The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-03-17

OF New York, and Mr.. Ro0eevelt's
secretary during his seven and half
years in the white house; or Sena-
T. Henry Cabot Lodge Of Massachu-
- M>ne Of the colonel's most inti-
e., nal friends: These men men
aswanss sest esstkz, 1ssS . be invaded Sse the
African jungle f
Mr.. Roosevelt win not wait long af-
ter returning to this country to give
his judgment Of President Taft and
his administration and It will te ia
vorable. Newspapers and other pub
locations have endeavored to extract
from him q statement, Of his views for
publication before his home coming,
but he has consistently refused to be
drawn into any such discussion pre-
maturely. Nearly every one of the
American correspondents who hur-
ried across Europe and up the Nile
to meet him at Khartoum, or even be-
fore he reached that point, hoped to
be able to induce him to talk politics
or, at least, to cajole him into saying
"just a word" to indicate his impress
sion of developments at Washington
since his departure a year ago.
Guards Against Premature Talk
But they were all doomed to dis
appointment, and even before the van
guard Of correspondents met him
couple Of days ago, Mr.. Roosevelt had
prepared q statement reafirming his
purpose not to be quoted on politics,
and branding as fakes any interviews
on the subject purporting to be CIV
en- out by him in the future. In this
way he serves notice upon the Ameri-
can public that any statement he
makes will be over his own sigma
ture and under such circumstances
as to make the authority indisputable.
There is multiplicity Of reasons
why a garland OF crepe will be found
suspended on the door knob Of the
"Baciesfronf Eliza club" carly, In the
summer. First Of all, President Taft
Is earnestly engaged In the develop
ment Of the so-called Roosevelt poll
cies to their logical conclusion. Be-
fore the present session Of congress
is ended, the interstate commerce act
will be amplified even beyond the
recommendations made by Mr.. Roose-
velt while he was in the white house,
and the railroads Of the country will
be subjected to closer control by the
federal government than ever before.
Even their future issues Of stock and
bonds will be subject to the supervis-
ion Of the interstate commerce COM
mission-a method Of preventing
wholesale watering of stock, which
Mr.. Roosevelt sought in vain to pre-
vent.
President Taft's course, with respect
to the control Of large corporations
other thap railroads, has been in con-
sonance with the. policy of his pre-
decessor In this regard. The most
important decisions under the Sher-
man law ever handed down by the
United States supreme court, are ex-
pected to be promulgated before the
tribunal recesses for the summer.
These DEGREES will determine whether
the Standard Oil company can con-
tinue to do business in the old way.
And, upon the decision in these cases
will depend the fate of scores of other
combinations which, in their organi-
zation, were patterned after the oil
and tobacco trusts.
But during the first year Of the Taft
administration something brand new
has been written into the federal
statutes appertaining to corporations.
This is the tax of one per cent on
their net incomes, and this enactment,
which is part of the new tariff law,
gives the federal government an in
sight into the affairs of corporations
which 1t has never had, but which
Mr.. Roosevelt hoped some day it would
have. Mr.. Taft is also urging the
federal incorporation of corporations,
and the scope of this plan is more
comprehensive than the federal char
ter scheme advocated by his prede-
cessor.
True to Conservative Policy.
Next we come to conservation Of
national resources, and here, per-
haps, may be detected the origin or
inspiration of the Back from Elba"
movement. Regardless of the outcome
of the investigation of the general
land Office and the forestry bureau,
which the joint committee of the SEN
ate and house is now conducting; ir-
respective also of the merits of the
Ballinger-Pinchot controversy, it is
difficult to comprehend how any ra-
tional, fair minded man can discover
radical difference between the policy
pursued by President Taft with re-
spect TO the public domain, and that
followed by President Roosevelt.
Clifford Pinchot, enthusiast and ci l.
sader, actually precipitated his de-
position as chief forester because Mr..
Taft would not humor him to quite
the same extent az did Mr.. Roosevelt.
Possibly Mr.. Pinchot will be able to
disclose something to the detriment
of Secretary Ballinger although the
committee will be the Judge of that.
But even the most jealous conserva-
tionists have not yet charged Mr.. Taft
with abandoning the conservation
policy of his predecessor.
Public savings banks. the esteblirh-
ment of which President Roosevelt
Continued ON mage 2.