The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-29
TAFT HAS HAD GOOD CHANGES
 TO BUST TRUST
Roosevelt Insists That Presi- dent Knew All About NegO- tiatiOns Over Harvester Com bine
President Using Big Business to Further Own Political Ends Charges Teddy

Haverhill, Mass, April 29-Declaring President Taft ''has had many good chances during his term' to institute suit against the harvester trust 9 and that despite the Presidents state ments of last night that he wasn't present at the cabinet meeting when the matter was discussed, Colonel Roosevelt, today, declared his rival for the Republican nomination knew all about the matter.
 Colonel Roosevelt's statement fol- lows:
 Of course, Mr. Taft was away, as everyone knew, while I was discuss ing this matter in personal interviews with officials Of the department of commerce and labor including the bureau of corporations and of the de- after he came back the matter was repeatedly brought up in the cabinet and was discussed at length.
 "Mr. Bonaparte has stated in the letter I have quoted that MT. Taft toek the initiative in approving the the same effect. Be this as 1t may, however, MT. Taft had and could not have failed to have had all informa- tion as to the action taken. Every important matter of this kind involv- ing a question between two depart ments of the administration was al- ways threshed out in full cabinet questions of this particular nature between the departments of justice and the secretary of commerce and labor Messrs. Garfield, Straus, Bon aparte and Cortelyou have stated that this particular question was discuss ed more than once in full cabinet meeting. I clearly remember MT. Taft's being present at one such dis cuSsion and taking part in it. MT. Taft has now been president three years and two months and it is non- sense to say that during that time to act on the harvester trust if he SC desired When he came back from his trip abroad went over with him. not only this case but every other case of importance such as that of the Ten. nessee Coal & Iron O.. which have any bearing on the general poli- cy of the Administration. If he thought that the action I took in the harvester case wassfn any way made uuate or reprehensible it was his duty when he was in my cabinet to protest and it was even more his duty after he became President to act at once. The action which after three years of inaction he really took last week must have been taken in collusion with the LOrimer Democrat senator who introduced the resolution and could only have been taken with a view to the effect on the Massacau- setts primaries. This case illustrates well the difference between the atti- tude of Mr. Taft and of myself to- ward big business and indeed toward every phase of big business and all other business, not from the stand point of party or factional advantage and without the least regard to my own political fortunes or to the politi- cal fortunes of anyone else but on it's merits and with the sole object of .heIpinp reach a satisfactory solution of business problems in the interests of the entire people of the Unised States. Mp Taft has treated the har- vester trust question in a way to show that he subordinates the inter- est of the people as whole to the purpose of securing political advan- tage for himself"