The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-09-02
TAFT DISCUSSES
TIMELY TOPICS


nations is coming slowly, but surely"
said President Taft in his address
Thursday before the American Bar as
sociation, which concluded its thirty
fourth convention in Boston. The
president BRIEFLY reviewed the pro-
posed general arbitration treaties with
Great Britain and France and made it
plain that in his opinion the objections
made to the treaties were invalid.
The president aimed his argument
for the arbitration treaties at the
senate foreign relations committee,
which, he said, took exceptions to the
part which provides that the joint high
commission determine whether a ques-
tion is "justifable and therefore
one to be settled by arbitration. The
committee held this part of the treaty
a delegation of powers by the senate,
the president said, and therefore it
objected.
"There were not,' he said, "any
more powers conferred by the constitu-
ton on the senate than there we're con-
ferred by the constitution on the ex-
ecutive. / think this is pretty plain,
because the executive has to initiate
and the senate has to agree to the
treaties before they can GO into force.
Now, my proposition is this
"That, if the senate has power to
ratify an agreement, which shall bind
it and the government, or rather which
shall bind the government, and there
fore bind it to consent to the ad-
Indication of any class Of questions
arising in the future by board of ar
bitration, then it necessarily follows
that it has the right to consent to this
treaty.
Compares Nation to Sick Indian.
Referring to his hope that the senate
would not modify the treaties, the
president compared the nation to a
sick Indian.
"You know they say the Indians,
when they are sick, don't like any
medicine, except sometime that bites,
something that is hard to take,' said
the president. ~ don't think that
we shall really get ahead with this ar
bitration business unless we are will
ing to assume an obligation to execute
Judgment that may bite and may be
bad for us to take.
eff we are going to take the posi-
ton that we will wait until the ques-
ton arises, and then conclude (be-
cause we don't think we can win in
the arbitration cases) that it is not
a iustifiable question, then we have
written our promises in water, and we
have made agreements that dissolve
under the testimony of experience.
The result will follow, which may be
anticipated, that, instead of promot-
ing the cause of arbitration, we have
interfered with it, obstruced it and
made it laughing stock with all ma
tions
Beofre turning to arbitration the
president spoke in approval of the eff.
forts that the supreme court is max
ing to reform the rules of equity pro-
cedure in the federal courts, and de.
clared that the salaries of federal
judges should be increased.
Favors Higher Salaries.
Speaking of the salaries of federal
judges, the president said that those
of circuit judges should be increased
so as to be more commensurate with
those paid district judges.
"Of course he said, "the salaries
of the supreme court members ought
to be increased. We have got them up
to $12,50O, or something like that.
They ought to 60 up to $4,000. A
court which exercises such great re-
sponsibility and calls for such ability
and learning ought to have its mem
bers amply paid so that they need not
be dependent on lecturing in law
schools and doing other things for the
purpose of eking out salary that only
enables them to ive.'
Speaking of patent laws and patent
cases, the president said he hoped that
the new court of commerce would be
used as "court of patent appeal. -
The supreme court in such cases, he
found, had proved failure.