New-York tribune., 1908-07-29
TAFT'S SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE


Senator Warner and gentlemen of the commit
tee: 1 am deeply sensible of the honor which the
Republican National Convention has conIerIgu co1I
tender I accept it with full appreciation of the
responsibility il imposes
Republican Strength in Maintenance of Roose-
welt Policies.
Gentlemen, the strength of the Republican
cause in the campaign at hand is IN tne iace
that we represent the policies essential 10 tne
reform of known abuses TO the continuance OF
liberty and true prosperity and that we are oe
tern1ined, as our platform unequ1VocahN ue
clares, to maintain them and carry them on on;
For more than ten years TINS country Poe
through epoch of material development idr
beyond any that ever occurred in the Worlo pe
fore. In its course certain evils .crept IN.
Some prominent and influential members OF the
community, spurred by financial success ana
in their hurry for greater wealth, became un-
mindful of the common rules of business nom
esty 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 determinations 9S
railways, the accumuating evidence OF the Nlo-
lation Of the antitrust law by NUMBER OF cor
porations, the overissue of stocks ana ponds on
Interstate railways for the unlawful enrichng
of directors and for the purpose of concentrat-
ing control of railways in one management an
quickened the conscience of the people anu anu
brought on a moral awakening among them
that boded well for the future of the country.
What Roosevelt Has Done.
The man who formulated the expression of the
popular conscience and who led the movement
for practical reform was Theodore Roosevelt.
He laid down the doctrine that the rlch Vlolatof
OF the law should be as amenabe to restraint
and punishment the offender without wealth.
and without influence. and he proceeded by rec
ommending legislation and directing executive
action to make that principle good in actual per-
formance. He secured the passage of the so
called rate BILL designed more effectively to re-
strain excessive and fix reasonable rates and to
punish secret rebates and determinations. which
had been general in the practice of the railroads,
and which had done much TO enable unlawful
trusts to drive out of business their conpetl-
tors. It secured much closer supervision of
railway transactions and brought within the
operation of the same statute express companies.
sleeping car companies fast freight and refrig-
orator lines, terminal railroads and pipe lines,
and forbade in future the combination Of the
transportation and shipping business under one
control in order to avoid undue discrimination
President Roosevelt directed suits to be
brought and prosecutions to be instituted under
the antitrust law 10 enforce It's provisions
against the most powerful of the industrial cor
porations. He pressed to passage the pure food
law and the meat inspection law in the interest
of the health of the public, clean business meth
DDS and great ultimate benefit to the trades
themselves He recommended the passage of a
law. which the Republican convention has since
specifically approved, restricting the future is
sue of stocks and bonds by interstate railways
to such as may be authorized by federal
thority- He demonstrated to the people by
what he said. by what he recommended to Con-
greSs and by what he did the sincerity of his
efforts to command respect for the law to Sc
the country from the dangers OF a plutocratic
government. toward which were fast tend
ing. In this work Mr. Roosevelt has had the
support and sympathy Of the Republican party
and its chief hope of success in the present con-
troversy must rest on the confidence which the
people of the country have in the sincerity Of
the party's declaration in its platform, that II
intends to continue his policies.
Necessary to Devise Some Means of Perma-
nentIy Securing Progress Made.
Mr.. Roosevelt has set high the standard Of
business morality and obedience to law The
railroad rate bill was more useful possibly in
the immediate moral effect of it's passage than
even in the legal effect of its very useful provi-
sions From its enactment dates the voluntary
abandonment Of the practice of rebates and dis
ordinations by the railroads and the return by
their managers to obedience to law in the fixing
of tariffs. The pure food and meat inspection
laws and the prosecutions directed by the Presi-
dent under the antitrust law have had a similar
moral effect in the general business community
and have made 1t now the common practice for
the great industrial corporations to consult the
law with n view TO keeping within its provisions
1t has also had the effect of protecting and en-
courag1ng smaller competitive companies so that
they have been enabled to do a profitable bust
ness.
But should be blind to the ordinary work
ing Of human nature if we did not recognize
that the moral standards set by President
Roosevelt will not continue to be observed by
those whom cupidity and a desire for financial
power may tempt unless the requisite machin-
cry is introduced into the law which shall in its
practical operation maintain these standards and
secure the country against a departure from
them.
Chief Function of Next Administration TO ClincE
What Has Been Done.
The chief function Of the next administration.
in my Judgment, is distinct from and pro
gressive development Of that which has been
performed by President Roosevelt The chief
function of the next administration is to com
plete and perfect the machinery by which these
standards may be maintained, by which the
lawbreakers may be promptly restrained and
punished but which shall operate with sufficient
accuracy and dispatch to interfere with legiti-
mate business little possible. Such ma
chinery is not now adequate Under the present
rate bill and under ali its amendments the
burden of the Interstate Commerce Commission
in supervising and regulating the operation of
the railroads Of this country has grown SO heavy
that it is utterly impossible for that tribunal
TO hear and dispose In any reasonable time of
the many complaints, queries and issues that
are brought before it for decision It ought TO
be relieved of its Jurisdiction executive.
directing body, and its functions should be lin
tied to the quasi judicial investigation of com
plants by individuals and by department Of
the government charged with the executive busi-
ness of supervising the operation of railways.
There should be a classification of that very
small percentage of industrial corporations hav-
ing power and opportunity to effect illegal
either inducing compelling them to subject
themselves TO registry and to proper publicity
regulations and supervision Of the Department
Of Commerce and Labor
Constructive Work of Next Administration to
Organize Subordinate and Ancillary Machn-
cry to Maintain Standards One Hand, and
Not to Interfere with Business on the Other.
The field covered by the Industrial combna-
tions and by the railroads is very extensive
that the interests of the public and the interests
of the businesses concerned cannot be properly
subseryed except by reorganization OF bureaus
III the Department of Commerce and Labor, of
Agriculture and the Department of Justice, and
a change in the jurisdiction of the Interstate
Commerce Commission. 1t does not assist mat