The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-12-30
P(IfCD| Comment.
The Presidents Policies.

are cordial, and on that issue he says
nothing save what the newspapers
have been telling from day TO day.
The treasury deficits, which have
been with us several years, he be-
lieves will end in the fiscal year 1911.
Frauds in the collection of customs
duties in New York, on the part of
are referred to, and the government
officials are endeavoring to discover
the offenders, with a view to their
punishment. The imposition of the
maximum scale of duties of the Payne
act against the countries which dis
criminate against us, which is placed
within the discretion of the executive,
will, he thinks, lead to friendly nego-
tiation through which that scale will
not need to be enforced If, on care
full examination. the new tariff board
finds that the duties imposed by the
Payne act are excessive, under the
promise of the Republican platform of
1908, he will call the attention of
Congress to this fact aud urge action
thereon, but he will not do this I'M
less the divergence from the platform
pledge is marked He urges the crea-
ton of postal savings bank and the
granting of government aid to the
merchant marine, in the interest of
the establishment of regular lines of
vessels between our ports and South
America and the Orient
On the question of injunctions Mr.
Tafe makes a recommendation which
will attract attention. After quoting
the plank on that subject in the plat
form of 1908 he urges the enactment
of law forbidding hereafter the is
suing of any injunction. temporary or
permanent. by any federal court,
without previous notice and a rea-
sonable opportunity to be heard on
behalf of the parties to be enjoined;
unless it shall appear, to the salts
faction of the court, and the delay nee
essary to give such notice and hearing
would result in irreparable injury to
the complainant and he wants the
Judge to place his finding upon the
court minutes, with the reasons for
his act The practice of the federal
courts, in such cases as the President
has in mind, has been to refuse in
functions unless where the judges be-
lieved that irreparable injury might
be committed if they were withheld.
The Presidents recommendation here
is in line with the platform, but a
good many Republicans at the time
believed that the platform utterance
was unnecessary The effect of the
Presidents suggestion would be mere
ly to put the present procedure in the
statutes 1t must be remembered that
melody complains of the practice of
issuing injunctions without a hear
ing, except those who want to violate
some law, in letter or spirit. In all
such cases the hearing comes soon
after the granting of the injunction.
The party which is enjoined seldom
suffers any harm from the restraint
In the hearing before the court, which
is never delayed long after the grant
ing of the injunction, the enjoined
party has the privilege of getting a
full and fair hearing for his side.
The country. and especially the bust
ness element. looked for some sug-
gestions of modification of the Sher-
man antitrust law and the interstate
commerce act, in the message. Mr..
Taft makes none, but he says he viii
do so in special message. which will
be sent to Congress at the first con-
venient opportunity" This postpone
ment is wise. Both those statutes
touch industry at many points. The
interstate commerce law of 1887, with
the Hepburn amendment of 1906, are
spread over very broad space on the
statute book Both the original act
and its amendments attracted wide at
tention while they were before Con-
gress. The Hepburn amendment was
under discussion in the Senate for
several months. 1t was of vital in
terest to all the important railways
in the country Except as to its COM
modify clause the roads soon adjusted
themselves to it, On the whole il
has given fair degree of satisfaction
to roads, shippers and public 1t could
be modified at some points, however.
with advantage to shippers and people.
One of the most important pieces of
legislation since the Civil War days
was the Sherman antitrust act of 1890
That law has done a vast service to
the country. Some of the ablest men
who have been in Congress in the
past half century-Sherman Allison
Edmunds, Aldrich, Morrill,, Spooner
Hoar, Dawes and Frye among them
aided in shaping that act Trade con-
ditions have changed materially in the
nineteen years since it was framed by
that Republican Congress and signed
by President Harrison, but, in general
the law has proven comprehensive and
elastic enough to meet most of the
demands which have arisen in this
time. On some points notifications
would undoubtedly be advisable, but
whatever changes are to be made
should be considered with great care.
The country will await with interest
Mr.. Tafts suggestions on the inter-
state commerce and antitrust acts
St Louis Globe-Democrat.
Tempoy t-utantur.
A certain you.5 saan. wishing to be
very thrifty, Quit eating meat Frank
lin abstained from meat" quoth he.
"and so will l.
But he didn't stop TO consider how
prices have gone up since Franklin's
day. and especially within the last few
years. The result was that when he
hadn't eaten meat for about six
months he was so much money to the
.xooI 4hot l,o loct hic bpuH and hoao mo