Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-07-08
Inn. TAFT SOUNDS
NCTE OF WARNING
Republican Party Must Live Up t.
Its Promises.
OR BECOME MINORITY PARTY
The President WaS speaking to YaIt
Alumni and Audience Stood Up
and Chebred the eentl-
tlmOnt.

New Haven. Conn.,, July 1.--Presi
dent Taft paused In tho course Of az
after dinner speech to 1900 graduates
Of Yale, gathered at the annual alumni
feast, to issue q serious note Of warn
ing to congress and to the leaders Of
the Republican party. The president
declared that II the party which placed
In him In power and so long had con
trolled the government failed to LIVE
up tc It's promises and the expectations
Of the people, 1t would be relegated tc
the position Of a minority opposition.
Mr.. Taft had been speaking humor
ously Of recollections Of his own col
lege days which made his sudden
change to a serious tone Of the import
ant utterance upon national AFFAIRS oil
the more impressive. The president
spoke extemporaneously and his ut
terances a. to the duty Of the party
Of which he Is nominally the head
seemed the result Of q sudden Impulse
rather than Of studied intent.
Mr.. Taft made no effort to explain
his warnings. The Yale men caught
his meaning and the Significance Of
the remarks coming at this time Of the
tariff debate, however, and they stood
and cheered for several minutes. He
had been speaking Of Secretary Of War
Dickinson, a Democrat upon whom
Yale conferred an honorary degree.
He tainted the democracy with the
best of good humor as to its present
day condition, and this led him into
the declaration as to his own party.
After paying tribute to others upon
whom the University conferred hon.
orary degrees. the president came
down to Secretary Dickinson an said:
you went south Of the Mason and
Dixons line to get secretary Of war
to give a degree to. 1t is well that
you did because he is going to build
the Panama canal and other UNIVERSE
ties will follow where you got in early.
One Of the difficulties that has con-
fronted Brother Dickinson, out in Chi
sago, where he has a temporary resi-
dence, was q discussion a. to what con.
Stituted an orthodox Democrat and
when he really ought to be counted as
q Democrat, # he allowed himself to
60 Int q Republican cabinet Well,
when you come to discuss what is a
Democrat these days, you are present
cd with very much the same difficulty
that have before me now in giving
certain rules for the construction Of
the pure food law as to what whisky
Is. They say there is straight whisky,
and then there Is 'recitiHed' whisky
and then there is imitation whisky.
Now, speak with good deal of hest.
tation in saying whether my friend
Dickinson is q straight Democrat, or
, 'rectIfed' Democrat. / would not
dare to say in his presence that he
was an imitation Democrat.
"Now my dear friends in suggesting
differences among Democrats am
lar from ignoring some difficulties that
here are on our side. remember in
1904 that Mr.. Charles Francis Adams
gave what | may cali perfectly good
Adams reason for the election Of the
Democratic candidate over the Re-
publican candidate. He said that one
II the essentials Of . successful free
Iovernmont was in able, patriotic and
'nlcient opposition and that as the
osmocratic party had utterly failed In
'eaching that ideal he was in favor OF
,utting tho Republican party In that ,
lace. Nov venture to say that
vhile that may not be the reason,
Which shall move the American people. (
I ID true that II the Republican party !
lces mot live up to its promises and
That the people expect Of It, II wiz
70 relegated to . position like that Of ,
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