The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-08-24
1 al t Unalterably Op-
posed to "Nostrums
OF Reform. -
NATION FACES
GRAVE PROBLEM
Long, Hard Fight Is Ahead, but
Question Of Concentrated
Wealth Cannot Be Solved by
"Demagogues' and "Theo-
retical Extremists" Again
Pleads for Treaties.

rochester, n. " August 23.-On tho
eve OF his forty-day swing around the
c'fcie on which Republican leaders ox-
nect him to define the Issues for the
campaign Of 1912, President TAFT to-
hisht announced himself unaltera bly,
OPP csed to nostrums Of reform, winch
n declared "dcnogagues" and "thco-
fctcal extremists" have advanced Cor
'he solution OF the problem of con-
ceAtrated wealth in this country.
rho President spoke TO the Veterans
Of the 6. 4. r.. and in the struggle
"Ficf' they went through atty years
ago and the one which he said new
co1iionts this nation. he found a
striking anoIogy. although the strug-
Ele OF to-day. he declared, will lie
bl""diess. In the end. the President
slld, the peace-loving. straight-think
Ing people Of the country will lie vic
torious. bu; tho fight itself may I've
IN" longer because II will be fought
on 10 the end without hloodshed end
the roar OF the battlefield.
Cure Worse Thnn Disease.
Higher aims for the bctterment OF
society. these new evils growing out
OF the concentration of wealth, and
there combinations which. properly
controlled. are q great good in the
reduction OF the cost of production"
said the President, have invited from
the active minded of to-day sugges-
ti"rs OF remedies that are so cx.:crne
that the medicine TO many of US sa ans
worsc than the disease.
Those who are charged with the
responsibIlity and soScred with the
difficulties. md ourselves In the mid
die of the road resisting the tendency
- socialism on the one hand, and the
inertia Of reactionary contcntIncnt
Win present evils and ambition tcr
gro alter concentration OF financial pow
g. o. the other. but we are Gradu-
aug solving the problem.
The present does not bring IifR-
cC',i-s SO great as you had to ne
a1h overcome in 81. 1t may b.. :.
longer light, because 1t will not IN
vol'c violence OIL the shedding Of
blocc but II must and will be solved
peacefully and by the earnest effort
of tho levcl-headed, the practical and
the courageous among us. and by re-
duc!ng the influence of the deno-
Hoetcs and the theoretical extremists
on the one hand and the reactiorary
influence OF combinations OF wealth
on politics and progress on the other
Its resolution will be consistent with
the preservation OF our ancient ins,i-
tutions OF personal liberty and mi
vat. property under the Constitution.
The message that YOU bear. with your
experience and your success TO those
Of MS struggling now with the Prob
lem is that. however dark at times
the situation seems. so long as we
retain in this country a God fearing.
sober. intelligent people. We can count
In the long run upon their working
out safely and sanely the problems
set before them, no matter how mary
mistakes in the form OF nostrurls
they may have been led into hy the
speciousness Of half-baked theories CT
progress. no matter how often they
may have been defeated in their pur-
pose by the temporary success OF un-
due and corrupt influence OF conccn-
trated wealth"
From the moment he reached Roches-
ter at o'clock this morning until 9
o'clock tonight. when he left for Bey-
crly, the President was surrounded by
veterans. He stood on a reviewing
stand for more than two hours In the
morning, while thousands of old SOL
diers filed slowly by. Major General
Frederick D. Grant, Major Edgerton
and Commander in Chief Gilman, of the
Grand Army of the Republic. stood
with the President
Pleads for Treaties.
The President also discussed the gen.
oral arbitration treaties with Great
Britain and France. which the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee sought
10 amend. and which part of that com
mittee labeled breeders OF war"
President Taft made an earnest plea
for the ratification of the treaties by
the Senate in the same shape as they
were signed.
The President, in referring to objec :
tons that have been made against the
treaties, brought up a question OF in
terest to the South when he said:
with reference to the right to in
voive the United States in a controversy
over the obligation of certain Southern
states TO pay bonds issued during re-
construction, which have been repudi-
ated 1t is sufficient to say that such a
question would not come within the
treaty, for the treaty only affects cases
hereafter arising. and the cases of the