Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1908-09-18
Why Not Speak for Yourself Bill?--
Says Bryan.

Why Not Speak for Yourself Bill?---
Says Bryan.
Baltimore, Md. Sept. IA few
plain, simple sentences from Mr.. Taft
will be worth more than the eulogy the
president pronounced. The presidents
endorsement is of no value unless the
president will agree to stay in Wash
ington and see that Mr.. Taft makes
good"
In thsse words Will am j. Bryan
summed up his opinion of the letter of
President Roosevelt, commendatory of
MIR. Taft. soon after the democratic
candidate arrived in this city.
'It was expected, of course said
Mr. Bryan, that President Roosevelt
would support Mr.. Taft. He could
hardly do less in view of the fact that
he selected him as the administration
candidate and supported him with all
the influence that the administration
could bring to bear. The presidents
letter. however, may be objected to as
irrelevent, immaterial and not the best
evidence. If Mr.. Taft were dead, it
would be interesting to know from
Mr.. Roosevelt what he knew of Mr..
Taft's opinions and work, and as Mr..
Taft is alive and able to speak for
himself, it is hardly necessary for Mr..
- roIf fo t<,n TT ~
do.
Mr.. Taft is running upon plat
form which was so unsatisfactory
that he had to amend it in several
important particulars, and yet even
as amended it gives the public no
definite idea as to what Mr.. Taft
stands for.
MIR. Taft also has made some speech
es and promises to make some more.
The ones he has already made have not
thrown any light upon the political
situation, but it is hoped that he will
yet conclude to define his position with
sufficient clearness to enable the pub
lie to know what he stands for. 1t is
not sufficient for the president to say
that Mr. Taft is friend of labor. That
is subject upon which the laboring
man is entitled to an opinion, and Mr.,
Taft's friendship is to be determined
not by the presidents endorsement,
but by the measures which Mr.. Taft
advocates.
Mr.. Taft believes that the labor
organization should come under the
operation of the antitrust law,
thus dealing with the men who be-
long to the labor organization as if
they We're merchandise, for the
antitrust law deals with the mo-
nopoly of the production of labor
'Mr. Taft is opposed to trial by jury
in cases of indirect contempt, thus de-
nying to the laboring man a safeguard
which is guaranteed to every man tried
in criminal court, Mr.. Taft does not
agree with the laboring man in regard
to the use of injunction in labor dis
putes. No words of praise from the
president can change Mr.. Taft's atti-
tude on this question, or make that at
titude more acceptable to the wage
earners.
"Mr. Taft's position on the trust
question is not changed by the presi-
dents endorsement. The president
himself has not succeeded in putting
any trust magnate in the penitentiary,
and only few of the trusts have been
disturbed. If Mr.. Taft is no more sue
cessful than the president in his attack
on the trusts, he will not satisfy the
expectations of the public. There are
more trusts in the country today than
there were when Mr.. Roosevelt was
inaugurated, and Mr.. Taft favors
weakening rather than strengthing of
the antitrust laws, for he has advocated
an amendment that will limit the ope-
ration of the law to unreasonable re-
straint of trade
ION the tariff question Mr.. Taft has
failed to express himself with clear
ness. The republican platform does
not use the word reduction. 1t only
promises revision, and Mr.. Taft has
construed that to mean that some
schedules would be lowered, and some
raised, but there is no intimation that
the average will be lower or higher
than it is now
"And so in regard to all the ques-
tons which are at issue; Mr.. Taft
must make his position known. He
cannot rely upon the presidents
endorsement. An endorsement on
note is not necessary if the ma
ker of the note is good, and the en-
dorsement is only good when suit
can be brought against the endors-
er to enforce it.
'1e Mr.. Taft had reform record of
his own he would not need to be en-
dorsed by the president, and the presi-
dents endorsement is of no value UNI
less the president will agree to stay in
Washington and see that Mr.. Taft
makes good. We ought to have some
definite statement as to what the pub
lie is to expect from Mr.. Taft. No
such definite statement appears in the
platform and no definite conclusion can
he draw from Mr. Taft'S cpaaohao ord