The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-13
Discusses His Record on the Bench In Connection With
 Labor Questions
POSES AS THE FRIEND
 OE ORGANIZED LABOR
Says He Made 1t Possible for Union Laborers To Organize, Raise Funds and Conduct Strikes Success
 full-Record in Panama.

Akron, O., October 12.-Seventeen Ohio towns heard and saw William H. Taft today. He talked from Cincinnati to Akron through q portion of the state conceded to have been a Foraker stronghol with a portion of the ter ritory democratic. While there was not the same vim and snap to the enthusi- asm which the candidate got in some portions of the west, he was listened to by large crowds, numbering thous- ands in many places, and what he said was well applauded and many cheers were proposed and executed with a will. There was no shout for Bryan heard. The important speech es of the day were at Zanesville, Cambridge and Akron, where in each instance the candidate left the train to meet his audience. In his zanesville speech MT. Taft went after both Mir. Bryan and Mir. Gompers.
 MT. Bryan goes around the country saying I am the father of injunctions,' declared MT. Taft. Tt Is not true. did not invent injunctions in labor dis putes. But it is quite natural that Mr. Bryan should make the mistake be- cause in & letter he wrote to the dis trict attorney of Belmont he said he had not read my decisions"
 Continuing, Mir. Taft gave great em- phasis to what he regarded as the ef- feet of the decisions he had rendered on the bench.
 Laid Down Law.
 'I laid down the law and I laid down the principles he said, .'upon which the labor organizations in this country have since built up their prosperity and their usefulness. I decided a case against the Brooth erhood of Engineers and the Broth erh ood condemned me- In four years they got into court in St Louis and they had to cite my case to induce the court to withdraw the injunction there because l had laid down the principles upon which they could organize, could raise their funds. could go on and conduct strikes under E advice of the officers, and in that case they induced, on the authority of my decisions, the judge to withdraw his injunction and they went ahead and won the strike. That same thing oc- cured in a court in Cincinnati and d decision rendered In Chicago. If you will examine the cases you will find that instead of being an oppressor of labor, l am its benefactor I have been something besides judge.
 "I had 3O,000 laborers under me on the Panama canal. Of course we had diff faculties. We had the question of wages and I decided against the laborers. What did they do? l gave them the reasons for deciding the way I did Why, they elected me, a member of their union Why? Because l am fair to labor. Under that enuncation the trades unions have doubted in this country-they never have in such prosperous condition. The Feder- ation of Labor has increased 100 per cent MT Gompers' salary has been Increased 50 per cent and I am glad of 1t. The la bor organizations had never reached the point of usefulness before that they have now, authough you would think from reading what Mir Gompers has to say that they were in a condition of abject slavery. They have never exercised the useful influence or the power in protect ing their own interest before as they have under the law I laid it down some 10 or 15 years ago
 Letters To keefe.
 At the Akron meeting tonight MT Taft reiterated the points he had previously made the labor question and brought to his support the recent published let ters of Daniel ]. Keefe, member of the executive council of the American Fed eration of Labor. and head of the Inter- national Longshoremen and Teamsters' organization. The candidate said the tes- timony of Mir Keefe was the more weighty because Mir. Keefe has ascer- tained his Craft's) position labor through constant relations with the canal and his dealing with him as secretary of war. MT. Keefe closes his indorse- ment of Mir. Taft, which the latter read as follows:
 'T shall support and vote for MT Taft who was admitted to membership in the International Brotherhood of Steam Shovel and Dredgemen on account of his strong advocacy of the enforcement of the S-hour law on all government work coming under the Jurisdiction of the war department I might say that MT. Taft has done more to enforce laws in favor of organized labor than all his predecessors"
 Music Hall was crowded to it's capacity to hear Judge Taft tonight and the well come he received in the streets was most enthusiastic He did not refer to his speech fin this city three years ago when he denounced the leadership of George B. Cox He said before making his speech that there was no reason why he should take up the matter.