The Washington times., 1907-08-11

Presidential aspirations. To begin
with, then, how far do the Presi-
Dental aspirations OF Senator Knox
go? There is only one man who knows
just where Knox stands in his re-
gard. That man Is Knox. Senator
Knox says he is not a Presidential
candidate In the sense that he .is push
ing his nomination. His state has In
dorsed him for this highes5 p"slticn
that can be given 10 any man ir
America, but no canvass for the con-
troll OF other States in his behalf has
been yet made; OF. at .els-.. no such
canvass is known 20 have been maze
AS Tor the ability of Senator Knox
10 MI the Presidential chair, ii can be
truthfully said that he is exceedingly
well equipped-perhaps the best equip
ped as to capability and experience in
business, law and statesmanship OF
any Of the men who have thus far
been mentioned.
But is he the man that the people
want and would he represent the ueo-
pies interests above all other in
terests?
Just now Rooseveit's popularity is
at Its height. The reforms that he has
set in motion have taken the country
by storm You can critIcise Roose-
welt for this and you can criticise him
1or that, but there is nothing you can
say or do against him that can abate
one iota the love that the people have
Ior MIN. There is a general belief
general undercurrent-that the man
who wins in the next Presidential
night must have to a certain extent
the qualities Of Roosevelt; he must
voice the Rooseveltian policies.
Knox Is not a RoOseveitian type. At
the same time he stands for the Roose-
veltian policies. In some Of them his
friends claim he was the pioneer. Here,
then, is the rather queer anomaly of a
man who has been charged with being
a trust maker now being ambitious to
be trust buster. He defined this DO
sition pretty clearly the other day in
his Yale speech In that speech he In
dicated wherein he differed from the
President and explained why he did
not care to be classed as a Roosevelt
type. He believes, first OF all. in the
Constitution, and would restrict any
effort on the part OF the Government
that would interfere with what he re-
CARDS as constitutional rights. He
is willing to let the States exercise
the rights conferred upon them by the
Constitution. In other words, while
he would apparently put a check on
any movement that promises to run
counter TO the Constitution. at the
same time he Is for the most important
of the Roosevelt policies, and has as
them. From the stand he has thus
taken-a stand that has been taken
without any announcement to that ef-
feet but which has been rather al
lowed to become apparent by infer
ence-Knox has put himself IN the
ranks Of the most clever politician IN
the country He Is in the position OF
not being a follower of Roosevelt-hav-
ing rather an individuality OF his
own-and at the same time standing
for the great policies OF Roosevelt. but
standing for them so that action on
them may be backed up by the Con-
stitution OF the United States. This.
perhaps, is the cleverest move that has
been taken by any candidate in the
field outside OF the candidacy Of Taft
who comes out avowedly as Roosevelt's
man
Now. let us see how far he does
indorse the Presidents policies. Take.
for instance, Roosevelts railroad regu-
lation policy Back in 1905 Senator
Knox. at the banquet of the Pittsburs
Chamber of Commerce. said:
"Tbe proposition that the National
Government should exercise super
viscry control over the tax upon trans
portatiou became almost self-evident
from the time that the railroads be-
gan. through various devices, TO con-
centrate this taxing power in the
hands Of a few men. The
proposition is that Congress can and
should at once enact a law covering
the main features of the public de-
mar d for a prompt and efficient rem
edy against unjust railroad practices,
and leave to the future the determina-
ton OF the wisdom and necessity Of
lcgislatIng in respect to collateral ana
related matters"
It was charged that because Senator
Knox insisted that the railroad rate
bill. known as the Hepburn bill. should
specifically provide cor a court review
OF TIE uAANlAlES Ol Tic lnNtLSldAe NOIU-
mCrce Commission. he was out of har-
mony with the Administration and not
in sympathy with the ideas of Presi-
dent Roosevelt on that subject. Sena-
tor Knox himself introduced a bill on
that sdme subject. In speaking Of 1t
he said:
This bill in my judgment, compre-
heads and deals with the mischiefs
for which we are seeking a remedy
more effectually than any measure
yet brought to the attention of Con-
sress. 1t is broader and more com
Prehensive in its scope, because It Is
as broad and comprehensive as the
reguiative power of Congress under
the Constitution. The bill fol-
lows the recommendations contained
in the Presidents message. and clearly
provides that TIE Interstate Commerce
Commission shall have power after
fun hearing on complaint to set aside
airy rate. practice, or regulation found