The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-14

whole. As for the attack upon his in- functions in labor disputes, made while he was on the bench, I ask that the in- functions be carefully examined. I ask that every responsible and fairminded labor leader, every responsible and fairminded member of a labor organi- zation, read these injunctions for him. self. If he will do so, instead of con demning them he will heartily approve Of them and will recognize this fur ther astonishing fact that the princl- pies laid down by Judge Taft in these very injunctions, which laboring people are asked to condemn, are themselves the very principles which are now em- bodied in the laws or practices of every responsible labor organization. No re- sponsible organization would now hesi tate to condemn the abuses against which Judge Taft's injunctions were aimed. The principles which he tn ere in so wisely and fearlessly laid down serve as a charter of liberty for all of us, for wage workers, for employers, for the general public; for they rest on the principles of fair dealing for all. of even handed justice for all. They mark the judge who rendered them as standing for the rights of the whole people; as far as daylight Is from darkness, so far is such judge from the time>server, the truckler to the mob, or the cringing tool Of great, corrupt and corrupting corporations. Judge Taft on the bench--as since, in the Philippines, in Panama, in Cuba, in the war department--showed himself to be a wise, a fearless, and an up- right servant of the whole people, whose services to the whole people were beyond all price. Moreover, let all good citizens remember that he rem dered these services, not when 1t was easy to do so, but when lawless vio- lence was threatened, when malice. domestic and civic disturbance threat ened the whole fabric of our govern ment and of civilization; his actions sh owed not only the highest kind of moral courage but of physical cour- age as well, for his life was freely and violently threatened.
 Let all fairminded men, wage-work CTS and capitalists alike, consider yet another fact. In one of his decisions upon the bench Judge Taft upheld in the strongest fashion, and for the first time gave full vitality to, the principle of the employers liability for injuries done workmen. This was before any national law on the subject was en- acted. Judge Taft's sense of right, his indignation against oppression in any form, against any attitude that Is not fair and just, drove him to take a posi- tion which was violently condemned by sh short-sighted capitalists and employers of labor, which was so far in advance of the time that 1t was not generally upheld by the state courts, but which we are embodying in the law of the land. Judge Taft was a leader, a pioneer, while on the bench, in the effort to get justice for the wage workers in Jealous championship of his rights; and all upright and farsighted laboring men sh ould hold it to his credit that at the same time he fear lessly stood against the abuses of labor, just as he fearlessly stood against the abuses of capital. If elected, he has sh own by his deeds that he will be President of no class, but of the people as a whole; he can be trusted to stand stoutly against the two real enemies of our democracy against the man who to please one class would undermine the whole foun- dation of orderly liberty, and against the man who in the interest of another class would secure business prosperity by sacrificing every right of the work ing people.
 I have striven as President to cham pion in every proper way the interests 
 wage-worker, excepting only the farm CT, the tiller of the soil, as the man whose well-being is most essential to the healthy growth of this great na- ton. I would for no consideration ad- wise the wage-worker to do what I thought was against his interest. l ask his support for MT. Taft exactly as. ask such support from every far sighted and right-thinking American citizen; because I believe with all my heart that nowhere within the borders of our great country can there be found another man who will as vigilantly and efficiently as MT. Taft support the rights of the working man as he will the rights of every man who in good faith strives to do his duty as an Amer ican citizen. He will protect the just rights of both rich and poor, and he will war relentlessly against lawlesS- ness and injustice whether exercised on behalf of property or of labor. On the bench Judge Taft sho owed the two qualities which make great judge wisdom and moral courage. They are also the two qualities which make great President. Sincerely yours,
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
 MT. Conrad Kohrs, Helena, Mont