The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-10-23
THE TAFT SIDE
BY the Rev. w. S. Grove

-- ORE than I'M othe nan Mr.. Taft has been the managing genius
WI in the labor problem of the Panama canal Tt deal with a
able success with it gives u another fine view of his mental equipment
and shows us clearly what manner of la he is. II a motley crew OF
thirty thousand shifting and shifuess fellows. gathered from the four
winds, speaking all languages and jargons, some of them slothful and
son OF them wild, LII of them plastic to the hand of revolution, n easily
subject to the gravtations of crime and vice. White or brown. OF black,
Adventures o. outcasts or but a little remove from barbarism, Mr.. Taft
accepted them as men with souls in them and with the Unborn feelings Of
justice and honor which could be appealed to. His broad faith in the
splendid possibilities Of the crudest human nature never desertsh I'm M
w fas t o reward his efforts e.
Mr.. Tnts first insktence vas that his men should be well cared for,
financially and physically and socially and morany-they were men and
brethren, embryonic American citizens. not muscular machines That they
should have good pay and reasonable hours only the beginning Of it.
He put scientists at york on that feverladen zone and has made it
healthful He required good buildings for them % live in and good food
fol them, and encouraged the married men to bring their families and
have a better home life than they had ever known. He has hospitals and
doctors and nurses FOR the sck-as good as those N our great cities. He
established schools for the children, and encourages popular games and
amusement and provides reading matter for those who want it. and
allows n o storekeeper to overcharge, and welcomes all kinds of religious
teachers who can help him cultivate the minds and the morals of his vast
toinng army.
Under this wise management the men do faithful and careful work,
and they adore Mr.. Taft. a do the Finpnos. They are laying up
money, and they an remain when the canal is finished, as traffic laborers
and miners and farmers and tradesmen, owning therh homes and rejoicing
In the fact that they are prosperous American citizens The man who
car deal with such laborers in that fine way a be trusted to deal with
the labor problem in all It's phases
When Mr.. Taft went to Cuba, a little while ago. lie found the Cubans
ripe and itching for the maddest kind Of revolution. He smiled them into
good humor and reasoned with them and made them feel reasonable. He
awakened their common and their patriotism, and showed them how
to help matters and be patient. There was nc flourish o trumpets and
no selfadvertiang; but another calamity had been averted and another
people had been put in order and started on the great upward march. l
confess a profound admiration for that sort of constructive ability and
for that modesty of great achievements. ~4
Any kind of halfbaked agtator with ripping language and bulldog
tenacity can champion a class o a section and raise an awful disturbance
o a pretense of reforming the world. The presidential chair needs this
quiet and judicial temper, which quens disturbance with Justice to all and
with hclpfulness to all the honest. President Taft will be a wholesome
example Of genuine reform and universal encouragement.