Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-12-05
HAVE TRIED 70 ACT WISELY, SAYS
TAFT OF HIS ADMINISTRATION
"A in Days Work" Says President of Criticism Against
HH-Is Not AyerSe to Second Term But Happiness Does
Not Deuend on It-Gves His Own Views on Outlook

NEW Y0RK. Dec LIN the current
issue OF the Outlook there appears an ar
ticIe entitled President Taft's own View.
an Authorized Interview" in which the
president discusses current topics with an
interviewer. as follows in parS
speaking OF IN etariff issue. Mr.. Pres
ident. II you could begin your admins
fratior again. would you repeat your
winons speech tomorrow" the inter-
viewer asked.
I'm phraseology. no: in effect. yes Had
I 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 cars between two
stations. and glanced through i only
enough 10 straighten its grammar; II was
sent out ~ the press with correspond
ingiy little ceremony. so that the papers
received IL in ali sorts OF shapes II
had prepared II two or three weeks De-
fore and revised IL deliberately. as
ought 20 have done. ] should have c.ari-
fed several passages. And. parNcu-
larry. / should cave changed the SEN
tence where I proclaim the Payne tariff
act the hest evef passed The compare
tive would have been a better descrtp-
ton than the superlative; for whatever
its She Innings re act sun cont aims
less to be criticised than It's predecessors
and Il did. as a whole. revise the existing
schedule downward
NO FAULT FOUND
IT had no fault TO find with. either
Democrats or insurgents for trying TO re-
duce any duties they chose: what OBJ
5ect 70 Is distributing the business OF the
country today, when there IS nothing BET
ter than cuesswork 10 proceed upon. and
then disturbing Il rfresh six months later
when the best available Information Is
before us I do not join in the charge OF
Inconsistency against the democrats lot
rounronIstnx with LaFoT cite on the wool
srbesule instead of standing by their
own figures. II they could not get all the
reduction they asked for. they were
quite Justified in taking what they could
set Nv chief criticism on their tariff
activities last session was that they were
willing TO send to me legislation so crude
ara In direSted that they must have
known. n they had paused 70 think that
could not possibly approve II
sTs your tariff reduction program based
on the theory that II viii bring about
corresponding reduction in the cost OF
hvingg-
TARIFF FEEDS MONOPOLY"
Il think that that effect 10 greatly over
estimated MY c. EFF objection to need
Iezslv high tariff Is that II nourishes
monopoly II holds forth constant temp
>tation to the formation Of little trusts
which often are more directly Cypress
I've TO the consumer than big ones.
Mr.. President you have been Sharply
criticised for making up your tariff
board OF men who are not tariff experts.
And that Is true: they are not II
rad been appointing board OF tariff
experts could not have got along with
less than IS, in order 10 do justice 10
all branches OF the subject What
undertook to do was to make up q
board OF trained investigators. capable
OF managing a thorough inquiry into
costs OF production and Of analyzine
It's elements First. Mr. MacNeagn
wrote to friends in leading universities
asking each TO give me list or the
economists considered by them best
equipped for the task an hand Profess
scr Emery's name was on all the lists
and at the top Of half OF them. so
made him chairman Of the board Page
comes from the University Of Virginia.
Sanders Is an authority on agriculture;
Reynolds In interpreting and enforcing
the tariff laws for four years. had pre-
Humably learned the ms and outs OF