The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-06
ROOSEVELT SCORES TIE LAW Act Not Meant to Be Rigidly
 Enforced
 AIDES AT CONFERENCE
The Colonel Unusually Reticent About Gathering of Perkins, Dixon, Me- Cormick and C.. l.. Stoddard.
 Platform Ready Soon

Oyster Bay, N. Y, July 5.-"The plat forms of both the republican and the dem ocratic parties call for rigid enforcement of the antitrust law; they are wrong, !" said Theodore Roosevelt today. The for- mer President said in his campaign he would attack both parties upon this score. He intends to take the attitude which he outlined in a speech at osawa- tonic. Kan. two years ago, when he said that the great business enterprises of the country had come to stay, and should be controlled by means of close supervision by the national government To attempt to abolish them he said was futile
 Colonel Roosevelt denied a report that he had offered the nomination of the vice presidency to Judge Ben D. Lindsey of Denver. If the convention nominates me for President" he said, T certainly will mot wish to name the others. That must be done by people interested. The conyen- tion will decide it.
 "The sherman antitrust law was on the statute books for years, v he said, "It was never enforced until l became President" he added. He said that he had said in his speeches that the law was wrong, but that as long as it was a law he would en- force it.
 Not Meant to Be Enforced Tt was one of the laws" he said, (which was never intended to be enforced vigorously. If strictly enforced it would do much. damage to unoffending persons, such as farmers who have formed CO., operative associations. It was his opinion the national government could handle things rightly. For the tariff, he said, the democratic party had gone on record in favor of free entry of the necessities of life.
 ''Of course the first person. such a policy would harm would be the farmer he said.
 Free trade would be so disastrous that the country would soon come back to the principle of protection. The speaker was not so sure that the tariff had been the chief factor in the increased cost of quotations in the matter of living He pointed at certain things like butter and egg products had gone up most in price.
 Several of Colonel Roosevelt's aides gathered at Sagamore Hill tonight for a conference about which there was some mystery. The colonel was in the midst of a tennis game when an auto mobile whirled up from New York Medill Mccormick of Chicago, Senator Dixon of Montana and George w. Per kins and George L. Stoddard of New York climbed out. The tennis game ended abruptly and Colonel Roosevelt made his way to the house.
 The Colonel Is Reticente
 When asked in regard to the confer ence the colonel was unusually reti- cent
 'Td rather not say anything about It, he said.
 The former President said his plat form will be ready in a week or SO He has received letters, he continued from several who were prominent in his campaign for the republican, pres idential nomination, but were report ed to have left him since the Chicago convention. They told him they were with him despite reports to the con trary.
 He thought others who have "flopped' lad acted prematurely and before long some of them would want to come back again.
 Colonel Roosevelt said some confusion has been caused by misinterpretation in statements of supporters of his that they saw no need of a new party That did not mean. he asserted, that they had for saken him.
 'In Kansas. for instance" he said s'they take the stand that the Roosevelt supporters are the republican organza- ton and there is no reason for abandon. ing it. They will simply name Roose- welt electors on the regular republican ticket.''
 Do you mean that the republican or ganizations of some states will cooperate with the new party?"
 q don't know" Colenel Roosevelt re- piled.
 Each state will settle that for it self"