Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-07-29
TAFT ACCEPTS
Continued from Pags l.,

ttonal Convention has conferred on me
in the nomination which you formally
tender tend accept 1t with full apprecia-
ton Of the responsib Utility it imposes.
Gentlemen, the strength of the Re-
publican cause in the campaign at
hand is in the fact that we represent
the policies essential to the reform Of
known abuses, to the continuance Of
liberty and true prosperity, and that
we are determined, ais our platform un-
equivocally declares, to maintain them
and carry them on. For more than ten
years this country passed through an
epoch Of material development far be-
Eyond any that ever occurred in the
world before. In its course, certain
evils crept In. Some prominent and In
fuentfal members Of the community,
spurred by financial success and III
their hurry for greater wealth, became
unmindful Of the common rules Of
business honesty and fidelity and Of
the limitations imposed by law upon
their action. This became known. The
revelations Of the breaches Of trust,
the disclosures as to rebates and dis.
examinations by railways, the accumu-
llating evidence of the violation Of the
antitrust law by number Of corpora
tions, the overissue Of stocks and bonds
on interstate railways for the unlawful
Ienriching Of directors and for the pur-
pose Of concentrating control Of rail-
ways in one management, all quick
Iened the conscience Of the people, and
brought on moral awakening among
them that BODIED well for the future Of
the country.
What Roosevelt Has Done.
\ The man who formulated the expires
sion of the popular conscience and who
led the movement for practical reform
was Theodore Roosevelt. He laid
] down the doctrine that the rich violator
Of the law should be as amenable to
restraint and punishment as the Of
fender without wealth and without in
duence, and he proceeded BY recon-
( mending legislation and directing ex-
ecutiye action to make that principle
good in actual performance
President Roosevelt directed suits to
be brought and prosecutions to be in
stituted under the anti trust law, to en-
force Its provisions against the most
powerful of the Industrial corporations.
He pressed to passage the pure food
law and the meat inspection law In the
interest Of the health of the public,
clean business methods and great ulti-
mate benefit to the trades themselves.
He recommended the passage Of law,
which the Republican convention has
since specifically approved, restricting
the future issue Of stocks and bonds by
interstate railways to such as may be
authorized by Federal authority.
Chief Function Of Next Administration
The chief function Of the next Ad-
minisnation, in my judgment, is dis
tinet from, and q progressive develop
ment Of that which has been performed
by President Roosevelt. The chief
function OF the next Administration il
to complete and perfect the machinery
by which these standards may be main
tained, by which the lawbreakers may
lbe promptly restrained and punished,
but which shall operate with sufficient
accuracy and dispatch to interfere with
legitimate business as little as possible
Such machinery lie not now adequate.
Physical Valuation Of Railways.
Some Of the suggestions Of the Demo
cratic platform relate really to this
subordinate and ancillary machinery
Ito which I have referred. Take for In.
stance the so-called physical valuation
Of railways" It Is clear that the sum
of all rates or receipts Of q railway
less proper expenses, should be limited
to a fair profit upon the reasonable
value Of its property, and that If the
sum exceeds this measure, 1t ought tc
4 be reduced The difficulty in enforcing
! the principle is in ascertaining what is
The reasonable value of the company's
property, and in fixing what is q fab
profit. 1t is clear that the physica.
value OF railroad and its plant is an
element to be given weight in deter
mining its full value; but as President
Roosevelt In his indianapolis speech
and the Supreme Court have in effect
pointed out. the value Of the railroad
as a going concern, including It's gepo
twill, due to efficiency of service and
many other circumst may b.
much greater than the value Of its tan
gible property. and 1t is the former thai
measures the investment on which Z
fair profit must be allowed. Then, too
the question what is a fair profit is one
involving not only the rate Of interes1
usually earned on normally safe invest
ments, but also sufficient allowance
ito make up for the risk Of loss boil
Of capital and interest in the origina
outlay. These considerations will have
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