The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-12-17
VIEWS OF TAFT
President Elect Makes Great
Speech for Tariff Revision.
This Is Paramount Promise of
Republican Party.
URGE SHERMAN LAW.
Promises Strict Adherence to
the Chicago Platform.
Was the Honor Guest of Ohio
Society OF New York City.

New DIRK, Dec. 11.-PreSlQenC-
Elect Taft was the guest of honor at
the twenty-third annual dinner of the
Ohio society in New York last night.
Around the one hundred tables
placed in the grand ball room in Aston
gallery of the Waldorf Astoria hotel
were men gathered from every sec
ton of the country and the leaders in
many walks of life.
Mr.. Taft took advantage of the
occasion in a speech filled with more
earnestness than any he has delivered
since his election to pledge his adj
ministration and his party so far as
he can control it to royal adherence
to the Chicago platform. He dwelt
the tariff, which he singled out as the
most important declaration made at
the last convention and after having
previously referred to the veto power
of the chief executive said with all
the emphasis of which he was capable:
Better no revision at all, better
that the new bill should fail unless
we have an honest and thorough re-
vision on the basis laid down and the
principle outlined in the party plat
FORM Mr.. Taft also referred to the
Sherman antitrust law and declared
for it's enforcement as one of the
Roosevelt policies that the party had
pledged itself to carry forward.
The Interstate commerce" in the
exchange of prominent men between
Ohio and New York and the con
spiracy by which only New York and
Ohio men are entitled to the presi-
dency were constantly referred to by
the speakers and were the cause of
much merriment. Governor Hughes
was hailed by POSTMASTER Henry Taft
and by Senator Spooner as 1.-The Sue
cessor of Mr.. Taft when it should
again come New York's turn to name
the occupant of the White House.
'I am going to talk a little politics
tonight" said Mr.. Taft, land want to
of the peculiarities with which we
have to deal in our form of govern
ment as compared to that of other
nations. Ours is essentially a govern
parties, but there they fix the re-
sponSibility of the party on one man.
They do not divide the responsibility
as we do here under several different
heads. The division of authority in
our parties sometimes make it eX-
tremely difficult to carry out the
promises so freely made in the course
of a campaign. The president is the
executive of the nation and while in |
the White House is rightly regarded
as the head of his party for in the
campaign which follows his term of
office he is in a sense made respon-
sible for what has happened during
the party's administration. Yet when
didate and the adoption of a platform
declaring the principles of the party
this work is left to a convention of
men gathered from al the states in
the Union. Once the party has
adopted it's platform in convention and |
had successfully gone before the peo-
pie on that platform, it becomes the |
sacred duty of the executive the |
ate and of the house of representa- |
tives sacredly to carry out the policies |
thus declared. Hence it is that in |
respect to the planks in the Chicago |
platform the strongest obligation rest |
upon the many heads of the party as |
it soon will come into power and they |
should respond and see to it that the |
Of the people is carried.
The principal plank in the Chicago
platform was the one which declared |
for a revision of the tariff at an ex- |
ira session of the congress to be held |
as soon as possible after the fourth of |
March next. In that plank the stand |
ard by which the revision could be |
made was plainly laid down. 1t was |
agreed the revision should be made on (
the principles of protection and that |
principle was defined further by the |
sta tement that the rates to be fixed !
the cost of production here and |
abroad with a reasonable profit to |
the manufacturers. This declaration |
deVolved upon the party the duty of |
in the cost of the production here and |
abroad and fixing a rate which would |
provide a reasonable profit to the |
1t did not provide for |
the taking care of a decree pro |
confesso against these in the COM |
munity who could not appear before |
a committee of congress and be heard /
1t is the duty of the committee to |
make an affirmative effort to find out |
the cost of production here and |
abroad and to revise the tariff ac- |
cordingly.
Il am a protectionist. but 1 am not |
one of those who believe that the pol |
icy of protection does not in large |
degree make trusts and monopolies |
easier of existence. But the way to |
stamp trusts and monopoIies out is not |
by destroying the whole protective sys- |
tenn. We should not have excessive tar !
iff rates so as to tempt monopolies and |
give the trusts an opportunity to take |
advantage of these excessive rates. |
There have been those in our party |