The San Francisco call., 1908-08-07
TAFT P[FASFS
YIRG|N|ANS BY
CLEVER SPEECH
Delivers Address Before Bar
Association on "The
Laws Delays" -
Speaks of Reforms and the
End Sought in Admin
istrati0n
AT Banquet id Evening Presi-
dental Candidate Responds
to Principal Toast

HOT SPRINGS, Va, Aug. O.
There was no reservation in the
southern hospitality accorded to Will
lam H. Taft by the Virginia state bar
association here today on the occa-
sion OF the address of the republican
candidate on ''The Laws Delays"
His presence and Introductory pleas
antries were applauded by an audi
ence representative of the social life
of the Old Dominion, and the burden
of his speech met the expressed ap-
proval of the lawyers present. At its
conclusion Mr.. Taft was surrounded by
members of the audience who pre-
sented themselves for personal ae-
quaintance. A group photograph was
taken under the trees with Mr.. Taft in
the center. At the banquet tonight.
which brought to a close the twentieth
annual session of the association, Mr..
Taft responded to the toast The Pres
ident." Mr.. Taft prefaced his 40 min
ute speech today by expressing TWO
embarrassments he felt in appearing
DS1OIS virginia duQlSuc6- Inc AISb
he made clear by this anecdote:
HUSBAND ONLY A YANKEE
"As was entering the hall today I
was introduced to a very charming
daughter of Virginia, married lady,
OF whom 1 inquired on hearing her
name, which was a. Virginia name.
whether she was a relative OF a friend
of my own from Virginia who bore
the same name
On, no. she replied, my poor hus-
band is 2 Yankee"
The story seemed to remove the first
embarrassment The other was Mr..
the bar of Virginia a technical ques-
tion, because you know, he said.
eight years ago ceased to be judge
and became a mere politician"
Tomorrow Judge. Taft, with Mrs.
Taft, General Clarence r. Edwards,
chief of the insular bureau OF the war
department, and w. Cameron Forbes,
vice governor of the Philippines, will
be driven by Tate Sterritt, proprietor
of the famous Fassifern farm, to Sui
! phur Springs, Va, to attend the Green
Briar county horse show. The 40 mile
| drive will be made with three relays
of four horses each, the last team to
! be entered in the show upon arrival
there in the afternoon.
Mr.. Taft today accepted honorary
membership in the patriotic republican
| club of New York city, an organization
| incorporated in 1894
That the question may be finally de-
/ termined whether a rabbits foot is a
more sure talisman that a horseshoe,
John W. Frazier of Philadelphia. today
sent Mr.. Taft a gold mounted rabbits s
foot In doing so Mr.. Frazier contrib
uted this bit of history regarding cam
paign trophies:
Toward the close of the presidential
campaign of 1903, Grover Cleveland
sent to Alton B. Parker the lucky
horseshoe that had been sent to Mr..
Cleveland during the campaign of 1854
with letter expressing the hope that
it would prove as lucky for Parker in
1904 as it had to Cleveland in 1884 and
1892 That letter and horseshoe led
me to send to President Roosevelt a
| lucky rabbits foot for the purpose of
counteracting the influence of the
Cleveland horseshoe.
GIVEN LUCKY RABBITS FOOT
"As the president may not care to
part with that lucky rabbits foot
one of rabbit shot on the seventh day
| of the seventh month of the year, at
full moon in a country churchyard, by
colored lergyman-desiring 1T may
| be to carry 1t with him to the jungles
| of Africa, 1 herewith present you with
foot from the same rabbit mounted
with the luckiest gold from Alaska"
| Judge Taft presented his subject by
stating that the end sought in the ad-
4 ministration of justice was to promote
tranquility and contentment among the
people, 1t had, he said, long been
established that the supreme court of
] the United States was the ultimate ar
bitter of the great political and legal
issues, deciding upon the limitation of
both the legislative and executive
branches of government which had car
| ried the usefulness of the courts be-
yond anything attempted in other coun-
tries Notwithstanding this desirable
situation Mr.. Taft expressed doubt
| that our present administration of jus
tice insured general popular satisfac-
ton with its results.
LYNCHING DUE TO WEAK LAWS
There are" he said: abundant evi-
dences that the prosecution of criminals
! has not been certain and thorough to
the point of preventing popular protest.
The existence Of lynching in all parts
of the country is directly traceable to
| this lack of uniformity and thorough
ness in the enforcement of our criminal
| laws.
The present is a time when all our
/ institutions are being subjected to a
close scrutiny. with view to the de-
| termination whether we have not now
tried the institutions upon which mod
ern society rests to the point OF PROV
ing that some of them should be rad
icaIly changed. The chief attack is on
the institution of private property and
is based upon the inequalities of the
/ distribution of wealth and human han
piness that are apparent in our present
i system. / believe that the institution
of private property. next to that of per-
sonal liberty, has most TO do with the
/ uplifting and physical and moral i'm
i provement of the whole human race.
! but that is not inconsistent with the
rights of private property to impose
Limitations upon its uses for unlawful
purposes, and that this is the remedy
! Continued ON Page q Column