The Prescott daily news., 1908-06-19

per or 0lS DIOleSSlOn MiiO ildu pCSAk guilty of fagrantly vicious practices
 and had demoralzed the community he has ever been associated with the cause
 of true reform-with that reform which will not content itself with academic
 dissertation or hollow words. He has
 been imbued with the spirit of action.
 His advocacy of sounder conditions
 has never arisen from a desire for the exploitation of himself. It has always
 been based upon unSWerVing integrity and the courage to speak the truth as he understands it on all occasions, no matter how influential or powerful the evils of which he may attack.
 No one has ever yet assumed the presidential chair who had received a more ideal preparation for the duties of that great office. As judge in state and Federal courts. as solicitor general as governor of the Philippines, as sec- retary of war, which has included the work of colonial secretary and director of national public works. he has re- ceived his training and has always shown himself master of the situation and competent to make more honorable and beloved the American name. There have been no years of inaction in his career He had been continuously en- gagged in weighty tasks. and each suc- Cessive service has been characterized by an increasing influence upon most vital questions.
 In our domestic affairs in whatever position he has held he has displayed the rare union of a judicial tempera- ment with an unsurpa ssed gift for ad- ministrative management. To him be- longs the extremely valuable faculty of eliminating the nOneSSential from con- plicated problems and going directly to their substance. His capacity for work Is enormous, yet quite as helpful as ms equable temperament, which will not allow the annoYanceS of life to distract or hamper him. Although of an aggressive personality, he possesses an infinite good nature, a charm of manner and a poise which have made him model for exalted station. In the final analysis even the highest off ctals must be judged as men, and under this criterion Secretary Taft is now and will ever be known for his broad sympathies with every grade of human ity and as one invariably actuated by that democratic spirit which should characterize a progressive American. And yet no man can for a moment hes itate to recognize his severity in deal ing with wrOngdolng. While no hon. est enterprise need fear him. no dis honest scheme could hope to hide it's face from the light or to escape pun iShment
 More than any other of our public men he has had to do with our outlying and colonial relations. It was he who took in charge the prose- cution of that colossal enterprise on the isthmus, the canal uniting the less CT and the greater oceans, and under his directing hand the completion of this most stupendous of public works is no longer vague and distant hope, but an imminent reality. With his ever ready skill as a pacificator, he restored tranquility in the fertile is land of Cuba, so often distracted by civil strife In the faroff Philippines, under blazing tropical sky he found a people of many races and tribes, de- graded by centuries of misrule and op- pression and there, too, he not only established the rule of law and local control in place of confusion and bloody strife, but showed the way to self gov ernment and new recognition of the rights of man, for peoples and races, like individuals, under the inspiration of friendly guide, may lift their faces heavenward and seek to climb the great worlds altar stairs to nober heights of liberty and opportunity. It is to his lasting honor that his desire ' as not to be known as Taft the pro- '1sul," but as "Taft the father of the ] ilipinos," who brought to them the llSnt or modern civilization.
 In the larger sphere of world politics we are entering into new ami closer bonds with all the nations of tile earth Who is better qualified than he to lead America to her true position in this later day when the boundaries estab- lished in the centuries past are becom- Ing less distinct and kingdoms and races are beginning to realize that they have all one common destiny?
 Secretary Taft has exceptional fa- miliarity with conditions in the distant orient-in Japan, in China. We may rest assured that our traditional friend ship with Japan will continue. More over, the future promises that the slumbering millions of China will awake from the lethargy of ages. and she then will realize that the morning dawn of fresher life and wider outlook comes to her across the broad Pacific from free America, her truest friend and helper. We covet no portion of her territory. We desire from her, as from all nations, increased good will and that mutual respect which knows neither buster nor cringing on either side. Thus in this new era of larger relations Secretary Taft, with his com prehension of national and internation- al subjects, would furnish a certainty of peace and sustained prestige. Under him, at home and everywhere, this
 mighty people would have an assured confidence in the secure development and progress of the country and would rest safe in the reliance that a chief executive was at the helm who in peace
 or in war would guide the destines of the nation with a strong hand and with
 gentle, patriotic heart