Connecticut western news., 1908-01-02
DEFENDS ROOSEVELT.
Taft at Boston Denies That Ad-
 IminiStration Caused Panic.
UPHOLDS WAR ON IHE.TRUSTS
Secretary Tells New England Mer- chants That President Has Never Been Against All Capital, but Only That Violating Law.

cnan-S ilhac FreSldene T1aS INeNeF
 Been Against All Capital, but Only
 That Violating Law.
 Boston, Dec. 31.-Wiiiiam ! H. Taft secretary of war, in the first address he has delivered since his tour of the wDnld sIiefepded the administration of Theodore Roosevelt against the. accu- sation tof responsibility for the panic of October jand its consequences.
 1t wvsFs uas member sof President Rocseveit's cabinet,l in, complete sympa- thy With the policies of the president respecting the prosecution of corpora tions engaged in illegitimahei practices, that he spoke ito the members of the Boston Merchants association at a banquet ,at the HotelE Somerset. He ut tered nO word that could helconstrued as an ,enunciation of any divergent views Rs q candidate for the Repub- lican nomination for president. From the opeRing to the closing sentences he breathed loyalty to his chief and faith full adherence to the principles of gov ernment which Mir. Roosevelt has pro- claimed an his own speeches
 The Panic and the Administration.
 II have selected as my topic flor to- night MT. Taft began, "the panic of 1907 its causes, its probable effects and the relation to 1t of the policies of the national administration.
 For eight or nine months last past there were many indications that the loanable capital of the world was near exhaustion. The result was brought about not only by the enormous expan-' sion of business plants and business investment, which could not be readily converted, but also by the waste of capital in extravaganza of living and by the Spanish war, the Boer war and the RussianHJapanese war and in such catastnophes as Baltimore and San Francisco. 1t became impossible for the soundess railroads and other enterprises to borrow money for new construction or reconstruction.
 Tt would seem that our system of currency Is not arranged so as to per init it's volume to he !increased tempo rarily to counteract the sudden drain of money by the hGagding in a panic. It is probable that the stringency, which reached fits height on that dark day of Oct. A, might in part have been alleviated had we had a cur rency which could automatically en- large itself to meet the tremendous demand of day or month while public confidence was beang restored" Looks For Good Times Soon.
 MT. Taft expressed belief that the injurious consequences to follow the panic are not likely to be long drawn out. He figures this from the fact that we have "a solid currency, the railroads are on a much more solid formulation than in 1893, western mort sgages have been wiped out and the balance of trade is with us.'' Continu- ling he said:
 'Let me invite your attention to the economic and political history of the past four years.
 ''tIt is that of q giant struggle be tween the national administration and certain powerful combinations in the financial world. These ombinations, for Aack of a better name, are called trusts +t..
 "They became the dictators to great railroatls, however powerful, and 'by threatening a withdrawal of patronage secured unlawful and discriminating rebates, greatly increasing their prof its and still more completely suppress ing competition.
 Administration Not to Blame.
 "The purpose of the administration of Mr. Roosevelt was to make those men, however powerful and wealthy, to know that the laws upon the statute books were living things and must be obeyed In this struggle the admins tration has been greatly aided by the popular sympathy awakened by reve lations as t0> breaches of trust by the managers of some of the great insur- ance companies, by revelations as to mismanagement of the internal affairs of great railroad companies, by the disclosure as to the enormous amount of rebates extorted from the railroad companies by tfaese trusts and by the conscienceless stock jobbing and over issuance of bonds and stocks shown to have occurred in the management of some of our great corporations.
 Ut is said that the policy of the ad- ministration has been directed for the last four years against organized capi- tai and that it has thereby frightened investors. I deny it. The course of the administration has been directed against such organized capital as was violating the statutes of the United States-and no others. It had every. consideration and desire to aid and assist organized capital which was en- gagged in legitimate business"
 Hailed as Next President.
 MT. Taft's speech was plainly a sur prise to most of the 400 or so present They evidently had hoped and expect ed that Secretary Taft would speak for himself rather than for Roosevelt At the close of his address some one called for "three cheers for the next president The response, while cor dial, did not appear to be quite spon- faneOuS and hearty.