The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-12-01
In an Authorized Interview the
President Reviews His Work
And Indicates His Plan for Re.
mainder of Term.
COURSE is JUSTIFIED.
Stands by WinOna Speech and
Would Repeat 1t.
With Perhaps a Slight Change
in PhraseOlogy.

New York. Dec. In the current
issue of the Outlook there appears an
article entitled. President Taft's own
View. an authorized interview" in
which the president discusses current
topics with an interviewer as follows
in part:
Speaking of the tariff issue. Mr..
President. if you could begin your add
ministration again. would you repeat
your winona speech tomorrow the
interviewer asked.
In phraseology, no. in effect. yes
Had 1 known as much then as ] do
now, / should have realized that there
are some things one cannot leave to be
taken for granted. dictated that
speech TO a stenographer ON the ears
between two stations and glanced
through it only enough To- straightcn
its grammar; il was sent out by the
press with spOudingly little cerc-
mony, SO that the papers received il
in all sorts of shapes. II ! had pre-
pared 1t two or three weeks before and
revised It deliberately as / ought to
nave done, ] should have clarified Sow
eral passages. And, particularly. /
should have changed the sentence
where ! proclaim the Payne tariff act
the best ever passed. The comparative
would have been better description
than the superlative. for. whatever its
shortcomings, the act still contains less
to be criticized than its predecessors.
ana IL AlQ. as "a WnpIH- revise the exist
ing schedules downward.
Doesn't Blame Democrats
Il had no fault to find with either
Democrats or insurgents for trying To
reduce any duties they chose: what /
object 10 is disturbing the business Of
the country today. when there is moth
ing better than guess work To proceed
upon, and hen disturbing il afresh six
months later when the best available
information is before us. do not Join
in the charge Of Inconsistency against
the Democrats for compromising with
La Toilette on the wool schedule instead
of standing by their own figures. If
they could rot get all the reduction they
asked for they We're quite justified I'm
taking what they could get. My chief
criticism on their tariff activities last
session was that they were willing TO
send to me legislation so crude and i'll
digested that they must have known.
If they had paused to think. that L
could not possibly approve it,
rs your tariff reduction program
based on the theory that # Will bring
about corresponding reduction IN the
cost of living
II think that that effect is greatly
overestimated. Ny chief objection to
q needlessly high tariff Is that IL nour-
fshes monopoly. 1t holds forth n CON
slant temptation to the formation Of
little trusts. which often are more di-
rectly oppressive to the consumer than
Mr.. President. there is your tariff
board. You have been sharply crit-
cized for making il up of men who arc
not tariff experts"
They Are Not Experts.
and that is true, they are not. "
! had been appointing a board Of tartn
experts | could not have got along
with less than %. in order to DO JUS
tce to all branches Of the subject
What undertook 10 do was to make
up a board OF trained Investigators
capable Of managing a thorough in
quiry into costs Of production and or
analyzing its elements. These men
made no pretense Of being tariff eN-
perts: they employ all the expert help
they need.
II fully realize. and 7 wish our poo
pie would. that the present prosperity
Of the treasury is due in no small
measure to the existing tariff. which.
not outstanding all its faults. Is a
revenue producer. There is a good
deal more that can be said for that
act. 1t gave us maximum ana
minimum tariff proviso which I deem
of the highest Importance and which
tended TO increase our foreign trade
substantially. IT gave free trade with
the Philippines, which has made the
islands more prosperous than ever IN
their history. without injury TO any
American industry. IT gave authority
that 7 used to create and appoint "A
tariff board, which, though not the
commission sought. is doing most
useful work; and it imposed a corpor-
alton tax on which ! had set my
heart. but which at times l despaired
of getting through
"Now that you have launched your
project for a constitutional amend
rnent, YOU probably have in mind some
particular form Of general income tax
to recommend to congress when II -
Believes in Income Tax.
I'm a way yes. I believe. on prn-
rspla i'm a general income tax. The
nriy good arprmcits against it are that
it IS inquisitorial and that 70 offers
temptation to perjury But ] would
not resort to the ordinary income tax
except in an emergency Ike war, when
I would have IT graduated, so that
those citizens who had most at stake
should bear a correspondingly large
share of the burden of the common
defense In time Of peace 7 would
avoid temptation 70 perjury and would
coufne the government to taxes that
do not involve such inquisitorial meth
DDS IN their collection.
Mr. President I suppose YOU have
noticed Mr.. Bryan's comments on your
appointment of Chief Justice white
"All that I have TO say about my
judicial aDpointmerts is that I have
regarded my duty in respect to them
as the most sacred with which I am
charged and that 7 have spared no
effort to secure for the supreme court
and other courts the best men I could
get
'Now. Mr. President. something Of
the future What do YOU purpose
treating az your calendar Of unfinished
business for the rest Of your term 80
Unfinished Business.
TN the domestic field. I suppose ro-
duetions in the wooden and cotton