Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-10-26
One of Them is a Statesman.

gave striking illustration not only of
their attitude on this important issue
but also Of their habitual state of mind
Taft was speaking at Baltimore and
each of them had to say. First, let us
quote d paragraph from the speech Of
Mr.. Bryan
MY friends, 1 think too much Of
the next generation to stop my efforts
10 rid this country of the evil OF pri-
waite monopoly. 1 am willing to go
down en- my knees every morning and
say to my Father in heaven, Give US
this day cur daily bread but God for
bid that l should make my country
men go down on their knees at morn
ing and say to trust magnate, Give
us this day our daily bread and have
him answer I will if you vote the
ticket | want you to- You cannot af-
ford to fasten that sort of a system TO
this country or on any other country"
The other side of the picture very
much the other sidc--was given by
Judge Taft in these serious and intel
liecnt We rdS:
'The combination of capital is just
as essential to our progress as the
combination of the parts of machine
and the fact that the capital is great
ana the number of plants needed are
many, is no reason for denouncing
them as illegal unless they are used
Tor an Illegal purpose. The normal,
legal purpose of such combination is
to reduce the cost of production by
inducing economy in the management
of the capital. 1t is only when undue
means are taken to stifie competition
that they cross the line of legality and
that they ought to be restrained and
punished. Therefore, Mr.. Roosevelt
and the Republican administration
have directed their attention to pros
ecuting the exact evil, which is the
attempt to monopoize. Mr. Bryan.
on the ether hand. proposes to take
steps which shall! destroy the entire
business. He proposes that we shall
abolish the tariff on what arc called
truSt-made articles. If you are going
10 take off the tariff on trust-made ar
tlclcS, YOU are going to destroy the
trusts all right; there will be no Cliff
Guilty about that. and you are gong to
throw out of employment the millions
of men engaged as wage earnerS in
those great businesses. and you are
also going to destroy the independent
competitors of the trusts, for they arc
just as dependent on the tariff, indeed
more 81, than the trusts themselves"
,,.l,1, 10
Bryan next month, especially if they
are men who have had industry and
Intelligence enough to accumulate as
much as 500 for themselves during
their lives, are urged to read with care
the above excerpts. and we think they
will j" able in this matter to see the
vital difference between the Bryan and
tn" Taft point of view.
The Bryan view is picturesque and
mclodriunatlc enough, but it is wholly
lacking in the important element of
truth. He talks as though the man
not as much in the hands of labor as
labor is in their hands. He talks as
though capital and labor were things
wholly foreign to each other, instead of
being parts of the same thing. a com
Dination which is Indispensable in the
industrial life of the country. With
the instincts of the demagoguc which
so often crop out in his speeches, Fry
an represents labor as on its Bonded
knees before a trust maSnate begging
for daily bread, though in his heart he
Knows Mcll that he could never cite an
instance where an American working
man has fallen on his knees before his
employer for his daily bread or for any
other purpose. 1t is simply a hippant
combination OF words. playing upon
the emotions of his hearers, an orator
ical flight which iustifics Bryan's repu-
tsttion as a skilled speaker
In what a striking and refreshing
contrast are the words of Judge TAFT
quoted aiovc. There is nothing of the
citSS against ttuSS ltltd III ms view o.
our industrial life. In what he says he
leaves the American man upon his feet,
and not uron his knees. He draws the
line not at the mere size of corpora
tons, but at their respect for the law.
He insists that corporations shall obey
:he law just as individuals do, and be
Sond this h" has nothing to say ov-
ccpt by way OF approval of the genius
and courage of the men. both capital
isis aid day lanorers, who have created
the great industrial organizations and
made them such a factor in the prog
ross and prosperity of our country
Read the above quotations again and
see if sou have any doubt in deciding
which man speaks as a dcmagoguc and
which man speaks as d statesman.
Carrie Nation and Tom Watson have
dropped almost out of sight in the pres
| cnt campaign.