The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1907-08-22
War Secretary Discusses Ma
tiOnaI Issues Under Aus
piCes of the Buckeye
Republican Club.
RAILROADS, TRUSTS, TARIFF

tlons--Stands With Roosevelt-Psys
His Respects to Bryan-Favors a
Revision Of the Tariff After the
Election Of 1908.
Columbus, o., Aug. 20-Hon. vii.
liam II. Taft, secretary of war, and one
of the most prominently mentioned
candidates for the Republican presi.
dental nomination, in a speech de-
livered last night under the auspices
Of the Buckeye Republican club of Co.
lumbus. gave to the country what may
be regarded as the platform on which
he goes before the people.
Secretary Taft was invited to dis
cuss the national issues by the club,
which desired to tender him a farewell
reception before his departure for the
Philippines. He responded with full
and frank presentation of his views
relative to the great questions of alb
sorbing national Importance. he made
clear his position relative to the rail.
roads, the trusts, and the tariff and
In addition gave a mastery exposition
OF what has been accomplished under
President Roosevelt's administration
In beginning his speech Secretary
Taft pointed out that there has been
a quickening of the public conscience
In the midst of the general prosperity
OF the country that demands a remedy
for many abuses in industrial and DO
litical affairs. He then took up the
railroad question, describing the
abuses Of rate determinations and the
failure OF the old interstate commerce
law to afford adequate remedy for
these abuses. This made necessary
the new rate bill, he said, and he pro
ceeded then to tell what the new rate
law does, and to describe the opposi-
ton to Its enactment. Outraged public
opinion carried the bill. however, and
the opposition was able TO muster only
seven negative votes in the house and
three In the senate. Continuing, Sec
retary Taft said:
Opponents BelittIe Rate Bill.
"The opponents of the measure con-
tinue to denounce 1t, but now instead
of pointing out its disastrous effect,
they say Ii is failure and that In the
year since It's passage, II has not help
ed a single shipper They insist that
the only effective and an all-sufficient
law to regulate railways is the Elkins
act, passed in 1908, and that this is
shown by the fact that all the prose
cutions In which convictions have been
had against railway companies and
favored shippers in the last two years,
have been under the Elkins act, and
not under the rate bill. Let us look
into the facts In regard to this allega-
ton. The chief prosecutions which
have been instituted have been Grimm
al indictments against the sugar trust
and the Standard Oil company, and
certain railways and their agents and
officers for taking and giving secret
money rebates. They could not have
been brought under the rate bill, be-
cause the acts prosecuted were COM
mitted before the passage of the rate
bin.
1T 10 true that these prosecutions
were instituted under the Elkins act,
but It Is also true that had the Elkins
bill never been passed.. the same acts
could and doubtless would have been
prosecuted as giving and receiving
unjust determinations against the per-
sons committing them Under the
amendment to the Interstate COM
merce act Of 1889 which the Elkins law
supplanted. The Elkins law was really
an amendment to the interstate COM
merce act, enlarging and making more
effective the procedure for prosecuting
violations of the prohibitions OF that
law and describing them in more COM
prehensive form. It gave greater lati-
tude in respect Of the district where
the offense would be prosecuted and
1t made the company necessarily re-
sponsible In a fine for the act of it's
agents, without other proof of direct
completely than the agency. Under the
1889 amendment, however, the indi-
viduals convicted could have been sent
TO the penitentiary whereas under the
Elkins act, the punishment by i'm
prisonment was taken away while the
fine was increased. The chief effect
the Elkins law had on these particular
prosecutions which have been given
20 much prominence, was to make II
easier to convict the corporation and
to increase its fine. but to save the
guilty individual perpetrators from i'm
prisonment.
Railroads Favored ElkIns Bill.
1T is well understood. that the Elkins
bill was passed without opposition by,
and with the full consent OF, the rail-
roads and that the chief reason for
this was the elimination Of the peni-
tentiary penalty for unjust discrimina-
tions. The abolition OF Imprisonment,
as possible penalty, was unfortunate.
Experience has shown that mere fine
y generally not enough to deter cor
marathon frovo violation NJ The IL -, -