Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1908-07-31
TAFT OUTLINES /
PARTY POLICIES
Acceptance Speech Keynote Of
Campaign.
HIGH PRAISE. FOR ROOSEVELT.

Republican Candidate Rebukes oppo-
eftion's Stand on Philippine lnde-
pendence-Promises Steps Toward
Tariff Reform Immediately After In
ausuration If Eleeted-eelieves In
Income Tax by Statutory Law If
Necessary For Revenues Rather
Than by Amendment to the Consti-
sution-Rishts of Both Organized
and unorsanized Labor Should Be
lmpartially Upheld.
Senator Warner and Gentlemen Of
the Committee: am deeply sensible
OF the honor which the Republican Ma
taonal Convention has conferred on me
In the nomina ton which you formally
tender. l accept 1T with full apprecia-
qon Of the responsibility 1t imposes.
Gentlemen. the strength of the Re-
publican cause in the campaign at
hand Is In the fact that we represent
the policies essential to the reform Of
known abuses, to the continuance Of
liberty and true prosperity, and that
We are determined as our platform un-
oquivocally declares, 20 maintain them
and carry them on. For more than ten
years this country passed through an
epoch Of material development far be-
yond any that ever occurred in the
world before. In its course, certain
evils crept in. Some prominent and in
ErnvNttOv 80
spurred by financial success and In
their hurry for greater wealth, became
unmindful Of the common rules Of
business honesty and fidelity and of
the limitations imposed by law upon
their action. This became known. The
revelations of the breaches Of trust,
the disclosures as to rebates and dis.
ordinations by railways, the accumu-
tadng evidence Of the violation of the
antitrust law by number Of corpora
edens, the overissue Of stocks and bonds
On Interstate railways for the unlawful
enrtching Of directors and for the pur-
pose OF concentra ting control Of rail-
ways In one management, all quick
ened the conscience Of the people, and
Brought on moral Awakening among
them that BODIED well for the future Of
the country.
What Roosevelt Has Done.
The man who formulated the express
sion Of the popular conscience and who
led the movement for practical reform.
was Theodore Roosevelt. He laid
doctrine that the rich viola tor
" should be as amenable to
,r:::.4t anu punishment as the Of
fen.er without wealth and without in
duence, and he proceeded by recon-
mending legislation and directing ex-
ecutive action to make that principle
good In actual performance
President Roosevelt directed suits to
be brought and prosecutions to be in
gtituted under the antitrust law, to en-
force its provisions against the most
powerful Of the industrial corporations.
He pressed to passage the pure food
law and the meat inspection law in the
interest of the health of the public,
clean business methods and great ulti-
mate benefit o%the trades themselves.
He recommended the passage of law.
which the Republican convention has
since specifically approved. restricting
the future issue of stocks and bonds by
interstate railways to such as may be
authorized by Federal authority.
Chief Function Of Next ADMINISTRATOR
The chief function sof the, next Ad-
ministration in my Judgment. lis dis
tinctEfrom, and a progressive develop.
mentDf; tina. which i,as been performed
by President Roosevelt The chief
function Of the next Administra ton is
to complete and perfect the machinery
by which these standards may be main
tanned, by which the lawbreakers may
be promptly restrained and punished,
but which shall operate with sufficient
accuracy and dispatch to interfere with
legitimate business as little as possible.
Such machinery Is not now adequate.
Physical Valuation of Railways.
Some Of the suggestions Of the Demo
cratic platform relate really to this
subordinate and ancillary machinery
to which I have referred. Take for In
stance the so-called physical valuation
Of railways" 1t Is clear that the sum
of all rates or receipts Of a railway,
less proper expenses, should be limited
to a, fair profit upon the reasonable
value of It's property, and that if the
sum exceeds this measure. it ought to
be reduced The difficulty In enforcing
the principle is in ascertaining what is
the reasonable value Of the company's
property, and in fixing what is fair
profit It is clear that the physical
value of railroad and it's plant is an
element to be given weight In deter
mining its full value: but as President
Roosevelt In his Indianapolis speech
and the Supreme Court have in effect
pointed out, the value Of the railroad
as going concern, including its good
will, due to efficiency Of service and
many other circumstances, may be
much greater than the value Of Its tan.
gfbleprepeTty, and it is the former that
measures the einyestment on which a
fair profit must bs allowed hen, too,
1yH, fr F1fv L.