Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1908-08-13
TAFT OUTLINES
PARTY POLICIES
Acceptance Speech Keynote Of
Campaign.
HIGH PRAISE FOR ROOSEVELT.

Republican Candidate Rebukss oppo-
sitien's Stand On Philippine lnds-
Observation-Disclosures Steps Toward
Tariff Reform immediately After In
ausuratien II EIsetsd--eslIsvss {.
Income Tax BY Statutory Law u
Necessary For Revenues Rather
Than by Amendment 10 the censti-
tutIen-Rishts Of Both Organized
and unorganixsd Labor Should 30
impsrtiaIly Uphold.
Senator Warner and Gentlemen Of
the Committee: I am deeply sensible
OF the honor which the Republican Ma
tional Convention has conferred on me
in the nomination which you formally
tender. / accept 1t with full apprecia-
ton 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 I'M
equivocally declares, to 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
duential members Of the community,
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-
lattng evidence of the violation of the
antitrust law by a number Of corpora
tions, the overissue of stocks and bonds
on interstate railways for the unlawful
enriching Of directors and for the pur-
pose Of concentrating control Of rail-
ways In one management, all quick
ened the conscience Of the people, and
brought on a 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
down the doctrine that the rich violator
OF the law should be as amenable to
restraint and punishment as the Of
fender without wealth and without in
fuence, 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
stituted 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 ufti-
mate benefit to 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 az may be
authorized by Federal authority.
Chief Function q Next Administrator
The chief function Of the next Ad-
ministration, in my Judgment, Ii dis
unct from. and q progressive develop
ment of that which has been performed
by President Roosevelt The chief
function OF the next Administration 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 30 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 have referred. Take for in
stance the so-called physical valuation
Of railways" It Is clear that the sum
Of all rates or receipts Of railway.
less proper expenses, should be limited
to a fair profit upon the reasonable
value Of its property, and that II the
sum exceeds this measure, 1t 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 a fair |
profit It Is clear that the physical |
value Of a railroad and its 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 a going concern, Including It's good
viii, due to efficiency Of service and
many other circumstances, may be
much greater than the value Of its tan
gibie property. and II b the former that
measures the investment on which q
fair profit must BE- allowed Then, too.
the question what 70 fair profit b one
Involving not only the rsts Of interest
usually earned on norrnaily safe invest.
mnnfs. but also q sufBctent allowuDcs
70 make up fUr NJ rfst of Ioss both
81 capital and interest in n original
outlay. These considsmtiDus v1i1 havs