Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1910-02-19
REVIEWS PARTY PLATFORM
and Defends PARTY.
President Gives Answer to Wall Street
and Its Cry of Panic '-Seys Gov
eminent Aims to Strengthen the
Whole Commercial and Financial
Fabric-Fulfled Pledges.

lof the present methods OF conducting
business, and they must be changed to
conform to the law
This was President Taft s answer to
Wall street and it's cry of "Panicl'
1t was made to cheering audience of
hundreds of prominent republicans
gathered last night at the annual Lin
coin day dinner of the Republican club
of this city at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Mr.. Taft adhered to his purpose of
discussing platform pledges and how
they should be kept. 1t was at the
conclusion of detailed argument as
to how the republican party is redeem
ing its pledges that he came to dis
cussion of the antitrust law and Wall
street, on which his utterances had
been waited with greater interest
The president declared that the ad
ministratlon "would not foolishly run
amuck in business and destroy values
and confidence just for the pleasure
of doing 500
''No one," he continued, "has the
motive as strong as the administration
in power to cultivate and strengthen
business confidence and prosperity.
But there was no promise on the part
of the republican party to change the
antitrust law except to strengthen it.
OF course the government at Washing
ton can be counted on to enforce the
law in the best way calculated to pre-
vent more destruction of public con
fdence in business, but that it must
enforce the law goes without saying
President Taft did not hesitate to
discuss the attacks that have been
made upon the administration and the
party or the danger TO future success
in the insurgent movement and other
dissensions. Republicans who feared
defeat at the polls in November, he de-
clared, however, should take courage
from the demoralized condition of their
opponents, the democrats. "It was
Grant," said the president, "who ban
ished his own fear in battle by think
ing how much more afraid the enemy
was. -
Mr.. Taft again came to the defense
of the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill. He
did not hesitate, he said, to repeat that
it substantially complied with the
party pledges for tariff regulation, and
that, through this bill, the party had
"set itself strongly in the right direc-
tion, toward lower tariffs
Reviewing the party platform, the
president spoke of postal savings
banks, amendments to the interstate
commerce plank The anti-injunction
plank, statehood for Arizona and New
Mexico and the conservation of natural
resources, bills to carry all of which
promises into effect were pending in
congress, and he believed would be
passed.
Text of Presidents Speech.
President Taft said: "Mr. President,
Gentlemen of the Republican Club and
Fellow Guests:
''The birthday of the man whose
memory we celebrate tonight is an
appropriate occasion for renewing our
expressions of respect and affection
pledges to keep the part which il
plays in the history of this country
as high and as useful as it was during
the administration of Abraham Lincoln.
''rhe trials which he had to undergo
as president, the political storms which
the party had to weather during the
civil war, the divisions in the party
itself between the radical anti-slavery
element and those who were most con-
sentative in observing the constitu-
tional limitations, are most interest
ing reading and serve to dwarf and
minimize the trials through which the
republican party is now passing and
restore sense of proportion to those
who allow themselves to be daunted
and discouraged in the face of loss
of popular confidence thought to be
indicated by the tone of the press.
Creating Postal Savings Banks.
''The republican national platform
contained the following: 'We favor
the establishment of a postal savings
bank system for the convenience of the
people and the encouragement of
thrift.
GA bill has been introduced to estab-
lish a postal savings bank. The great
difficulty in the bill seems to have
Dttu W ODtdih PiOpOA PAoftoAOh 1OA
the management and investment of the
money deposited. The great advantage
of a postal savings bank is the en-
eouragement to thrift of those whose
fears of the solvency of any depository
except government depository tempts
them away from saving. A govern
ment promise to repay seems to be
specially effective in leading people to
save and deposit their savings.
''The machinery of the postofice de-
partment, with its 10000 postof1ices
and 10000 money order offices, offers
an economic and far-reaching machin-
cry in places remote from banks, and
among people who fear banks, who
but for this opportunity would not
save, but spend. The low interest Of
fered that of 2 per cent, prevents such
postal savings banks from interfering
with regular savings banks whose
rate of interest always is in excess of