The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-21
Says People Are Living Too Fast in the Pres
 ent Age
DOES SHOPPING
 FOR CHRISTMAS
Speaks at Five Dinners and Lays Cornerstone of Home for the Blind Besides Receiving Many
 Political Callers

New York. December 2O.--President Taft left New York at midnight to return to the White House after 3U busy hours in New York, declaring at the last of several addresses which he made that one of the chief faults of this age is that people are living too fast.
 In his visit here the President spoke at five dinners, laid the cornerstone of new home for the blind, did Christ mas shopping and received many po- litical leaders as callers.
 The Presidents last speech was be- fore the New York Young Republican club at a dinner given in his honor. He arrived just as Senator Borah was scheduled to speak and listened at tentively to a stirring address by the western senator With language which the President later described as hay ing great force, imaginery and poetry Senator Borah flayed "flawless big bus mess" in way that brought demon- strations of applause. The President in his speech agreed with Senator Borah that the country had defects and it was the business of the people to overcome them
 "The chief of it's defects,' he said, lis the loss somewhat of that respect for law which we have inherited from across the sea. We have struggled with Congress and in prosperity have met harder tests than the Puritan met. It is true we do not hold the law as sacred as we should. I don't think we hold anything quite as sacred as we should" ''.
 The President pointed to the. ten dency of the age toward faster living and pleasure and from this turned to the necessity of improvement of crim- inal procedure Whatever the machin- cry is, 1t doesn't have the backing of public opinion" he said; "so long as we have headlines that make heroes of murderers, we are not. going to have the improvement we need.p
 Speaking in optimistic strain, the President continued:
 T am profound believer in party. Nothing has come in the way of real improvement in the history of our country that cannot be placed to party organization. Effective reform can be made but in two ways: Either inside the party or by the breaking up of the old party and the founding of a new one. The question of every man is, how the party to which he is attached, the material in it to carry out his ideas for reform, or is it necessary for him to joint new party to gain them? As I look into your faces I still have hope for the redemption of the repub- lican party. We have a condition in Washington which I hope will work itself out in such a manner that when the national issues come up next No vember things will have shaped them selves so clearly that everyone will know the principles which he can sup port.
 "The issue,'' he concluded. will be de- cided by the votes of the sovereigns of this country
 In good humor even for him, Presi- dent Taft joined with 1500 members and guests of the Automobile Club of Amerl- ca at their banquet in the Waldorf-Astorla tonight, and for half an hour or more talked to them in such genial vein that they were kept almost constantly either laughing or applauding. In one oI ms entirely serious moments, MT. Taft, talk ing to men whose devotion to motoring makes the good roads question of espe- cial interest to them took occasion to de- clare himself emphatically against open ing the national treasury for building highways.
 The accident of office and the gener~ osity of d resolution of Congress- re- marked the President with broad smile, give me for time the pleasure of travel by new method; but there is no permanency of tenure in the machine. Therefore, I beg you to understand that I am here merely in temporary capacity as an automobilst.
 The President got down to a more se- rious basis shortly and expressed his ap- preciation of the value of the automobile between section and section and even be- tween nation and nation.
 .I have tried to help you" he said, by getting the duty lowered into Canada Once in while 1 do something that ought to make somebody feel gratified.' .
 Raising objection to the policy advo- cated of the federal government entering extensively into road making Mir. Taft said there was no doubt that the govern ment has the power. but, he added, q venture to question the wisdom of open ing the national treasury for money to use that way.
 The state and the neighborhood, acting as a unit were the proper sources ru look to for both the building and the maintenance of proper highways, he said. Once started on a scheme of national roads, as well as of water ways develop ment there would be no end to the extent likely to be demanded by states, each
 ch ha said tnp President.
 Chasing the national highways propo- sition as a dangerous experiment." he added
 q would suggest great delay and deliberation defore we open the na- tional treasury to such a purpose"
 From the automobile club banquet President Taft motored to the Hotel Astor for an address before the young Republican club.
 with a silver trowel handed to him bv a blind woman, President Taft laid the cornerstone this afternoon of the first settlement house in the world for the blind A crowd of several thousand persons choked the street to get d glimpse of the presidential party, which was seated on the rough wooden plat form erected on the site of the pro- posed building and several hundred more looked down and hurrahed from the housetops
 T came here today to lay corner stone. not to make address," the President said after Joseph II. Choate, chairman of the ceremonies, had an nounced that the President would speak.
 My dearest hope is that this struc- ture will be typical of the duties which we who have sight owe to those who have not. to aid and succor them in