Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-14
TAFT ENTHUSED
BY HOSPITALITY
SOUTH GENEROUS lNWELCOME
TO NEXT PRESIDENT
THREE STATES EXTEND CORDIAL
GREETINGS TO TRAVELLER
Warns Audience at Hattiesburq to
Beware of UnWarranted CritI-
cisms of Panama Canal
Builders"

BIRMINGHAM. Ala. Feb. 13.-
Talking through louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama, President-elect Taft to-
day had the qualification of being
heartily received by large and enthu-
siastic crowds who had not voted for
him.
Several times he made his apprecia-
ton plain. AT the same time he left
a touch of irony as a reminder that
his predictions had surely come true,
and not only did the south seem will
ing to accept him as their president,
but his greatest desire was to be the
president of every man, woman and
child in the nation.
There was one other burden on the
Taft mind today-a desire to show ut
ter contempt for what he termed the
baseless and hurtful criticisms of the
work being done on the Panama canal.
The geniality of the Taft smile may
be seen in this sentence in his address
at Hattiesburg, Miss: ~<
Delighted to Be President
81 am delighted to say to you that I
am your president, and you cannot
help it, and if ever an opportunity
comes again to show it it will crafty
me to come down here to Hattiesburg,
named after, I doubt not, a beautiful
WOIIld1l5 dl1U Say W IuC pSOplG OI hat
tleSburg, Come up to Washington and
we will give you the right hand of fell
lowship and will show you that you
own just as much of the White House
and have as much right to call on the
president-and, indeed, on the woman
who occupies it and runs it-as any
! body
The canal remarks of Mr.. Taft were
delivered in an unusually aggressive
manner
''The Panama canal is going to be
built he declared, "and what I want
| you to do and what 1 want every
American citizen to do is to stand by
the men who are building it. Don't
set fire in the rear, don't distrust the
men who are giving up their strength
and energy and enterprise to put that
great work through.
Stand Behind Agents
when you have agents who are
| doing your work you stand behind
them.
"If you don't you cannot get your
work done. The men who do your work
are entitled your help and conf
dence, and you ought not to allow
yourselves to be led astray by bum
comb speeches in the house of repre-
sentatives or by headlines in sensation
al newspapers and go back on the men
lIldI are UOlUS your Work.
II don't care whether you are Dem
ocrats or Republicans, you want the
work done, and when the army en-
gineers who are doing this work are
giving all their time to it you are not
men to go back on them or to believe
every idle story that comes from the
mouth of some idle politician who is
seeking to make himself prominent or
to give himself the advertisement Of a
H1T1fn 1nd
ment.
''That work is being done honestly
l know what 1 am talking about. 1t
will be built and all the wind opposi-
tion that comes merely from a desire
to exalt and exploit the man who
makes himself responsible won't OBJ
struct it.
Knows What People Want
81 know what the people of the
United States want in that regard, and
in so far as have power, as the execu-
tive of this country, am going to push
that work, and I am going to stand
behind the men who are doing it. And
now, gentlemen, you have got me into
more heat than expected but thank
you very much for your welcome"
There was a cordial Ieavetaking at
New Orleans this morning. when the
Taft party departed. Slidell, La, turned
out the first crowd to greet the presi-
dent-elect, and from that time on he
was almost constantly on the rear plat
form of his train, expressing his pleas
ure at the crowds and talking to the
people.
Floral tributes, bonbons and two live
"billy possums" constituted the pre-
sentations of the day. The 'possums
were allowed to escape from their
wooden crates and take to the woods
at nightfall.
The two gigantic demonstrations of
the day were at Hattiesburg and Meri-
dian, while at Birmingham tonight
there was tremendous crowd.
Mr.. and Mrs Taft will reach Cincin-
natl tomorrow.