The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-03-09

had been successful in certain States
1T IS mere narrOwness and intol-
| erance to insist upon a remedy which
has proved effective in one place. as
the necessary test of sincere and in
tellgent reform in another" he said.
1T is even more erroneous to make
cal government in one Of the Com
monwealths a test for what is proper
and appropriate in the government of
q nation at large"
Mr.. Stimson said that the referen-
dunn had apparently worked we'll in
Oregon. but that in a fifty-years' trial
in New York, as applied to constitu-
tional questions, 1t had been a fail
ure.
Should the national Republican
who lives in New York be read out
Of this party he asked, because he
declines to accept the referendum as
the best remedy to cure the abuses Of
popular government in his own
State?
1T only confuses and distracts to
drag into a national campaign the
prejudices and shibboleths which have
arisen in the contest Of the different
States. Mr.. Taft's administration
must be judged by the attitude with
which he has approached and the
success he has attained in dealing
with these national problems, and not
according to the views which any Of
us may hold upon these local ques-
tions Of State machinery"
The Secretary Of War drew atten-
ton to the Investigations that have
been made under President Taft, into
problems that had been the subject
of serious controversy for years The
work Of the tariff board, the Hadley
| railway securities commission and
the Hughes commission on second
class mail matter were typical, he
said, Of the methods sought by Mr..
Taft to ascertain facts.
Il doubt If there has ever been an
administration where so many vital
questions Of progress were under
careful. scientific investigation and
scrutiny by commissions Of competent
experts" he said.
There is nothing dramatic about
such a method; but a reform accom-
plished in the light Of such carefully
accredited facts is more likely to be
permanent This is the very essence
Of Mr.. Taft's method as a reformer."
President Taft has been most false
ly villifed and abused" in connec-
tion with the tariff, said Mr.. Stimson,
| and has, in fact taken the Republi-
can party out Of the grasp of the spe-
| cial interests benefited by the tariff
and has made a part Of the Republi-
can progressive policy the downward
| revision of the tariff law, schedule by
! schedule.
Is not this a tremendous achieve
ment in the direction of national
| progress" asked Mr.. Stimson, "to
! completely rescue his party from the
methods and influences which, If un-
controlled would inevitably turn it into
a party Of special interests and re-
| action? Is he not right in standing to
the uttermost, even to the exercise Of
| all Of the executive powers Of veto
| against the old privilege breeding
| methods Of tariff revision employed
by the Democratic House of Repre-
| sentatives? Is he not right in in
sisting even against popular clamor
| that we shall make a clean break
with the past and that no tariff revis-
| ion shall take place except upon these
! conditions and after a scientific study
by ron-partisan board of experts ?"
Secretary Stimson reviewed the
| Administration and it's achievements.
He said that the President had out
lined the system Of trust reform which
| If adopted would put the country in
"a fair way Of solving our trust prob
lem and solving it right" that in the
| corporation tax the President had
turned the flank Of one Of the most
stubborn fortresses Of reaction" His
| interest in human welfare was evil
denced by his devotion to the progress
| Of the F'ilipinos. said Mr.. Stimson.
| through his activity in behalf Of the
| arbitration treaties, his efforts for ade-
quate workmen's compensation and
effective employers liability laws, and
his suggestions for an industrial COM
mission.