The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-12
MIR. TAFT SPENDS DAY QF FEAS7|NG AuSpicious Feeding Is Principal
 Occupation HE MAKES A FULL HAND 'Possum and 'Taters, Barbecue and oratory Make Gadder an Idea,
 June-Like Day in
 Augusta.
HE MAKES A FULL HAND

Augusta, Ga., January D.-AuSp1ctouS feeding was the principal occupation to- day of the President-elect. He did full 1 justice this afternoon to the most famous of the wldely-reputed barbecues of Charles S. Bohler, given on his exten- siye cotton plantation, about ten miles from town, and tonight he faced a spread of 'possum and 'taters, besides a menu of heavy dimensions, as the guest of the local bar association. MT. Taft had to divide the honors. At the barbecue ne distinguished himself by eating, while at the banquet he went noticeably light on the food but came in strong on the ora tory.
 The barbecue party consisted of about 30 distinguished guests from Augusta, in cluding c. P. Taft his wife and daugh- ter, Mrs. W. H. Taft, MT and Mrs. John Hays Hammon, Frank H. Hitchcock and others. There were barbecued chickens, lambs and pigs stuffed potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, salads and hash and pud- dings, all served in the open, with the weather like June days of the north.
 It was nearly banquet time when MT. Taft got back from his heavily laden board, and he remarked with some feel Ing that sleep was really what nature craved. However, always at nome, and more than usual at his ease among law yers. his after-dinner speech was a med ley of interesting comments on law and the legal profession. He described the attractions of the lawyers life, and of the life of the judge, and expressed his regret on leaving that life He spoke of the importance of the lawyers to the community in which he lived, the neces- sity of enforcing the law, and of the dire results of a laxness in this direction.
 It was MT Taft's remarks on the su- preme court of the United States, how l ever, that attracted the keenest attention. l He described this body and the weight and importance which attach to it's de- cisions, as a new element is1 civilization. The United States, he said, was the orig inator of a court of last resort, whose mediation and settlement of fundamental disputes was accepted as final It's bene- fits were apparent, and its usefulness was a growing one, particularly in the settle ment of constitutional questions. It was true, he said that we had gone to war once through ignoring this tribunal.
 The unique position MT. Taft found him. self in during the recent campaign of hay ing to defend himself on the stump for decisions he had rendered on the bench. was a subject he discussed with no lit- tie interest. This. he believed, was the first instance of the kind on record.
 Mir Taft paid feeling tribute to the south as he has found 1t on his present visit, with its preponderance of hospital ity and good fellowship. all of which he has enjoyed to the utmost.
 Other speakers of the evening were Judge Emory Speer of the federal ju- dietary; Judge B. H. Hill of the state judiciary. and Judge Henry C. Hammond of the local state Judiciary
 MT. Taft's Address.
 In his speech MT Taft asserted that the supreme test of our present civiliza- ton was to come in the present and the two succeeding decades in the form of survival or destruction of the right of private property. He regarded this right as essential to civilization as the right of liberty and said the tests of the law yers and courts would come on this ques- tion.
 We have reached the time when we must recognize certain limitations" MT. Taft continued, which previous condi- tions did not require assertion of in the form of statutory law, upon the use of private property wherever 1t is represent ed in combinations of capital. We must recognize today that those combinations may be hurtful and 1t must fall to our profession with arguments in courts by lawyers and by the judges themselves by the arguments of lawyers in the leg islatures, to lay down the line of limita- ton which shall interfere as little as possible with the individual freedom of property on the one hand and shall stay the progress toward injurious comb0a- ton and injurious monopoly on the other
 'f believe this to be a lawyers ques- tion and a problem that must be worked out, not through contentious, not through mere rhetoric or eloquence, but by the careful consideration of the limitation as it shall be settled in the statute and in- terpreted by the court.
 Question for Lawyers.
 This problem is now on and therefore I state 1t with considerable solemnity and seriousness. We have got to work it out more or less by experiment, but in that working out we have got to de- pend upon the clear-headed lawyers, both at the bar on the bench and In the leg islature. to reach successful solution. And I have no doubt it will De done"
 MT. Taft spoke at some length re- gardIng his complete happiness in his legal work and expressed regret that he had to give it all up to become mere executive" He mentioned the responsi- bility he should feel as the incumbent in the White House in the appointment of federal judges. In this connection he gave what he considers the qualifications required of men for the bench, mention ing the quality to hear both sides of case impartally and to make the desire apparent, for" he added, "the appear ance of justice is almost as necessary in these days when courts are attacked I don't know whether these days differ from other days in that respect-the ap- pearance of justice is only less in inn portance to doing actual justice.'
 Fail of Election.
 I.-,ohh,rg Va January ii IA fter a