Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-03-12
TAFT TELLS POLICIES;
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
New President Declares Inten.
ton to Garry on Roosevelt
Reforms.
REVISE ANTI TRUST LAWS
Business Must Be Assured Measure Of
Stability-For Prompt Revision
of tho Tar

In his inaugural address outlined the
policies OF his administration in the
following words:
My Fellow Citizens-Anyone who takes
the oath | have just taken must feel a
heavy weight of responsibility. It not, he
has no conception of the powers and du-
ties Of the office upon which he Is about
10 enter, or he is lacking In a proper sense
OF the obligation which the oath imposes.
The office of an inaugural address Is TO
give q outline OF the main poll
cies OF the new administration so far as
they can be anticipated. / have had the
honor to be one OF the advisers of my
distinguish predecessor, and as such to
hold up his hands In the reforms he has
initiated. / should be untrue to myself, to
my promises and to the declarations or
the party platform upon which i was
elected to office, II / did not make the
maintenance and enforcement OF those re-
forms a most important feature OF my ad-
ministration. They were directed TO the
suppression OF the lawlessness and abuses
OF power Of the great combinations or
capital invested In railroads and In In
.dustrial enterprises carrying on interstate
commerce.. The steps which my prede-
.cessor took and the legislation passed on
his commentator have accomplished
much, have caused a general halt In the
vicious policies which created popular
alarm, and have brought about In the
business affected a much higher regard
for existing law.
TO render the reforms lasting, however,
and to secure at the same time freedom
from alarm on the part of those pur-
suing proper and progressive business
methods. further Legislative and executive
action are needed. Relief OF the railroads
from certain restrictions of the antitrust
law have been urged by my predecessor
and will be urged by me. ON the other
hand, the administration is pledged to
legislation looking to a proper federal SUI
Dervision and restriction to prevent excess
slve issues of bonds and stocks by COM
panies owning and operating interstate
commerce railroads.
Then. too, a reorganization OF the de-
partment of justice, of the bureau of cor
porations in the department OF
and labor, and of the Interstate
commission, looking to effective co-opera-
zion of these agencies, Is needed 10 secure
a more rapid and certain enforcement OF
the laws affecting interstate railroads and
sndustrial combinations
Plans for Law Revision.
hope to be able 20 submit, at the first
regular session OF the incoming congress,
In December next, definite suggestions in
respect to the needed amendments OF the
antitrust and the interstate commerce
law, and the changes required In the ex-
ecutlve departments concerned In their
enforcement.
It is believed that with the changes TO
30 recommended, American business can
he assured of that measure of stability
and certainty In respect to those things
that may be done and those that are pro-
hibited, which Is essential to the life and
IOWAI Va oil III DhS q RlcIA lilaSk
include the right of the people to avail
themselves Of those methods OF combining
capital and effort deemed necessary to
reach the highest degree of economic eff
cheney. at the same time d~ifferentiating
between combinations based upon legiti-
mate economic reasons and those formed
with the intent Of creating monopolies and
Rrtificially controlling prices.
The work of formulating into practical
shape such changes Is creative work OF
the highest order, and requires all the de-
liberation possible in the interval. l be-
Iieve that the amendments TO be proposed
are Just as necessary In the protection OF
legitimate business as in the clinching Of
She reforms which properly bear the name
A matter OF most pressing Importance
is the revision Of the tariff. In accord
ance with the promises of the platform
upon which | was elected. I shall call
congress into extra session, to meet on
the 18th day OF March, In order that con-
sideration may be at once given to a bill
revising the Dingley act. This should Sc
cure an adequate revenue and adjust the
duties in UGH a manner as to afford to
labor and to all industries in this country,
whether of the farm. mine or factory,
protection by tariff equal to the difference
between the coast Of production abroad
and the cost of production here, and have
a provision which shall put into force.
upon executive determination of certain
facts, q highe or maximum tariff against
those countries whose trade policy toward
us equitably requires such discrimination
II is thought that there has been such a
change in conditions since the enactment
of the Dingley act, drafted on a similarly
protective principle, that the measure Of
hhe tariff above stated will permit the re-
auction of rates In certain schedules and
will require the advancement of few, IL
any.
Prompt Tariff Revision.
The proposal to revise the tariff made
In such an authoritative way as to lead
ehe business community TO count 'upon 1t,
t. IA oil Ahnon 49,. -
business directly affected, and as these
are most important, 1t disturbs the whole
business of the country. 1t is imperatively
necessary, therefore, that a tariff bill be
drawn in good faith In accordance with
promises made before the election by the
party in power, and as promptly passed
as due consideration will permit. 1t is
not that the tariff is more important In
the long run than the perfecting of the
reforms In respect to antitrust legisla-
ton and Interstate regulation,
but the need for action when the revision
of the tariff has been determined upon, Is
more Immediate to avoid embarrassment
of business. To secure the needed speed
In the passage of the tariff bill, II would
seem wise to attempt no other legislation
at the extra session. l venture this as
a suggestion only, for the course TO be
taken by congress-, upon the call of the
executive Is wholly within its discretion.
In the making of a tariff bill, the prime
motive is taxation, and the securing there
by of a revenue. Due largely to the bust
ness depression which followed the fnan-
cial panic OF 1907, the revenue from cus-
toms and other sources has decreased to
such an extent that the expenditures for
the current fiscal year will exceed the re-
ceipts by 500, 600, 0o. 1t is imperative that
such a deficit shall not continue, and the
trainers of the tariff bill must Of course
have In mind the total revenues likely
TO be produced by IL. and so arrange the
duties as to secure an ~adequate income.
Should IL be impossible to do so by i'm
port duties, new kinds of taxation must
be adopted, and among these l recommend
a graduated Inheritance tax, as correct In
principal and as certain and easy of col
lection.
The obligation on the part of those re-
sponsible for the expenditures made TO
carry on the government, to be as eco
nomical as possible, and TO make the bur-
den OF taxation as light as possible, Is
plain and should be affirmed In every dec
i~aration of government policy. This Is
especially true when we are face TO race
with a heavy deficit. But when the de-
sire to win the popular approval leads
to the cutting off OF expenditures really
needed to make the government effective.
and to enable 1t to accomplish It's proper
objects, the result Is as much to be con-
demned as the waste OF government FUNDS
in unnecessary expenditure. The scope OF
a modern government In what II can ana
ought to accomplish for Its people mas
been widened far beyond the principles
laid down by the old laissez faire schooi
of political writer's, and this widening has
met popular approval