New-York tribune., 1911-11-06
TRIP AIDED TAFT'S
POLITICAL FORTUNES
Though Not Undertaken for That
Purpose. That Was the
Result.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. VANISH
Presidents Chances of Re- cleo
tion Greatly Improved by His
Frank Explanations of His
Policies to the People.
rFrom The Tribune Bureau

Washington. Nov. What are tne
political results Of President Tafts long
tour Of the country? Probably no ques-
ton is asked SO frequently by those in
terested I'm national poltics-and who is
not? President Taft has greatly pro-
NOTED his chances Of reelection by his
13OOO-mile swing around the circle
He has talked To incalculablc thousands
Of his fellow citizens. he has heart
cned and encouraged his loyal support
ors, has i'm large measure disslpated or
disarmed criticism, and. incidentally ms
trip has served to explode the chimera
NJ insurgency In a word, the whole
tendency Of his trip has been to unite
and encourage the Republican party
When the special session Of Congress
adjourned on August 90 there was un-
oucstionably a great body Of Republi-
can. or possibly Republican, voters who
were dissatisfied with Mr.. Taft. Through
failure to comprehend the situations
which had confronted the President
and mislcd by the specious arguments
Of the Insurgents and their allies, the
"muckrakers." thousands of voters had
gained the impression that as Chlet
Executive Mr. Taft was a failure. Some
had been sorely disappointed with his
ettitudo toward the Payne tariff bill
and their disappointment had been IN
creased rather than diminished by the
VYinona speech. Others had been SoreIy
misled by the misrepresentations of the
Insurgents regarding the railroad rate
bill introduced in the first session OF the /
last Congress.
Stu others believed that in vetoing /
the tariff bills Of the last session the I
President had been actuated by an un- !
due solicitude for the protected inter |
ests. and. finally. there was a considera-
Lle number who had permitted them
selves TO be duped into the belief that |
MIR. Taft had surrounded himself by men |
wholly in sympathy with big business
and that. i'm contradistnction to the
Roosevelt administration, the sympathies
and affiliations Of this administration /
we're with vested wealth rather than
with the great body Of the people. These
varied NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. the Presidents |
long tour has served TO dissipate
~ is no cxaggcration TO say that hun
drcde OF thousands OF Mr.. Tafts fellow !
citizens have been impressed with his |
rorroct sincerity. his mfinching courage |
and his broad craftsmanship, and that |
nr the number so convinced no neon
siderable portion was, for one reason or /
auotber either hostile or Indifferent TO !
tho President before he made the trip /
As a result Of the trip tens Of thou
sands Of people. especially in the West !
have been led to ask themselves if they /
have not Judged too hastily and are dis !
roeod 10 reply in the affirmative al /
though they want further and concrete |
rroof before they will become enthu-
siastic supporters of President TAFT /
MANY Of them are in what has been
termed "the Missouri attitude" They
,,ont 10 believe. but they also want to
NO shown. They have listened to Mr.
vaft's explanation of his veto messages
with attention. and have been favorabiy
IMPRESSED. Now they want the Presi-
dent to show them. at the approaching
session OF Congress, that he IS all they
would like to believe.
Tariff Policy Clearly Defined.
First and foremost came the question
,f inc tariff. President Taft has ex-
rlaiued why he could not approve the
tariff bills Of the last session. lie mas
outlined his policy with regard TO the
Tariff Board lie has expressed the
conviction that tho reports Of that board
am the wool. steel and cotton schedules
will point to- the necessity of revision
DOWNWARD. and has promised TO make
,,com~rcrdations to Congress in accord
ancc with the reports now i'm process OF
prcpsratiou. First ON the character oi
his recommendations and secondly OH
tne success of his efforts TO secure re-
vision viii depend the pcrmancncy of the
eood impression hc has made on the
couufr.,- Mere recommendations, lOgl-
canv supported and expressed with all
due consideration for the independence
of TN, legislative branch of the govern
mcut. viii not prove sufficient
TN. great body Of the people, rightly
or wrongly. have come TO regard Con-
gress as q Iaggard where the interests OF
tho people arc concerned, and to look
10 the Executive so exert all the force
necessary to compel the national Legis-
lature to DO its plain duty only con-
yiction that President TAFT is eXertinS
every ounce Of energy he possesses To
procure for the Consumers relief from
the cxtortion they believe Congress
practisa1 On them when it passed the
P1yue bill will convert the impression
of a vast number Of voters into con-
yction that William Howard TAFT IS
prc-omiueutly the man 10 preside over
the affairs Of the nation for another four
years This is 40 argument, mind you,
for the correctness Of the popular view.
II is merely a perfectly frank statement
Of the opinion Of popular sentiment
which / formed while accompanying the
President on his long trip from the At
hntic 10 the Pacific and back again.
il has been said that President Taft
merely explained his reasons for Vetoing
the tauG bills Of the last session. Those
who make this statement ignore one Of
his most important declarations in con-
rection with the tariff He defined his
tariff policy as one which made it i'm
possible for him TO approve any tariff
bin without adequate Information as to
It's effect on American industries aud IN
this connection hc issued fair warning