The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-19
Spends Busy Day in City Where Roosevelt Was
 LiOnized
ANSWERS CHALLENGE
 OF SENATOR DIXON
Favors Primary Where One Is Pro- vided for by Law, But "Soap Box" Primary Worse Than
 None at All, He Says

Boston, March 1s.-President Taft ended
 his part in Boston's celebration of Evacu-
 alton Day and St. Patrick's Day here witli l an address to the Charitable Irish society
 and looking on the diners of the Bank
 Officers association, of the Boston Paper l Trade association and the Yale club oi
 Boston tonight.
 l In many ways it was the busiest and
 most 6emonstratlve day the President
 has spent since entering the White House. The members of his party were unanimous in declaring that no welcome acceded the President in all his travels
 equaled that which Boston gave him to- 1 day.
 1 The President from O clock this morn l ing until the time he retired, seemed to
 be the objective of the great crowd, viemg with each other to make his stay more | pleasing.
 1 From the state house the President
 motored out into South Boston and for more than two hours listened to the cheer- | ing of thousands of Bostonians, saw l thousands of flags waved in his honor
 and reviewed one of the largest parades
 ever arranged In honor of 1reland's patron
 saint and Evacuation Day"
 Speaks on Many Subjects l During the day the President spoke on | many subjects. Before the Massachusetts l legislature he spoke on presidential pr1- l maries, pointing out that he favored such | registration of the popular will in regard l to the presidential candidates where the law safeguard the ballot.
 l To delegation from the Massachusetts Peace society he said that he did not in- tend to give up the fight for arbitration treaties with Great Britain, and France
 and added that when Secretary of State l Knox returned from Central America, a plan for the renewal of the fight for arbi- tration would be carried out.
 In his speech to the Irish societies to- night the President praised the Irish for | their adaptibility in becoming American l citizens and added word about his be- l lief in that race in connection with the stability of American institutions. In this connection the President said
 ''The thing of which wish to speak to- night, however, is the well known fact | that socialism and anarchy have found I no Judgement among irishmen. They be- | lieNe in the constituted authority; they believe in the institutions of modern so- ciety: they believe in upholding our na- tional and state governments; they be- leve in the preservation of the checks and balances of our, constitutional structure, | Not from them do we hear pro- posals to change the fundamental law, l to take away the independence of the I judiciary or to minimize in any way the | influence and power of a constituted au- | thority. They welcome progress; they | ftf.-+ +l,.x.- prosperity. They are not full of diatribes against the existing order.
 Irish Recognize Value of Law
 They struggle for equality of oppor- I tunity and recognize the value of liberty ordered by law. They are not reaching 1 out for new gods of governments. They are not seeking to invent new society | and turn the present topsy turvy. They | believe in law and order they are par taking of civilization the good fortune, | the prosperity and the happiness that is possible under our American government; | they are grateful for it; they value it; they will fight to preserve it." The President spent the night in a Bos- ton hctel Tomorrow he leaves for New Hampshire to keep engagements at Mas sau, Concord and Manchester.
 Replies to Dixon
 President Taft today declared him l self in favor of presidential primaries surrounded by certain conditions for the coming campaign. -Wherever full and fair notice of the election can be given: wherever adequate election sa afe- guards can be thrown around to pro- tect preferential primary for the presidency; wherever the constitution
 of the state permits it's being made applicable to the present election, 1 favof it and welcome it.'
 The President made the statement before the general court of Massa- cnusetts., It was his first personal reply | to the challenge to commit himself on
 the issue given out by Senator Dixon. Colonel Roosevelts manager
 "I am not going to stop and discuss
 in detail the question of direct primary 1 elections, their usages and abuses" said the President. 'I think every one will admit, however. in order that they i may accomplish the good they are in- l tended to accomplish, they should be
 safoguarded by effective provision as
 to the party eligibility of voters who
 participate in them, and by penal pro visions securing conformity to rules of
 such eligibility, and the honest cast
 ing and counting of the ballots
 Voluntary Primary
 q do not hesitate to say that Tn my judgment voluntary primary outside me 1 law, known by it's informal character as | a soap box primary, is worse than
 none for if gives full opportunity to the | ineligible electors of the other party 10 l east unfair votes and without the sanction and safeguard of penal provisions in re-
 spect to casting and counting the ballots | is all open avenue for fraud and violence 1 .,But the continued iteration and reit- l eration of the proposition, Let the peo- | pie rule if it has any significance at all ] and is intended otherwise than to natter tce people. is intended to be reflection on the government that we have had down | to the present time.
 People to Rule
 {! ssNow, in spite of all the corruption in | Spite of all the machine politics, ia spsse | of every defect in the cperatic- sS cur government that can be pointed out. l
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