Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-14
Saws Taft's Views Are Vague.

Mr. Taft is running upon a platform
which was so unsatisfactory that he had
To amend it in several important particu-
lars and yet even as amended it gives
the public no definite idea as to what Mr..
Taft stands for
Mr.. Taft also has made some speeches
and promises to make some more. The
ones he has already made have not
thrown any light upon the political STU
alton, but it is to be hoped that he Will
Yet conclude to define his position with
sufficient clearness TO enable the public
TO know what he stands for.
1t is not sufficient for the President to
say that Mr. Taft is a friend of labor.
That is subject upon which the laboring
man is entitled to an opinion, and Mr..
Tafts friendship is TO be determined not
by the Presidents Endorsement, but by
the measures which Mr.. Taft advocates.
Mr.. Taft believes that the labor organi-
cations should come under the operation
of the antitrust law, thus dealing with
the men who belong TO the labor organi-
zation as if they were merchandise for
the antitrust law deals with the mon
opoly of the products OF labor.
Mr.. Taft is opposed to trial by jury in
cases of indirect contempt, thus denying
To the dbOrlng man a safeguard which
Is guaranteed to every man tried in a
criminal court. Mr. Taft does not agree
with the laboring man in regard to the
use of the injunction in labor disputes
can change Mr.. Taft's attitude on this
question or make that attitude more ac-
ceptable TO the wage earners.
Mr. Taft's position on the trust ques-
ton is not changed by the President
Endorsement. The President himself has
not succeeded in putting any trust mag
mates in the penitentiary, and only a few
of the trusts have been disturbed. II
Mr.. Taft is no more successful than the
President in his attacks on the trusts he
will not satisfy the expectations of the
public. There are more trusts in the
country today than there We're when Mr.
Roosevelt was inaugurated. and Mr.. Taft
favors weakening rather than a
strengthening of the antitrust law, for
ne has advocated an amendment that
Will limit the operation of the law to un
reasonable restraint OF trade
'On the tariff question Mr. Taft failed
To express himself with clearness Th.
republican platform does not use the word
reduction. 1t only promises revision
ana Mr. Taft has construed that to mean
that some schedules will be lowered and
some raised but there is no intima tion
that the average will be lower or higher
than it is now.
Cannot Rely on Endorsement.
And so in regard to all the questions
which are at issue. Mr.. Taft must make
his position known. He cannot rely upon
the Presidents Endorsement An in
dorsement on a note is not necessary il
the maker of the note is good, and the
Endorsement is only good when suit can
bf brought against the indorser to en-
force 1t. If Mr.. Taft had a reform rec
ord of his own he would not need to be
Endorsed by the President. and the Presi-
dents Endorsement is of no value unless
the President will agree to stay in Wash
ington and see that Mr.. Taft makes good
We ought to have some definite state
ment as to what the public is to expect
IN 70 CT at
ment appears in the platform and nc
definite conclusion can be drawn from
Mr. Tafts speeches, and it does not an.
swer the purpose for the President tC
say that he feels sure that Mr.. Taft will
do what is right or what is just. for there
is a wide difference of opinion as to what
is right and to what is just. Plain
simple sentences from Mr.. Taft would be
worth more than the eulogy that the
President pronounces.
The Presidents letter CONNIE ndinp .
Nr. Taft will be found in full elsewhere
in The Star.