The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-05-09
President Taft Says Roosevelt
Is an Unsafe Man
And Should Not Be Elected to
the Presidency.
PLEADS FOR A SQUARE DEAL
Says He Has Been Guided in
His Course
Largely by the Advice of His
Predecessor.

Columbus, O., May 9.-President Taft
concluded a three days visit to his ma
tive state here with a speech at Me-
mortal hall, in which he vigorously de-
nounced Colonel Roosevelt's attacks OF
him. President Taft was repeatedly
| interrupted with cheers, especially in
his defense of his advocacy of Cana
dian reciprocity. AS to many Of the
issues upon which his predecessor Is
fighting him, he said they were poll
| cies which Colonel Roosevelt himself
| has advocated, both as president ana
as a private citizen.
| He scored Colonel Roosevelt as an
| advocate of class hatred and a man
who is appealing to the element OF
discomfort.
TT is dangerous to put such man
| in the office of president he said.
MIR. Roosevelt is not a safe man for
| this country to trust with his ideas as
| to the recall of our court decisions,
he declared with emphasis.
Answering the colonels charge that
| he was using public Office patronage to
obtain his denomination, he said 40 per
! cent of the present public off1ceholders
were Mr.. Roosevelt's appointees, and a
majority of them are now lighting for
| the colonels reelection.
President Taft charged that Colonei
| Theodore Roosevelt, his campaign man.
ager, Senator Dixon of Montana, aud
Democrats in the senate were respon-
sible for the "emasculation" OF the ar
bitration treaties with Great Britain
and France and that in consequence
of their action the pacts were SO
| changed as to be of doubtful utility.
| These treaties, the president declared
would have made ~'wide steps toward
universal peace; would have signalized
a movement for a universal arbitrai
11Tr~fo oV1d xxrpT0
as ever were suggested to the American
people.
Can't Understand 1t.
For some reason unknown to my
| puzzle witted BRAIN" said the presi-
| dent, Mr. Roosevelt opposed these
treaties, and by these men who sup
| ported that opposition, his manager
! Mr. Dixon. and the Democratic voters
| in the senate those treaties were so
| emascuIated that it is difficult to see
| whether they contain anything of value
| which ought to be ratified into a treaty
Ny idea of progress and OF - highest
! progress possible was in those arbitrs-
| ton treaties because 1 saw in them a
step toward a universal arbitral court
| to which any nation in the world mlshI
resort in order to solve controversy
| that it might have with any otner ma
| tion and until we get such a court, war
will not disappear. This was decided
| step toward that end, as progressive q
| measure as ever has been suggested u
4 the American people,
| Mr.. Taft's memorial hall address was
| the last scheduled for his present tour
| through his home state. He continued
| his attack on Roosevelt taking up more
than dozen subjects tnat Mr.. Roose-
welt has referred to in his speeches
\ against the president. Mr.. Tart openly
| accused Mr.. Roosevelt of misrepresen-
tation and misstatement, said that in
| many actions for which his predecessor
| now criticised him he had been in
| fuenced by Roosevelts advice and
asked the people of Ohio to give him a
square deal The president pointed out
| the failure of the Roosevelt admins
| tration to prosecute the steel trust and
| the harvester trust and contrasted that
with the attitude of his own adminis-
tration which has filed suits against
| both. ! reviewed in some detail the
circumstances under which the Roose-
welt administration decided not to insti-
| tute proceedings against these trusts or
against any of the MOI gan interests.
What Would Roosevelt Say?
The president said George w. Perkins
] "a director of the Harvester trust and
| of the steel trust was instrumental in
preventing the prosecutions in the
Roosevelt days and then went on to
say: ''Mr. Perkins Is one of the chief
contributors to Mr.. Roosevelt's present
| financial fund. Nov want to ask you
what do you think Mr.. Roosevelt would
say of me If 1 had not prosecuted the
| steel trust and the harvester trust and
| it appeared subsequently that Mr.. Per-
| kins was a large contributor to a spe-
ciaI fund expended for my use? Well
what does he do on the face of that2
| He charges me with being in control OF
| the special interests with these facts
staring him in the face. I don't infer
| from these facts anything improper. On
| the other hand don't believe there Is
anything improper, but do say to him
who is so prolific in his suggestion Of
suspicion and so easy in his charges CT
| improper motives that for him now,
| with the evidence before the public TO
charge me with being an agent of the
| special interests takes that audacfous
courage / still believe him to have.
| Replying to the statement that the
DEGREES of the supreme court in the
Standard Oil and American Tobacco
company cases. were really of benefit
to those trusts and the Taft administra-
tion's prosecution of them had been in
effectual because oil has gone up and
| the stock of both conn Lnies has gone
up, President Taft told why he believed
these resulted froL. natural economic
causes. "Tf1ey say oil has gone up. and
| they say the stock of these companies
has gene up" said Taft.
'-It is true that they have gone up
| and why2 Because in the dissolution
| the facts had to come out and the
/ stockholders who were holding stock
! generally that it had a great deal more
| money in those companies than the
public had known. Secondly, they say
that oil has gone up. Well it has and
crude oil has gone up too and why7
| Because. under the Standard Oil COM