Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-06-19

and fearless in action and with that
intelligent leadership which has as
sured the establishment of a better
era i'll which the strong and the weak
alike must submit themselves to the
impartial execution of the law. There
was need of a strong, courageous spirit
to restrain those destructive forces
which have asserted themselves in
this time of growth and plenty. The
story of his achievements will make up
one of the brightest pages in the his
tory of this or any age and will prove
that today, as in any critical hour Of
social unrest or of danger, the man
will appear who can grapple with the
emergency.
Who so fit to take up the tasks
which this WondrOus generation de-
mands should be wisely and impartial
ly performed as his great War Secre-
tary? Since the day when, in Benja-
min Harrisons administration, these
two first met-the one as Solicitor
Geenral. the other as a member of the
Civil Service Commission-they have
been bound together by like ideals and
aims, by close ties of friendship, and
by the exchange of mutual counsel,
each with his own individuality and
characteristics keeping constantly in
view The ennobling vision of a better
and greater America. They have
not been satisfied that the Temple Of
Prosperity should be decked alone by
the jewels Of the fortunate and the
opulent, but have insisted that it
should still more abound in trophies
which a tho achievement
of even-handed justice and the MAIN
tenance of that equal opportunity
which spreads hope and blessing even
to the humblest home. Since the day
when. less than thirty years Of age,
Mr.. Taft denounced. with burning
words, a member of his profession who
had been guilty of fiagrant1y vicious
practices and had demoralized the
community, he has ever been as
ISOLATED with the cause of true re-
forthwith that reform which will not
content itself with academic dis
sertation or hollow words. He has
been imbued with the spirit of ac-
ton. His advocacy of sounder con-
ditions has never arisen from a desire
for the exploitation of himself. 1t has
always been based upon answering
integrity and the courage to speak the
truth, as he understands it, on all oc-
caSions, no matter how influential or
powerful the evils which he may at
tack.
No one has ever yet assumed the
presidential chair who had received
more ideal preparation for the duties
Of that great Office AS Judge in
ia ~
General, as Governor of the Philip
pines, as Secretary of War, which has
included the work of Colonial Secre-
tary and Director of National Public
Works, he has received his training
and has always shown himself master
of the situation and competent to
make more honorable and beloved the
American name. There have been
no years of inaction in his career. He
has been continuously engaged in
weighty tasks and each successive SER
vice has been characterized by an in
creasing influence upon most vital
questions.
In our domestic affairs, in whatever
position he has held, he has displayed
the rare union of a judicial tempera-
ment with an unsurpassed gift for adj
illustrative management. To him
belongs the extremely valuable fac
ulty of eliminating the non-cssential
from complicated problems and going
directly to their substance. His
capacity for work is enormous, yet
quite as helpful is his equable tenn
permanent, which will not allow the
annoyances of life to distract or ham
,,nr A1fhnnoh Of aoornccf1-,
personality, he possesses an infinit
good nature, a charm of manner and
a poise which have made him a mode
for exalted station. In the 11na'
analysis even the highest official
must be judged as men, and undo"
this criterion Secretary Taft is no
and will ever be known for his broa
sympathies with every grade of hu
mainly and as one invariably actuate
by that democratic spirit which Shout
characterize q progressive American
And yet no one can for a momen.
hesitate to recognize his severity j
dealing With wrong doing. While
honest enterprise need fear him, II
dishonest scheme could hope to hide
its face from the light or to escap
punishment.
More than any other Of our public
men he has had to do with our outly
ing dependencies and colonial relations.
1t was he who took in charge the
prosecution of that colossal enterprise
on the Isthmus, the canal uniting the
lesser and the greater oceans, and I'M
der his directing hand the completion
of this most stupendous Of public
works is no longer a vague and distant
hope, but an imminent reality. With
his ever-rcady skill as pacificator he
restored tranquility in the fertile Is
land of Cuba, SO often distracted by
civil strife. In the far-off Philip
pines. under blazing tropical sky, he
found people of many races and
tribes, degraded by centuries of mis-
rule and oppression; and there too he
not only established the rule of law
and local control in place Of confu-
sion and bloody strife, but showed the
way to seif-government. and new
recognition of the rights Of man. For
peoples and races, like individuals,
under the inspiration Of a friendly
guide, may lift their faces heavenward
and seek to climb the great worlds
CT air to hni Of