The Owyhee nugget. ([Silver City], Idaho) 1905-1984, 1908-08-28
REVIEW OF TAFT'S SPEECH
OF ACCEPTANCE.
By w. G. Thomson.

In the second paragraph he says,
1.-THE strength of the republican cause
in the campaign at hand is in the fact
that we represent the policies essential
to the reform of known abuses, to the
continuation of liberty and true pros
perity."
For forty years the republican
party has been practically in power. At
any time, almost, within that period,
that party could have enacted any rem
edial legislation desired. Every evil of
which the people are now complaining,
has grown up during that period. That
party has fastened upon the country a
tariff that enables the few to rob the
many. Instead of fostering true pros
perity, it has broughtabout an artificial
prosperity for the few at the expense of
the many. 1t has added hundreds of
recruits to the ranks of the millionaires
and thousands to the ranks of the pau
pers. With all its opportunity, if it is
the party of reform, it would have done
something besides merely to represent
the policies essential to the reform of
known abuses"
He says. "That for more than ten
years this country passed through an
epoch of material development far be-
yond any that ever occurred before"
He would have us infer that this great
development was due to wise and benef-
icent republican administrations The
fact is that this country is one of the
richest on the face of the earth in nat
ural resources, and the material devel-
opment of which he speaks, has been,
principally, the acquisition by already
wealthy individuals, by fair means or
foul, frequently aided by republican Of
ficeholders. and often shared in by them,
of the natural resources--coal, oil, land,
timber and water power. So great did
this evil become, and so evident, that
the president recently called confer
ence of the governors of the various
states to consider plans for the conser-
walton of those resources.
SIN its course certain evils crept in.
This became known"
When and how this became known
will probably remain mystery. For
at least two decades the democrats have
been testifying to the existence of these
evils But, of course, democrat is
not competent to testify in case where
a republican congress, the republican
party, or an individual of that praty is
on triall-But at all events it must have
become known prior to the recent ses-
sion of congress, and Notwithstanding
the fact that a republican president
urged upon that body the enactment of
legislation to eradicate those evils, moth
ing was done. 1t is the heighth of pre-
sumption for a party whose leaders
have SO signally ignored the demands
of the people to ask to be continued
in power.
Taft further says, "The man who
formulated the expression of the popu-
lar conscience, and who led the move
ment for practical reforms was Theo-
dore Roosevelt"
1t must be admitted that the president
did have something to do with impress
ing upon the minds of republicans the
contention made by the democrats for
years, that the people were being robbed
by the special interests, and arousing
in them determination to put stop
to such robbery. He awoke the repub-
licans to a realization of the fact that
they we're as much the victims of rob
Der tariff as were the democrats.
"He (Roosevelt) laid down the doc
trine that the rich violator of the law