The Washington herald., 1912-02-25
ROOSEVELT
FIGHT IS WARM.
President Denies Intimation
that He Distrusts the
People.
MEETS OPEN ATTACK
His Utterances Against Recall of
Judges Now Being Used
Against Him.
MEETS OPEN ATTACK

President Taft has learned that the
Roosevelt campaign managers propose
20 use against him his statements in
opposition to the recall Of the Judici-
airy as indicating his lack of conf
dence in the judgment of the Ameri-
can people.
This is the reason why he issued
an emphatic statement from the White
House yesterday insisting that nothing
which he had said could be distorted
into affording a basis for the asser-
tion. A specific instance of inaccu-
rate publication cited by him was his
speech against recall before the New
York Bar Association on January 20,
when. according to some reports. he
was credited with stating that he did
not believe all the people were fitted
for popular government and with
adding that he made the statement
knowing that others did not dare to
do so. According to the statement is
sued by him yesterday. he said that
''all peoples" were not fitted for popu-
lar government
Quoted by Roosevelt.
1t was IN the same speech of January
20 that Mr.. Taft was reported as using
these words:
bar-to say whether We are going to
protect the institution Of the judIci-
ary and continue IL independent of
the majority or Of all the people.
These last nine words, Independent OF
the majority or of all the people" were
used by Mr.. Roosevelt in quotation marks
in his Columbus speech, when, without
referring to President Taft by name, but
using the phrase, many eminent law
yers," he said:
Many eminent lawyers, who more or
less frankly disbelieve in our entire
by. and OF the people, violently an
tagonize this proposal (recall OF ju-
diciaryD. They believe, and sometimes
assert, that the American people are
not fitted for representative govern
ReeP tSe Sd Judiciary nhsi independeny sesSde 8 o8
the majority or of all the people,
people from the decision of a court in
any case, and that. therefore, the
judges are TO be established as SOW
ss1e CTf5 With an tso5e who Sod
such position.
The White House statement yesterday
contained no reference TO these nine
words.
Planning an Attack.
1t is known that the Roosevelt sup
porters are planning to attack Mr.. Taft
for his utterances.S They will take one or
two sentences out OF his message vetoi1g
the Arizona Statehood bin, where he
opposed popular recall of the judiciary.
and they viii also take the sentence of
his speech before the New York Repub-
licsn Club on Lincoln's birthday, when
he said:
With the effort to make the selec-
ton of candidates, the enactment of
legislation and the decision of courts
depend on the momentary passions OF
a people necessarily indiferently in
formed as to the issues presented,
and without opportunity having been
given them for time and study and
that deliberation that gives security
and common sense to the government
of the people such extremists would
hurry US into a condition which would
find no parallel except IN the French
revolution or in that bubbling an
archy that once characterized the
South American republics.
The statement issued at the White
House yesterday indicates that the Presi-
dents political advisers are moving to
head of the Roosevelt attack.