Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-10-10
TAFT'S SPOKANE SPEECH
IS GLITTERING GENERALITY
President Tells Washington
Voters Lots of Things He
Has Told Before
CBy Associated Press


President Taft's travels through the
west. The day was spent in northern
Idaho and eastern Washington, the
principal stopping places being Walla
Walla, Wash; Lewiston and Moscow,
Idaho. -
For many hours the presidential
train wound it's way through the IA /
NOUS Snake river canyon and from his
car window the president saw some of
the most unique farms in the entire
United States.
From the waters edge these farms
rose in rolling pillows, and hilltops on
either side of the canyon at some
places they seemed almost perpendicu-
lar. but everywhere was wheat stubDls.
indicating that he last crop of the year
had been safely harvested. All OF theS
farms were in the dry farming districtN
where thee rops are raised without the
aid of irrigation
Governor Hay, of Washington, met
the president at Walla Walla and ac-
companied him TO this city tonight.
The governor, in his introductory
speech of the day, declared himself in
favor of Mr.. Tafts denomination.
second interesting development was
the repetition by President Taft at
Lewiston of various portions Of his
Waterloo utterances on the relation of
the government to business
we have put the railroads under
control" he said, '.and they acquiesce
in it. For a time they were defiant
Now, under the steady work of con-
gress in increasing the power of the
interstate commerce commission, they
have realized that the whole people are
greather than any part of the people;
that the whole people if they move m
one direction and are determined tol
control and bring about a Just condi-
ton, are likely to win in the end how
ever often they may be defeated in
reaching that par. SO, too, with re-
speet to our trusts. The industrial
combinations that have controlled
prices are now under the antitrust act
and are beginning to feel the heavy
weight of theh and of the law"
RUST DECISION
The president then spoke of the Stand
ard Oil and Tobacco trust decisions of
the supreme court, referring to the
Standard Oil as "the Oldest Of trusts,
the one whimh had been established by
more acts of criminality and unlawful
ness than any other the one which did
more business abroad and was in that
respect the most useful. He referred
to the American Tobacco company as a
trust, devised by able, ingenious law
yers for the purpose of evading the
antitrust law"
There are other trusts in process of
operation, the president continued, "but
my own hope is that they will all recog-
nize that the Standard Oil and Tobacco
decisions were epoch-making decisions:
that they are bound to change the
course and tendency of business. If they
had not. gentlemen, l do not know
kI,f,.
would have been in a trust The only
rescue from that would have been state
socialism.
There are those who say that we
could get along without competition;
those who say you cannot live If we
have competition; who say it will de-
stroy everybody and therefore you have
got to have some arrangements by
which trusts can be made lawful We
lived by competition for centuries and
it was not until the last 80 years that
there developed this idea that we could
get along without it,"
Mr.. Taft declared his understanding
of American business was that compe-
titioD was desired and that there was
no desire that the state should take
over business and fix prices
Referring to the need of reform in
the currency system of the country, Mr.
Taft said:
CURRENCY REFORM.
There has been plan devised by the
monetary commission The plan has not
been agreed upon in detail, but it is
hoped that it will be so arranged that
neither Wall street nor the political
powers in the government will have in
fiuence in respect to the issue of cur
rency, to meet the demands of the mar
ket."
That we are going to have panies at
times" said thel president twill follow
the inevitable characteristic of human
nature that sometimes we spend more
than we have, sometimes we are waste
full and extravagant and We are brought
up standing to the thought that we have
got to save a little more money.
This is one kind of a panic; the 9TH
er proceeds from the artificial character
of our system of issuing money"
The president spoke of the prosperity
of the farmers and the hope of extend
ing the usefulness of the postoffice de-
partment through "a parcels post sys-
TEN.
THE PARCELS POST.
with the parcels post with rural free
delivery" he concluded, with the tele-
phone. the farm prices doubling every
ten years apparently the farmers will
of the United States win be found in
the country instead of In Wall street"
In introducing Mr.. Taft today at Wal
la Walla, Governor Hay said:
while politics should be eschewed in
a meeting OF this kind 1 cannot help
but refer to the fact, Mr.. President. that
it was a distinguished citizen of this
city who first champoned your nominal
ton as a candidate in 1908, Former SEN
ator Ankeney. and am pleased to say
to you, sir, that large majority of our
people in the state believe the prescrip-
ton that the senator recommended in
1908 should be repeated in 1912"
When the president rose to make his
reply he was laughing hugely.
IF, as the governor says. Senator An
keney recommended me as prescrip-
ton" he said land VOC need a second
dose, well, l will have to do the best
can to cure the disease you may have"
Arriving here, the president was escort
ed to the armory by automobile and