Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-04-27

followed his example and do not hes
itate to point with satisfaction to thu
Legislation which has been enacted II
my three years"
Tho Trust Issue.
Mr.. Taft referred to the strengthen.
ing of the Interstate commerce act
Certain amendments suggested by the
administration were defeated. These
amendments Mr.. Roosevelt had de-
| nounced as vicious. AS a matter OF fact
Mr.. Taft said, all the things contained
| in these amendments had been recon-
mended by Mr.. Roosevelt and had been
promised in the platform of the re-
publican party"
I'm view of his support of these very
provisions in his messages and else
where" said the president, sis 1t a
square deal for him snow to describe
them as vicious?" y
Mr.. Taft warmly defended the COM
merce court, saying 1t had reduced
judicial delays from two years to six
months. If it exceeded its jurisdiction
or made wrong decision he said the
supreme court was at hand to remedy
it. If the commerce court We're abolish :
ed the cases brought before 1t would
again be thrown by the railroads into
sixty or seventy United States courts
all over the country with consequent
long delays. ....-.. ,..#
Taking up Mr.. Roosevelt's antitrust
record, Mr.. Taft said he had warmly
approved it on the stump for the form :
er president. He said Mr.. Roosevelt had
instituted the proceedings against the
Standard Oil and the American To-
bacco company and that they had been
carried to a successful conclusion In
the supreme court under the present
administration. Mr.. Taft cont nued:
Roosevelt Has Changed 'front.'.
Nov find Mr.. Roosevelt coming the
other way, denouncing the antitrust
law and denouncing prosecutions under
it. He says that the decree in the
Standard Oil case is ineffective, that
the price Of the stock has gone up and
in some Way or other 1 am responsible
for the fact that the price did 60 up,
and that my administration Is to be
condemned because that decree was
confirmed in the supreme court The
truth is that the decree as finally en-
tered and enforced was drawn exactly
as Mr. Roosevelt'S attorney general, In
the bill which by direction Of Mr..
Roosevelt he filed against the Standard
Oil Co., had asked that 1t be drawn.
with characteristic boldness and
lack Of facts or evidence, and resting
on his false and distorted construction
Of my language as to government by
representative part Of the people, Mr..
Roosevelt charges that I stand for the
If nothing else would serve. the record
Of my administration as to suits
against railways to stop increase of
rates, and suits against trusts of all
kinds to dissolve them and to punish
their directors, must show to fair
minded public that this administration
has no favorites among law breakers,
or those seeking special privileges.
Roosevelt Success Dangerous.
zone of the real reasons why Mr..
Roosevelt ought not to be selected as a
candidate Of any party is the natural
distrust that the whole business COM
munity will have in respect to the
measures which Mr.. Roosevelt will
propose in order to effect a
revolution in the interest Of social JUS
tice which he advocates so strongly and
defines so vaguely. 1t is true that, I'M
der the inspiration of the filing Of the
bill against the steel trust, he took such
a strong ground against the antitrust
law that for time some of the big
business community approved him; but
when he went to Columbus. while he
used these same expressions in order
to hold this element to his support, he
at the same time and in the same ad-.
dress advanced such radical views as
to the change of the fundamental prin-
ciples of our government that the gen.
eral community LOST sight of his prom
Use to avoid injury to big business, and
could only contemplate the danger to
the security Of all business by this
threatened undermining Of our consti-
tutional government and his attack
upon the independence of the judiciary.
ar 80 ~
Roosevelt would extend through the
business community a feeling of such
distrust as to the future as to interfere
with the good times which is business
is let alone and present conditions COM
tinue will expand into the most en-
couraging prosperity: and this will
bring happiness to wage earners, who
are more injuriously affected by dis
turbance of business than any other
members of the community.
Mr. Roosevelt ought not to be NOM
mated at Chicago, because in such
nomination the republican party will
violate our most useful and necessary
governmental itradition-that no one
shall be permitted to hold a third presi.
Dental term"
The Third Term Precedent.
Mr. Taft quoted from Mr.. Roosevelt's
statement in November 1904, the fol-
lowing:
THE wise custom which limits the
president to two terms regards the sub
stance and not the form; and under no
circumstances will be candidate for
or accept another nomination."
"He now says, although his language
does not bear such a construction, that
he meant he would not accept a NOM
ination for consecutive third term"
said the president. HE says SO in face
of the fact that the most noteworthy
precedent in which the tradition was
asserted and maintained was that of
1880, when General Grant was denied
a third term four years after he had
left the presidential office. 1t is not for
me to enter into discussion Of the
plain meaning of the language he used.
If he had frankly announced that he
had changed his mind no one would be
disposed to hold him to a promise of
that sort merely because he had made
1t. The promise and his treatment Of it
or11, tbro1y an Informing LIGHT on tha