The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-11
TAFT GIVEN AN OVATION
 
 .Speaks on Capital and / Labor. 'Ag GNcE QUIzzEs HIM He Proved Equally Effective in At tack and Defense.
 - The Secretary of war Faces . Typical New York Audience at Cooper Union--Many Women
 Were Present.

New York, Jan. 10.-For the first time since he became Q recognized can- didate for the Republican Presidential nomination, Secretary of War William H. Taft tonight faced New York au, dience. set forth in detail his standkor the pertinent question of the relAtfve interests and rights of labor ana capt. tai, and in turn submitted to rapid fire attack from the audiepce which quizzed him keenly and in somewhat controversial spirit. accopding to the practice of the Peoples InBtitute, whose guest he was. The SeEretary proved equally effective in attack and de- fense.
 Not less than s,ooe persons. it's ca pacity, had crowded Unto Cooper Union when police reserves were summoned to clear the walks in front of the building, where a thousand or more had congregated.
 As the Secretary of War made his way through the throng, a shout oi Three cheers for the next President" was the signal for a noisy ovation, which continued until Mir. Taft bowed his acknowledgements from the plat form.
 Peoples Institute audiences usually bring together intellectual leaders in all walks of life, and tonight's gath ering was a typical one. At least a third of the auditors were women. When Charles Sprague Smith, who pre- sided, suggested that three cheers be given for the speaker, the demonstra- tion continued for three or four min utes. After. referring in most compli- mentary terfhs to his record as a cAbi- net officer and the good influence ex- erted by his trip abroad, Mr. Smith said that he was proud to introduce '"The Secretary of the Navy
 When Nthe laughter begun by the Secretary himself and joined in by the audience had died away, Mir Taft said playfully that he wished 1t understood that he was the head of what he, at 1east, eorsidsred the more Important department.
 Joke on Roosevelt. I He was reminded he added, of a story told by the President. Mir. Roosevelt once attended a public meet ing in the West. at which the chairman spoke most fiateringly of the speak CT he presented. This chairman said: 'T take pleasure in introducing to you a man known from California to Maine: from Canada to Mexico. who has known what 1t is to be on the firing line; he has smelled gunpowder---the Hon. MT, -" Here the chairman hesitated, embarrassed for moment. then, turn ing to the guest, asked, What Is your name, please?'
 Opening his speech with the state ment that he would askNth audience to give their attention to '"rhe subject of labor and capital. their common inter- ests, their necessary controversies, their lawful acts and the legal reme- dies for their abuses" Secretary Taft traced the origin of institution of property" and the interdependence of property and capital and labor from the earliest days and principles that lead to the accumulation of capital in the world"
 Labor needs capital to secure the best production" said MT. Taft, "while capital needs labor in producing any thing. The share of each laborer in the joint product is affected, not ex. actly, but in a general way, by the amount of capital in use as compared with the number of those who labor. The more capital in use. the more work there is to do and the more there is to do the more laborers are needed. Mani festly, it is in the direct interest of labor that capital shall increase faster than the number of those who Work. Nothing is so likely to make wealth idle as insecurity of invested capital and It follows. as a necessary that to destroy the yuaran- ties of property is a direct blow at the interest of the workingman.