The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-08-07

/ HOT SPRINGS, Aug, 6.-There i,
no reservation in the Southern hospi
tality accorded to William II. Taft
by the Virginia State Bar Association
to-day on the occasion OF his addres.
on Laws Delay"
His presence and introductory and
pleaSantrieS were applauded by an
audience representative OF the social
life Of the Old Dominion and the bur.
den of his speech met the expressed
approval of the lawyers present. At
the conclusion Taft was surrounded
by members OF the audiences who
presented themselves for personal
acquaintance AT the banquet tonight
which brought the meeting OF thc as
sociation to a close, TAFT responded
to the toast Of THE President To-
morrow Judge and Mrs. Taft and a
party will be driven to the Green Riv-
eI Hot Springs TO attend a horse
fair.
Judge Taft presented his subject
/ by stating that the end sought in the
administration of justice was to pro-
mote tranquility and contemptment
among the people. II had he said
long been established that the SUI
preme court OF the United States was
the ultimate arbitrator OF the great
political and legal issues, deciding
upon the limitation of both the legis-
lative and executive branches of gov
ernment which had carried the use
fulness of the courts beyond any
thing attempted in other countries.
Notwithstanding this desirable situa-
ton, Mr.. Taft expressed doubt that
our present administration OF justice
insured general popular satisfaction
with its results.
There are" he said, abundant evil
dences that the prosecution OF Grim
inals have not been certain and thor
ough to the point OF preventing popu-
lar protest, The existence Of lynch
ing in all parts Of the country is di-
rectly traceable to this lack OF uni
formity and thoroughness in the en-
iorcement Of our criminal laws.
The present is time when all our
institutions are being subjected to
close scrutiny with view Of de-
termination what we have not tried
the institutions upon which modern
society rest to the point OF proving
that some of them should be radically
changed. The chief attack is on the
institution Of private property which
is based upon the inequalities Of the
distribution Of wealth and human
happiness that are apparent in our
present system
Il believe that the institution Of
private property, next to that of per-
sonal liberty, has most to do with the
uplifting and physical end moral i'm
proyement Of the whole human race
but that it is not inconsistent with
the rights Of private property to i'm
pose limitations upon its uses for
unlawful purposes, and that this is
the remedy for reform rather than
the abolition Of the institution itself.
But this scrutiny Of our institutions
this increasing disposition to try ex-
periments to see whether there is not
some method by which human hap
piness may be more equally distri-
buted than it is, ought to make those
Of us who really believe in our in
stitutions as essential to further prog
ress anxious to remove real and just
grounds for criticism in our present
system. ] venture to think that one
evil which has not attracted the at
tention of the community at large,
but which is likely to grow in inn
portance as the inequality between
the poor and the rich in Our civiliza-
ton is studied, is the delay in the
administration OF justice between in
dividuals. As between two wealthy
corporations, or two wealthy indi
vidual litigants and where the subject
matter OF the litigation reaches tens
and hundreds Of thousands Of dollars
our present system, while not per-
feet, is not SO far from proper results
as to call for anxiety. The judges Of
the country both state and national
are average good men Venality in
our judges is very rare.
"The inequality that exists in our
administration of justice and