has We should be slow to condemn 1t, or to find fault with 1t. but if We md 1t in- adeouate, or that for any reason 1t should be changed, it contains provision m accordance with which we can hiHeHu if No one should think of amending 1t in any other manner. To change It in l any other way would be the beginning or | the end Tn my opinion, no amendments | are necessary to enable the government | to efficiently exercise all it's powers and | that no additional powers are necessary | to the proper supervision and regulation | of every matter that is the legitimate | subject of legislation.
 Commenting on that part of the league l address. declaring for continuance or l the present tariff laws. the senator says; "At another time l may take occasion | to speak on these subjects at some length | hut 1t is sufficient for present purposes | to remark that with our surplus reve- | nues diminishing and our enormous ex- 1 pendtures increasing, 1t would be like adding the last grain of sand to under | take to tinker with the tariff. Under the | present tariff laws. we have had the l greatest prosperity any country has ever | enjoyed and it has been because of the | strength thus given us that we have ! stood up as well as we have under the l declining values amounting to billions of 1 dollars that have at last brought busi- | ness depression to employers and idle | ness to thousands of employees. There l will doubtless come time when changes | in the Dingley law can be made to ad- "A