The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-11

motive of enlightened selflshness into
altruiSm.
Secretary Taft indicated clearly that
he did not think the time had come for
an income tax. He was accorded an
other ovation when he finished, and
many in the audience flocked to the
platform to shake him by the hand.
The Address.
Mr.. Taft said in his address:
I'VE are suffering now from a panic.
1t was brought on, in my judgment, by
the exhaustion of free capital the world
over, by the lack OF an elastic system
of currency and also by a lack of conf
dence in our business fabric produced
in Europe through the revelations in
certain great corporations of business
dishonesty, corruption and unlawful
ness. 1t had been necessary for us to
purify some of our business methods;
but the publication cannot stop the
panic. 1t will doubtless make another
in the far future less likely. Meantime
all must suffer, both the innocent and
the guilty, and the innocent more than
the guilty. Certainly the laborer who is
thrown out of his employment by the
hard times. is innocent and suffers
more than the capitalist, whether inno-
cent or guilty, who has money to live
on meantime until. prosperity shall be
restored .
Discussing the difficulties in peaceful
adjustment of controversies between
capital and labor, Mr.. Taft commend
ed the work of such organizations as
the Civic federation in seeking to bring
together capitalist and labor leaders,
and expressed the hope that by reason
of this friendly contact between en-
plOyers and labor leaders labor unions
may be induced to assist the cause of
honest industry to improve the ''sobri-
ETY., industry, skill and fidelity to the
employers interest OF the employee
On the subject of arbitration Mr.. Taft
argued for the adjustment of labor diff
ficulties by submission to an impartial
tribunal and agreement to abide its
judgment and in this connection COM
mended the Massachusetts PLAN This
method, he declared, had practically
been adopted by President Roosevelt
and had shown substantial and pract-
cal results; that is provision of law
by which am impartial tribunal shall
investigate all the conditions surround
ing the dispute, take sworn evidence,
draft a conclusion in respect to the
merits of the issue and publish it to the
world.
On the question of the legal right of
the labor unions to strike Secretary
Taft said:
Discusses Strikes.
Men have the right to leave the
employ of their employer in a body
in order to impose on him as great
an Inconvenience as possible to induce
him to come to their terms. They
have the right in their labor unions
to delegate to their leaders the power
to say when to strike. They have the
right in advance to-. accumulate by
contributions from all members of the
labor unions fund which shall en-
able them to live during the pending
strike. They have the right to use
persuasion with all other laborers who
are invited to take their places, in
order to convince them Of the advan-
tage to labor of united action. 1t is
the business of courts and of the poles
to respect these rights with the same
degree of care that they respect tn,
rights of owners of capital to the pro-
lection of their property and bust
ness gn
He added, however, that ga resort
to violence. or other form of lawless-
ness on behalf of a labor union prop
erly merits and receives the sharpest
condemnation from the public and Is
quite likely to lose the cause of labor
its supportnin the, controversy"
The abuse of capital combinations
industrial and. raiiroad-were dis
cussed at length, and the relation of
wage earners to them pointed out. &.
1.-The maintenance of such unlawful
monopolies, said Mr.. Taft, lis for the
purpose of keeping up the prices of
sarily reduces the purchasing power
of the wages which the wage earners
received. This is a detriment to them
and a real reason why they should
sympathize with the effort to stamp
them out. 1t is not that they should
sympathize with an effort to destroy
such corporate enterprises because
they employ enough numbers of wage
earners and lawfully and normally in
crease the capital from which the
wage fund is drawn, but they should
and do vigorously sustain the policy
OF the government In bringing these
great corporations within the law and
h1IS
ness in accordance with the statutes OF
the country.
Lawlessness Never JustifiabIe
''In rare instances, corporate man
ayers have entered into a course OF
violence to maintain their side of
fled it on the ground that they We're
simply fighting fire with fire, and that
II the labor union proceeded to use
dynamite they would use dynamite In
return. 1 can not too strongly con-
denim this course of argument. No
amount of lawlessnesS on the part OF
the labor striker will justify the law
lessness on the part of the employers.
Such course means a recurrence Of
civil war and anarchy.
"A second abuse which employers
are sometimes guilty of is what teen
nically is known as 'Blacklisting.' This
Is unlawful and should be con-
demned."
Mr.. Taft condemned the ABUSES or
labor" such as violence, intimidation
and the boycott. and pointed out the
legal remedy by which a person may
be protected against the illegal effecr
OF combines of labor and combines Of
capital. I'm cases OF unlawful com
binations of capital, as well as of such
combines of labor" he said, the
method in equity by securing an in
junction seems to be preferred by those
who are about to be injured
He defended the In junction aQainSr
the criticism that it places in the
hands of a judge legislative, judicial
and executive powers, and declared
that prevention is better than cure
He granted the contention. he said,
that the injunction had been abused
in labor disputes. and favored amend
ment of the law to provide that no
temporary restraining orders should