Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1907-10-24

forcement OF the law against the
trusts. What a time we have had
convincing some of the people that
the trusts are an evil / remember
that in our fight on this subject there
we're lots Of Republicans who we're
deluded with the idea that about all
the good that this country enjoys has
come in some way mysteriously from
the trusts. and whenever we said any
thing in regard to the Standard Oil
trust there was always some Repubii-
can who would stand on the street
corners and tell US that it was the
Standard Oil trust that had cheapen-
| ed the price of OIL But there is not
a Republican now to make that ar
gument. even in a back alley.
There we're many who thought that
these great trusts were beneficent in
stitutions, and they we're praising
them as If all blessings flowed from
them: but, my friends, in the last few
years they have come to believe, rs
| Democrats have long insisted, that
the penitentiary is not too good a
place for the trust magnate who con-
spires against the welfare of 10000
600 people, and this sentiment has
grown so strong that not only does
the president say that the enforce
ment of the criminal law would be a
good thing, but as an illustration Of
the vast growth-of the tremendous
increase of this sentiment, even Sec
rotary Taft even Secretary Taft
Qaughter) has reached the point
where he now admits that it might be
good thing to put one or two trust
magnates in the penitentiary While
they will admit that it might be good
to put one or two in, the rest of the
people will go far enough to believe
that all of them should be put in. So
that when the president takes an ad-
vanced position on the trust question,
he steps on Democratic ground.
The people praise him for what he
has done in the matter of railroad
regulation but where did he get his
inspiration? In a Republican plat
form? You read in vain the Republi-
can national platform to find 1t there,
and if you look in that hated and de-
spised Chicago platform, you will find
the authority for railroad regulation
that the president has at last accept
ed If you look in the platform of
1900 written at Kansas City. you will
find it again, and even at st. Louis,
while we quarreled over a good many
questions, we wrote that plank into
the platform, and it was our third
national platform that demanded this
reform; and when the president
stepped out and advocated this, he
had to step onto Democratic ground
But let no Republican find fault with
the president because he stands On
Democratic ground on some of these
questions, for he could not go before
you without entrenching on Democrat
ic ground, for we pre-empted all the
ground in front several years ago.
Some of the Democrats have even re-
| scented the manner In which the pres
ident has endorsed some Democratic
ideas, but l do not resent it, for our
ideas were presented to the public
for adoption and our ideas are good
enough to be adopted not only by
Democrats, but by Republicans, and
my regret is not that the president
has adopted some of them, but my
regret is that he has not adopted
more, and that he has not carried the
conclusions that he has adopted fur
Their When / think of the president
and some of the Democratic things
he has done, / am reminded of some
thing said by Peter Cartwright. A
man asked him If he was sanctified,
and he said Yes in spots, and so,
my friends, when they ask me about
the president, whether he is Demo
cratic or not, say, Yes, in spots
but that the spots are not large
enough and not numerous enough.
Take the subject of the income tax,
and the president has endorsed our
position. / can remember few years
ago when the income tax was de-
nounced by Republicans and de-
nounced most bitterly, and am glad
to speak of that income tax where |
come in contact with Mr.. MontgOm
cry, who was on the ways and means
committee and who was on the sub
committee that helped to draft that
income tax. l happened to be on that
subcommittee with him, and 1 look
back to my part In that income tax
with as much pride as ! take in any
act in my public career, and I rejoice
that now some twelve years after
the Democratic party fought for it,
Republican president comes up and
admits that it is a good thing and we
ought to have 1t in this country, and
even Secretary Taft-even Secretary
Taft-admits that it is a good thing,
only, yielding to his postponing habit
Of mind, he thinks we ought not to
have it right away.
So you take the question of arbitra-
ton between capital and labor-a po-
sition taken by the Democrats in 1899,
1900 and 1904-and the president en-